Battle of Osgiliath

Battle of Osgiliath happened during the war of rings in the broken city of Osgiliath. It led to the beginning of Siege of Gondor or the Siege of Minas Tirith to oppose Sauron, who blockaded the city of Minas Tirith. The siege saw a near victory. But it was ruined by Theoden, who came in with a troop to the combat. This lead to the Battle of Pelennor Fields.

Sauron, to make the Siege of Gondor easier, decided to capture the fortress of Minas Tirith and succeeded in gaining the power over the Eastern Half. In the fight against Sauron in the city of Minas Tirith, Boromir, Faramir, and two others were the only survivors. Boromir, after the attack, left Gondor. He went to Rivendell to seek support against Sauron. But he never returned from Rivendell. After nine months, Sauron attacked the Gondor again. After Boromir left, Faramir commanded numerous fierce attacks and waylaid the troops of Sauron. He attacked them intensely till the Ithilien, where the Mordor-lived. Thus he drove away from the enemy troops till the Black gate. Frodo, the Hobbit of the Shire, and Sam, the best friend of Frodo, accidentally came upon each other on one of these attacks by Faramir. Denethor, the steward of Gondor and the father of Faramir, ordered him to command the force of the Westside of Osgiliath. Faramir, thus, strengthened the support of the men who were already fighting. Faramir knew it was a poorly predicted command, and he was sure that this plan would lead to his death. But, as the most sincere warrior, he carried on with the orders of the steward.

The Mordons expected the war, and hence, they were well prepared beforehand. Orcs, who were created by the Dark Lord, were his servants. The Orcs were perceived, as the weakest forms, yet available in large numbers. Dark lord created them before the period of the First Age. The Orcs had stealthily built and stored a large number of ferries. They were done in the east of Osgiliath and had immense support from Harad, a kingdom, that laid to the south of both Gondor and Mordor. They flocked to the length of the river Anduin in search of Gondor and battled them. The fight was extreme. The battalion led by Faramir and the escorts drove back behind Rammas Echor, the wall surrounding the city of Minas Tirith. During withdrawal, Faramir was attacked by Southron, men of Harad, driving poisoned arrow through him. The wound was made more lethal by the Black Breath of Nazgul. Their withdrawal was thus a tragedy. But the Prince of Dol Amroth, Imrahil, commanded the swan nights and 700 men to assist Faramir and to save the city of Minas Tirith. He saved Faramir from the Southrons. He also led back the battalion of Faramir to their place back safely.

The Orcs repaired all the damages of the war in a fast manner. Thus they restored many ruined bridges from the war. Upon the swift restoration, the troops of Mordor that were the primary army reached the place of Orcs. Frodo witnessed the troops marching from Minas Morgul, the tower which protected the eastern side of Gondor as it stood in the Eastern extreme. The army was perceived as most valiant and very splendid one, as it combined all the powerful forces along the way. On their march from the Morgul Vale, the orcs, Minas Morgul Cavalry headed by the witch king of Angmar met with the Haradrim from the south and, they all joined together with the mass of forces of the black gate, at Osgiliath. The massive troop together marched towards the western part of Osgiliath. The fugitives from Cair Andros, the island in the River Anduin, started arriving at the Minas Tirith. Thus, the forces of Mordor gained full control of the city of Minas Tirith. These led to the start of the Siege of Gondor and the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

The film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King by Peter Jackson [1] portrays the war in a very different way from the book. In the movie, it was a very short battle. To add tragedy, they showed the Gondor as desperate. At night, the Orcs started their attack as soon as they sailed across the river at night. In spite of getting ambushed by Faramir's forces and suffering from heavy casualties, yet defeating them still. According to the book, they had a vigorous fight before they lost the battle even though having no detailed combat mentioned.

By the morning, the next day, the people of Gondor left the city after their terrible defeat and losing 350 men. Their fight was not over, as Nazgul, riding his fell beast, attacked on their retreat and killed 50 men. Gandalf fought against them and rescued them. Denethor, instructs Faramir to take control of the Osgiliath, again. By accepting the order, accompanied by the remaining 100 soldiers, Faramir fought against the Orcs to retrieve Osgiliath. But unfortunately, he ended in the arrows of Orcs in the fight. They destroyed the battalion of Faramir, and he was the only survivor. He was carried by his horse, back to Minas Tirith with the two arrows on him.

1. ^The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).