Battle of the Camp

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Battle of the Camp
Date T.A. 1945 Location Ithilien Result Initial victory for Wainriders, final victory for Gondor
Combatants
Gondor	Wainriders, Haradrim
Commanders
Ondoher†, Eärnil	Unknown
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties
Unknown	Unknown

The Battle of the Camp is a fictional battle in J. R. R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth, as recounted in The Silmarillion, the Appendices of The Return of the King, and Unfinished Tales. "Battle of the Camp" refers mainly to the final battle of the conflict with The Wainriders.

In the year 1945 of the Third Age, the Wainrider people from the east made an alliance with the Haradrim, and a dual attack on Ithilien was launched. While the Wainriders assaulted Ithilien from the north, the armies of the Haradrim crossed the Poros and invaded South Ithilien.

The northern assault of the Wainriders was met by the King of Gondor himself, Ondoher, with his two sons Artamir and Faramir. The Easterlings swept through Gondor's forces, cutting down the King and his heirs and routing his army. Their victory complete, and with Gondor seemingly defenceless before them, the Wainriders paused in North Ithilien to celebrate their conquest.

Their allies in the south had met with much less success. The Gondorian Captain Eärnil had led Gondor's smaller Southern Army to victory over the Haradrim, destroying their army in South Ithilien, to the north of the Poros. After his victory, Eärnil turned north.

The feasting Wainriders suddenly found their success reversed, as Eärnil appeared with his Southern Army, reinforced by fleeing members of Ondoher's defeated northern troops. Eärnil's army descended on the unprepared Wainriders, driving many of them into the swamplands of the Dead Marshes. That eastern people, for so long a dreaded enemy of Gondor, never marched against Gondor again. The battle was named after where it had taken place: the Battle of the Camp.

Because there was no heir apparent to the throne, Ondoher and his sons having been killed in the battle, Eärnil II was chosen as King by Pelendur, the Steward of Gondor. Eärnil was elected king for his deeds, heritage, and because of the Steward's influence, however he was still of the royal house since he was a direct male-line descendant of King Telumehtar Umbardacil. Eärnil however was not of the ruling line, as his great-grandfather Arciryas was the brother of Narmacil II.

[edit] Unfinished Tales

The initial attack by the Wainriders is expanded in more detail in the Unfinished Tales chapter Cirion and Eorl. There, it states that the Wainriders attempted two invasions of Gondor. In both wars, the Éothéod (also known as the Northmen) were allies of Gondor, long before the formal pact of Cirion and Eorl which saw them move to Rohan.

During the first attack, Narmacil II was slain but his son Calimehtar (Ondoher's father) rallied the armies of Gondor at Dagorlad to continue battle with the Wainriders. In the nick of time, the famed cavalry of the Éothéod counter-attacked the Wainriders in the flank and caused the latter to break and flee. Calimehtar then withdrew as his army had lost one third of its strength, but the Éothéod harried the Wainriders as they fled, inflicting great loss on the Easterlings. The Éothéod had their own feud with the Wainriders, who had captured and enslaved many of their homes before the invasion of Gondor. Simultaneously as Calimehtar fought the Wainriders, the Northmen captives rebelled, though since the insurgency was made up of mostly boys and old men, they suffered heavy losses against the Easterling guards.

The second attack was where Ondoher was slain and Eärnil destroyed the Wainriders in the Battle of the Camp. Though Gondor had raised an army to meet the threat, and also divided up the forces to deal with the southern attack from Harad, Ondoher had underestimated the direction and suddenness of the initial Wainrider charge and was slain along with his son Artamir and most of his guard. Indeed, the unanticipated success of the Wainriders' assault was also their undoing, as Ondoher's nephew Minohtar managed to rally the disorderly forces of Gondor, preventing their wholesale destruction. As the situation improved for the time and as they were joined with their Éothéod allies, Minohtar gave an order to be sent to Minas Tirith which proclaimed that Faramir was now the King. It was then that the leader of the Éothéod said that Faramir had been slain. Faramir was initially ordered to remain in Minas Tirith as regent but went battle in disguise and was killed; the Éothéod found tokens on his body indicating that he was the Prince. On the thirteenth day of battle, Gondor's rearguard was unable to check the Wainriders' advance into Ithilien and Minohtar was slain by an arrow. The men of Gondor carried his body out of the fray and fled, but the Wainriders halted their advance to hold a feast.