Cair Andros

Cair Andros is a large river-island in the Anduin, to the east of the land of Anórien. It was held in defence against Mordor by Gondor to prevent crossings of the Great River, though these defences have never fallen despite massive odds.

The namesake of this island was derived from the long shape of the isle, which was boat-like in nature, and the effects of the water breaking upon what was seen as the prow of the ship. The island was around ten miles in length, and narrowed toward its northern end, creating the prow. Cair Andros was one of the main sites used to cross the river Anduin, along with Osgiliath to the south. As the northern parts of the river were nearly impassable marshland, and the south of the river near Lebennin became too wide to ford safely, these two locations were critical to both Gondor and Mordor during the war.

Strategically, the island was of immense importance: apart from the bridge at Osgiliath, it was the only practical means for an army from the east to cross the Anduin into Gondor's heartlands. The Gondorians took this risk seriously. Amon Dîn, the first of the Beacon-hills, was set up originally to warn the citizens of Minas Tirith if Cair Andros was ever breached. Gondor took steps to fortify the island, too, but the history of these fortifications is difficult to establish. We know that it was 'manned' at the time of King Ondoher's fall in III, but whatever defences were in place at that time were apparently abandoned, since Denethor's great-grandfather Túrin II found it necessary to fortify the island again.

Geography
The namesake of this island was derived from the long shape of the isle, which was boat-like in nature, and the effects of the water breaking upon what was seen as the prow of the ship. The island was around ten miles in length, and narrowed toward its northern end, creating the prow. Cair Andros was one of the main sites used to cross the river Anduin, along with Osgiliath to the south. As the northern parts of the river were nearly impassable marshland, and the south of the river near Lebennin became too wide to ford safely, these two locations were critical to both Gondor and Mordor during the war.

Early History
Strategically, the island was of immense importance: apart from the bridge at Osgiliath, it was the only practical means for an army from the east to cross the Anduin into Gondor's heartlands. The Gondorians took this risk seriously. Amon Dîn, the first of the Beacon-hills, was set up originally to warn the citizens of Minas Tirith if Cair Andros was ever breached. Gondor took steps to fortify the island, too, but the history of these fortifications is difficult to establish. We know that it was 'manned' at the time of King Ondoher's fall in III, but whatever defences were in place at that time were apparently abandoned, since Denethor's great-grandfather Túrin II found it necessary to fortify the island again.

Cair Andros Under Assault
Main Article : Gondor Civil War

When Mordor caused the civil war in Gondor, one of the main points of the war was the northern section of the battlefield near the fortress of Cair Andros. Cair Andros was something that throughout the entire conflict was being continuesly attacked by both the forces of Mordor, and their vassals in the region. The forces of Gondor were being pushed back and drained to the point that they were nearly destroyed and this was getting worse when a massive Orc force came and besieged the city with the obvious approach of ending Cair Andros. Calls for aid went out to Gondor's main army but they were pinned down in southern Gondor between Mordor, and Umbar and thus couldn't assist. When the call came back that they were not going to get any assistence the commander of the fortress who at the time was the Gondorian General Melian Pasen gave the basic order that they were going to die in the fortress. The siege continued for weeks and the garrison was wittled down over this time and was preparing to fall when a large force of Sindar Elves from High Forest appeared in the north flanked by a small force of Gondor Cavalry led by Edrion Elessar the brother of the King. The Elven Force had been convinsed by Edrion Elessar to assist Gondor and when noone had volunteered to go the Elven commander Glorifindal had led a massive army eastward towards Cair Andros. The Elven/Gondor force took Mordor completely by suprise and the Mordor force was nearly completely destroyed.

Garrison
Following their victory the forces of Gondor watched as the Sindar Elves of High Forest poured forces into the Cair Andros region and went about rebuilding the defences and using their massive force to make sure noone attacked while this was underway. For the remainder of the Civil War the Sindar Elves of High Forest led by Glorifindal would remain in Cair Andros and make the northern front a complete victory for Gondor and thus allowing Gondor to pull forces out of the north and into the center.