Battle by the Lakeshore

Battle by the Lakeshore/; The Fishfeed
	The bloody lakeshore of "the Fishfeed" by Sven Sauer and Igor Posavec for The Rise of the Dragon
Conflict	Dance of the Dragons
Date	130 AC
Place	Western Gods Eye, the riverlands
Result	Victory for the blacks
	Combatants
House Targaryen/Blacks House Bigglestone; House Blackwood; House Chambers; House Charlton; House Dustin; House Frey; House Grey; House Perryn;	House Targaryen/Greens House Crakehall; House Lannister; House Lefford; House Reyne; House Swyft;
	Commanders
Lord Roderick Dustin; Lord Forrest Frey; Lord Jon Charlton; Lord Benjicot Blackwood; Red Robb Rivers; Lord Bigglestone; Lord Chambers; Lord Perryn; Ser Garibald Grey;	Lord Humfrey Lefford; Lord Swyft; Lord Reyne;
	Strength
at least ~12,000 (and possibly three times as many levies) Northern force: 2,000 Winter Wolves; 200 Frey knights; 600 Frey infantrymen; 300 Blackwood archers; Southern force: Unknown number from Bigglestone, Chambers, Perryn; Western force: Unknown number from Blackwood, Charlton, and Grey;	at least 8,000 (and possibly three times as many sellswords and levies) 1,000 mounted knights; 7,000 men-at-arms;
	Casualties
Heavy two thirds of the Winter Wolves; Possibly between ~12-18,000 men (including levies); ; Lord Forrest Frey†; Lord Bigglestone†; Lord Jon Charlton†;	total annihilation (possibly up to 30,000 men); ; Lord Humfrey Lefford†; Lord Swyft†; Lord Reyne†; Ser Clarent Crakehall†; Ser Emory Hill†;

The Battle by the Lakeshore, called the Fishfeed by its participants, was a major battle along the shores of the Gods Eye in the riverlands during the Dance of the Dragons. It was the bloodiest land battle of the entire war.^[1]

Prelude

During the Dance of the Dragons, House Lannister of the westerlands supported the greens, while House Stark of the north and most of the disorganized lords of the riverlands supported the blacks. Lord Jason Lannister led an army eastward in support of Aegon II Targaryen, but Jason was killed by Pate of Longleaf in the Battle at the Red Fork^[2] and Ser Adrian Tarbeck was later slain by Ser Harry Penny.^[1] The Lannister army continued slowly because of the age and infirmity of its wounded new commander, Lord Humfrey Lefford.^[1]

When the westermen reached the western shore of the Gods Eye, Lord Lefford discovered he was opposed by Lord Roderick Dustin with two thousand Winter Wolves (all of them mounted), Lord Forrest Frey with two hundred knights and six hundred infantrymen, and Robb Rivers with three hundred archers from Raventree Hall. The westermen were quickly faced with another threat from the south, when Ser Pate of Longleaf arrived with survivors from previous battles in the war (possibly from the Pipers and Vances),^{[N 1]} as well as Lords Bigglestone, Chambers, and Perryn.^[1]

The cautious Humfrey did not rush to face either enemy force, and thus be caught out of position in the field, but took up a defensive position with his back to the lakeshore. Humfrey then sent ravens to nearby Harrenhal to seek assistance from Prince Aemond Targaryen, but Red Robb shot down the dozen ravens. The blacks received further reinforcement with the arrival of more riverlords the following day, including Ser Garibald Grey, Lord Jon Charlton, and young Lord Benjicot Blackwood.^[1]

Despite cornering the Lannister army, the black commanders now faced a difficult decision: the Lannisters had pulled back into a defensive position behind columns of disciplined pikemen, so a direct assault would still result in heavy losses. Nonetheless, they could not simply wait to starve out the Lannister army, because Aemond's host would eventually realize that communications had ceased, and rush to the aid of the Lannisters - bringing Aemond's dragon Vhagar. Lord Dustin and the other black commanders therefore chose to rush the Lannister position while they still could.^[1]

Battle

The army of westermen were attacked at dawn the next morning. The Winter Wolves led the attack, their cavalry charging the Lannister spearmen five times, but suffering grievous losses in the attempts. Attacked by the blacks from three sides, the Lannister soldiers were gradually forced back into the Gods Eye. Hundreds died fighting amongst the lake's reeds, and hundreds of others drowned while trying to escape.^[1]

The battle degenerated into carnage, and was ultimately the bloodiest land battle of the entire war; the high number of casualties led to it being called the "Fishfeed" by its participants. The blacks lost Lords Frey, Bigglestone, and Charlton, and two-thirds of the northern soldiers were killed or wounded. The greens lost their commander, Lord Lefford, as well as Lords Swyft and Reyne and the knights Clarent Crakehall and Emory Hill. Young Lord Blackwood wept when he saw all of the dead.^[1]

Aftermath

The Lannisters' main army was totally destroyed in the battle, the flower of knighthood from all the westerlands cut down in a single day. With only skeleton forces left to defend their home territory, Dalton Greyjoy, Lord of the Iron Islands, opportunistically allied with Rhaenyra so the ironborn could plunder the coasts of the westerlands, sacking Lannisport but failing to take Casterly Rock itself. Despite their disproportionate victory, the black armies in the riverlands were also badly mauled in the bloodbath.^[1]

In response to the greens' crushing defeat, Prince Aemond and Ser Criston Cole abandoned Harrenhal. Aemond waged a guerilla war atop Vhagar, and Criston headed south to find Lord Ormund Hightower. The victorious rivermen avoided facing Criston's host directly, but wore him down with ambushes and scorched earth tactics, which included arranging the bodies of fallen soldiers from the Fishfeed in gruesome displays to frighten Criston's host (causing many to desert). The rivermen (and few surviving Winter Wolves) eventually cornered Criston's depleted army in the Butcher's Ball.^[1]

Quotes

Best make an end to these lions before the dragons come.^[1]
—Roderick Dustin to the blacks

In the annals of the Citadel it is known as the Battle by the Lakeshore, but to those men who lived to tell of it, it was always the Fishfeed.^[1]
—writings of Gyldayn

The Lannister host was shattered and slaughtered, but at such cost that young Ben Blackwood, the boy Lord of Raventree, wept when he saw the heaps of the dead.^[1]
—writings of Gyldayn

Notes

↑ While not directly stated, given that Pate of Longleaf fought at the Battle at the Red Fork with the forces of House Piper and House Vance of Wayfarer's Rest, and was knighted by Lord Petyr Piper after that battle, it seems probable that these "survivors of earlier battles" included the Pipers and Vances.

References

↑ ^1.00 ^1.01 ^1.02 ^1.03 ^1.04 ^1.05 ^1.06 ^1.07 ^1.08 ^1.09 ^1.10 ^1.11 ^1.12 Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Triumphant.
↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Targaryen Kings: Aegon II.

[Combatant-3] While not directly stated, given that Pate of Longleaf fought at the Battle at the Red Fork with the forces of House Piper and House Vance of Wayfarer's Rest, and was knighted by Lord Petyr Piper after that battle, it seems probable that these "survivors of earlier battles" included the Pipers and Vances.

[Rfabthe_dying_of_the_dragons_-_rhaenyra_triumphant{{{3}}}{{{4}}}-1] 1.00 ^1.01 ^1.02 ^1.03 ^1.04 ^1.05 ^1.06 ^1.07 ^1.08 ^1.09 ^1.10 ^1.11 ^1.12 Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Triumphant.

[Rtwoiafthe_targaryen_kings:_aegon_ii{{{3}}}{{{4}}}-2] The World of Ice & Fire, The Targaryen Kings: Aegon II.

[1]

[2]

[N 1]

v t e Dance of the Dragons
129 AC	Coronation of Aegon II Coronation of Rhaenyra Assault on Harrenhal Fight above Shipbreaker Bay Battle of the Burning Mill & Taking of Stone Hedge Sack of Duskendale Battle at Rook's Rest The Sowing of the Seeds
130 AC	Battle of the Gullet¹ Battle of the Honeywine² Retaking of Rook's Rest Battle at the Red Fork Sack of Lannisport Battle at Acorn Hall Aemond's march on Harrenhal Fall of King's Landing Battle by the Lakeshore Siege of Longtable Sack of Bitterbridge Butcher's Ball First Battle of Tumbleton Fall of Dragonstone Battle Above the Gods Eye Riots at King's Landing Storming of the Dragonpit Flight to Dragonstone Second Battle of Tumbleton Moon of the Three Kings
131 AC	Battle of the Kingsroad Hour of the Wolf Wedding of Aegon III and Jaehaera
¹The World of Ice & Fire includes the Battle of the Gullet among the battles of 129, but George R. R. Martin settled for 130 in Fire & Blood. ²Occurred a fortnight after the Battle of the Gullet (Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - The Red Dragon and the Gold).