As the war turned against the north, King Robb Stark sent a strong body of foot east toward the town of Duskendale, under the command of Ser Helman Tallhart and Robett Glover, hoping to draw Lannister strength away from the riverlands and to threaten the coast. The northmen took the town, but they were soon caught in a snare. Lord Randyll Tarly of Horn Hill, the finest battle commander in Lord Tywin's service, fell upon them, and the brute Ser Gregor Clegane came up to close the trap; the northern host, far from Robb and short of horse, was surrounded and cut to pieces against the sea.
The defeat was among the most grievous the young wolf suffered in the whole war. Ser Helman Tallhart was slain in the fighting, Robett Glover was taken captive, and a great part of Robb's infantry, men he could ill afford to lose, was destroyed in a single stroke. Coming atop the loss of Winterfell and the reaving of the north, Duskendale left the king's cause bleeding and short of spears, and hastened the fatal reckoning with the Freys that would soon follow at the Twins.