Guy de Lusignan had but nine thousand men when he laid siege to Ptolemaïs; but the whole West was preparing to fly to the defence of the Holy Land. The army of the Christians soon became of sufficient magnitude to excite serious alarm among the Saracens. French, English, and Flemish warriors preceded Philip and Richard, under the command of Jacques d’Avesnes, one of the greatest captains of his time, and the bishop of Beauvais, brother to the count of Dreux. The Genoese, the Venetians, and the Pisans, with the greater part of the Crusaders from the provinces of Italy, arrived in Palestine under the orders of the archbishops of Pisa and Ravenna. The cries of alarm of the Christians of the East had resounded even to the north of Europe, where young warriors had taken up arms to combat the infidels. All the nations of the West furnished Jerusalem with defenders, and eighty thousand Crusaders attacked the ramparts of Ptolemaïs, whilst the powerful monarchs who had placed themselves at the head of the crusade, were still engaged in preparations for their departure.
Saladin, who had at first despised the Christians, now thought it prudent to gather his powers together to oppose them. After assembling his army at Damascus, he crossed Anti-Libanus, and the mountains of Galilee, and encamped at a short distance from Ptolemaïs. He pitched his tents and pavilions at the extremity of the plain, on the mountains of Casan, from whence he could overlook all the sea-coast. On one side his army extended from the river Belus, and on the other as far as Mahumeria, or the Hill of the Mosque. The sultan occupied all the elevated posts, and all the passages by which the Christians could pass out from the spot upon which they were encamped. Thus the besiegers were besieged, and the army before the walls of the city saw the banners of the Mussulmans floating around it.
The Christians made their intrenchments, dug wide ditches,[324] and raised towers at proper distances around their camp, in order to repulse the attacks of Saladin or the garrison of Ptolemaïs. The Mussulman army had scarcely pitched its tents when it presented itself in battle array before the trenches of the Crusaders, and fought with them several combats, in which victory was doubtful. In one of these conflicts the sultan penetrated to the city, and after having ascertained from the top of the towers the position of the Crusaders, he joined the garrison in a sortie, and surprised, and drove them into their camp. By entering into Ptolemaïs, Saladin revived the courage of the inhabitants and troops; he arranged measures necessary for the providing of supplies, he left them some of his chosen warriors, and gave them for leaders the most intrepid of his emirs, Melchou, the faithful companion of his victories, and Karacoush,[325] whose capacity and bravery had been often tried during the conquest of Egypt. The sultan then returned to his camp, prepared to combat afresh the army of the Crusaders.
The roads of Galilee were covered with Mussulman soldiers coming from Damascus; and as Saladin looked daily for the arrival of a fleet from Egypt, which would make him master of the sea, he hoped soon to be able to triumph over the Christians, and deliver Ptolemaïs. A few days after the victory he had gained, a great number of vessels appeared upon the sea, directing their course towards the land. Both armies were filled with hope and joy, the Mussulmans believing them to be a fleet from the ports of Damietta and Alexandria, whilst the Crusaders confidently hoped them to be a Christian armament coming to their aid. The standard of the cross was soon seen floating from the masts of the vessels, which, whilst it excited the liveliest joy in the Christians, equally depressed the Mussulmans. Two fleets from western ports entered the Road of Ptolemaïs. The first bore the German Crusaders, commanded by the duke of Gueldres and the landgrave of Thuringia, and the other the warriors of Friesland and Denmark, who, after having fought the Saracens in Spain, came to defend the kingdom of Jerusalem. Conrad, marquis of Tyre, could not remain idle while this war was going on; he armed vessels, raised troops, and united his forces with those of the Christian army.
The arrival of the new reinforcements restored the ardour of the Crusaders. The Christian knights, according to an Arabian historian,[326] covered with their long cuirasses of steel, looked, from a distance, like serpents spread over the plain; when they flew to arms, they resembled birds of prey, and in the mêlée, they were as indomitable lions. In a council, several emirs proposed to Saladin to retire before an enemy as numerous, they said, as the sands of the sea, more violent than tempests, and more impetuous than torrents.
The Christians, encouraged by the reinforcements that continued to arrive daily, resolved to attack Saladin, and drive him beyond the mountains. They marched out from their intrenchments, and drew up in order of battle. Their army extended from the mouth of the Belus to the hill of Turon. The Crusaders, full of zeal and ardour, were commanded by many illustrious captains, among whom the grand master of the Templars, the marquis of Tyre, the counts of Blois, Bar, and Clermont, with de Brioude, and Guy and Gauche de Chatillon, were conspicuous. The clergy even appeared in arms; the archbishops of Ravenna, Pisa, Canterbury, Besançon, Nazareth, and Montréal; the bishops of Beauvais, Salisbury, Cambrai, Ptolemaïs, and Bethlehem, assumed the helmet and cuirass, and led warriors on to battle. The Christian army presented so redoubtable an aspect, and appeared so full of confidence, that a Christian knight cried out, in the height of his enthusiasm: “Let God remain neuter, and the victory is ours!”
The king of Jerusalem, who caused the book of the Evangelists to be borne before him, wrapped in a covering of silk, and supported by four knights, commanded the right wing; he had under his orders the French and the Hospitallers; his lines extended to the Belus. The Venetians, the Lombards, and the Syrians formed the left wing, which was flanked by the sea, and marched under the banners of Conrad. The centre of the army was occupied by the Germans, the Pisans, and the English, headed by the landgrave of Thuringia. The grand master of the Templars, with his knights, and the duke of Gueldres, with his soldiers, formed the body of reserve ready to hasten wherever danger or the chances of the day might call them. The guardianship of the camp was intrusted to Gerard d’Avesnes and Geoffrey de Lusignan.
When the Christian army was drawn up on the plain, the Saracens issued from their intrenchments, and prepared to sustain the shock of the Crusaders. Saladin placed himself with his Mamelukes in the centre; his nephew Teki-eddin Omar, one of his most skilful lieutenants, commanded the right wing, which extended to the sea at the north-east of Ptolemaïs; the princes of Mossoul and Sandjar commanded the left wing, bearing upon the river Belus. By this disposition, Saladin inclosed the Christians between the river Belus and the sea, and left them no means of retreat if fortune should favour his arms.
The archers and cavalry of the Christians commenced the conflict. At the first charge they broke the right wing of the Mussulmans, commanded by the nephew of Saladin. The cavalry and infantry of the marquis of Tyre advanced upon the field of battle, the Saracens giving way before them as they proceeded. Pursuing the enemy, who fled in disorder, the Christians ascended the hill of the Mosque, and planted their standards in the camp of the infidels. The count of Bar even penetrated to the tent of the sultan, which was given up to pillage. An Arabian historian,[327] who followed the army, says of himself, that upon beholding the rout of the Mussulmans, he took to flight, and did not stop till he came to Tiberias. The terror was so great, that several Saracens fled as far as Damascus. Saladin remained almost alone upon the field of battle, and was several times in great danger.[328]