The terms of the capitulation remained unexecuted; Saladin, under various pretexts, deferring the payments. Richard, irritated by a delay which appeared to him a breach of faith, revenged himself upon his prisoners. Without pity for disarmed enemies, or regard for the Christians he exposed to sanguinary reprisals, he massacred five thousand Mussulmans before the city they had so bravely defended, and within sight of Saladin, who shared the disgrace of this barbarity by thus abandoning his bravest and most faithful warriors.
Such was the conclusion of this famous siege, which lasted nearly three years, in which the Crusaders shed more blood and exhibited more bravery than ought to have sufficed for the subjugation of the whole of Asia. More than a hundred skirmishes and nine great battles were fought before the walls of the city; several flourishing armies came to recruit armies nearly annihilated, and were in their turn replaced by fresh armies. The bravest nobility of Europe perished in this siege, swept away by sword or disease.
In this war, both sides exhibited their fanaticism to the utmost extent; bishops and imaums equally promising remission of sins and crowns of martyrdom. Whilst the king of Jerusalem caused the book of the Evangelists to be borne before him, Saladin would often pause on the field of battle to offer up a prayer, or read a chapter from the Koran. The Franks and the Christians mutually accused each other of ignorance of the true God, and of outraging him by their ceremonies. The Christians rushed upon their enemies, shouting Dieu le veut! Dieu le veut! and the Saracens as loudly responded by their war-cry of Islam! Islam!
As it has been our constant wish to scatter a few flowers among the melancholy scenes it is our task to paint, we cannot omit a celebrated story connected with the siege of Acre.
Among the bravest of the French knights was the all-accomplished Raoul de Coucy. He tenderly loved the fair Gabrielle de Vergy, and was by her as warmly loved in return. Fearing to augment the torments which his mistress underwent from the jealousy of her husband, the Seigneur Dufaiël, De Coucy enrolled himself among the heroes of the Cross. Mortally wounded before Acre, he called his faithful squire to his side, and charged him to convey to the lady Dufaiël, a letter from his own hand, together with the jewels he had received from her. On the point of death, he likewise made him promise, under the bond of an oath, to bear his heart to the lady for whom alone it had ever breathed a sigh. Raoul being dead, his faithful squire set out to execute his last wishes: he crossed the seas, and reached Vermandois, never, for a moment, abandoning the care of his precious but sad charge. Arriving in the neighbourhood of the castle of Dufaiël it was his ill fortune to meet with its stern master, the jealous tyrant of Gabrielle, by whom he was immediately recognised. When closely interrogated, he described the death of Raoul, and supposing with that all jealousy must be at an end, told him likewise of the subject of his mission. Dufaiël eagerly seized the fatal deposit; transported with jealousy, he returned to the castle, and caused the heart of the unfortunate De Coucy to be served up to his lady in a dish of hashed meat. She ate of it. “That dish,” said he, with a bitter smile, “must appear very delicious to you, for it is the heart of your lover.” At the same time he threw upon the table the box, the letter, and the jewels. At the sight of these, the lady Dufaiël, convinced of the death of her lover, and of the cruelty of her husband, fainted, and only recovered to swear that that food should be her last. A prey to the deepest despair, continually bathed in tears, she persistently refused all aliment: in a very few days, grief completed the sacrifice. Devoured by remorse, it is said that the barbarous Dufaiël survived her but a short time.
After the siege, Philip’s patience was exhausted by the haughty assumption, and his envy excited by the heroic exploits of Richard, and he returned to France, leaving a body of troops under the command of his rival. We will not venture into the wide field of Cœur de Lion’s miraculous feats on this scene of action. Two of the greatest heroes of history, Richard and Saladin, were matched against each other, and, notwithstanding the superior sagacity and self-command of Saladin, Richard’s extraordinary courage, strength, and prowess maintained for him the character of the bravest soldier of the age. But with all his valour and exertions, he failed in the ostensible object of his enterprise: circumstances of a various but imperative nature prevented his reaching Jerusalem; he reluctantly turned his back upon it, when within three leagues of it, and returned to Europe, after concluding a truce with Saladin for three years, three months, three weeks, three days, and three hours.
SECOND SIEGE, A.D. 1799.
Buonaparte, being informed of the coalition of the Ottomans and the English to drive the French out of Egypt, thought to be beforehand with them by carrying the war into Syria. After taking Gaza and Jaffa, and gaining an advantage over the Turks, on the 18th of March he arrived before Acre. But the fortifications had been recently repaired, under the direction of Sir Sidney Smith, the English commodore, and a French engineer named Phélypeaux. These fortifications consisted of curtains flanked with square towers; the munitions were principally supplied by the English ships. Thus Buonaparte was not only opposed to Turks but to British sailors, led by one of those naval heroes who so gloriously illustrated this war. Ahmet-Djezzar Pasha was governor of Acre, a man addicted to cruelty, and inspired with an inveterate hatred for the French. The Turks easily allowed themselves to be shut up in the place, confident of receiving constant supplies from their English friends. The French were encamped upon an isolated height, extending a league and a half to Cape Blanc. They found abundant provisions in Nazareth and its neighbourhood. On the 10th of March the trenches were opened at five hundred toises from the body of the place; and, by the 28th, the breach-batteries and counter-batteries were ready. For want of siege artillery, field artillery was employed; in one day, the French succeeded in making an opening in the tower of attack; they had at the same time pushed on a mine branch, to blow up the counterscarp. The mine was sprung, and the French felt satisfied of its success. The troops earnestly desired to be led to the assault. They judged the breach would be similar to one in which they had been successful at Jaffa; but scarcely had they rushed upon it, than they found themselves stopped by a fosse fifteen feet wide, backed by a good counterscarp. They planted their ladders against it; the head of the grenadiers had already descended; the breach was still eight feet from them; some ladders were placed there. Adjutant Mailly mounted first, but was struck dead by a ball. The fire of the place was terrible; a simple tunnel had been formed upon the glacis; the counterscarp was not touched; it impeded the French, and forced a party of grenadiers intended to support the first assailants to retreat. Adjutant-Generals Escale and Langier were killed. A momentary panic seized the besieged, and they were flying towards the port; but they as suddenly rallied and returned to the breach. From the top of the tower, they poured down upon the besiegers stones, grenades, and all sorts of inflammable matters. The French grenadiers regained their boyaux, foaming with rage. The taking of Jaffa had led the French into a deceptive contempt for these kinds of fortifications. They treated as a mere field affair a siege which required all the resources of art. At least so say the French authorities; Sir Sidney Smith’s biographer, whilst doing perfect justice to the bravery and efforts of the French, says that the fortifications, though made the most of by Phélypeaux and Sir Sidney, were in a very bad condition. Emboldened by this first success, the Turks made several sorties, in which the loss was great on both sides; that of the French, being, however, sensibly increased by the death of their best engineer, Detroyes. Djezzar made a sortie on the 7th of April; he marched in three columns; at the head of each were English sailors and marines, and all the batteries were served by cannoniers of that nation. The French then perceived what was the object of the sortie; the English wished to gain possession of the first posts and the advanced works. Instantly, a fire so well kept up was opened upon them from the places d’armes and the counterscarp, that all who had advanced were either killed or wounded. The centre column exhibited more firmness. It had been ordered to obtain possession of the entrance to the mine. The commanding officer, Captain Atfield, was shot whilst boldly leading on his men. The English accounts say that the failure in this assault was owing to the impetuosity, noise, and want of discipline of the Turks. The English and Turks returned to the town without having gained their object. The reverses of the parallels remained covered by the English and their allies.
“Though hostilities were carried on with such vigour and apparent rancour in the trenches and on the breach, yet there were frequent suspensions of operations, and the distinguished French generals, on such occasions, derived much pleasure from visiting Sir Sidney on board the Tigre. On one of these occasions, and after the besieging party had made some progress, Generals Kleber and Junot were, with Sir Sidney Smith, walking the quarter-deck of the Tigre, in a very amiable mood of sociability, one on each side the English commander.
“After a few turns in silence, Junot, regarding the battered fortifications that lay before him, and they being dwindled by distance into much insignificance, thus broke out in the spirit of false prophecy:—