ARSUF, a town on the coast of Palestine, 12 m. N.N.E. of Jaffa,
famous as the scene of a victory of the crusaders under
Richard I. of
England over the army of
Saladin. After the capture of Acre on the 12th
of July 1191, the army of the crusaders, under Richard Coeur-de-Lion and the duke of Burgundy, opened their campaign for the recovery of
Jerusalem by marching southward towards Jaffa, from which place it was
intended to move direct upon the holy city. The march was along the
sea-shore, and, the forces of Saladin being in the vicinity, the army
moved in such a formation as to be able to give battle at any moment.
Richard thus moved slowly, but in such compact order as to arouse the
admiration even of the enemy. The right column of baggage and supplies,
guarded by infantry, was nearest the sea, the various corps of heavy
cavalry, one behind the other, formed the central column, and on the
exposed left flank was the infantry, well closed up, and "level and
firm as a wall," according to the testimony of Saracen authors. The
columns were united into a narrow rectangle by the advanced and rear
guards. The whole march was a running fight between untiring
horse-archers and steady infantry. Only once did the column open out,
and the opportunity was swiftly seized by the Saracens, yet so rapid was
the rally of the crusaders that little damage was done (August 25). The
latter maintained for many days an absolutely passive defence, and could
not be tempted to fight; Richard and his knights made occasional
charges, but quickly withdrew, and on the 7th of September this
irregular skirmishing, in which the crusaders had scarcely suffered at
all, culminated in the battle of Arsuf. Saladin had by now decided that
the only hope of success lay in compelling the rear of the Christians'
column to halt - and thus opening a gap, should the van be still on the
move. Richard, on the other hand, had prepared for action by closing up
still more, and as the crusaders were now formed a simple left turn
brought them into two lines of battle, infantry in first line, cavalry
in second line. Near Arsuf the road entered a defile between the sea and
a wooded range of hills; and from the latter the whole Moslem army
suddenly burst forth. The weight of the attack fell upon the rear of
Richard's column, as Saladin desired. The column slowly continued its
march, suffering heavily in horses, but otherwise unharmed. The first
assault thus made no impression, but a fierce hand-to-hand combat
followed, in which the Hospitallers, who formed the rear of the
Christian army, were hard pressed. Their grand master, like many other
subordinates in history, repeatedly begged to be allowed to charge, but
Richard, who on this occasion showed the highest gift of generalship,
that of feeling the pulse of the fight, waited for the favourable
moment. Almost as he gave the signal for the whole line to charge, the
sorely pressed Hospitallers rode out upon the enemy on their own
initiative. At once the whole of the cavalry followed suit. The head (or
right wing) and centre were not closely engaged, and their fleeter
opponents had time to ride off, but the rear of the column carried all
before it in its impetuous onset, and cut down the Saracens in great
numbers. A second charge, followed by a third, dispersed the enemy in
all directions. The total loss of the Saracens was more than tenfold
that of the Christians, who lost but seven hundred men. The army arrived
at Jaffa on the 10th of September.
See Oman, Hist. of the Art
of War, ii. 303-317.
This article is from the 1911 edition of an
encyclopedia, which is out of copyright here in the U.S. It is in the
public domain and you may copy, download, print and distribute this work
as you see fit.
Every effort has been made to present this text accurately and
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