22 August – 6 September 1191
The fighting march
After the fall of Acre in July, Richard I of England leads the Crusader army south along the coast toward Jaffa, the port for Jerusalem. Before leaving, on 20 August, he has about 2,700 Muslim prisoners of the Acre garrison executed outside the city when the ransom terms lapse — an act both Latin and Arabic chroniclers record. The march starts on 22 August, the fleet keeping pace offshore and the sea guarding the right flank. Saladin's army shadows it, its horse archers harassing the column day after day in the late-summer heat; by one account Richard is grazed by a javelin. On 5 September, Baha al-Din reports, Richard meets Saladin's brother al-Adil under truce, but the talks fail. On the night of 6 September the army camps at the mouth of the Nahr al-Faliq — the Crusaders' 'Rochetaillée', today's Poleg stream — with a marsh covering its eastern side. Arsuf lies about 8 km to the south.
7 September 1191, early morning
Order of march
Ayyubid scouts can be seen on every side; Saladin's main army is waiting in and behind the Forest of Arsuf, an oak woodland on the low sandy ridges inland. The Crusaders must cross a plain between the forest and the sea that the chroniclers make one to two miles wide. Richard marches his roughly 1,200 knights in twelve squadrons, grouped (the exact grouping is uncertain) behind the Templars under Robert de Sablé in the van; then the Bretons and Angevins, the Poitevins under Guy of Lusignan, the English and Normans around the great standard on its wagon, the French, Flemish and Syrian barons, and the Hospitallers under Garnier of Nablus as rearguard. The infantry — modern estimates put the whole army at about 10,000–20,000 — form a screen on the landward side with the crossbowmen outermost, while the baggage and half the foot, resting in turn, march by the sea. Richard and Hugh of Burgundy ride up and down the column; Henry of Champagne watches the hills.
7 September, about 9 AM
Out of the woods
Soon after the march begins, Saladin's army comes out of the woods. Baha al-Din, who was with the Ayyubid centre, describes it drawn up in a right wing, centre and left wing; ahead of it come Bedouin and Sudanese foot archers and javelin-men, then swarms of Turkish horse archers, with drums, cymbals and trumpets. Saladin's army — perhaps 25,000, nearly all cavalry, by modern estimates (the Itinerarium's 300,000 is not credible) — tries to break the column's order or provoke the knights into a scattered charge. The Crusaders keep marching, and their crossbowmen keep the archers at a distance.
7 September, late morning – early afternoon
The rearguard under pressure
The weight of the attack falls on the rear. The Hospitallers, losing horses to the archers, are forced to march almost backward to face the enemy, and the crossbowmen and archers of the rearguard fight as they walk. The Itinerarium says the column was so thickly shot at that the arrows covered the ground. Garnier of Nablus twice sends to Richard asking leave to charge; Richard, wanting the Ayyubid horsemen closer and more tired, tells him to hold until a signal of six trumpet blasts.
7 September, mid-afternoon
The Hospitaller charge
As the vanguard reaches the orchards of Arsuf, the rear is at breaking point. The Marshal of the Hospital and Baldwin le Caron, a knight of Richard's household, charge without waiting, crying 'St George!'. The other Hospitallers follow, and the French and Flemish squadrons ahead of them turn and charge too, the infantry opening lanes to let them through. The traditional story is of disobedience under intolerable pressure; some historians suggest Richard had left his commanders room to seize the moment, and it is uncertain whether a trumpet signal could be heard over the Ayyubid drums. The blow hits the Ayyubid right wing, many of whose horse archers had dismounted to shoot.
7 September, mid-afternoon
Richard's general charge
Richard sees that the charge must be supported or the Hospitallers will be overwhelmed, and sends the whole line of knights after them. The Ayyubid right wing breaks, and the centre and left give way. Baha al-Din, in the centre, saw it turn in flight and rode to the left wing, which was fleeing too. Richard halts the knights after about a mile (some 1.5 km) so they do not scatter in a reckless pursuit, keeping the English and Normans by the standard as a reserve. Lewis's 2013–14 survey found arrowheads, a probable helmet plate and a horse fitting in the fields north-east of Arsuf, near the line of this fighting.
7 September, late afternoon
Rally and the last charges
The Ayyubids rally. Taqi al-Din, Saladin's nephew, leads some 700 of the Sultan's own guard against the Crusaders' left; Saladin, by Baha al-Din's account left with only seventeen guards and a drummer, has his banners raised to gather the scattered men. Richard regroups and charges a second time, and the Ayyubids give way again; a third charge drives them into the woods and the hills beyond. The Itinerarium pictures Richard in the thick of the fighting. James of Avesnes, a lord of Hainaut, is unhorsed and killed — by Ambroise's account after cutting down fifteen enemies — the only Crusader leader of note to fall.
7–10 September 1191
Arsuf and the road to Jaffa
The army camps at Arsuf. Losses are uncertain: Christian chroniclers claim 7,000 Ayyubid dead and 32 emirs — likely too many — while Baha al-Din names emirs who fell, among them Musek, Qaymaz al-Adili and Lighush; the Crusaders reportedly lost about 700. Next day men go back to recover James of Avesnes, who is buried in Arsuf. Saladin's army is beaten but not destroyed. On 9 September the march resumes to the Nahr al-Auja (Yarkon), and on about 10 September the Crusaders enter Jaffa, whose walls Saladin had demolished, and begin to rebuild them. The victory restored the army's confidence and its hold on the coast, but did not open the road to Jerusalem; the war ended with the Treaty of Jaffa in 1192.
