Baldwin IV, learning of Saladin's plans, leaves…
November 1177 CE
Baldwin IV, learning of Saladin's plans, leaves Jerusalem with, according to William of Tyre, only three hundred and seventy-five knights to attempt a defense at Ascalon, but Baldwin is stalled here by a detachment of troops sent by Saladin, who, again according to William of Tyre, has twenty-six thousand men.
The true numbers are impossible to estimate, since the Christian sources refer only to knights and give no account of the number of infantry and Turcopoles, except that it is evident from the number of the dead and wounded that there must have been more men than the three hundred and seventy-five "knights".
It is also uncertain whether the so-called knights included mounted sergeants or squires, or whether they were true knights.
Just as uncertain are the numbers of their opponents.
An 1181 review listed Saladin's Mamluk forces at six thousand nine hundred and seventy-six Ghulams and one thousand five hundred and fifty-three Qaraghulams.
However, there would have been additional soldiers available in Syria and elsewhere, while auxiliaries might have accompanied the Mamluks.
Whether these would have added up to a total of twenty-six thousand reported by William of Tyre is impossible to say.