Saladin on receiving reports that more of…

August 1192 CE

Saladin on receiving reports that more of the Franks are coming down from Caesarea opts to launch a counterattack on Jaffa to recapture it before these additional reinforcements can arrive.

Muslim troops on the early morning of August 4 mass around the walled town, concealing themselves in the fields and intending to attack at dawn the next day.

Just before sunrise, however, an Italian soldier out for a stroll discerns the hidden enemy; the sound of horses and glint of armor serving to confirm his suspicions.

The sentries promptly raise the alarm, and Richard quickly assembles his knights, infantry and crossbowmen for battle.

He orders his infantry, including unmounted knights, to form a defensive hedge of spears by kneeling and driving their shields and the shafts of their spears or lances into the ground, with the spearheads pointing towards their opponents.

The crossbowmen stand behind the protective wall of spearmen, working in pairs, one firing while the other loads.

Richard keeps his handful of mounted knights as a reserve in the rear.

The lightly armored Turkish, Egyptian and Bedouin cavalry charge repeatedly until it becomes plain that the Crusaders will not break ranks; the attackers veer away from the spears without coming to blows.

Each Ayyubid attack suffers many losses due to crossbow fire.

The armor of the Christians proves better able to withstand the arrows of the Saracens than the armor of the Saracens can withstand crossbow bolts.

Moreover, the horses of Saladin's nearly all-cavalry force are particularly vulnerable to missile fire.

After a few hours' onslaught, both sides begin to tire.

Saladin's demoralized cavalrymen, having suffered considerably from the barrage of crossbow bolts without having been able to dent the crusaders' defenses, are put to flight by a charge of the knights, only ten to fifteen of whom are mounted, led by the king himself.

While the battle rages, a group of Ayyubid soldiers are able to outflank the crusader army and enter Jaffa.

The Genoese marines who had been entrusted to remain behind and guard the gates offer little resistance before retreating to their ships.

Before the Muslims can exploit their success, however, Richard himself gallops into the town and rallies all of its fighting men.

It has become clear to Saladin by evening that his men have been soundly defeated and he gives the order to withdraw.

Saladin's forces have suffered seven hundred dead and lost fifteen hundred horses; the crusaders have lost only two dead, though many are wounded.

As with many medieval battles, however, the recorded figures for losses may not be entirely reliable.

The Ayyubid forces, leaving their dead on the field, begin the long march back to Jerusalem.

The repulse from Jaffa marks the end of Saladin's counteroffensive.

Both sides are completely exhausted, and Palestine is in a ruinous state.

Richard falls seriously ill soon after the fighting at Jaffa.