The Accursed Tower by Roger Crowley

Author:Roger Crowley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 2019-11-04T16:00:00+00:00

DESPITE THE VAST army that he had assembled and the almost unbroken success of the Mamluks against crusader castles over the past thirty years, there was risk for Khalil in this venture—and his legitimacy as sultan depended on success. The dispatch of an unpopular ruler who lost authority could be sudden and bloody. He had no ships and no ability to seal Acre off against resupply or reinforcement by sea, though he was probably well informed by Muslims who knew the city well as traders and spies about the likely defensive strategy and the response to Acre’s appeals for help. Spring seas could be unpredictable, and there was every chance that the weather might disrupt the arrival of any relief from Cyprus.

It was important for the sultan to show a close personal interest in the work in progress. The Mamluk military manual of Ibrahim al-Ansari prescribed that “the commander of the army or one of his army whom he deputized should circumambulate the fortress every day or two” and should “supervise the raising of the mangonels and their firing.”13 Both Saladin and Baybars had understood that personal involvement in the fighting was essential. Baybars had been up close to the walls of Caesarea in 1265 to inspect mining operations from under a wheeled shelter and was nearly killed in the trenches at Arsuf shortly afterwards. The sultan should be visible to his army and rewards given out. Morale was all important if men were to fight and die.

Time was a key factor. The strategy of the Mamluks was to bring overwhelming force against a town to deliver a quick knockout blow. If none of the Christian strongholds that had collapsed like dominoes since the time of Sultan Baybars had survived more than six weeks, this was also probably the maximum length of time that less-committed detachments and volunteers could be reliably retained. Saladin’s attempt to take Antioch in 1188 had failed because “the determination of his troops, especially those from far away, had weakened and their zeal for holy war had flagged and they only wanted to return to their countries and rest from fighting.”14 Disease was another factor. In matters of hygiene and camp management—the organization of water supplies and washing facilities, the burial of corpses, the supply of food—Islamic armies were considerably superior to their Christian counterparts, but the vast size of Khalil’s force, the growing heat as spring progressed, and the low-lying terrain could provide challenges. The marshes that surrounded Acre were miasmic, as a later traveler, Domenico Laffi, testified. He called Acre “an unhealthy place… because of the swamps that surround it… our (ships) are unable to stay there throughout the year on account of the bad air and bad conditions during the rainy season.”15 Both armies at Acre in the long siege of 1189–1191 had been ravaged by disease.

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