The Battle of Hattin was a great victory for Saladin, who I use their faster and lighter forces to great advantage.. He was greatly aided by his enemy, King Guy, who decided to march heavily armored soldiers through a waterless region at the hottest time of the year.
Data from the Battle of Hattin
- Who is it: Crusader forces numbering about 32,000 men under King Guy of Jerusalem (reigned 1186-1192) against a 50,000-strong Seljuk Turkish army under Saladin.
- As: Overwhelmed to exhaustion by the lighter Turks, the Crusaders were surrounded and finally crushed.
- Where: The Horns of Hattin (Galilee).
- When: June 1187.
- Because: The Crusader force was marching to the aid of a fort and was intercepted by Saladin’s army.
- Result: The Crusader force was virtually wiped out.
Background
The crusades pitted two very different military systems against each other. On the Christian side, the decisive weapon was the heavily armored cavalry, which could tear an enemy formation to pieces and pursue the scattered remnants, provided it made contact. This was supported by the infantry (lancers and crossbowmen), which was not highly valued by their social superiors among the cavalry. The fighting style of the Christians was undisciplined and poorly coordinated, though aggressive and courageous.
The Muslim militia, lighter, more mobile and well trained, contained for the most part lighter troops, was more disciplined and better organized. His cavalry component consisted mainly of Ascaris from Egypt and Syria, armored in mail and armed with bows, spears, and shields. They were accomplished skirmishers as well as hand-to-hand fighters, and well-versed in hit-and-run tactics. The Ascari cavalry consisted of paid regular soldiers, and was supported by irregular cavalry drawn from local Bedouin, Kurdish and Turkish groups. The Saracen force also had a large infantry component, archers or spearmen, who carried shields. They also had the advantage of unified command, while the Crusaders came from all over Europe and answered to many rival leaders and spoke different languages.
Crusades Maps
The Crusades
The crusades originated as a consequence of the defeat of the Byzantine Empire by the Seljuk or Saracen Turks. This resulted in Christian holy places then being held by Muslims (to whom many of the same areas were sacred). This offended the Christian leaders in the West, and Pope Urban II called for a crusade to seize control of these places. Several crusades were then started with minor expeditions interspersed. Some were truly inspired by religious fervor, and others were little more than looting raids. Most of them fell somewhere between these extremes: no matter how holy their motives, few crusaders were reluctant to enrich themselves if the opportunity arose.
These armed expeditions to capture regions of the Holy Land pitted the Crusaders against the then-lords of the region, and a series of sporadic wars ensued. Sometimes the Crusaders were strong enough to occupy kingdoms in the Holy Land, and other times their presence was all but eliminated. Treaties and agreements were signed on various occasions; however, the disorganized nature of the Crusaders made it unlikely that any agreement would last. As soon as a group negotiated a deal, someone else would come along and stir things up again. Conflict was inevitable, even when those involved tried to honor their agreements. The Battle of Hattin was the consequence of one of these broken treaties. In 1186 the Crusader leader Reinaldo de Chatillon raided a caravan and captured a significant amount of booty and prisoners. The leader of the crusade at the time, King Guy of Jerusalem, ordered the return of the loot and prisoners. Saladin, the leader of the Turks in the region, made a similar claim. Reinaldo refused. So Saladin declared war on the Crusaders and began to gather his forces..
a fortuitous defeat
Crusaders
A Saracen force of some 6,500 men was sent to find out as much as possible about the forces, disposition and intentions of the crusaders. He did achieve more than this, though, mainly through a combination of good luck and Crusader stupidity.
The Orders of the Temple and of the Hospital (the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller) were important and powerful among the Crusaders and at that time the Grand Masters of both Orders were on campaign with only 140 Knights and 350 foot soldiers between them. They were there to settle a dispute between King Guy and Count Raymond of Tripoli; however, they soon decided to set out in search of the Saracen force.
The Saracens were in Kishon, and the grand masters decided to attack them. Outnumbered, they left their infantry behind and went on the attack: 140 men to 6,500. Only three men survived, including the Grand Master of the Knights Templar. The Saracen reconnaissance force continued its mission to obtain information. The Christian garrison at Nazareth was crushed and destroyed.
Meanwhile, the crusaders were trying to organize themselves. Although Reinaldo had betrayed the truce and unilaterally sent the crusaders to war, his companions stood by him. They probably decided they had no choice: Saladin had declared war on all the crusaders, not just Raynald’s people, so they would have to stick together or be defeated individually.
Whatever their motivation, the crusaders decided to assemble at Acre, and some 2,000 knights headed there. What was left of the Hospitallers and Templars joined the host, some 40 and 80 men respectively, along with 650-750 knights from the various Crusader kingdoms. The remainder of the Crusader forces consisted of mercenary or opportunistic knights seeking their fortune in the Holy Land. They were professional warriors, of course, but less reliable than those who owed allegiance to Crusader commanders. They were supported by some 4,000 Turcople light cavalry (local warriors who had converted to Christianity) and some 32,000 infantry.
With the crusader army was the Vera Cruz, supposedly the same cross on which Christ had been crucified. His presence inspired the most devout men among the Christian force. An army marching after the Cross was, it was claimed, invincible. Perhaps an overconfidence in relics and divine power was one of the reasons for the reckless strategy employed by the crusaders.
impatience of the crusaders
The Saracens threatened the fort of Tiberias, occupied by the wife of Count Raymond. The castle was well defended, and although the nearby town was sacked, Rayford knew that his castle and his wife were safe for the moment. The Christians could afford a certain amount of calm, and in fact they might be able to force the enemy to come towards them, and get tired along the way.
Unfortunately, Rayford’s prudent advice was overruled. King Guy was determined to engage the Saracens in battle and defeat them as soon as possible. The Christian army had encamped in Sephoria, about 10 km before Tiberias. The most direct route to the enemy was through the waterless Toran Plain. To attempt marching an army with thousands of horses and tens of thousands of heavily armored men through such a barren region was folly. Doing so in the face of a waiting enemy was foolish and suicidal; nonetheless, Guy decided to continue.
King Guy was greatly influenced in his decision by Reinaldo de Chatillon and by Gerardo de Ridefort, who urged him to abandon prudence and attack like a good Christian knight. Guy’s only concession to survival was moving up the wadi Hamman, where there might be water, even if it wasn’t the most direct route. However, Saladin’s scouts communicated this movement to him in time to counter it. The die of the crusaders was cast.
As the crusaders advanced through the wadi, the guard was advancing, under the command of Raymond, and the rear guard were attacked at the same time by skirmishes of fast-moving Muslims. The only soldiers capable of repelling these attacks were the turcoples, whose equipment was light enough to allow quick counterattacks. The Saracens therefore concentrated on destroying the turcoples, which would then expose the rest of the Crusader forces to destruction when it suited them.
Map of the Battle of Hattin
As the turcoples were driven back or destroyed, the crusader column no longer had any answer against the Saracen skirmishes, except to keep the valuable knights and their horses within a defensive infantry screen. 2 km to the intended battlefield, the column halted and prepared to make camp. There was no water, but the soldiers were too tired to continue. Between the heat and the constant attacks and skirmishes, the mighty column had been gnawed to death. The rear, especially, was in very bad shape.
After spending the night camping without water, the Crusader army found itself in dire straits the next day. There was no turning back, crossing that wasteland with mounted skirmishers lurking at every step. The objective was only a few kilometers ahead, and obtaining water was now a critical need. The only option was to continue.
The crusader force steeled itself and set out early in the morning, advancing to try to reach the nearest water source, which was in the town of Manescalia. The exhausted soldiers were stopped well short of their objective by Muslim forces, who had been supplied by camel ropes overnight and were in good fighting shape.
The Battle of Hattin begins
In accordance with the ancient principle of not giving battle until it is won, Saladin let his enemy exhaust himself, cut off his own retreat, and stagger to a disorganized halt in the face of relatively little opposition. And yet, Saladin did not launch into a decisive, intelligent and patient charge, he did not need spectacular results to know that he had won. He would settle for quietly getting what he wanted at a lower price, and he always kept the long-term strategic situation in mind.
Saladin’s forces advanced in a crescent formation, but halted before making contact. They rained down a shower of arrows on the exhausted and disorganized crusading force. This presented the Crusaders with a terrible dilemma.
They could unleash their famous cavalry charge, which, weakened as it was, still possessed tremendous attack power. However, it was likely that the cargo would be lost in…