Jack Ludlow - Soldier of Crusade

Much as he hated the notion there was no choice but to withdraw or die in a situation where preservation of the mounted part of the crusading host was paramount. Added to that was the frustration that the Provencal milities had still not moved; this they could have done at a run and then at least he and Flanders could have acted to protect their back. Nor was he sure that his fellow leader would discern the same dilemma as he, leaving him no choice but to disengage independently, an act which left the Count of Flanders no option but to do likewise, a later cause of increased recrimination.

To get clear was not simple; the Turks did everything they could to hamper their efforts, but find space they did, riding hard towards the wagons, Bohemund yelling that there was still a slim chance to flee, a faint hope the Turks would not come on at speed. Now, as the knights rode by them without stopping — they could not without they sacrifice themselves — these Provencal foot soldiers finally realised the extent of their plight and some emerged to grab the stirrups of their knights so as to be dragged to safety.

Most remained, and when the mounts were blown and the knights stopped on the crest of a hill, it was to look back at a scene of slaughter as the milities fought and failed to hold off the Turks. For those who did not fall, slavery would be their lot, but nearly as depressing was the fact that all the supplies they had gathered were now in Turkish hands. Painful to watch, it had to be witnessed and it sat heavy on their souls as they rode back to Antioch, only to find there that the Turks had taken advantage of their absence to sortie out and attack the siege lines, inflicting a serious check using the tactic of the false retreat.

Emerging in numbers from the Bridge Gate they had enticed the Crusaders under Raymond and Ademar to cross the bridge of boats and seek to chase them off. It seemed to have been initially successful, but it was a trap and once the knights were on the wrong bank of the Orontes the Turks had turned upon them and engineered a rout, not a serious one in terms of dead and wounded, but a dent to their pride and also their faith: the Turks had taken the blue and gold Virgin banner of Bishop Ademar, which was held to be a thing no Christian God should have allowed.

Hope in any army is of paramount concern and the losses in men and food reported when the two Counts returned, added to the recent defeat before the Bridge Gate, sent that plummeting and it was not assuaged in the weeks that followed as food grew ever more scarce. First the non-combatant pilgrims began to die, and many of those who could not cling to life set off north in the hope of at least getting home. With soldiers reduced to eating berries and weeds death stalked the lines too and every morning produced more copses. The morale of the host led even powerful knights to seek succour: Stephen of Blois, claiming to be too ill to continue and his purse to be bare, removed himself to Alexandretta.

Every leader was emptying his purse to buy what could be purchased from those with food and they were selling at rapacious prices, this while the wind blew, the rain lashed down every few days and the occasional snow reduced the whole effort to stark misery, a state of which Yaghi Siyan took full advantage. No body of knights was safe, especially on starving, unfit horses, and even the trickle of supplies coming in from the ports of St Simeon and Latakia were subject to constant raids, all launched from the three Antioch gates the Crusade could not block.

Then Tacitus declared he must go north and seek reinforcements from the Emperor, a move that was greeted with much encouragement. That faded when it was realised he had taken his troops with him, abandoning his own possessions and much of their equipment to facilitate a fast march, the conclusion obvious: it was very doubtful if he intended to return.

Such gloom reached its nadir when it was discovered that even Peter the Hermit, that talismanic figure, in the company of a pious knight called William, Lord of Melun, had set off for Constantinople too and that could not be borne. Tancred was sent after him and he did bring both men back. Tempted to string them up, Bohemund, who was given the power of decision over their fate, felt he had to release them after no more than a stern lecture; to punish either severely would, in Peter’s case, upset the pilgrims who saw him as their spiritual leader, and as for William of Melun, the knights in the host were restive enough without firing that up anymore, though he was treated as dirt and a carpet for the whole of the time he spent in Bohemund’s tent.

Bleak as it was in want and dearth, there were occasional bright spots: the arrival of a fleet from England bearing supplies raised hope of assuaged hunger, until it was realised that most of the cargo was large quantities of oak and along with that came the woodworkers who could fashion it. Still, there was food too, and since oak was important, a large escort, hundreds of knights, went to bring it in safety to the siege lines, an indication of how difficult that was the fact that there were half a dozen small engagements on the way.

It was decided to use the oak to construct another fortress opposite the Bridge Gate, the site chosen that of a ruined mosque and a still used cemetery. If it was heartless of the Crusaders to disinter the bodies of the Muslim dead and throw them into an open pit, the fact that that caused great lamentation from the walls of Antioch was to the good — anything that lowered Turkish morale was to be welcomed. Soon the fortress stood four-square to block the exit. It was not intended to be so secure it did not need support, but it did mean that those who manned it could hold off the enemy in some safety until help arrived.

What was left went towards strengthening a derelict building opposite the St George’s Gate, into which Tancred moved as an independent command. If he could not entirely blockade the entrance he could reduce the flow of goods going through it to a trickle, which left Yaghi Siyan only the Iron Gate for resupply, and mobile patrols made that risky. When the weather began to turn the Council of Princes found themselves in command of a much diminished force both in terms of man and horsepower.

If it was that, some comfort had to be taken from the hardiness of those who remained; these were the tough ones, the fellows whose faith or sheer tenacity had seen them through. If it was a lean force now, no more than thirty thousand strong and seriously short of horses, it was a resilient one and it had to be, for news came from their scouts of yet another Muslim army coming to the relief of Antioch under Ridwan, the son of the Sultan of Baghdad, which brought up a stark choice: to meet and defeat them or lift the siege of Antioch.

If the number of reported Turks coming their way under Ridwan of Aleppo had to be an exaggeration, there was no doubt the Crusaders faced a massive force equal to their own and they could only detach so many from the siege to face it. Added to that their main weapon, the mounted knight with lance, was now so constrained by a lack of fit horses that doubts existed as to how effective it could be. When counted, it was realised that only some six hundred equines could bear a human load enough to do battle and they could not all be taken away from the defence of their siege lines.

At least they knew exactly where the Turks had camped, around the fortress of Harim, and they now had a greater grasp of the terrain than their enemy, which Bohemund pointed out allowed them to choose where any battle would be fought. This could provide a crucial advantage, for he still maintained, even after what had occurred so recently on the foraging expedition, that the Turks were not stalwart and the key to defeating them was the kind of surprise that threw their undisciplined levies into disarray.