Complete Failure of Logistical Planning

Today’s installment concludes Louis IX Leads The Last Crusade,
our selection from History of the Crusades by Joseph François Michaud published in 1840.

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Previously in Louis IX Leads The Last Crusade.

Time: 1270
Place: Egypt

When the Christian army had landed, it was drawn up in order of battle upon the shore, and, in accordance with the laws of war, Pierre de Condé, almoner to the King, read with a loud voice a proclamation by which the conquerors took possession of the territory. This proclamation, which Louis had drawn up himself, began by these words: “I proclaim, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of Louis, King of France, his sergeant,” etc. The baggage, provisions, and munitions of war were landed; a vast space was marked out, and the Christian soldiers pitched their tents. While they were digging ditches and raising intrenchments to protect the army from a surprise, they took possession of the tower built on the point of the cape, and on the following day five hundred sailors planted the standard of the lilies upon the castle of Carthage. The village of Marsa, which was close to the castle, fell likewise into the hands of the crusaders; the women and the sick were placed here, while the army remained beneath their tents. Louis still hoped for the conversion of the King of Tunis, but this pious illusion was very quickly dissolved. The Muslim Prince sent messengers to the King to inform him that he would come and meet him at the head of a hundred thousand men, and would require baptism of him on the field of battle; the Moorish King added that he had caused all the Christians in his dominions to be seized, and that every one of them should be massacred if the Christian army presumed to insult his capital. The menaces and vain bravadoes of the Prince of Tunis effected no change in the plans of the crusade; the Moors, besides, inspired no fear, and they themselves could not conceal the terror which the sight only of the Christians created in them. Not daring to face their enemy, their scattered bands sometimes hovered around the Christian army, seeking to surprise any stragglers from the camp; and at others, uniting together, they poured down toward the advanced posts, launched a few arrows, showed their naked swords, and then depended upon the swiftness of their horses to secure them from the pursuit of the Christians. They not unfrequently had recourse to treachery; three hundred of them came into the camp of the crusaders, and said they wished to embrace the Christian faith, and a hundred more followed them announcing the same intention. After being received with open arms, they waited for what they deemed a favorable opportunity, and fell upon a body of the Christians, sword in hand; but being overwhelmed by numbers, most of them were killed, and the rest were allowed to escape. Three of the principals fell on their knees and implored the compassion of their leaders. The contempt the Franks had for such enemies obtained their pardon, and they were driven out of the camp. At length the Muslim army, now emboldened by the inaction of the Christians, presented itself several times on the plain. Nothing would have been more easy than to attack and conquer it; but Louis had resolved to act upon the defensive, and to await the arrival of the King of Sicily, before beginning the war — a fatal resolution, which ruined everything. The Sicilian monarch, who had advised this ill-starred expedition, was destined to complete, by his delays, the evil he had begun by his counsels. The Muslims flocked from all parts of Africa to defend the cause of Islamism against the Christians. Preparations were carried on in Egypt to meet the invasion of the Franks; and in the month of August, Beibars announced by messengers that he was about to march to the assistance of Tunis. The troops which the Sultan of Cairo maintained in the province of Barca received orders to set forward. Thus the Moorish army was about to become formidable; but it was not this host of Saracens that the crusaders had most to dread. Other dangers, other misfortunes, threatened them: the Christian army wanted water; they had none but salted provisions; the soldiers could not endure the climate of Africa; winds constantly prevailed, which, coming from the torrid zone, appeared to the Europeans to be the breath of a devouring fire. The Saracens upon the neighboring mountains raised the sand with certain instruments made for the purpose, and the dust was carried by the wind in burning clouds down upon the plain upon which the Christians were encamped. At last, dysentery, that fatal malady of warm climates, began to commit frightful ravages among the troops; and the plague, which appears to be born of itself upon this burning, arid sand, spread its dire contagion through the Christian army.

They were obliged to be under arms night and day; not to defend themselves from an enemy that always fled away from them, but to guard against surprise. A vast number of the crusaders sunk under fatigue, famine, and disease.

It became impossible to bury the dead; the ditches of the camp were filled with carcasses, thrown in in heaps, which added to the corruption of the air and to the spectacle of the general desolation.

In spite of his sufferings, in spite of his griefs, Louis IX was constantly engaged in endeavors to alleviate the situation of his army. He gave orders as long as he had any strength left, dividing his time between the duties of a Christian and those of a monarch. The fever, however, increased; no longer able to attend either to his cares for the army or to exercises of piety, he ordered the cross to be placed before him, and, stretching out his hands, he in silence implored Him who had suffered for all men.

The whole army was in a state of mourning — the soldiers walked about in tears, demanding of heaven the preservation of so good a prince. Amid the general grief, Louis turned his thoughts toward the accomplishment of the divine laws and the destinies of France.

Philip, who was his successor to the throne, was in his tent; he desired him to approach his bed, and in a faltering voice gave him counsels in what manner he should govern the kingdom of his fathers. The instructions he gave him comprise the most noble maxims of religion and loyalty; and that which will render them forever worthy of the respect of posterity is that they had the authority of his example, and only recalled the virtues of his own life.

This ends our series of passages on Louis IX Leads The Last Crusade by Joseph François Michaud from his book History of the Crusades published in 1840. This blog features short and lengthy pieces on all aspects of our shared past. Here are selections from the great historians who may be forgotten (and whose work have fallen into public domain) as well as links to the most up-to-date developments in the field of history and of course, original material from yours truly, Jack Le Moine. – A little bit of everything historical is here.

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