Third Crusade
Jaffa
As soon as Richard heard about the attack on Jaffa, he sent his army to save the city. He knew, however, that it might take too many days for it to march to Jaffa, so he gathered eighty knights, four hundred bowmen, and about two thousand Italian soldiers, and headed to the rescue.
He arrived on July 31, barely in time. Representatives from the garrison were actually in Saladin's tent to sign for the surrender. Richard hesitated to land, not knowing the situation, but as soon as the garrison saw the sails, they sallied out to attack. A priest swam out to the flotilla to beg Richard to attack immediately. The King landed straightaway and charged into the city. The Muslims were completely dispersed, thinking the city safe, and were taken by surprise. Richard secured the city at once. Saladin's troops were in full panic and were miles away from Jaffa before he could bring them to order again.
For a couple of days, the two sides parleyed, for neither really wanted to continue the war, but both sides were still demanding too much.The action at Jaffa had thrown everything out of balance again. Saladin attacked again on August 5, trying to destroy Richard's tiny force before his main army, already past Caesarea, should arrive. He attacked at dawn and nearly caught the English by surprise; they had enough time to form up, but not enough time to equip themselves fully.
For this second battle, Richard had only fifty-four knights still fit to fight and only fifteen horses among them, so most fought on foot. He drew up his knights and his two thousand foot soldiers in a line outside the city. He set a field of tent stakes out front, to try to break up the cavalry charge. Behind that he had his men plant their shields in the ground to act as a make-shift wall. They also drove their lances into the ground, points outward. He placed an archer between every two men.
The Muslims attacked in seven waves of a thousand men each. They charged again and again, but were driven back each time. In the afternoon, Richard felt strong enough to order a counter-charge. Saladin was amazed to see so few mounted knights attack so many. When Richard's horse was killed out from under him, Saladin sent two to replace it, saying that it was not fit for so gallant a foe not to have a mount.
By the end of the day, the Crusaders still held Jaffa, and the fight was gone out of Saladin's army. The Sultan retreated to Jerusalem. Richard was unable to follow up his victory, remarkable as it was. His force was too small; moreover, he immediately fell ill again with a fever. Saladin sent him snow from the mountains, and fresh fruit, but he would not budge in his terms for peace.