Fifth Crusade
Maneuvers and Skirmishes
In October, al-Kamil tried twice to break the Christian camp. He was on the west side of the Nile, the Crusaders were on the east side, the side where Damietta stood. Twice the Egyptians were able to cross the Nile and launch an attack, but both times they were driven off with heavy losses. After the second battle, al-Kamil concentrated more on defending his position (and so protecting Damietta) than with trying to oust the Christians. He built barricades and defense works. He sank ships in the river to keep Christian ships from sailing past the city.
He succeeded. By November it was clear that the Crusaders were not going to be able to work their way up the Nile, so they tried to re-open a canal that had long been abandoned. Their plan was to sail their ships up this canal to a point well above Damietta and thus attack the city from two sides. They succeeded in their dredging, but a terrible storm in late November flooded the Christian camp causing great destruction, followed by disease.
The weather through that winter was miserable, and conditions in the camps on both sides deteriorated. With progress seemingly at a standstill, Cardinal Pelagius now emerged as the leader of the Christians. This was not well received by all the Crusaders, but some sort of new leadership seemed called for, and soon enough Pelagius had a great victory to support his position.