Seventh Crusade
Retreat and Disaster
The Egyptians soon tried to capitalize on their victory, attacking three days after the Battle of Mansourah. Hard fighting lasted all day, but in the end the Christians were able to withstand the attack and the Egyptians again withdrew. There followed a stalemate that lasted for several weeks, but always to the detriment of the Christians.
After the death of the Sultan, the Sultana immediately summoned Turanshah to Cairo. He arrived on February 28 and soon tightened the noose around the Christians by implementing a successful blockade of the Nile. All though March, few supply ships managed to slip the blockade; at the end of the month, a whole fleet of thirty-two ships were seized. Famine and disease stalked the Christian camp, and King Louis realized that he must retreat or risk losing everything. He first tried to offer Turanshah an exchange: Damietta for Jerusalem; but the Sultan would have none of it.
The Latin army set out under cover of darkness early on April 5, 1250. They managed to get across the Bahr as-Saghir via a pontoon bridge before the Egyptians noticed the movement, but the Christians neglected to destroy the bridge behind them and the Egyptians set out in pursuit. The King remained in the rear guard, leading the defense against the Egyptian attacks. That night, however, he fell ill and by morning could barely ride. The next day, the army tried to move on, but typhoid and dysentery were everywhere.
By mid-day, the King could go no further and his bodyguard placed him in a house at Sharimshah. The Egyptians closed in. Although the King never ordered a surrender, and Philip of Montfort was negotiating with the Sultan, there was a confusion of orders and the army simply surrendered. It scarcely mattered; the army could not have fought. A little later, the Christian ships that had been sent down the Nile carrying the sick and wounded were likewise captured.
The entire Crusader army, including the King of France and many of the barons of Outremer, was now captive. The only point of resistance was Damietta, still under the command of Queen Margaret of France. With her were only a handful of knights, a large contingent of Italians, and the Patriarch of Jerusalem. Her situation was complicated by the fact that she was nine months pregnant.