ck and solid for the
battering-rams to make any serious impression upon them, and the
garrison within were so numerous and so well armed, and they hurled
down such a tremendous shower of darts, javelins, stones, and other
missiles of every kind upon all who came near, that immense numbers of
those who were brought up near the walls to work the engines were
killed, while the besieged themselves, being protected by the
battlements on the walls, were comparatively safe.

In the course of the two years during which the siege had now been
going on, bodies of troops from all parts of Europe had been
continually coming and going, and as in those days there was far less
of system and organization in the conduct of military affairs than
there is now, the camp was constantly kept in a greater or less degree
of confusion, so that it is impossible to know with certainty how many
were engaged, and what the actual loss of life had been. The lowest
estimate is that one hundred and fifty thousand men perished before
Acre during this siege, and some historians calculate the loss at five
hundred thousand. The number of deaths was greatly increased by the
plague, which prevailed at one time among the troops, and committed
fearful ravages. One thing, however, must be said, in justice to the
reckless and violent men who commanded these bands, and that is, that
they did not send their poor, helpless followers, the common
soldiers, into a danger which they kept out of themselves. It was a
point of honor with them to take the foremost rank, and to expose
themselves fully at all times to the worst dangers of the combat. It
is true that the knights and nobles were better protected by their
armor than the soldiers. They were generally covered with steel from
head to foot, and so heavily loaded with it were they, that it was
only on horseback that they could sustain themselves in battle at all.
Indeed, it was said that if a full-armed knight, in those days, were,
from any accident, unhorsed, his armor was so heavy that, if he were
thrown down upon the ground in his fall, he could not possibly get up
again without help.

Notwithstanding this protection, however, the knights and commanders
exposed themselves so much that they suffered in full proportion with
the rest. It was estimated that during the siege there fell in battle,
or perished of sickness or fatigue, eighteen or twenty archbishops and
bishops, forty earls, and no less than five hundre