Chapter 5 - Raiding Expeditions

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The mechanics of warfare in this period and, in particular, the near impossibility of maintaining an adequate fighting force for any great length of time, meant that for both the Latins and Muslims the ultimate objective — the capture of areas which were controlled by the enemy - could not always be pursued. The Latins’ military options were further restricted by the problems they encountered in even gathering a field army which could safely operate outside the confines of the strongpoints. It was inevitable, therefore, that much of the military activity in this period should aim for quite limited objectives. The raid, or chevauchée, was thus an integral part of war in the Latin East during the thirteenth century. For the Muslims it was one element in their overall strategy which aimed to expel the Latins from the mainland. For the Latins, as they became progressively weaker, raiding expeditions were at times their only means of carrying war to their Muslim neighbours, however desultory these raids may appear to have been.

We saw earlier that there can be a thin dividing line between different forms of military activity. In this respect, the campaign of the Lord Edward in late 1271, directed against the Muslim fortress of Qaqun, has been described as one of ‘ a few raids in 1271 [which] accomplished nothing …’ but some contemporary writers suggested that this particular attack should be regarded as an abortive siege attempt. A superficial examination of the Christian attack on the Muslim camp at Fariskur in August 1219 might indicate that this was a raid, but contemporary accounts showed that the crusaders hoped to encounter and fight with the Muslims, so in this instance a battle was the prime objective. If these two examples were not raids, then what was one ? In the area around the Latin East in the thirteenth century, a raid may be defined as being a military action that had direct aims which did not include either the permanent acquisition of enemy territory or a major engagement with enemy forces.