Cœur de Lion was to be seen everywhere in the thickest of the fight, and after a long and obstinate engagement the infidels were defeated; but amid the disorder of his troops Saladin remained on the plain without lowering his standard or suspending the sound of his brazen kettle-drums; he rallied his forces, retired upon Ramleh, and prepared to defend the mountain passes leading to Jerusalem. The Templars pushed on to Arsoof, and pitched their tents before the gates of the town. On Monday, September 9th, the christian forces moved on in battle array to Jaffa, the ancient Joppa, about eight miles from Arsoof. The Templars brought up the rear of the army; and after marching about five miles, they reached the banks of the Nahr el Arsoof, or river of Arsoof, which empties itself into the sea, about three miles from Jaffa, and pitched their tents in a beautiful olive grove on the sea-shore. Saladin laid waste all the country around them, drove away the inhabitants, and carried off all the cattle, corn, and provisions. The towns of Cæsarea, Ramleh, Jaffa, Ascalon, and all the villages, had been set on fire and burnt to ashes, and all the castles and fortresses within reach of the crusading army were dismantled and destroyed. Among these last were the castles of St. George, Galatia, Blancheward, Beaumont, Belvoir, Toron, Arnald, Mirabel, the castle of the plain, and many others. Every place, indeed, of strength or refuge was utterly destroyed by command of the inexorable Saladin. Bohadin tells us that the sultan mourned grievously over the destruction of the fair and beautiful city of Ascalon, saying to those around him, “By God, I would sooner lose my sons than touch a stone of this goodly city, but what God wills, and the good of Islam requires, must be done.” The walls and fortifications of Ascalon were of great extent and stupendous strength, and an army of thirty thousand men was employed for fourteen days in the work of demolition. “The weeping families were removed from their houses, amid the most heart-rending confusion and misery,” says Bohadin, “that I ever witnessed.” Thousands of men were employed in dashing down the towers and the walls, and throwing the stones into the ditches and into the adjoining sea, and thousands were occupied in carrying away property and the contents of the public granaries and magazines. But ere half the effects had been removed, the impatient sultan ordered the town to be set on fire, “and soon,” says Bohadin, “the raging flames were to be seen, tearing through the roofs, and curling around the minarets of the mosques.” The great tower of the Hospitallers was the only edifice that resisted the flames and the exertions of the destroyers. It stood frowning in gloomy and solitary magnificence over the wide extended scene of ruin. “We must not depart,” said Saladin, “until yon lofty tower has been brought low,” and he ordered it to be filled with combustibles and set on fire.