7 September in military history: the Battle of Arsuf, 1191

Quick answer

On 7 September 1191, during the Third Crusade, King Richard I of England was leading the crusader army south along the coast of the Holy Land toward Jaffa when Saladin attacked it in force near Arsuf. Richard kept his knights inside a moving screen of infantry and crossbowmen while Saladin's archers shot into the column. Then two knights at the rear charged before the agreed signal, and the army went after them. Saladin's army broke, rallied and was driven off again. Saladin's biographer Baha ad-Din, who was in the routed center, described the charge. On the same date in 1939, German troops reached the Polish bunker line at Wizna.

The Battle of Arsuf, 1191: Lionheart vs Saladin

7 September 1191 · 835 years ago

On 7 September 1191, during the Third Crusade, King Richard I of England, known as the Lionheart, defeated the great Muslim leader Saladin at Arsuf on the coast of the Holy Land. Richard's army was marching south toward Jaffa under constant attack from Saladin's fast horse archers.

Read the full story of The Battle of Arsuf, 1191: Lionheart vs Saladin ›

The Battle of Borodino, 1812: the bloodiest day

7 September 1812 · 214 years ago

Napoleon held the field at Borodino on 7 September 1812, in the bloodiest single day of the Napoleonic Wars, with around 70,000 men killed or wounded. It was a hollow victory: the Russian army escaped intact, and the march on Moscow would soon help destroy the French army.

Read the full story of The Battle of Borodino, 1812: the bloodiest day ›

Battle of Wizna, 1939: the Polish Thermopylae

7 to 10 September 1939 · 87 years ago

Germany won the Battle of Wizna in September 1939, but only after a few hundred Polish soldiers held a line of bunkers on the Narew river for three days against a vastly larger German force from Guderian's panzer corps.

Read the full story of Battle of Wizna, 1939: the Polish Thermopylae ›

Also on this day

Battle of Moys

7 September 1757 · 269 years ago

Near Moys, today part of Zgorzelec, a Prussian corps of 13,000 men faced an Austrian army twice its size in the Seven Years' War. The Prussians were defeated and their general, Hans Karl von Winterfeldt, was fatally wounded.

Frequently asked questions

When and where was the Battle of Arsuf?

On Saturday 7 September 1191, during the Third Crusade, near Arsuf on the coast of the Holy Land, as Richard I's crusader army marched south toward Jaffa.

Who won the Battle of Arsuf?

The crusaders. Saladin's army broke under their charge, rallied and was driven off again, and Richard's army camped at Arsuf and went on to Jaffa. Richard never recovered Jerusalem.

Why did the crusader charge start early?

Two knights, the marshal of the Hospitallers and Baldwin de Carreo, charged before the agreed signal of six trumpets, and the Hospitallers and the divisions ahead of them followed.

How many died at Arsuf?

The sources differ. The Itinerary reports thirty-two Turkish chiefs counted among the slain and seven thousand bodies carried off by the Turks. Richard wrote that he lost no one but James of Avesnes, and Oman puts the crusaders' total loss at under seven hundred.

What happened at Wizna on 7 September 1939?

German troops reached Wizna on the Narew. A Polish garrison under Captain Władysław Raginis defended the bunkers there. The Germans attacked the sector on 9 September, and on 10 September, with the ammunition gone, Raginis ordered the last defenders out of his bunker and killed himself.