Instead of allowing Mantinea to be flooded, the Argive army moved more quickly than the Spartans anticipated, as the Argive hoplites were very angry at their generals for not pursuing the Spartan army and accused them of treason. They surprised their enemies by drawing up as the Spartans emerged from a nearby wood. The Spartans quickly organized themselves, with no time to wait for their other allies. Brasidas' veterans (Brasidas himself had been killed at the Battle of Amphipolis), and the Sciritae (an elite unit of Spartan troops) formed the left wing, the Spartans, Arcadians, Heraeans and Maenalians in the centre, and the Tegeans, who were fighting for their homeland took the position of honour on the right wing. The Argive lines were formed by the Mantineans on the right, the Argives in the centre, and the Athenians on the left. Thucydides did not know the exact numbers of men on each side, but estimated that there were about 9,000 men on the Spartan side (the Spartan army must have numbered about 3,500, with 600 Sciritae, about 2,000 neodamodeis and Brasideans and about 3,000 Arcadians on the whole) with somewhat fewer men on the Argive and Athenian side (about 8,000), according to Donald Kagan. Other scholars, such as Victor Davis Hanson, give slightly bigger numbers.