Battle of Ascalon The Battle of Ascalon took place on August 12 , 1099 shortly after the capture of Jerusalem , and is often considered the last action of the First Crusade . The crusader army led by Godfrey of Bouillon defeated and drove off the numerically - superior Fatimid army , securing the safety of Jerusalem . Background . The crusade rs had negotiated with the Fatimids of Egypt during their march to Jerusalem , but no satisfactory compromise could be reached — the Fatimids were willing to give up control of Syria but not Palestine , but this was unacceptable to the crusaders , whose goal was the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem . Jerusalem was captured from the Fatimids on July 15 , 1099 , after a long siege , and immediately the crusaders learned that a Fatimid army was on its way to besiege them . The crusaders acted quickly . Godfrey of Bouillon was named " Defender of the Holy Sepulchre " on July 22 , and Arnulf of Chocques , named patriarch of Jerusalem on August 1 , discovered a relic of the True Cross on August 5 . Fatimid ambassadors arrived to order the crusaders to leave Jerusalem , but they were ignored . On August 10 Godfrey led the remaining crusaders out of Jerusalem towards Ascalon , a day ' s march away , while Peter the Hermit led both the Catholic and Greek Orthodox clergy in prayers and a procession from the Holy Sepulchre to the Temple . Robert II of Flanders and Arnulf accompanied Godfrey , but Raymond IV of Toulouse and Robert of Normandy stayed behind , either out of a quarrel with Godfrey or because they preferred to hear about the Egyptian army from their own scouts . When the Egyptian presence was confirmed , they marched out as well the next day . Near Ramla , they met Tancred and Godfrey ' s brother Eustace , who had left to capture Nablus earlier in the month . At the head of the army , Arnulf carried the relic of the Cross , while Raymond of Aguilers carried the relic of the Holy Lance that had been discovered at Antioch the previous year . The battle . The Fatimids were led by vizier al - Afdal Shahanshah , who commanded perhaps as many as 50 , 000 troops ( other estimates range from 20 – 30 , 000 to the exaggerated 200 , 000 of the " Gesta Francorum " ) . His army consisted of Seljuk Turks , Arabs , Persians , Armenia ns , Kurds , and Ethiopia ns . He was intending to besiege the crusaders in Jerusalem , although he had brought no siege machinery with him ; he did however have a fleet , also assembling in the port of Ascalon . The precise number of crusaders is unknown , but the number given by Raymond of Aguilers is 1 , 200 knight s and 9 , 000 infantry . The highest estimate is 20 , 000 men but this is surely impossible at this stage of the crusade . Al - Afdal camped in the plain of al - Majdal in a valley outside Ascalon , preparing to continue on to Jerusalem and besiege the crusaders there , apparently unaware that the crusaders had already left to meet him . On August 11 the crusaders found ox en , sheep , camels , and goats , gathered there to feed the Fatimid camp , grazing outside the city . According to captives taken by Tancred in a skirmish near Ramla , the animals were there to encourage the crusaders to disperse and pillage the land , making it easier for the Fatimids to attack . However , al - Afdal did not yet know the crusaders were in the area and was apparently not expecting them . In any case , these animals marched with them the next morning , making their army appear much larger than it actually was . On the morning of the 12th , crusader scouts reported the location of the Fatimid camp and the army marched towards it . During the march the crusaders had been organized into nine divisions : Godfrey led the left wing , Raymond the right , and Tancred , Eustace , Robert of Normandy and Gaston IV of Béarn made up the centre ; they were further divided into two smaller divisions , and a division of foot - soldiers marched ahead of each . This arrangement was also used as the line of battle outside Ascalon , with the center of the army between the Jerusalem and Jaffa Gates , the right aligned with the Mediterranean coast , and the left facing the Jaffa Gate . According to most accounts ( both Crusader and Muslim ) , the Fatimids were caught unprepared and the battle was short , but Albert of Aix states that the battle went on for some time with a fairly well prepared Egyptian army . The two main lines of battle fought each other with arrows until they were close enough to fight hand - to - hand with spear s and other hand weapons . The Ethiopians attacked the centre of the crusader line , and the Fatimid vanguard was able to outflank the crusaders and surround their rearguard , until Godfrey arrived to rescue them . Despite his numerical superiority , al - Afdal ' s army was hardly as strong or dangerous as the Seljuk armies that the crusaders had encountered previously . The battle seems to have been over before the Fatimid heavy cavalry was prepared to join it . Al - Afdal and his panicked troops fled back to the safety of the heavily fortified city ; Raymond chased some of them into the sea , others climbed trees and were killed with arrows , while others were crushed in the retreat back into the gates of Ascalon . Al - Afdal left behind his camp and its treasures , which were captured by Robert and Tancred . Crusader losses are unknown , but the Egyptians lost about 10 – 12 , 000 men . Aftermath . The crusaders spent the night in the abandoned camp , preparing for another attack , but in the morning they learned that the Fatimids were retreating to Egypt . Al - Afdal fled by ship . They took as much plunder as they could , including the Standard and al - Afdal ' s personal tent and burned the rest . They returned to Jerusalem on August 13 , and after much celebration Godfrey and Raymond both claimed Ascalon . When the garrison learned of the dispute they refused to surrender . After the battle , almost all of the remaining crusaders returned to their homes in Europe , their vows of pilgrimage having been fulfilled . There were perhaps only a few hundred knight s left in Jerusalem by the end of the year , but they were gradually reinforced by new crusaders , inspired by the success of the original crusade . Although the battle of Ascalon was a crusader victory the city itself remained under Fatimid control , and it was eventually re - garrisoned . It became the base of operations for invasions of the Kingdom of Jerusalem every year afterwards , and numerous battles were fought there in the following years , until 1153 when it was finally captured by the crusaders in the Siege of Ascalon .