Acre III (Wars of French Revolution), 1799

During the summer 1798 Napoleon Bonaparte had conquered Egypt only to be cut off from Europe by the defeat of his fleet at the Nile by British Navy. He the turned eastward, on February 6, 1799, to carry war against Turkey into Syria. With 13,000 men with 52 cannon Napoleon brushed past weak Turkish resistance to reach Jaffa on March 7. Here more than 1,000 Turkish soldiers who had broken parole to defend the city were recaptured and shot. On March 18, French arrived at Acre, which was defended by Turkish force under Ahmed Pasha, called Djezzar (the butcher). Aiding Turkish resistance was a British task force of two vessels under Sidney Smith, which protected all the city except the landward side from attack. Napoleon settled down to besiege Acre.
A month later a Turksih column approach the city from southeast. Napoleon detached Gen. Jean Kleber's division to hold off this advance. On April 16 Kleber, with the aid of second France force, routed the Turks at Mount Tabor. Acre, however, continue to hold out against all French efforts to break into the city. Finally, when plague struck Napoleon's troops, he raised the siege on the night of May 20 and withdrew toward Egypt. In all, he had lost 2,200 dead, including 1,000 from disease.

Acre (Crusade-Turkish War), 1291

By 1290 the Christian Kingdom of Jerussalem has been reduced to a few fortresses on the coast, ruled by the absent King Henry II (III of Cyprus). That year street rioting between Christian and Moslems in Acre, the strongest of the remaining Frankish forts, prompted the Egyptian Sultan Al-Ashraf to organize an offensive against Acre. On April 6, 1291, the Mamelukes, with 60,000 horsemen and 100,000 foot soldiers, laid siege to the city. Amalric, brother of King Henry, commanded the Christian garrison, which consisted 1,000 mounted men and 15,000 infantry.
Despite heavy bombardment from Egyptian siege engines, Acre resisted stoutly. On May 4, King Henry arrived from Cyprus with reinforcements -100 knights and 2,000 infantry- but they were not enough to counterbalance the steady attrition brought on by moslem attacks. The outer wall fell on May 15, and in general assault three days later the Mamelukes stormed the inner gates and burst into the city. The King and his brother escaped with few nobles to Cyprus, while other Christians fought hopelessly in the streets. By the end of the day the Mamelukes victory was complete. Most of defenders died fighting, the others fell into captivity and were sold off as slaves. Acre was thoroughly sacked and its fortifications demolished.
On the following day, May 19, the garrison at Tyre, abandoned that city in the face of a threatened attack. Sidon and Beirut feel in July, the Mount Carmel Monastries in August. By the end of summer the last of the Frankish warriors had been erased from asian mainland. Syria and Palestine lay under moslem dominion as complete as that in 1097 when the first crusade began.