The Turks, numbering perhaps 30,000, approached at dawn on July 1, and Kilij Arslan launched a surprise assault on the sleeping camp. The tactics of the Turks caught the Crusaders totally off guard. As the chroniclers of the time reported, ‘The Turks came upon us from all sides, skirmishing, throwing darts and javelins and shooting arrows from an astonishing range.’ The Turks also ‘began to whistle and chatter and shout at the top of their voices, uttering a diabolical sound,’ so besides the terrific missile barrage, the Turkish attack was pressed forward with screams, battle cries and the relentless sound of drums.

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Although caught sleeping or at breakfast by the furious morning assault, Bohemond gathered his available knights and, the chroniclers note, gave a short speech appealing not only for divine help, but to his troops’ base greed: ‘This day, if it pleases God, you will all have been made rich.’ The Normans had not lost their Norse proclivity for plunder, being the one group of Crusaders content to settle for land and wealth in Antioch rather than continuing on to free the holy city of Jerusalem. The Norman knights were professionals and as such reacted swiftly to the surprise attack, unlike their allied mercenary contingents and noncombatants. Bohemond managed to quickly organize numbers of noncombatants to carry water to the knights and armed foot soldiers. He had very little time to react and organize his men, however, as the Turks fired and then charged, cutting down numbers of dazed and disoriented Christians as they tried to form lines of battle.

Many of the Western knights were undoubtedly as frightened as the noncombatants. However, the deeply held concepts of honor and fidelity to one’s comrades and leaders overcame the base fears of the Normans. While the less honor-bound troops and noncombatants huddled together in the camp, fearfully singing, praying and confessing their sins as Turkish arrows cut them down, Bohemond formed up those knights he could rally and tried to blunt the Turkish attack. He also had to keep his brother, Tancred, and others from impetuously charging the elusive Turkish horse archers. Though of many languages and nationalities, Bohemond’s warriors were united in their reliance on each other for survival. With a tremendous show of courage, the Norman knights bought time for the rest of the army to form a cohesive defense.

Noncombatant helplessness and vulnerability to the terrific archer fire and slashing Turkish swords motivated Bohemond to utilize a defensive posture. Sending messengers out to find and warn the other Crusader army of his situation, the Norman leader sought to preserve his army in the face of the unrelenting Turkish assault. Minutes turned to hours as more than 2,000 men reportedly fell victim to horse archers’ arrows. Most of the casualties were unarmored foot soldiers and pilgrims. Bohemond’s army began to retreat toward the banks of the river.

The Turks found the Western European knight much tougher to kill than the less-armored foot soldier. The knights (who would later be called ‘iron people’ by the Saracens) would take numerous missile hits and still fight on. But the Turks had the Crusaders virtually surrounded and set up relays to keep their archers supplied with a constant supply of arrows. Even an armored knight could stand only so many hits.

Bohemond maintained a semblance of order in his ranks, even though the Turks had by now captured a good portion of the camp and were swarming around the Crusader army, cutting off individuals and small groups, and forcing the main body slowly back to the soggy riverbank. Throughout the clashes, the women of the camp continued to bring water to the front ranks, encouraging the warriors. Although Bohemond had ordered his knights to hold their positions, one rash commander and 40 followers charged the Turks, only to be cut to pieces, the few survivors returning wounded to rejoin their comrades. Time and again, small groups of mounted knights would break into futile charges, only to be forced to fall back, as the elusive Turks retired beyond reach of their swords and lances, still pelting them with arrows.

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