by Dr. Pelham Mead

In 1292, Two hundred thousand Mamluks from Egypt assault the last Templar stronghold in the Holy Land, Acre. The walls of Acre were forty fight high and twenty feet thick and on one side the walls came down to the sea bedrock. The towers at critical points in the Acre walled defense were the Accursed Tower located on the northern wall. The Tower of Flies was also a lighthouse and was surrounded by the sea and had a floating bridge connecting it to the mainland. The defense of Acre had a double wall with a moat in between making an assault even more difficult. The Templar Knights had their own castle within the Acre walls and underground tunnels leading to the harbor. The Hospitaliers also had their own castle within the Acre walls with underground tunnels leading to the harbor. The Mamluks were unsuccessful at first with their siege of the city, but when they mined under the Acre wall and put pigs and wood under it to develop a very hot fire that cracked the substructure of the Acre wall, eventually causing the wall to crack and provide an opening which the Mamluks rushed with their cavalry. Twenty to thirty thousand citizens, knights and combatants were killed when the Mamluks conquered Acre. After the success, the Mamluks destroyed the walls and castles so that the Templar Knights could not take over the city again and use it as a stronghold.