Turning Points in History: The Battle of Yarmouk, Part 2 of 2
By Steven Brander/Arab America Contributing Writer
This series will explore moments in history in which the fates of civilizations and regions teeter upon a knife’s edge. Here, we will delve into those key moments in which the course of Arab history was incontrovertibly altered. This article covers one of the most significant, but under-known battles in the early years of the Rise of Islam, the Battle of Yarmouk. This is part two on the Battle of Yarmouk, to read about the years leading up to this moment, click here.
An Oncoming Tide
No Rest for the Weary
Following the conquest of Persia, Abu Bakr turned West and began invading and conquering the outskirts of Roman Syria. Reports of the Arab raids were possibly initially dismissed; raids by various peoples out of the Arabian peninsula were, if not commonplace, recognized phenomena. Against a sufficient force or well-prepared defense, these raiders had always dissipated back into the desert.
This time though, the Arab forces were driven by the zeal of their newfound religion, the momentum of victory, and a unified will and leadership. After initial setbacks against Roman fortifications, Khalid ibn al-Walid was summoned with reinforcements from the Caliphate’s new Persian territory, allowing the Muslim forces to sweep through much of the Levant and culminating with the capture of the major city of Emesa (modern-day Homs, Syria).
Heraclius began to prepare for a counterattack, mustering his own veteran forces as well as allies from neighboring Christian states in both Armenia and the Arab Ghassanid kingdom, creating a force that likely outnumbered the Muslims by a substantial margin, but also drained most of what little manpower the Romans had left across the Empire. The Roman force split into several columns, intending to engage the also-divided Muslim forces separately. Heraclius’ strategy was to meet and hold the Caliphate’s armies apart, while deploying his own forces so as to outnumber and so overwhelm each Muslim army one by one, while never allowing them to unite.
But, before Heraclius’ plan could be put into action, Khalid and the Abu Bakr’s successor Abu Ubaidah orchestrated the withdrawal and consolidation of all the Muslim armies upon the Syrian plains near what is now the meeting point of the modern borders Syria, Palestine, and Jordan. As the main Roman force threatened the Muslim front, additional Roman forces were beginning to muster at their rear along with persistent small raids by the Christian Ghassanid Arabs indicated a possible encirclement, so the Muslim forces removed themselves again, encamping this time near the Yarmouk river.
The Battle(s) of Yarmouk
The battle itself took place over multiple days of fighting, with the first involving primarily a probing offensive by the Romans, while the Muslims’ outnumbered army maintained a more defensive posture.
The second day saw serious engagements throughout. The day began with the right and the left wings of the Muslim army breaking under Roman assault and retreating back towards their base camp. However, as both Roman wings pushed their opponents back, they left the center of their army behind, exposing their own flanks. Khalid then deployed his cavalry reserve against the Romans’ left wing, forcing that portion of the Roman army back. Meanwhile the unsupported Muslim left wing collapsed and fled back to their camp. At their camp, though, they were met by the women of their camp, who charged their men armed with tent poles and other camp paraphernalia, singing, shouting, and shaming them until they returned to the fight. Their return coupled with another flanking attack again forced back the Roman advance.
On the third day, the Romans focused entirely on attacking the Muslim right wing, again causing them to initially break, only to be shamed back into formation by their women. Once again, Khalid’s cavalry struck and drove back the Roman advance, leaving the battle lines in much the same position as they had started.
For the fourth, the Romans renewed their attack on the weakened Muslim right, while Khalid responded in essentially the same way. But, after again committing his reserve to the right, Khalid worried about the Romans forcing through the other portions of his line without his support, and had his own line attempt to engage to prevent Roman maneuvers. While his reserve once again halted the Roman advance on the Muslim right, the rest of the Muslim line suffered severe casualties as the Romans deployed their own elite horse archers. That day would thereafter be called the “Day of Lost Eyes.”
The fifth day saw a pause in fighting. The Romans were demoralized and had at this point suffered heavy casualties after each of Khalid’s repulses. Meanwhile, Khalid reorganized his army; taking on an offensive stance for the first time in response to the Romans’ weakness. He consolidated all cavalry into a single force in preparation for a single decisive attack the following day.
The following day saw Khalid’s ambitious plan come to fruition. His massed cavalry first collapsed the Romans’ left wing, then pushed on to shatter the Roman cavalry which had begun to mass in response, just not quickly enough. With their cavalry broken, the Roman infantry was abandoned and nearly surrounded. They attempted to retreat across a bridge over the Yarmouk river, but Khalid had stationed a blocking force there overnight, closing the lid on the bottle.
In the days following, the Muslim cavalry thoroughly pursued what remained of the fleeing Roman army, so much so that those who had survived the disastrous final day were spread so far across the region that they would not be of any use. Khalid’s victory was complete.
A Red Sun Rises
The consequences of the Battle of Yarmouk cannot be understated. Heraclius, who had overseen the general strategy from Antioch but had not participated in any military actions, simply abandoned Syria, attempting to consolidate the Roman defenses in Anatolia and Egypt. The Muslim tide, though, would sweep aside the Roman defenses. Over the next six years, the Caliphate claimed Armenia, Egypt, and eastern Anatolia.
Heraclius’ tragedy was to watch the provinces he had toiled so laboriously to retake from the Sassanians conquered so easily by the ascendant Caliphate. The Roman Empire would remain in this state, bottled up in western Anatolia and Constantinople for the next several hundred years.
The Muslims, meanwhile, had defeated both of the greatest empires from around the Mediterranean of the past age. Absent any obstacles, their influence would continue to expand east along the Silk Road into modern day India and China. Westwards, they would circumnavigate the Mediterranean up through Spain, stopping only when defeated by the united Franks at the Battle of Tours. This rapid expansion was what paved the way for the Islamic Golden Age, and Arab culture found influence throughout the Caliphate’s holdings. After all, the vast treasures of two fallen empires can go a long way in funding both the arts and sciences.
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