ACRE, or ACRA, a sea port town in Syria, formerly ailed Ptolemais, from one of the Ptolemies; and ?cra, On account of its fortifications. Its Arabian name is .4.(•ka. which greatly resembles its ancient Hebrew ap pellation ./cco or .4ccho. Acre is surrounded by an ex tensive and fertile plain on the north and cast : On the it is washed by the Mediterranean; and on the ,oath there is a semicircular bay nine miles long, which .•xt•nds from the city to Mount Carmel.
This town has been celebrated in history, as the thea tre of several important transactions. During the holy war, it was the principal scene of contention between the Christians and Infidels. Saladin, king of Egypt, ob tained possession of it in 1187 ; and, soon after, it was invested by the combined forces of all the Christians in Palestine. For two years, it was defended with the most obstinate bravery ; an incredible number of troops, both European and Asiatic, were destroyed; nor did it sur render till the assailants IS ere reinforced by the armies of Philip Augustus of France, and Richard I. of Eng land, two monarchs, whose ardour in the sacred cause, and whose emulation of each other's fame, incited them to extraordinary efforts of valour. The Saracens, re duced to the last extremity, could not long hold out against such formidable enemies, and, on the 12th of July, 1191, they surrendered themselves prisoners of war. Thus, after losing more than 100,000 men, the Christians became masters of Acre, a strong position, and commodious harbour; they procured the restoration of their fellow Christians, who had been taken by the Infidels; and once more obtained possession of the wood of the true cross. Saladin, however, having refused to ratify the capitulation, Richard I. ordered 5000 of the Saracen captives to be butchered ; and this act of wan ton cruelty compelled Saladin to retaliate upon the Christians. Almost a century posterior to this event, when, after many unsuccessful attempts to recover the Holy Land, Jerusalem was wrested from the Christians, Acre became their metropolis in Syria, and was adorned with many useful and elegant works; pilgrims and fu gitives augmented its population ; and the advantages of its situation attracted the trade both of the East and West. At this time, extreme licentiousness prevailed in the city, which the feeble efforts of government were insufficient to restrain. The adjacent Mahometan were plundered by gangs of banditti, who sallied forth under the banners of the cross. Nineteen Syrian merchants were robbed and ignominiously murdered, vet satisfaction was demanded in vain. Incensed by these enormities, the sultan Khalil advanced against Acre with a powerful army, provided with a formidable train of artillery. The Moslems, alter a siege of thirty three clays, succeeded in storming the town, and 60,000 Christians either butchered or made slaves. The fortress of the Templars was demolished; their grand master was slain; and of 500 knights, only ten survived. Of the fugitives, a very few arrived in safety in the island of Cyprus. This siege was distinguished by an act of female resolution, scarcely paralleled in history. A number of beautiful young nuns, dreading the viola tion of their chastity by the brutal Saracens, determined to render themselves objects of aversion, by mangling their faces in the most shocking manner ; and when the conquerors entered the city, they were so disappointed at the disgusting appearance of these virgins, that they put them all to the sword.
Acre, after being thus desolated, remained almost wholly deserted, lid the year 1750, when it was fortified by Daher, an Arabian sclicik, who maintained his inde pendence for many years against the Ottoman power, and was at length basely assassinated, at the advanced age of 86, by the emissaries of the paella, against whose tyranny he had, through life, defended his people. Acre has since been rendered, by the works of Djezzar, one of the principal towns upon the Syrian coast. His mosque is admired as one of the finest specimens of Eastern architecture. The bazar, or covered market, vies with those of Aleppo; and the public fountain, though the water is of indifferent quality, exceeds even those of Damascus in elegance. Of these works the pacha has the sole merit, as he both planned them, and superintended the execution ; yet, amidst all these im provements, the fortifications of Acre, though they had been frequently repaired, continued so insignificant, that they were incapable of withstanding any hostile assault. When the French approach( d the city, in the spring of the year 1799, a few wretched low towers, mounted with rusty iron cannon, sonic of which burst every time a round was fired, constituted its whole defence. In these, the pacha Djezzar, who had already evacuated Caiffa, placed so little confidence, that he was preparing to make good his retreat, and to convey to some place of security his women and treasure, when sir Sydney Smith anchored with his squadron in the road of Caiffa, and sent colonel Philipeaux, a French engineer, to assist the paella in fortifying the town. Djezzar, thus encou raged, determined to hold out to the last. Caiffa was occupied by the French advanced guard, commanded by filcher, and the investment of Acre was completed by Bonaparte. But all their exertions, extraordinary as they were, were baffled by the vigilance, the activity, and the valour of sir Sydney Smith. In vain did they try every variety of attack. The garrison, assisted by the English marines, repulsed them on every occasion with great slaughter ; and, after sustaining many irre parable losses, particularly of his battering pieces and stores, Bonaparte announced to the army his intention of raising the siege. Accordingly, he began his retreat on the 20th of May, the sixty-first day after breaking the ground. On this occasion uncommon spirit was dis played, and wonderful achievements performed, both by the besieged and their assailants; but on both sides cruelties were committed, and distresses endured, which humanit) shudders on recollecting.
Acre, poss•sged of every natural advantage, is daily increasing in prosperity. Corn and cotton are tne staple articles of its commerce ; hut the trade has lately been monopolized by the paella, without any exception even in fan our of the European merchants. The French had six mercantile houses in Acre, over which a consul pre sided; and Russia has recently established here a resi dent. Acre is situated '27 miles south of Ti re, and about 70 miles north of Jerusalem ; in I,at. N. Lon. 39" 25' E. See liume's Mist. vol. ii. p. 14, 23. Gibbon's /fist. chap. lix. vol. ii. p. 128, 14.7, Re.