The poorer, and less well-supplied, infantry of the crusader army were the most vulnerable to hit-and-run horse archer attack and began to take casualties and lose men to capture.

The Crusaders lost virtually all of their baggage and, according to the Syriac Chronicle, "The Turks grew rich for they had taken gold and silver like pebbles with no end.

The failure of the crusaders was partly blamed on Byzantine treachery by the contemporary chronicler William of Tyre, the Greek guides and local population were accused of being in league with the Seljuks.

However, convincing evidence or motivation for this scenario is lacking, though the Byzantine emperor, Manuel I, had hurriedly arranged a peace treaty with the Seljuk sultan.

[6] The Germans subsequently joined forces with the French crusaders, led by Louis VII of France, at Nicaea, before proceeding along the coastal route around western Anatolia.

[7][8] The anonymous German author of Annales Herbipolenses, a native of Würzburg, speaks of meeting many returned soldiers, presumably of the wealthier section of the army.