to the Hejaz Railway. Cousse's message confirmed the fears of Faisal's cabinet that Gouraud was intent on taking over Syria by force. The cabinet subsequently rejected Gouraud's ultimatum and issued a largely symbolic appeal to the international community to end the French advance. On 23 July, al-Azma set out from Damascus with his motley force of army regulars and volunteers, which was divided into northern, central and southern columns each headed by camel cavalry units. French forces launched their offensive towards Khan Maysalun and Wadi al-Qarn shortly after dawn on 24 July, at 5:00, while Syrian forces were waiting at their positions overlooking the low end of Wadi al-Qarn. Combatants and arms French forces Estimates of the combined size of the French Army of the Levant forces that participated in the battle ranged from 9,000 to 12,000 troops. The troops involved were mostly Senegalese and Algerian, and consisted of ten infantry battalions and a number of cavalry and artillery units. Among the participating units were the 415th Infantry Regiment, the 2nd Algerian Tirailleurs (Riflemen) Regiment, the Senegalese Division, the African Light Infantry Regiment and the Moroccan Spahi Regiment. A number of Maronite volunteers from Mount Lebanon reportedly joined the French forces as well. The Army of the Levant was equipped with field and mountain artillery batteries and 155mm guns, and backed by tanks and fighter bombers. The commander of the French forces was General Mariano Goybet. Syrian forces Syrian forces consisted of remnants of the Arab Army assembled by General al-Azma, including soldiers from General Hassan al-Hindi's disbanded Anjar-based garrison, disbanded units from Damascus and Bedouin camel cavalry; most Arab Army units had been disbanded days prior to the battle by order of King Faisal as part of his acceptance of General Gouraud's terms. In addition to Arab Army troops, numerous civilian volunteers and militiamen from Damascus joined al-Azma's forces. Estimates put the number of Syrian soldiers and irregulars at around 4,000, while historian Eliezer Tauber asserts that al-Azma recruited 3,000 soldiers and volunteers, of whom only 1,400 participated in the battle. According to historian Michael Provence, the "quarters of Damascus had been emptied of young men as crowds walked west, some armed only with swords or sticks, to meet the mechanized French column". Part of the civilian militia units were assembled and led by Yasin Kiwan, a Damascene merchant, Abd al-Qadir Kiwan, the former imam of the Umayyad Mosque,