traditions praise the moderation and self-defense of the rebels, though these are dismissed by Veccia Vaglieri. She says that the rebels must have instigated the violence as they needed provisions and money, and it was unfavorable for them to wait for Ali. This last point is also echoed by Madelung. The rebels then asked Basrans to surrender those who had participated in Uthman's siege and some six hundred men were thus killed by the rebels. The killings and the distribution of town supplies among the rebels are said to have driven a large number of Basrans to join Ali in fighting. In Basra, Aisha wrote letters to incite against Ali, addressed to Kufans and their governor, to Medinans, and to Hafsa bint Umar, another widow of Muhammad. The last one, however, refused to join the opposition. Ali's march on Basra Ali had set off in pursuit earlier with about seven hundred men but failed to intercept the rebels in time. In al-Rabadha, he thus changed direction to Kufa and sent delegates to raise an army there. His first delegate was Hisham ibn Utba, a nephew of Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, according to al-Baladhuri and al-Dinawari (). When the governor of Kufa, Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, hampered the war efforts, he was expelled from the town by the supporters of Ali, who then deposed the governor, saying that he had not found Abu Musa trustworthy and that he would have removed him earlier had it not been for al-Ashtar's advice to confirm him after the assassination of Uthman. Ali then sent his son Hasan and Ammar ibn Yasir or al-Ashtar himself to rally the support of the Kufans, who met the caliph outside of the town with an army of six to seven thousand men. Ali marched on Basra when his forces were ready, and stationed his army at the nearby al-Zawiya. From there, he sent messengers and letters to discourage the rebels from opposition, but to no avail. Line-up The two armies soon camped across from each other just outside of Basra. After Ali appealed to the opposite camp, large numbers defected to his side, possibly tipping the numerical strength in his favor. Alternatively, Hugh N. Kennedy writes that Ali had brought a large following from Kufa whereas the rebels' support in Basra was modest. Asma Afsaruddin has a similar view. Alternatively, Hazleton says that both armies had about 10,000 men.