Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"On July 24 the army of the Second Crusade arrived outside the walls of Damascus to begin an unsuccessful siege that lasted just five days. . . . The fiery preaching of St. Bernard of Clairvaux whipped up enthusiasm for the expedition, which was led by two of Roman Catholic Europe's most powerful kings, Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany. . . .As they crossed Anatolia, the crusaders were immediately badly mauled by the Seljuk Turks. Because of their substantial losses, Louis and Conrad abandoned the original plan to recapture Edessa and decided to attack Damascus instead. . . . On the morning of July 28, the crusaders packed up their camp and began a humiliating retreat. The Second Crusade was entirely counterproductive, its only notable consequence being to strengthen the drive to restore Muslim unity and destroy the crusader kingdoms." [1001 Days]