The Battle of Macta was fought on 28 June 1835 between French forces under General

Camille Alphonse Trézel Camille Alphonse Trézel (5 January 1780, in Paris – 11 April 1860, in Paris) was a French général de division, Minister for War and peer of France during the July Monarchy. He was the assistant chief of the general staff on the Morea expedi ...

and a coalition of Algerian tribes of western Algeria under Emir

Abd al-Qadir Abd al-Qadir or Abdulkadir ( ar, عبد القادر) is a male Muslim given name. It is formed from the Arabic words '' Abd'', ''al-'' and '' Qadir''. The name means "servant of the powerful", ''Al-Qādir'' being one of the names of God in the ...

, who, at the age of 26, waged one of his most epic and famous battles using new strategies and tactics of warfare unheard of by the settlers. The French column, which had fought an inconclusive but somewhat bloody battle with Abdul-Qadir a few days earlier, was retreating toward

Arzew Arzew or Arzeu ( ar, أرزيو Berber; ) is a port city in Algeria, 25 miles (40 km) from Oran. It is the capital of Arzew District, Oran Province. History Antiquity Like the rest of North Africa, the site of modern-day Arzew was ori ...

to resupply when Abdul-Qadir attacked in the marshes on the banks of the

Macta River The river Macta is in Algeria. The Macta is only long and, enters the sea in the Gulf of Arzeu, some west of the mouth of the Chelif. It is formed by the Habra ( long) and the Sig ( long), which rise in the Amour Range and flowing north befo ...

in what is now western

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

. The French panicked and fled to Arzew in a disorganized rout. The Algerians piled the heads of their defeated French enemies in a pyramid, allegedly hundreds in total. The disaster led to the recall to France of Trézel and the comte d'Erlon, the first military governor-general of the French possessions in Africa, and helped Abdul-Qadir gain influence over tribes throughout Algeria.

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