The Bombardment of Algiers in August 1783 was a failed attempt by Spain to put an end to Algerine privateering against Spanish shipping. A Spanish fleet of 70, sailing under Rear admiral
Antonio Barceló
Antonio Barceló y Pont de la Terra (1 January 1717, in Palma, Majorca – 30 January 1797, in ''idem'') (in Catalan Antoni Barceló i Pont de la Terra) was a Spanish mariner, lieutenant general (equivalent to Admiral) of the Spanish Royal Arma ...
, bombarded the city eight times between August 4–8 but inflicted only minor damages to the Algerine military. Both Spaniards and Algerines fought poorly, but Barceló, blaming unfavorable weather conditions, gave the order to withdraw. His expedition was judged a failure at the Spanish court, being described as a "''festival of fireworks too costly and long for how little it entertained the Moors and how it was used by whomever paid for it''".
Background
![AntonioBarcelóAnónimo1848](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/AntonioBarcel%C3%B3An%C3%B3nimo1848.jpg)
In 1775, a Spanish fleet of 51 ships under Don Pedro de Castejón escorted a landing force of 20,000 infantry, 800 cavalry, and 900 artillerymen in 450 transports against the most persistent of the Barbary raiders, the city of Algiers. The expedition of Count
Alexander O'Reilly
Alejandro O'Reilly, 1st Count of O'Reilly, KOA (; October 24, 1723 in Baltrasna, Co. Meath, Ireland – March 23, 1794 in Bonete, Spain), English: Alexander, Count of O'Reilly, Irish: ''Alastar Ó Raghallaigh, ''was an Irish-born military refor ...
(an Irish soldier in the Spanish army) punished the Barbary port and inflicted 5,000 casualties on the Algerians, but took severe losses in return, amounting to 27 officers and about 500 enlisted men killed and 191 officers and over 2,000 enlisted men wounded.
The Algerine privateering against Spanish vessels increased following the disastrous
invasion of Algiers in 1775. Spain tried to reach a peace agreement with the Ottoman Regency with the aim of securing their commercial traffic along the Mediterranean. Don
Juan de Bouligny was sent to
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
in 1782 and managed to obtain a friendship and commercial agreement with Sultan
Abdul Hamid I
Abdülhamid or Abdul Hamid I ( ota, عبد الحميد اول, ''`Abdü’l-Ḥamīd-i evvel''; tr, Birinci Abdülhamid; 20 March 1725 – 7 April 1789) was the 27th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, reigning over the Ottoman Empire from 1774 ...
. The Regency, nevertheless, denied to accept the treaty. The Dey, influenced by several of his officers, the ''fasnachi'', the treasurer, the ''focha'', the ''Codgia'' of the cavalry and the ''Aga'' of the infantry, opted for war, ignoring the recommendations of his naval officers. The Spanish chief minister, the
Count of Floridablanca
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
, then tried in vain to bribe the Dey with gold to open negotiations for peace.
King
Charles III
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...
, feeling that the national pride of Spain had been offended by the Algerines, resolved to punish them by bombarding their town. Rear admiral Antonio Barceló was appointed to carry out the attack. Though he was by far the most capable naval officer of Spain and one of the few who had risen through the ranks by merit, Barceló's designation was coldly received both by the Spanish court and military. The Rear admiral was old and illiterate and of humble extraction, which, together with his naval victories, earned him the envy of most of the senior Spanish officers.
Bombardment
Barceló sailed from Cartagena on July 2 ahead of 4 ships of the line, 4 frigates and 68 small vessels, including gunboats and
bomb vessel
A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannons (long guns or carronades) – although bomb vessels carried a few cannons for self-defence – but mortars mounted ...
s. The Algerines had no more than 2 demi-galleons of 5 guns each, a felucca of 6, two xebecs of 4 guns each, and 6 gunboats carrying 12 and 24-pounders to oppose them. On 29 July the Spanish fleet came in sight of the town and two days later Barceló formed his
line of battle
The line of battle is a tactic in naval warfare in which a fleet of ships forms a line end to end. The first example of its use as a tactic is disputed—it has been variously claimed for dates ranging from 1502 to 1652. Line-of-battle tacti ...
and made the necessary dispositions for the attack. The bomb-ketches and gunboats, supported by xebecs and other vessels, formed the vanguard, the whole being covered by the ships of line and frigates.
![Algiers-bombing](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Algiers-bombing.jpg)
The cannonade and bombardment commenced at 14:30, and continued without intermission till sunset. The attack was renewed on the following, and on every succeeding day until the 9th, when it was resolved at a
council of war
A council of war is a term in military science that describes a meeting held to decide on a course of action, usually in the midst of a battle. Under normal circumstances, decisions are made by a commanding officer, optionally communicated ...
, for sufficient reasons, to return immediately to Spain. In the course of these attacks 3732 mortar shells and 3833 rounds of shot were discharged by the Spaniards, and the Algerines returned 399 mortar shells and 11,284 rounds of shot. This vast expenditure of ammunition produced no corresponding effect on either side: the town was repeatedly set on fire, but the flames were soon subdued.
Following the example of the
Great Siege of Gibraltar, the garrison used
red-hot balls, but they did not produce a similar effect. The Algerines made several bold sallies with their small vessels, but were constantly repulsed by the superiority of fire from the fleet. While the Dey had taken refuge at his citadel, the weight of the defense was sustained by an improvised militia composed mostly of teenagers. 25 Algerine heavy guns purchased in
Denmark
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had blown up during the battle due to their misuse or bad conditions. In addition, 562 buildings were destroyed or damaged by the bombardment, an insignificant figure given that Algiers consisted of 5,000 buildings and that the whole town was exposed to the Spanish fire. Otherwise, only one gunboat was lost by the defenders. The Spanish casualties were also minimum: 26 killed and 14 wounded.
Aftermath
According to the official version released by the Spanish government, the withdrawal was due to bad weather, an excuse not credible, given that the weather conditions in the Mediterranean are favorable to navigation in the summer. Among the measures used to present the bombing as a success, the most significant was that of numerous
promotion
Promotion may refer to:
Marketing
* Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
s among the participants. The Spanish 'victory' was sung by numerous poems, most of them exaggerated and of bad taste, but in fact nothing had been achieved. Two months later, five Algerian privateers captured two Spanish merchant vessels near
Palamós
Palamós () is a town and municipality in the Mediterranean Costa Brava, located in the ''comarca'' of Baix Empordà, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Palamós is located at the northern end of a large bay. The town is by-passed by th ...
as a gesture of defiance, and a new, far bigger expedition had to be assembled to attack Algiers again
the following year.
Notes
References
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1783 in the Ottoman Empire
1783 in Africa
1783 in Spain
Algiers
Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...
Algiers
Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...
Algiers
Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...
18th century in Algiers