The Battle of Alma or Battle of Boudouaou, which broke out on 19 April 1871, was a battle of the

Mokrani Revolt The Mokrani Revolt ( ar, مقاومة الشيخ المقراني, lit=Resistance of Cheikh El-Mokrani; ber, Unfaq urrumi, lit=French insurrection) was the most important local uprising against France in Algeria since the conquest in 1830. The r ...

by Algerian rebels against France, which had been the colonial power in the region since 1830.

Presentation

The rebels of the

, after several successes, headed for

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 d ...

via Alma ( Boudouaou) after having taken control of '' Palestro'' ( Lakhdaria), '' Laazib Zamoum'' ( Naciria), ''

Bordj Menaïel Bordj Menaïel (from the Arabic برج - bordj, "tower" and Berber ''imnayen'' "cavaliers") is a town in the Boumerdès Province in Algeria. It is located in the western Kabylie region at and is 30 km away from the city of Boumerdès. As ...

'', the ''

Issers Isser, formerly spelled Issers ( ar, يسر, kab, ⵉⵙⴻⵔ) is a town and commune in Boumerdès Province, Algeria. According to the 1998 census it has a population of 27,990. As of the latest census it has 32,580 residents. Isser is locate ...

'' and the '' Col des Beni Aïcha'' ( Thenia). It was the Marabout Cheikh Boumerdassi, Cheikh of the ''

Zawiyet Sidi Boumerdassi Zawiyet Sidi Boumerdassi ( ar, زاوية سيدي البومرداسي) or Zawiyet Ouled Boumerdès is a zawiya located within Boumerdès Province in Algeria. Construction The zawiya of Ouled Boumerdès was built in 1714 in the southern hei ...

'', and Marabout Cheikh Boushaki, Cheikh of the ''

Zawiyet Sidi Boushaki Zawiyet Sidi Brahim Boushaki ( ar, زاوية سيدي إبراهيم البوسحاقي) or Zawiyet Thénia is a zawiya of the Rahmaniyya Sufi brotherhood located in Boumerdès Province within lower Kabylia of Algeria. Construction The zaw ...

'', who led this Algerian attack against the French colonies in

Lower Kabylia Kabylia ('' Kabyle: Tamurt n Leqbayel'' or ''Iqbayliyen'', meaning "Land of Kabyles", '','' meaning "Land of the Tribes") is a cultural, natural and historical region in northern Algeria and the homeland of the Kabyle people. It is part of the ...

. Advancing from Palestro towards

, the fighters were stopped at Boudouaou (Alma) on 22 April 1871. The Algerian rebels then made a fatal error in their advance towards Algiers, by igniting a fire in the woods around Reghaïa which alerted the French garrison.

French counter-attack

The Governor General of Algiers,

Louis Henri de Gueydon Louis Henri, comte de Gueydon (22 November 1809 – 1 December 1886) was a vice admiral in the French Navy, and the first governor of Algeria under the Third Republic. Family De Gueydon was born in Granville, Manche. His family were nobles of ...

, decided to retake the colony of Alma by sending on April 21, 1871, an expeditionary unit tasked with stopping the march of the Algerian masses who were threatening the Mitidja. The unit consisted of 2,300 infantrymen made up of

Zouaves The Zouaves were a class of light infantry regiments of the French Army serving between 1830 and 1962 and linked to French North Africa; as well as some units of other countries modelled upon them. The zouaves were among the most decorated unit ...

, Algerian riflemen, militiamen from Algiers, mobiles from

Hérault Hérault (; oc, Erau, ) is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault River, its prefecture is Montpellier. It had a population of 1,175,623 in 2019.Chasseurs d'Afrique The ''Chasseurs d'Afrique'' were a light cavalry corps of chasseurs in the French Armée d'Afrique (Army of Africa). First raised in 1831 from regular French cavalry posted to Algeria, they numbered five regiments by World War II. For most of ...

, a few

spahis Spahis () were light-cavalry regiments of the French army recruited primarily from the indigenous populations of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. The modern French Army retains one regiment of Spahis as an armoured unit, with personnel now r ...

and 4 mounted

howitzers A howitzer () is a long-ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like oth ...

. This unit moved towards the village of Alma, located 37 kilometers from Algiers, and sighted the first Algerian rebels the day before, April 20. It was Colonel

Alexandre Fourchault Alexandre Édouard Constant Fourchault (19 August 181710 April 1884) was a French officer. Studies He studied at the ''Lycée Benjamin-Franklin d'Orléans'' with several senior officers of the French Army and French politicians. He was trained mi ...

who took charge of the counter-attack of the

Troupes coloniales The ''Troupes coloniales'' ("Colonial Troops") or ''Armée coloniale'' ("Colonial Army"), commonly called ''La Coloniale'', were the military forces of the French colonial empire from 1900 until 1961. From 1822 to 1900 these troops were de ...

, to push back the Algerians who were going to overtake Boudouaou to begin the conquest of

Mitidja Mitidja, (Arabic: , Berber: Mettijet ⵎⴻⵜⵙⵉⵛⵝ) is a plain stretching along the outskirts of Algiers in northern Algeria. It is about long, with a width of . Traditionally devoted largely to agriculture and serving as the breadbasket ...

. The Algerian rebels trying to invade Mitidja were only stopped in Alma by the French-Algerian unit, and Colonel Fourchault's snipers. Colonel Fourchault and his snipers, after having stopped the Algerian insurrection in Alma on April 22, 1871, then marched on the Col des Beni Aïcha to dislodge the Algerian resistance fighters and punish the Kabyle population who supported them, before clearing and freeing Palestro and discovering the massacre of

European settlers European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

by supporters of

Cheikh Mokrani Sheikh Mohamed El-Mokrani ( ar, الشيخ محمد المقراني; ; d. 1871) was one of the principal leaders of the popular uprising of 1871 against the French occupation of Algeria. Early life Mohamed was a descendant of the rulers of t ...

Bibliography

(fr) Un Épisode de l’insurrection Kabyle. — L’Alma, Palestro

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alma, Battle Of

Alma Alma or ALMA may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Alma'' (film), a 2009 Spanish short animated film * ''Alma'' (Oswald de Andrade novel), 1922 * ''Alma'' (Le Clézio novel), 2017 * ''Alma'' (play), a 1996 drama by Joshua Sobol about Alma ...

1871 in Algeria April 1871 events Battles of the Mokrani Revolt

Presentation

French counter-attack

See also

Bibliography

References