| Sieges of Oran and Mers El Kébir | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theOttoman-Habsburg wars | |||||||
 Oran's harbour. Painting of 1613 by Vicente Mestre. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Spanish Empire |  Regency of AlgiersKingdom of Ait Abbas Kingdom of Kuku  France | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Alonso de CórdobaMartín de Córdoba Francisco de Mendoza y VargasÁlvaro de Bazán | Hasan Pasha Jafar Catania | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 1,500 men 90 guns[2] | 100,000 men 30galleys[3] 15galliots andfustas 5carracks[4] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Heavy human losses, 5 galliots captured, 4 carracks captured[5] | ||||||
Thesieges of Oran and Mers El Kébir of 1563 represented a major Hispano-Algerian episode in the largerOttoman-Habsburg wars of the Mediterranean. Between April and June 1563 theRegency of Algiers launched a major military campaign to retake the Spanish military-bases ofOran andMers el Kébir on theNorth African coast, occupied bySpain since 1505. The Kingdom of Algiers, the Principalities ofKabyle (Kuku andBeni Abbes), and other vassal tribes combined forces as one army underHasan Pasha, son ofHayreddin Barbarossa, and Jafar Catania. The Spanish commander brothers,Alonso de Córdoba Count of Alcaudete andMartín de Córdoba, managed to hold the strongholds of Oran and Mers El Kébir, respectively, until the relief fleet of Francisco de Mendoza arrived to successfully defeat the offensive.
With the defeat of theKnights of Malta and the conquest ofTripoli by the Ottoman admiralTurgut Reis in 1551, and the fall ofBougie to the governor of Algiers,Salih Reis, in 1555, Oran and Mers El Kébir were, along with the island ofLa Goulette, the only remaining possessions ofChristendom inBarbary resisting Ottoman and Moorish piracy operating along the coasts ofNaples,Sicily, and theLevant. When the Ottoman commanderHasan Corso's fleet of 50 galleys besieged both towns in theSiege of Oran in 1556,[6] it was SultanSuleiman's order to withdraw his galleys for use in theEastern Mediterranean that ensured Oran and Mers El Kébir could continue under Spanish control despite being weakly defended.[7]
In 1562,Hasan Pasha, son ofHayreddin Barbarossa and the Ottoman governor ofAlgiers, purposed to incorporate the Spanish garrisons of Oran and Mers El Kébir into the territories of Algiers.[8] When KingPhilip II discovered the plan he ordered the assembly of a fleet from Barcelona to transport 4,000 soldiers as reinforcements.[8] On October 19, 1562, a storm led to the naval disaster that became known asLa Herradura. The Spanish fleet off the city ofMálaga was destroyed, 24 of the 27 galleys sank, and a large number of sailors and soldiers, including Juan de Mendoza, Captain General of the Galleys of Spain, perished.[8]
Hassan Pasha, instructed by the SultanSuleiman, assembled soon an army of 100,000 men among Turks, Algerines, and a large number ofJanissaries.[3] This army was supported by sea by a fleet of 30 galleys, 5 French carracks, and 15 small vessels under the command of Jafar Catania, governor ofTlemcen.[9] With these forces Hassan went to Mers El Kébir, stronghold whose dominion he considered essential to capture Oran.[9] Meanwhile, Alonso and Martin de Córdoba had received supplies, gunpowder, tools, and a few soldiers from Málaga.[9] To hold together both towns in order to help each other, they decided to build twoforts:San Miguel, located on the hill that separated Oran from Mers El Kébir, andTodos los Santos, facing the second town.[9]
The siege began on April 3, 1563, when Ottoman troops massively attacked the tower ofTodos los Santos, defended by 200 Spanish soldiers.[9] The fierce resistance of the fort's garrison, along with artillery support from Mers El Kébir, inflicted heavy casualties on the attackers.[9] However, once the Ottoman cannons tore down the walls, the fort was soon taken.[9] Meantime Jafar's galleys blocked Mers El Kébir to prevent the city to be relieved from Oran. Ottoman's main objective was to capture Mers El Kébir, as Hassan was warned by severalrenegades that the Spanish planned to abandon Oran to concentrate on the defense of the other town.[3] Therefore, he destined most of his troops to take the fort ofSan Miguel, a key point of the Spanish defense, while only a few troops remainedblocking Oran.[3]
San Miguel's fort was attacked over 22 days by 24,000 infantry and 400 cavalry soldiers.[9] His few defenders rejected Hassan's offer of surrender and successfully repelled six assaults which left themoat full of dead Janissaries.[10] Among the Ottoman casualties was the governor ofConstantine, whose body could be recovered by his men with the permission of Martín de Córdoba.[10] However, despite the stubbornness of the defense, the reinforcements sent from Mers el Kébir were not enough to continue fighting, and on May 8, under cover of darkness, the Spanish survivors retreated to the town.[9]
Once inside the fort, the Ottoman troops surrounded the city, digging trenches around and placing artillery to break down the walls. On a nearby hill were also installed severalculverins to bombard the inner town.[9] Martín de Córdoba, who had less than 500 men available to defend the city, prepared for the assault.[9] This one took place on 20 May. Hassan sent ahead 12,000 Arabs to break the resistance of the Spanishharquebusiers and facilitate the assault by two columns of regular troops which would attack secondly.[11] Despite the heavy losses they suffered, the Arabs managed to scale the walls and raise the Ottoman flag on thebattlements. However, the Spanish soon expelled them.[11] In that attack nearly 2,500 men died, mostly falling into the moat around the town.[12]
In the following days, more assaults took place which also failed with great loss of life, although the Spanish situation had become desperate.[3] On June 6 Hassan was about to order the final assault, when a relief fleet took his army by surprise. King Philip II had ordered a fleet to be organized inCartagena in order to attack Hassan's army and force it to lift the siege. Under the command of Francisco de Mendoza y Vargas, who was seconded byÁlvaro de Bazán andGiovanni Andrea Doria, 34 galleys coming from Barcelona,Naples,Genoa,Savoy, andMalta, had embarked 4,000 soldiers and many volunteer knights, and had sailed to Mers el Kébir.[13] Hassan, fearing to be trapped between the Spanish reinforcements and Mers El Kébir, ordered his troops to retreat hastily. The tents could be saved, but guns, clothing, and tools were left in the field.[5] The Ottoman fleet was not so lucky, and several of its ships, including four of the French carracks, were captured.[5]
After disembarking reinforcements and supplies at Oran and Mers El Kébir, Francisco de Mendoza's fleet returned to Spain.[14] King Philip II, informed about the development of the siege, decided to reward Martín de Córdoba and Francisco Vivero, commanding officer of FortSan Miguel, for keeping these two crucial strongholds in Spanish hands.[14] In fact, this allowed the following year thecapture of the Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, a success which was followed in 1565 by thedecisive defense ofMalta against the fleet of Turgut Reis.[3] Several years later, in 1574, it was discussed at the Spanish court whether or not to abandon Oran and Mers El Kébir.[15] King Philip II orderedVespasian Gonzaga Colonna, Prince of Sabbioneta and Duke of Trayecto, to make a comprehensive report about the situation of both towns. Gonzaga advised to abandon Oran but to keep Mers El Kebir.[15] However, marshal Juan Muñoz sent to the king a report by Sancho de Leyva advising to keep both strongholds.[15] Philip II finally opted for Leyva's advice.[15]
