| Battle of Alma | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theMokrani Revolt | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
.svg) Kingdom of Ait Abbas Islamic Zawiyas Rahmaniyya |  France | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Cheikh MokraniCheikh BoumerdassiCheikh BoushakiCheikh Zamoum |  Louis HenriAlexandre FourchaultGeneral Lallemand | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 2,000 warriors | 2,300 infantrymen | ||||||
 | |||||||
TheBattle of Alma orBattle of Boudouaou, which broke out on 19 April 1871, was a battle of theMokrani Revolt by Algerian rebels against France, which had been the colonial power in the region since 1830.[1]
The rebels of theMokrani Revolt, after several successes, headed forAlgiers viaAlma (Boudouaou) after having taken control ofPalestro (Lakhdaria),Laazib Zamoum (Naciria),Bordj Menaïel, theIssers and theCol des Beni Aïcha (Thenia).[2]
It was the MaraboutCheikh Boumerdassi, Cheikh of theZawiyet Sidi Boumerdassi, and MaraboutCheikh Boushaki, Cheikh of theZawiyet Sidi Boushaki, who led this Algerian attack against the French colonies inLower Kabylia.[3]
Advancing from Palestro towardsAlgiers, the fighters were stopped atBoudouaou (Alma) on 22 April 1871.[4]
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.[5]
The Governor General of Algiers,Louis Henri de Gueydon, 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.[6]
The unit consisted of 2,300 infantrymen made up ofZouaves,Algerian riflemen, militiamen from Algiers, mobiles fromHérault, over 200Chasseurs d'Afrique, a fewspahis and 4 mountedhowitzers.[7]
This unit moved towards the village of Alma, located 37 kilometers from Algiers, and sighted the first Algerian rebels the day before, April 20.[8]
It was ColonelAlexandre Fourchault who took charge of the counter-attack of theTroupes coloniales, to push back the Algerians who were going to overtakeBoudouaou to begin the conquest ofMitidja.[9]
The Algerian rebels trying to invade Mitidja were only stopped in Alma by the French-Algerian unit, and Colonel Fourchault's snipers.[10]
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 theKabyle population who supported them, before clearing and freeing Palestro and discovering the massacre ofEuropean settlers by supporters ofCheikh Mokrani.[11]
| Pre-1830 conflicts | .png) | |
|---|---|---|
| French conquest of Algeria: 1830–1836 |
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| French conquest of Algeria: 1837–1870 |
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| Allegiances | ||
| Mokrani Revolt | ||
| Algerian War | ||
| Treaties | ||
| Documents | ||
| Lists | ||
