| First Assault of Dellys (1837) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theFrench conquest of Algeria | |||||||
 Qubba ofSidi Soussan overlookingDellys. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Emirate of Abdelkader |  France | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Emir AbdelkaderEmir Mustapha |  DamrémontDefresneAssigny | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
TheFirst Assault of Dellys in May 1837, during theFrench conquest of Algeria, opposed thetroupes coloniales under Corvette captainFélix-Ariel d'Assigny (1794–1846) to the resistance fighters of the town ofDellys inKabylia of theIgawawen.[1][2]
When theEmir Mustapha organized on 8 May 1837 the first attack of hisKabylian allies against a colonial agricultural farm inReghaïa withinMitidja plain, the French response was not long in coming against the attackers.[3]
The then French governor ofAlgiers, General Damrémont, then ordered theKabyles to be punished by a military expedition on 17 May 1837 commanded by Colonel Schauenburg by land, and General Perregaux by sea against the tribes of Beni Aïcha,Issers and Amraoua.
The Kabyle rebels then retaliated by attacking theBoudouaou military camp on 25 May 1837, which was under the command of Captain de La Torré.
General Damrémont took advantage of this uprising east of Mitidja to set up an imposing military campaign on 27 May 1837 towards the valley ofOued Isser in order to suffocate this insurrectionary stronghold which harassed the colonial power of Algiers, by involving General Lixières.[4]
It was then that theSufimarabouts ofZawiyet Sidi Amar Cherif negotiated a cease-fire with the French which made it possible to stop the hostilities between the two belligerents.[5]
General Damrémont had opted in May 1837 to stop hostilities between the French and the Kabyles by reversing the balance of power by land and by sea.[6]
The commander of the navy in Algiers, namedFélicité-Louis-Urbain Menouvrier-Defresne (died 1848), therefore sent on 28 May 1837 in the morning a fleet of two boats from the port ofAlgiers to dock in the port ofDellys and submit theCasbah of Dellys in this city to colonial power, under the command of thecorvette captain and chief of staffFélix-Ariel d'Assigny.[7]
The end of the fighting in theIssers plain then accelerated the abdication of this coastal town which was thus deprived of its protective shield from rebels who encouraged it to be and remain a subversive center distant from a few tens of kilometers of theCasbah of Algiers.[8]
Thesteamboat Le Cerbère and thescow La Lionne that presented themselves on 28 May 1837 in the cove of the port of Dellys found no Algerian resistance when French soldiers landed on the shore as the victors.[9]
The two boats arrived in the cove which forms Cape Bengut and presented themselves in front of the town of Dellys where the ship Le Cerbère anchored in thirteen fathoms of water within cannon-range of the Dellys Casbah, while La Lionne continued to keep under sails.
The two crews then took the necessary measures to begin the attack and the destruction of the houses of the Casbah placed in amphitheater and degraded.
The population of the city was frightened by these devastating preparations, and then immediately sent a dinghy aboard Le Cerbère to enter into life-saving talks to save the city from its impending destruction.
The French soldiers had for mission to subdue this Kabyle and strategic city, and to summon its inhabitants to send their notables as hostages and negotiators toAlgiers, and to compensate the farmers Mercier and Saussine, owners of the farm which suffered the looting and sacking of theFirst Raid on Reghaïa dated 8 May 1837 under the command ofEmir Mustapha.[10]
This is how the commander d'Assigny, who had received strict and severe orders to be executed in the rebel town in the Amraoua region, having asked the Algerian delegation for a prompt response of submission to the injunctions of General Damrémont.
The notables of the town of Dellys organized on 28 May 1837 thecapitulation andsurrender of the town to theFrench armed force in order to protect the townspeople and their property from possible military reprisals.[11]
But these notables were not in a position to comply with the city's surrender injunctions, and they had to appoint eight dignitaries from among the main inhabitants who came aboard the Le Cerbère vessel to meet Commander Félix-Ariel.
It is thus that themufti El Mouloud ben El Hadj Allal, thecadi Si Ahmed El Mufti, themarabout ofZawiyet Sidi Amar Cherif and the principal inhabitants and notables of Dellys went aboard the shipLe Cerbère, and were brought in the night of 29 May 1837 as hostages to Algiers by the commanderd'Assigny.[12][6]
The few difficulties which marred the talks on the ship, as regards the surrender, led to this transfer of this delegation to Algiers where they were waiting for a favorable decision to be taken in their regard.
These notables of Dellys agreed with General Damrémont to pay compensation to the French settlers Mercier and Saussine who had suffered losses in the attack of the Amraoua and other Kabyles dated 8 May 1837 against their farm ofReghaïa.[13]
The counterpart of this reimbursement consisted in releasing the notables of Dellys and letting them return home as part of a lasting peace pact.[14]
At the end of this naval expedition, an honor was awarded to the French soldiers who took part in it, and more particularly to their leader Félix-Ariel d'Assigny who led it, because the expected results were obtained without bloodshed.
The deputies of theIssers and the notables of Dellys asked General Damrémont after their release to commit to establishing a Frenchtrading post in the city of Dellys in return for a lasting ceasefire in the Amraoua region.[15]
But the French governor of Algiers told them that a stationary military regiment would have to be installed to protect this trading post in Kabylia.[2]
Damrémont's response also noted that trade between Algiers and Dellys was not yet flourishing enough to justify the investment and expense that this trade measure would entail.[16]
But the city of Dellys with its 2,000 inhabitants at the time, its small fishing port, and its ten buildings dedicated to the coveted trading post, could make prosper a trade and a juicy exchange between this very cultivated country area and the city of Algiers by supplying it with grains and fruits.
| Pre-1830 conflicts | .png) | |
|---|---|---|
| French conquest of Algeria: 1830-1836 |
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| French conquest of Algeria: 1837-1870 |
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