Invasion of Algiers (1775)

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For other battles in the same place, see Battle of Algiers.
Invasion of Algiers
Part of the
Deylik of Algiers
Result Algerian victory
Belligerents
Regency of Algiers
Spain
TuscanyCommanders and leaders Mohammed V
Salah Bey
Mohammed el Kebir
Moustafa Waznadji
Ali Agha Alejandro O'Reilly
Jose de Mazarredo
Antonio Barceló
Bernardo de Gálvez
John ActonStrength Dey's personal guard:
~4,000 cavalry
Beylik of Constantine:
~15,000 camelry
Beylik of Oran:
~4,000 infantry
Beylik of Titteri:
~10,000 Kabyle troops[1] 20,000[2]-26,000[1]
7 ships of the line
12 frigates
27 gunboats
5 hulks
9 feluccas
4 mortar boats
7 galleys
3 smaller warships
230 transports[2]Casualties and losses 300 killed and wounded[3][4] 500[2]-800[5] killed
2,000 wounded[2]
2,000 captured[6]

The invasion of Algiers was a massive and disastrous amphibious attempt in July 1775 by a combined

exclaves
against any Ottoman or Moroccan encroachment, and reduce the influence that the Barbary states held in the Mediterranean.

The Spanish forces departed Cartagena in 1775 and sailed towards Algiers. On the coast, near the city, O'Reilly ordered the Spanish forces to land on the shores and capture the city, while the Spanish and Tuscan warships would protect the landing craft as they landed on the shore. However, the landing was flawed from the start, as the area chosen by the Spanish for the landing was not the one the pilots of the landing craft sailed towards, with the new landing site being totally unsuitable for bringing ashore the heavy artillery meant to bombard the city walls of Algiers. Most of the guns became stuck in the wet sand resulting in their absence from the ensuing fight. Despite this, the Spanish forces assaulted Algerian forces, who proceeded to draw back to positions further inland. The Spanish chose to pursue, but walked into a carefully set trap and suffered massive casualties, losing a quarter of their total force compared with light casualties on the Algerian side. Forced to retreat back to their boats waiting offshore, the assault ended in a spectacular failure and the campaign proved to be a humiliating blow to the Spanish military reorganisation.

Background

The armed forces of Spain had recently undergone a massive revival project under the personal command of the King of Spain, Charles III. This came after the

exclaves on the coast of North Africa, although these were constantly under threat of Moroccan or Ottoman encroachment. Charles was determined to not lose any more territory after ceding Florida to the British, a similar rationale for the French conquest of Corsica
.

After Spanish forces had successfully broken the Moroccan

Alexander O'Reilly, an Irish officer who at a young age had entered Spanish military service, being a member of the Irish military diaspora. O'Reilly had long had a distinguished career in service of Spain. As head of the royal household guard in 1765, he had personally protected Charles III from an attempt on his life. In the aftermath of the Seven Years' War, he personally received Havana when the British handed it back to the Spanish in the aftermath of the Treaty of Paris (1763). He had also crushed the Louisiana Rebellion of 1768 by French settlers after the territory had been transferred from France to Spain. In command of the naval element of the expedition was Spanish admiral Pedro Gonzalez de Castejon, and together they planned and organised a task force by late spring to carry out the invasion.[7]

The battle

Francisco de Goya
.

By June the task force that had been assembled was enormous, with seven

Marseilles who had followed the course of Spanish military preparations during the spring of 1775.[8] Pedro Caro Fontes, 2nd Marquis de La Romana, at the head of two regiments, was killed by two shots to the chest, minutes after landing.[9]

Portrait of Sir John Acton, attributed to Emanuele Napoli

The Spanish advanced forwards to engage the seemingly retreating Algerian forces, and moved further inland. However, the Algerians drew the Spanish into a specially chosen location where they could ambush and attack them from cover. By now the Spanish had realized the position they were in, at the same time the Algerians sprung their trap. However by the time the Spanish realized they were surrounded, it was too late for them.

Alicante
with his reputation now in tatters.

Aftermath

Although in general Charles III's reforms of the Spanish military would go on to enhance his country's military standing and effectiveness in future wars, O'Reilly's poor preparations and ineffective leadership made a mockery of the Spanish army. There were several reasons for the Spanish defeat: while the Algerian forces had detailed intelligence on the Spanish, the Spanish had no information on Algerian strength or positions, the majority of the Spanish forces consisted of recently recruited soldiers with little training whereas the Algerians had many veteran warriors among them, and the Algerians confronted the Spanish with a united command, whereas O'Reilly and the commander of the Spanish ships had many disagreements and suffered from a lack of communication. The bitter relationship between O'Reilly and the various Spanish admirals resulted in an extraordinary lack of cohesive planning and organisation, which in turn left O'Reilly with inadequate provisions and armaments.

New developments changed the strategic situation when Charles appointed the

Barbary Slave Trade continued unabated, now that the Spanish would pose no threat to a centre of the trade. It was now left for other nations such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the United States to deal with the Barbary pirates and ending the slavery there. The United States fought and won two wars against the Barbary states. In 1816, a combined Anglo-Dutch force bombarded Algiers in an attempt to put an end to the slave trade in Algiers, with the Royal Navy and Dutch Navy working in unison. The Barbary slave trade ended for good when France began the conquest of Algeria
in 1830.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Algerian arab manuscript, Al Zahra al Nâira, cited in Kaddache 2011, p. 445
  2. ^ a b c d e Jaques p. 34
  3. ^ Kaddache, p. 446
  4. ^ ibn Ruqaya al Tlemceni, Al Zahra nai'ra, p. 153[1]
  5. ^ a b Houtsma p. 259
  6. ^ a b Wolf p. 322
  7. ^ Powell pg 886
  8. ^ Powell p. 886
  9. ^ (in Spanish). Martín-Lanuza, Alberto. "Pedro Caro Fontes y Maza de Lizana". Diccionario Biográfico electrónico (DB~e). Real Academia de la Historia. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  10. ^ Swinburne pg. 61
  11. ^ Powell pg. 886
  12. ^ Wolf p. 323-4

Bibliography

  • Kaddache, Mahfoud (2011). L'Algérie des Algériens.
  • Hull, Anthony H. (1980). Charles III and the Revival of Spain. University Press of America.
    ISBN 0819110213
    .
  • Powell, John (2006). Great Events from History: The 18th Century 1701-1800. Salem Press.
    ISBN 9781587652790
    .
  • Wolf, John B. (1979). The Barbary Coast: Algiers Under the Turks, 1500 to 1830. Greenwood Publishing.
    ISBN 0393012050
    .
  • Jaques, Tony (1979). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A-E. Greenwood Publishing.
    ISBN 978031333536-5
    .
  • Houtsma, Martijn T. (1913). First Encyclopaedia of Islam. Brill Ltd.
    ISBN 9004097961
    .
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