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Battle of Macta
Part of the French conquest of Algeria
Date 28 June 1835 Location near the Macta River, French Algeria Result Algerian victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of France	Emirate of Mascara
Commanders and leaders
Camille Alphonse Trézel	Abd al-Qadir al-Jaza'iri
Strength
2,500 men (French claim) A Battalion of the 66th Infantry Regiment A Light Infantry battalion The 5th battalion 3 companies of the 4th Battalion of the Foreign Legion 4 squadrons of Chasseurs d'Afrique	15,000 cavalrymen (French claim)
Casualties and losses
300–2,000	500

The Battle of Macta was fought on 28 June 1835 between French forces under General Camille Alphonse Trézel and a coalition of Algerian tribes of western Algeria under Emir Abd al-Qadir, who, at the age of 26, waged one of his most famous battles against a superior force.

The French column, which had fought an inconclusive but somewhat bloody battle with Abdul-Qadir a few days earlier, was retreating toward Arzew to resupply when Abdul-Qadir attacked in the marshes on the banks of the Macta River in what is now western Algeria. The French panicked and fled to Arzew in a disorganized rout. The Algerians piled the heads of their defeated French enemies in a pyramid, allegedly hundreds in total.

The disaster led to the recall to France of Trézel and the comte d'Erlon, the first military governor-general of the French possessions in Africa, and helped Abdul-Qadir gain influence over tribes in Western Algeria.

Notes

1. Emerit 2010, pp. 18–19.
2. Garnier, Jacques (2004). Dictionnaire Perrin des guerres et des batailles de l'histoire de France. Perrin. p. 35. ISBN 9782262008291.
3. général Grisot - Lieutenant Coulombon, La Légion étrangère de 1831 à 1887, 1888, p.20
4. Garnier, Jacques (2004). Dictionnaire Perrin des guerres et des batailles de l'histoire de France. Perrin. p. 35. ISBN 9782262008291.
5. Garnier, Jacques (2004). Dictionnaire Perrin des guerres et des batailles de l'histoire de France. Perrin. p. 35. ISBN 9782262008291.
6. The New Encyclopedia of Islam. Rowman Altamira. 2003. ISBN 9780759101906.
7. The New Encyclopedia of Islam. Rowman Altamira. 2003. ISBN 9780759101906.
8. Churchill, Charles Henry (1867). The life of Abdel Kader, ex-sultan of the Arabs of Algeria; written from his own dictation, and comp. from other authentic sources. By Colonel Churchill. London Chapman and Hall. p. 77.
9. McDougall, James (2017). A History of Algeria (1 ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-02923-0.

References

• Emerit, Marcel (2010), "Abdelkader", Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. I: A-Ak - Bayes (15th ed.), Chicago, IL: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., pp. 18-19, ISBN 978-1-59339-837-8
• Sanderson, Edgar (1898), Africa in the Nineteenth Century, Seeley and Company, p. 107
• Wagner, Moritz; Pulszky, Ferencz Aurelius (1854), The Tricolor on the Atlas: Or, Algeria and the French Conquest, T. Nelson and sons, p. 274

Further reading

• Gibson, Walcot (1911). "Algeria" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 642–653.

35°47′21″N 0°09′12″W / 35.7892°N 0.1533°W / 35.7892; -0.1533

v t e Conflicts between France and Algeria
Ministry of Mujahideen - Declaration of 1 November 1954
Pre-1830 conflicts	Djidjelli expedition French-Algerian War 1681–1688 Bombardment of Algiers (1682) Bombardment of Algiers (1683) Bombardment of Algiers (1688)
French conquest of Algeria: 1830-1836	Shipwreck of Dellys (1830) Invasion of Algiers in 1830 Battle of Staouéli (1830) First Battle of Blida (1830) Second Battle of Blida (1830) Massacre of El Ouffia (1832) Battle of Sig (1835) Battle of Macta (1835) Battle of Constantine (1836)
French conquest of Algeria: 1837-1870	Raid on Reghaïa (1837) Expedition of the Col des Beni Aïcha (1837) First Battle of Boudouaou (1837) First Battle of the Issers (1837) First Assault of Dellys (1837) Siege of Constantine (1837) Battle Of Ammal (1840) Battle of Boudouaou (1840) [ar] Battle of Mazagran (1840) Battle of Beni Mered (1842) Battle of the Smala (1843) Second Assault of Dellys (1844) Battle of Sidi Brahim (1845) Battle of the Col des Beni Aïcha (1846) Siege of Laghouat (1852)
Allegiances	Allegiance to Mohamed ben Zamoum (1830) [ar] Allegiance to Emir Abdelkader (1832) [ar] Allegiance to Emir Abdelkader (1833) [ar]
Mokrani Revolt	Battle of Alma (1871) Battle of the Col des Beni Aïcha (1871) Battle of Naciria (1871) [ar] Battle of Bordj Menaïel (1871) [ar] Battle of Issers (1871) [ar] Capture of Palestro Capture of Touggourt
Algerian War	Toussaint Rouge Véronique El Djorf I Philippeville Blue Bird Palestro Algiers Agounennda Bouzegza Bab El Bekkouche May 1958 crisis Jumelles Algiers putsch Bab El Oued
Treaties	Desmichels Treaty Tafna Treaty Évian Accords De Bourmont Treaty [ar] De Lamoricière Treaty [ar]
Documents	1920 Algerian Political Rights Petition 1943 Manifesto of the Algerian People Declaration of 1 November 1954
Lists	List of participants in the invasion of Algiers in 1830 List of participants in Mokrani Revolt

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