Battle of Isly

The Battle of Isly was fought on August 14, 1844 between France and Morocco, near the Isly River. French forces under Marshal Thomas Robert Bugeaud routed a much larger, but poorly organized, Moroccan force under Mohammed, son of Sultan Abderrahmane of Morocco. Bugeaud, attempting to complete the French conquest of Algeria, instigated the battle without a declaration of war in order to force negotiations concerning Moroccan support for the Algerian resistance leader Abd el Kader to conclude on terms favorable to the French.

Battle of Isly
Part of the First Franco-Moroccan War

Battle of Isly, oil painting by Horace Vernet
Date14 August 1844
Location
Result French victory
Belligerents
France Sultanate of Morocco
Commanders and leaders
Thomas Robert Bugeaud Mohammed (IV)
Strength
11.000 soldiers 20.000-25.000 cavalry
Casualties and losses
27 killed
99 wounded[1]
800 killed
11 cannons

Bugeaud, who recovered the Moroccan commander's tent and umbrella (equivalent to capturing a military standard in European warfare), was made Duke of Isly for his victory.

The day following the battle, the Bombardment of Mogador started.[2]


Notes

  1. Pierre Montagnon, The conquest of Algeria: The seeds of discordie, 2012.
  2. E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936, Volume 9 Martijn Theodoor Houtsma p.550


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.