Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/606

Rh 568 ALGERIA after this the emir attacked and put to flight a body of 30UO men under Count d Arlanges on the Tafna. General Bugeaud, who had succeeded Marshal Clause], attacked the Arabs under Abd-el-Kader on the Sikak river, 6th July 1830, and gained a complete victory over them. An expedition against the bey of Constantino was next resolved on, and Marshal Clausel, at the head of 8000 men, set out from Bona for this purpose in November 1836. They encountered on their march a severe storm of hail and snow, followed by a sharp frost, so that many of them died; and when they arrived before the walls of the town they were unable to undertake the siege, and effected their retreat with difficulty. The French were now anxious to conclude a peace with Abd-el-Kader, and with this view General Bugeaud arranged a meeting with him on the banks of the Tafna, and a treaty was signed, 30th May 1^37. They were then free to turn their strength against the bey of Constantine, and an army of 20,000 men set out from Bona with this object under the command of General Damre mont early in October. The town was, after a very gallant defence, taken by storm on the 1 2th of that month by General Valee, General Damremont having been killed by a cannon-ball the previous day. On the capture of the city the neighbouring tribes hastened to make their submission to the conquerors, and a strong garrison being left to defend the town, the army returned to Bona. As a reward for his services, General Valde was made a marshal and appointed governor-general of the colony. Disputes with the emir as to the boundaries of his territory were frequent, and at length war was again declared between the parties. The immediate cause of war on this occasion was the marching of an armed force of French troops through the emir s territory. This the latter looked upon as an infringement of the treaty, and consequently declared war. In October 1839, he suddenly fell upon the French troops in the plain of Metidja, and routed them with great slaughter, destroying and laying waste the European settlements. He surprised and cut to pieces bodies of troops on their march ; outposts and encamp ments were taken by sudden assault; and at length the possessions of the French were reduced to the fortified places which they occupied. On the news of these events reach ing France, reinforcements to the amount of 20,000 men were sent out. The spring campaign was vigorously opened on both sides, and numerous skirmishes took place, but without decisive results to either party. The French were, indeed, everywhere successful in the field, but the scattered troops of the enemy would speedily reassemble and sweep the plains, so that there was no safety beyond the camp and the walls of the towns. The fort of Masagran, near Mostaganem, with a garrison of only 123 men, gallantly withstood a fierce attack by 12,000 to 15,000 Arabs, which lasted for three days. Marshal Valee was now recalled, and General Bugeaud appointed to succeed him. The latter arrived at Algiers on the 22d of February 1841, and adopted a new system, which was completely successful. He made use of movable columns radiating from Algiers, Oran, and Constantine, and having from 80,000 to 100,000 troops at his disposal, the result soon told against the emir. Many of the Arab tribes were thus intimidated or brought under subjection, hard pressed garrisons were relieved and victualled, and town after town taken. Tekedemt, the principal stronghold of Abd-el-Kader, was destroyed, and the citadel blown up ; Mascara was taken ; and Saida, the only remaining fortress in the possession of the emir, was entirely demolished. In January 1842 the town of Tlemcen was taken, and ten days afterwards the fort of Tafna, which was demolished. The terrified Arabs sub mitted on all sides, and now almost the entire country was subdued. The emir himself, driven to extremities, was compelled to take refuge in Marocco. Here he succeeled in raising a considerable force, and returned to Algeria. He made up for the want of troops by the rapidity of hia movements, and would suddenly make an attack on one place when he was supposed to be in quite an opposite quarter. In November 1842 the Duke of Aumale arrived in Algiers to take part in the operations against the emir; and in the spring of the following year he suddenly fell upon the camp of Abd-el-Kader while the great body of his troops were absent, and took several thousand prisoners and a large booty, the emir himself making his escape with difficulty. Not long afterwards the latter again took refuge in Marocco, and so excited the fanatical passions of the people of that country that their ruler was forced into a war with France. The army which was sent into Algeria was attacked and defeated by Bugeaud at the river Isly, 14th August 1844. The emperor of Marocco soon after wards sued for peace, which was granted him on condition that he should no longer succour or shelter the emir, but aid in pursuing him. Abd-el-Kader was now reduced to great extremities, and obliged to take refuge in the moun tain fastnesses, whence he would from time to time come down to annoy the French. In June 1845 a tribe of Arabs, who were being pursued by a body of French troops under General Pelissier, took refuge in a cave. As they refused to surrender, the general ordered a fire to be kindled at the mouth of the cave, and the whole of those within, men, women, and children, to the number of 500, were suffocated. The emir at length was brought to such straits that he agreed to deliver himself up to the French on being allowed to retire to Alexandria or St Jean d Acre. Not withstanding this promise, which was given by General Lamoriciere, and ratified by the governor-general, he was taken to France, where he arrived on the 29th of January 1848; and was imprisoned first in the castle of Pau, and afterwards in that of Amboise, near Blois. In October 1852 Louis Napoleon, then president of the French Re public, gave him his liberty on condition that he should not return to Algeria, but reside at Brousso in Asia Minor. Here he remained till 1855 when, in consequence of the destruction of that town by an earthquake, he obtained permission to remove to Constantinople, and afterwards to Damascus. At the latter place he rendered valuable aid to the Christians by protecting them during the massacre by the Turks in Syria in 1860. On the revolution in France of 1848, General Cavaignac was appointed governor-general of the colony ; and the National Assembly, wishing to establish a closer connection between the country and France, offered to incorporate it with the republic. This proposal, however, met with con siderable opposition, and Algeria was simply declared a permanent possession, with the right to send four deputies to the National Assembly, to be heard on all matters affecting the interests of the colony. Colonists were also sent out to settle there, and other means taken to further its prosperity. Still the republic did not seem to be more successful in the administration of affairs than the monarchy had been. The colonists died off or left in disgust, the natives were not more reconciled to the French yoke, and many of them rose in open rebellion. The Kabyles, in particular, the most intelligent and industrious of the native population, manifested the greatest repugnance to the im position of taxes and of the usages of civilisation. In 1849 General Pelissier marched against several of the rebellious tribes, and reduced them to subjection. Generals Canrobert and Herbillon were sent into the district of Zaab to quell an insurrection excited by the Marabout Bon-Zian. The latter was driven to take refuge in Zaatcha, which resisted the utmost efforts of the French to take it for fifty-one days, but at last it was carried by storm. In 1850 there