Siege of Laghouat

Siege in 1852

Siege of Laghouat

Part of the Pacification of Algeria

Taking of Laghouat by Jean-Adolphe Beaucé.
| Date| 21 November – 4 December 1852

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Location|

Laghouat, Algeria

33°48′00″N 2°53′00″E﻿ / ﻿33.80000°N 2.88333°E﻿ / 33.80000; 2.88333
Result|  French victory
Belligerents
France|  Laghouat resistance
Commanders and leaders
Aimable Pélissier|  Unknown
Strength
6,000|  4,500
Casualties and losses
Unknown|  2,500–3,000

Siege of Laghouat

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Location within Algeria

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* t
* e

French conquest of Algeria

* War against the Deylik (1830–1837)

* Pre-invasion

* Bay of Algiers (1827)
* Dellys (1830)

* Invasion of Algiers

* Sidi Fredj (1830)
* Staouéli (1830)

Sidi Khalef (1830)
* Bordj Moulay Hassan (1830)

* Mitidja (Beylik of Titteri)

* 1st Blida (1830)
* Médéa (1830)
* Médéa (1831)
* El Harrach (1831)
* El Harrach (1832)
* Hadjout (1834)

* Beylik of Oran

* Oran (1831)

* Beylik of Constantine

* Annaba (1832)
* 1st Béjaia (1831)
* 2nd Béjaia (1833)
* 3rd Béjaia (1835)
* 1st Constantine (1836)
* 2nd Constantine (1837)

* * *

* War against Abdelkader (1832–1847)

* First Kaderian war (1832–1834)

* Kheng-Nettah (1832)

* Second Kaderian war (1835–1838)

* Sig (1835)
* Macta (1835)
* Habrah (1835)
* Mascara (1835)
* Tlemcen (1836)
* Sikkak (1836)
* Reghaia (1837)
* Beni Aicha (1837)
* Boudouaou (1837)
* Issers (1837)
* Somah (1837)

* Third Kaderian war (1839–1847)

* Mitidja (1839)
* Ammal (1840)
* Beni Mered (1842)
* Smala (1843)
* Tadmaït (1844)
* Dellys (1844)
* Sidi Brahim (1845)
* Issers (1846)
* Oued Aslaf (1847)
* Agueddin (1847)

* * *

Pacification of Algeria

* Zaatcha (1849)
* Laghouat (1852)
* Sebaou River (1854)
* Tachekkrit (1854)
* Mokrani Revolt
* Palestro (1871)
* Touggourt (1871)
* Flatters expeditions
* Battle of Tit

The siege of Laghouat was an episode of the Algerian genocide perpetrated by the French. General Aimable Pélissier commanding an army of 6,000, besieged the city of Laghouat from 21 November until 4 December 1852, when the city capitulated. The brutal treatment of the inhabitants was part of the scorched earth tactic of the French army and one of the first instances of recorded use of chemical weapon on civilians.[1]

The storming of Laghouat[2][3][4][5] turned quickly into several days of massacres to punish the population that was treated as combating enemies. The battle also witness the several deaths on the French side including that of general Bouscaren, that added to the fervor of the French soldiers to want to take revenge on the population setting an example for other towns and cities throughout the south of Algeria. About two thirds (2,500 to 3,000 out of a total of 4,500 inhabitants remaining in the besieged city) including women and children were massacred.[6][7][8]

The massacre left a deep trauma in the Laghouati population that endures to this day.[5][4] The year when the city was emptied of its population is still known to the inhabitants of Laghouat as "the year of the Khalya", meaning "emptiness" in Arabic. It is also commonly known as "the year of Hessian sacks", referring to the way the captured surviving men and boys were put alive in sacks and thrown into trenches. Many reports of the battle were written by army chiefs and soldiers as well as visitors of the city after the massacre reported the morbid atmosphere of the city following the siege.

Surviving women were so afraid for their young sons of being collected by the French forces that they came up with a ruse to hide them. They dressed them as girls and put an earring on one ear. The tradition of protecting young boys from evil with an earring has survived until today.[citation needed]

The level of brutality of the massacre of Laghouat was a show of force as well as part of the long scorched earth tactic of the three French generals that took the fortified city. By ordering the massacre of the population,[citation needed] the French were eyeing all the remaining Saharian territories beyond Laghouat. During the battle of Laghouat several tribes and other city republics and fortresses delivered help to try to stop the advance of the French, namely Ghardaïa (and therefore the whole of the Mozabite confederation), Metlili, and Ouargla. The nobles of the latter cities, after witnessing or hearing of the atrocities committed in Laghouat, quickly sought a peaceful agreement to surrender their cities or sign treaties to keep their autonomy under the protection of France.

A few months after Laghouat, on 29 April 1853, general Randon, the French governor of Algeria, signed a treaty of protectorate with the nobles of the cities of M'zab, known in France as the capitulation of the Mzab.[9]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ LQA, Rédaction (2022-12-05). "LA FRANCE COMMIT LE 1ER MASSACRE A L'ARME CHIMIQUE DE L'HISTOIRE, EN ALGERIE". Le Quotidien d'Algérie (in French). Archived from the original on 2022-12-11. Retrieved 2022-12-11.
2. ^ "La conquête coloniale de l'Algérie par les Français - Rebellyon.info". rebellyon.info (in French). Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
3. ^ Pein, Théodore (1871). Lettres familières sur l'Algérie : un petit royaume arabe. Paris: C. Tanera. pp. 363–370\. Archived from the original on 2018-06-26. Retrieved 2017-11-23.363-370&rft.pub=C.+Tanera&rft.date=1871&rft.aulast=Pein&rft.aufirst=Théodore&rft_id=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5789413p&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Siege+of+Laghouat" class="Z3988">
4. ^ a b Dzland Mourad (2013-11-30), Documentaire :Le Génocide De Laghouat 1852 Mourad AGGOUNE, archived from the original on 2019-12-15, retrieved 2017-11-23
5. ^ a b Al Jazeera Documentary الجزيرة الوثائقية (2017-11-05), أوجاع الذاكرة - الجزائر, archived from the original on 2019-12-15, retrieved 2017-11-23
6. ^ "LES VÉRITÉS QUI DÉRANGENT : LA TRAGÉDIE DE LAGHOUAT EN 1852". www.historia.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 2022-12-10. Retrieved 2022-12-11.
7. ^ "Mostéfa Khiati. Médecin-chercheur : «Il est indispensable de créer des bulles d'histoire»". El watan. Archived from the original on 2022-12-11. Retrieved 2022-12-11.
8. ^ LQA, Rédaction (2022-12-05). "LA FRANCE COMMIT LE 1ER MASSACRE A L'ARME CHIMIQUE DE L'HISTOIRE, EN ALGERIE". Le Quotidien d'Algérie (in French). Archived from the original on 2022-12-11. Retrieved 2022-12-11.
9. ^ Rouard de Card, Edgard (1906). Traités de la France avec les pays de l'Afrique du Nord : Algérie, Tunisie, Tripolitaine, Maroc. Paris: A. Pédone. pp. 9, 95, 420. "m'zab."

* 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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