Battle of Macta

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.

Battle of Macta
Part of the French conquest of Algeria
Date 28 June 1835 Location near the Macta River, French Algeria Result Algerian victory[1]
Belligerents
Kingdom of France	Emirate of Mascara
Commanders and leaders
Camille Alphonse Trézel	Abd al-Qadir al-Jaza'iri
Strength
2,500 men[2] (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 [3]	15,000 cavalrymen[4] (French claim)
Casualties and losses
300[5]–2,000[6]	500[7]

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.^[8]

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.^[9]