Capture of Bône

The capture of Bône is a series of military confrontation between French and Algerian forces in the city of Bône, during the conquest of Algeria by France.

Capture of Bône

« Prise de Bône », March 27, 1832. Oil painting by Horace Vernet from 1835
DateExpedition period : 1930-1931 (1 year)
Capture of the city : 27 March 1932 (1 day)
Location
Bône, Algeria.
Result

French victory

  • The city of Bône is occupied[1][2]
  • End of the siege by the Beylik of Constantine
  • The French fail two expeditions
Belligerents
 France Beylik of Constantine
Commanders and leaders

France Édouard Buisson d'Armandy[3]
France Joseph Vantini[lower-alpha 1]
Ibrahim Bey[lower-alpha 2]  (POW)

Expedition period :
France Cpt. Bigot  †
France "Hunder"  †

France Maréchale de Bourmont

France Contre-Amiral de Rosamel

Ali ben Aïssa

Ibrahim Bey[lower-alpha 3]
Strength
France 31[5] 2,500 Arabs[6]

First expedition

Just after the battle of Algiers, on July 26, 1830, « Maréchale de Bourmont » sent a small squadron to seize the city of Bône, he was under the command of « Contre-Amiral de Rosamel », when the French forces arrived at them seize the city without any resistance, but barely installed in the city, the French soldiers are attacked by Arab and Berber tribes, the attacks will be repelled but with heavy losses on the French side, although it will be a failure, this will not will not stop the Berber and Arab tribes and they will launch a second attack which will in turn also be repelled by the French forces, a regiment was sent on reconnaissance near the city of Bône, it will be blocked by the Muslims of the city, on August 20, the general-in-chief orders the squadrons to return to Algiers, this will be the first withdrawal of the French from Bône.[7]

Expedition of 1831

After the retirement of the squadron of the "Damrémont" brigade from Bône in 1930, the new General Berthezène understandingly the advantage of regaining a foothold in the region of Constantine by occupying Bône, the deputies of the city who complained of the retirement French in 1930 responds to the general after the proposal to send a new garrison to Bône.

We gave you our weapons! and when you left, instead of giving them back to us, you broke them![lower-alpha 4]

finally the deputies of Bône accept a garrison composed of Arab Zouaves which will be under the command of Captain Bigot, the garrison left Algiers, the higher command was given to the chief of staff squadron "Huder", they disembarked at Bône with Bigot's company, on their arrival the inhabitants demanded that the troops leave their pennant on board the boat, as a result there was a bad military disposition, of the 120 zouaves sent, 40 settled at the Casbah with the lieutenant, while the rest of the troops remained in the city with the captain and the second lieutenant.[9]

Ibrahim Bey revolt

Ibrahim Bey returned from Tunis to Bône on an Arab caborateur, he went unnoticed near the colonial forces and had the habit of going up to the Casbah to pray there, the lieutenant had the habit of going into town to have a meal with these two officers, and moreover the door was open which raised security questions. Ibrahim had as a plan to reconquer his beyliks while remaining under the suzerainty of France, although he lacked money the superior commander advanced him a lot of money, which made his project feasible. One day, Ibrahim and several of his acolytes went to the Casbah to pray there, they had conversations with Turks and Arabs, without the officers being able to understand, then suddenly took the soldiers in a dream and then put them in dungeons, when the officer of the Zouaves returned from lunch he noticed that the door of the Casbah was closed, but he noticed all the same the presence of armed rebels, the officer suspecting something took the decision to tell his superior "Hunder", who immediately took arms to go to the Casbah, he ordered the door to be opened, it was then that Ibrahim aimed Hunder, and fired, the bullet will go too high to kill him, it It was then that a squabble began between the rebels and the Zouaves who were forced to withdraw from Bône, while for Hunder who barricaded himself by placing a guard by the door, in the evening the clashes continued, and gunshots were fired against the French posts, Hunder asked for the help of 80 men and two mountain howitzers, Captain Bigot who heard the fighting woke up, he ordered an offensive return, charged first and was shot, noting Hunder's weak means to protect the city and the death of the captain, he decided to retire and leave the city, the fighting intensified, the French forces got into cannot-cans to leave, while Hunder, who was at the initiative of this evacuation, received a bullet in the skull, which killed him sharply, his body remained with the Algerians and the French forces fled and the shooting stopped, as a result of this confrontation: 70 men were missing and 32 wounded, including several serious, it is likely that the soldiers who disappeared were beheaded, the expedition will be a big failure for the French army.[10][11]

Final expedition

on March 27, the French forces under the command of Édouard Buisson d'Armandy landed on Bône to capture the city which was in the hand of the Beylik of Constantine, they landed with 31 men straight in the direction of the Casbah to put the French flag, the men passed the very steep slopes and despite all the precautions the group was seen, however no rifle fire was committed, finally the group reached the ramparts of the kasbah, they climbed it, the Turks who protected the kasbah discharged their weapons, and the French flag is planted on the casbah, which means the capture of the city by the French, the city will be occupied by the French until the Algerian war.[12]

Notes and References

References
  1. Indicateur du Palais et du Musée de Versailles: description complète... (in French). Malzieu. 1853.
  2. A New Guide to the Museum, Palace and Gardens of Versailles... Klefer printer. 1847.
  3. (Buisson Armandy 1882, p. 9)
  4. "STORIA NOSTRA. 1832 : La prise de Bône fait la célébrité du capitaine Yusuf le fils d'un grenadier corse évadé du sérail de Tunis". CorseMatin.com (in French). 2021-02-07. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
  5. (Boutaleb 1898, p. 174) « En tout, 31 hommes »
  6. (Boutaleb 1898, p. 51) « 2,500 arabes, sous les ordres de Ben-Aïssa »
  7. (Boutaleb 1898, pp. 33, 34, 35)
  8. (Boutaleb 1898, p. 39)
  9. (Boutaleb 1898, pp. 39, 40)
  10. (Boutaleb 1898, pp. 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
  11. "STORIA NOSTRA. 1832 : La prise de Bône fait la célébrité du capitaine Yusuf le fils d'un grenadier corse évadé du sérail de Tunis". CorseMatin.com (in French). 2021-02-07. Retrieved 2023-08-30. En 1831, nous avions essuyé un échec devant Bône. On avait mal conçu et mal préparé l'expédition.
  12. (Boutaleb 1898, pp. 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182)

Notes
  1. Also nicknamed « Capitaine Yusuf » [4]
  2. A year after his revolt in Bône, he joins and asks for help from France against the siege by the Beylik of Constantine, after the surprise attack by Ali Ben Aissa he will be imprisoned.
  3. until 1832; and will join France as vassals.
  4. Translated from,[8] (In French) « Nous t'avions remis nos armes! et quand tu es parti, au lieu de nous les rendre, tu les a brisées! »

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