The Spanish expedition to Tlemcen, also known as Tlemcen War was led by Count Alcaudete between 27 January and 8 March 1543 with the aim of overthrowing the Zayyanid king and replacing him with . The expedition was successful and Abu Abdallah was restored to the throne as a Spanish vassal.
Background , the king of Tlemcen, died in 1540 and left two sons: and . The first was the eldest and the legitimate heir and was proclaimed sultan as Abu Abdallah VI. However, the second, who had the support of the Ottomans, the marabouts and several sheikhs, did not hesitate to defend his claims with arms and in a short time overthrew Abu Abdallah VI and took his place as Abu Zayyan III. The deposed sultan fled to Spanish Oran where he was well received by the governor Martín Alonso Fernández de Córdoba, also known as Count Alcaudete. The governor of Oran promised to restore him to power and Abu Abdallah promised to recognize the suzerainty of the Spanish Crown if he regained the throne. Charles I of Spain approved these conditions and, in 1542, Count Alcaudete started the preparations for the campaign.
Preparations The expedition would be carried out without support from Charles I, mainly because he was not interested in starting any further campaigns after his failed expedition to Algiers. Because of this, Count Alcaudete had to take charge of all the expenses himself.
On 9 September 1542, he went to Spain to make the preparations and recruit troops. Most of the troops were recruited in southern Spain, especially in Andalusia, and many of Count Alcaudete's relatives helped him, including Martin de Córdoba, Diego Ponce de León and Alonso de la Cueva. The Count's sons, Francisco and Martin, were sent to Málaga and Cartagena to obtain supplies. Finally, all the troops were assembled in Cartagena and embarked for Oran on 10 January. Halfway there, a storm forced some of the ships to land temporarily on the port of Jub (in the Spanish coast), but the rest reached North Africa directly.
Arrival at Oran La Capitana (the ship where Count Alcaudete was) managed to reach Mers El Kébir on 15 January and the rest arrived later. Some ships had to disembark in Arzew due to the storm but were blocked by Moors. The Count sent his son, Alonso, to their aid and they finally expelled them.
Organization of the army When the army was finally assembled, the count began to appoint officers who would take important commands: Alonso de Villaroel was appointed Maestre de campo, Melchior de Villaroel Sargento mayor and Juan Pacheco received command of the cavalry with his brother, Don Mendo, and Juan de Villaroel. Two of his sons, Francisco and Alonso, accompanied the Count and he handed the government of Oran to his youngest son, Martin. Alonso negotiated with Arab chiefs who had previously supported Abu Abdallah VI to try to obtain resources but to no avail.
The king of Tlemcen, Abu Zayyan III, tried to convince the count to cancel his expedition in exchange for money. On 22 January, he offered him 200,000 ducats and on the 26th, he offered him 400,000, but everything was already ready for the campaign.
Expedition First movements Finally, on 27 January, they left Oran with 14,000 infantrymen and between 500 and 1,500 horsemen. The next day it began to rain, which made the march difficult. The Spaniards, probably due to lack of money, did not have any beasts of burden. Each Spaniard had to carry a backpack with food for eight days, only the Count and the other officers carried their food on their horses. Because of this, they were forced to abandon the artillery. Despite all these problems, the Count decided not to delay the expedition for fear of spending more resources. The rain lasted almost 3 days straight.
After the rain stopped, the army camped in the gardens of Tensalmet, west of Misserghin. It was then that they realised that they were being watched by Arabs, but without engaging in combat yet. The next day, they continued their march. A Spanish soldier, who stopped to rest despite the advice of Count Alcaudete, was killed and decapitated by them.
On 31 January they crossed the Ziz river and a few days later stopped to clean their weapons. At dusk, they found sixty lancers on a hill. Despite Count Alcaudete's orders, Martín de Cordoba and some of the soldiers charged against them, although they fled before any fighting could break out. Among the lancers was one of the principal leaders of the army of Tlemcen, the qaid Ibrahim, who almost got captured.
First engagement Seeing the advance of the Spanish, the King of Tlemcen requested help from the Regency of Algiers and signed a treaty with Hasan Agha, but received little assistance from them. It was the natives who came to help, bringing several Arab and Berber contingents under the command of Al-Mansour ben Bogani. The army gathered and prepared to defend the road to Tlemcen opposite the Isser River, although some soldiers were sent to delay the arrival of the Spanish.
On 2 February, the Spanish noticed a considerable number of enemies approaching them "at a distance close enough to be able to speak with them". They seemed to be especially threatening the rearguard, so Count Alcaudete sent Martin de Córdoba and Francisco to cover the army from that side. There were 500 horsemen commanded by Diego Ponze de León and a company of light infantry with Escopettes and crossbows.
The enemy forces numbered about 1,500 lancers and between 6,000 and 8,000 infantrymen. Al-Mansour ben Bogani's forces, which were probably larger in number than the Tlemceni ones, tried to cut off the Spanish retreat, while Count Alcaudete had to face Ibrahim in the vanguard. The Spanish army was surrounded by mountains occupied by Arab forces. The Count quickly overcame the enemy in front of him while Alonso de Villaroel attacked them from the flank with 500 horsemen. However, they were unable to pursue them because the ground was muddy and dangerous for their cavalry. At about three in the afternoon, Al-Mansour ben Bogani decided to order the attack. The Spaniards attacked in turns but they were too few, so they asked for help from Count Alcaudete who, realizing the situation, sent 100 lancers and 200 light infantrymen. When these reinforcements arrived, they forced the Arabs to retreat.
March to the river After this battle, the Spanish continued their march very quickly. The count wanted to take advantage of his victory and cross the Isser River at night, since if they hurried enough there would be no resistance. However, it started to rain again. Due to the mud and darkness, the Spanish lost a lot of baggage and horses and there was great disorder. Because of this, the operation had to be cancelled, so Count Alcaudete ordered the camp to be raised.
On the morning of the next day, the count received the news that Al-Mansour ben Bogani was waiting for him on the other side of the river "with all the forces of his kingdom". However, the Spanish, probably overconfident after their first victory, received the news with joy thinking that they would win again. The army started to move around eight o'clock and soon reached the banks of the river, there they saw the large Arab-Berber army and, before crossing it, the count decided to reorganize his army.
Battle of the Isser Organization of the Spanish army He ordered Alonso de Villaroel to place squadrons of cavalry on the four sides of the army, in addition to the infantry companies. Two squadrons were to surround the convoy from right to left; the vanguard was preceded by horsemen; in the rearguard a squadron covered the rear, joining those on the flanks. Outside the main body the Count placed skirmishers between lines of pikemen who were to protect them against enemy charges. In the vanguard were 10,700 men, among them 500 infantrymen. They were armed with pikes, except for 15 who had arquebuses or crossbows; their leaders were Alonso Hernandez de Montemayor, who had been slightly wounded the day before, and Luis de Rueda, major of Oran. The infantry on the right wing was commanded by a nephew of the Count, Don Mendo de Benavidès, and that on the left wing by Alonso de Villaroel. Finally in the rearguard were the general's eldest son, Alonso, and Juan de Villaroel. The rest of the cavalry accompanied the Count.
Battle After these changes, the army set out for the Isser, which was swollen by the rains. At that moment the enemy attacked but the movement was not stopped. After a common prayer, the vanguard hurried to the sound of trumpets and crossed the ford "as if by a bridge," although the infantrymen were immersed in water up to their shoulders. The leaders went first and, as soon as they were on the other side of the river, the Spaniards charged against the enemy and pursued them to the top of the mountain overlooking the Isser. There the vanguard was halted; about thirty of the enemy were killed and some were captured. The Count protected during this time the passage of the rest of the army with a thousand men whom he had placed at the foot of the mountain. The enemy, disconcerted by the rapidity of this vanguard success, no longer dared to dispute the terrain, and the Spanish army, following its route, reached Tibda where they occupied a fortress near the river.
Spanish arrival at Tibda The army spent the night in Tibdia, where they suffered many attacks that were in vain. After the troops had rested, they returned to the march. In the middle of their march, they were again attacked by a large number of Arabs. From that moment on, Count Alcaudete strictly forbade them to move away from the army under any circumstances. When night came, the count decided to camp very close to the enemy army and it was there that he received the news that the king of Tlemcen, Abu Zayyan III, was going to meet him. The count challenged him to combat. The news of Al-Mansour ben Bogani's defeat had worried the population of Tlemcen and, between 4 and 5 February, some inhabitants took their families and belongings out of the city and returned to fight the Spaniards. The next day was when the Count received the news that the king had accepted the challenge and was heading towards him with an army of 45,000 men and 400 Turks from the Regency of Algiers.
Battle of Hauda ben Djafar Organization of the armies The Count decided to organize his army in a manner similar to that which he had adopted when crossing the Isser: He placed two squadrons on either side of the vanguard and placed Alonso and Juan de Villaroel in command. Between these squadrons he placed half of his infantry with some horsemen and the standards. As in the previous battle, he placed skirmishers in front of the lines. He himself placed himself in the center with all the rest of his cavalry with about 300 lances. On the flanks were 1,500 light infantrymen. Finally, in the rearguard which this time did not seem willing to support the main effort, the general sent his son Francisco to replace Martín de Córdoba, who had requested the favor of fighting with the Count himself.
The army of Abu Zayyan III consisted of 1,500 lancers of the king's household, with notables from Tlemcen and some warriors from the Banu Rashid, then about 2,000 armed with muskets, crossbows and ares, commanded by the caid Ibrahim and many infantrymen. The rearguard numbered more than 2,000 lancers, among them 1,000 elite, protected by shields and dressed in brightly colored clothing; They carried with them 400 or 500 horsemen and infantrymen armed with muskets and crossbows. Finally, there was a considerable crowd of foot and horse fighters around the Spanish troops.
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