Algeria from withinBodley, R. V. C. (Ronald Victor Courtenay)
History
Algeria from within
Bodley, R. V. C. (Ronald Victor Courtenay)
Algeria -- Description and travel
It was finally Bugeaud, the veteran of Soult’s army in the
Peninsular War, who succeeded in conquering Abd-el-Kader. The
old Marshal realized that it was useless to employ the methods of
orthodox war against this elusive enemy, and he therefore decided
to create mobile columns to pursue the rebels. In the year 1843
a terrible blow was dealt to the _emir’s_ prestige. His great
_smala_, which had now become a sort of perambulating capital, with
schools to teach the children and _kadis_ to administer justice,
was surprised by the Duc d’Aumale near Taguine and completely
destroyed.
In spite of this, however, the struggle was kept up, and, after
taking refuge in Morocco for a short time, Abd-el-Kader reappeared
again. But, though he won a few more victories, his end was near,
and in December, 1847, he asked for peace, specifying, however,
that the French, in return for his surrender, should allow him to
retire to some other Mohammedan country. His terms were accepted, but
unfortunately were not kept by the Government of Louis Philippe. He
was taken to France, and imprisoned first of all at Toulon and then
at Pau, and finally at the Château d’Amboise. Finally, in 1852,
Louis Napoleon, then Prince President, visited the exiled _emir_
and granted his wishes. He was transported to Damascus, where he
lived in peaceful retirement until his death in 1883.
These pages are too short to go into all the detail of the
astonishing career of one who wished to be the hero of Arab
independence in Algeria, and to those whom the subject interests
let me recommend the excellent work of Colonel Paul Azan.
Some people have wished to compare Abd-el-Kader to Abd-el-Krim of the
present day. It would take too long to discuss these points here,
but it can be safely said that there is no comparison possible. In
the first place, the caliber of the two men is very different; the
intelligence of the hero of a hundred years ago was far superior
to that of his Moroccan cousin, and, though possibly Abd-el-Krim
may have had the same dreams as those which inspired Abd-el-Kader,
he never held the same prestige in North Africa. Abd-el-Kader was
alone, with ill-armed followers fighting against a trained army,
and beating them in the open over an area as large as France,
while Abd-el-Krim, supported by all kinds of European adventurers,
merely held at bay the armies of two European nations where the
conformation of the ground made his task comparatively easy.
Abd-el-Kader will always remain a great figure, not only in the
history of North Africa but also in that of Islam, as one who
defended the Faith against the invasion of the infidel and who died
a friend of his former enemies.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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