So, what are we all doing for Mazagran Day? Mazagran is a small town 4km to the south of Mostaganem, in Algeria. On 3rd February 1840, a large force of fighters under Mustapha ben Tami, one of Abd el-Kadr's principal lieutenants, swept into the town. The size of ben Tami's force is unclear. One (French) account says 10,000 ('by the most moderate accounts'); another (also French) says 1,500-2,000. The French garrison consisted of 123 men from the 10th Company, of 1st Battalion, Infanterie Légère d'Afrique, commanded by Captain Hilaire Lelièvre. General Baron Guéhénec , the commander of the Oran Division, published an account of the action in an order of the day: 'On 3rd February, between 10 and 11 in the morning, a column of eight hundred men attacked the redoubt at Mazagran ... The town, unoccupied, was captured by the enemy in an instant; a lively fire broke out in several places; the enemy artillery opened fire. Night put an end to the fighting. ...
Local and military history