Algiers expedition (1519)

In 1519, a joint Spanish-Italian attack on Algiers was ordered by Charles V and commanded by Hugo de Moncada.[4] This expedition ended in disaster.[5]

Algiers expedition (1519)
DateAugust 1519
Location
Algiers
Result Victory of Algiers[1]
Belligerents

Spain Spain

Kingdom of Sicily		 Sultanate of Algiers
Commanders and leaders
Hugo de Moncada Hayreddin Barbarossa
Strength
58 ships[2]
23,000 soldiers[2]		 Very few
Casualties and losses
20 ships sunk[2]
4,000 killed[2]
3,036 captured[3]		 Very few

The Viceroy of Sicily Hugo de Moncada was ordered to organise an expedition to conquer Algiers by Charles V. This attack took place in August 1519. A previous Spanish attack had been defeated in 1516 by Oruç Reis, the brother of Hayreddin Barbarossa.

Hayreddin Barbarossa was ready to oppose this expedition with his army.[6] Hayreddin Barbarossa successfully routed the Spanish-Italian attack, resulting in shipwreck and massacre.[7] The leader of the expedition, Hugo de Moncada, managed to escape by hiding among the corpses ashore.[7] 3,036 Spaniards were captured.[3]

When Charles V offered a sum of money for the captured officers, Barbarossa had all of the captives executed.[7] When Barbarossa was offered another sum of money for the return of the dead bodies, he had the bodies thrown into the sea so that “If the relatives of any of the dead came to Algiers, they would not know the burial place of their father or brother, nor be able to see the ashes, but only the waves.”[7] Another expedition against Algiers was led by Hugo de Moncada yet again in 1523. Hayreddin Barbarossa had also captured the Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera in 1522 and severely defeated an attempt to recapture it three years later.[8]

See also

References
  1. A History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period Jamil M. Abun-Nasr, Cambridge University Press,
  2. Clodfelter 2017, p. 25.
  3. The City in the Islamic World (2 vols.) Salma Khadra Jayyusi, Renata Holod, Antillio Petruccioli, André Raymond BRILL
  4. Istanbul, Rome and Jerusalem: Titans of the Holy Cities Simon Sebag Montefiore Hachette UK
  5. Algérie et Tunisie Gilbert Jacqueton Hachette,
  6. Lords of the Sea: A History of the Barbary Corsairs Alan G. Jamieson Reaktion Books,
  7. Empires of the Sea: The Final Battle for the Mediterranean, 1521-1580 Roger Crowley Faber & Faber,
  8. The Emperor Roger Bigelow Merriman Cooper Square Publishers

Sources
  • Clodfelter, Micheal (24 April 2017). Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492-2015. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-2585-0.
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