Campaign of Cherchell (1531) explained

Conflict:Campaign of Cherchell
Date:July 1531
Place:Cherchell
Result:Victory of the Regency of Algiers[1]
Combatant1: Empire of Charles V:


[2]

Combatant2: Regency of Algiers
Commander1:Andrea Doria
Commander2:Hayreddin Barbarossa
Strength1:1,500 men
32 galleys
8 galleons
5 brigantines
2 lateen sails
3 ships
Strength2:35 galleys
Casualties1:heavy
600 captured
22 galleys
Casualties2:Unknown

The Campaign of Cherchell occurred in July 1531, when Charles V sent the admiral Andrea Doria, to take Cherchell as a bridgehead in North Africa.[3] [4]

A French fleet of 13 galleys took part under Andrea Doria. Doria was supported by 32 galleys, eight galleons, five brigantines, two lateen sails, and three ships.[5]

In July 1531, the admiral left Genoa and landed at Cherchell with 1,500 men. He seized the city and liberated several hundred Christian slaves. While the troops disbanded to engage in looting, the Turks took advantage, massacred and routed the invaders,[6] as well as, took 600 captives.

Some of the other Turks opened fire on the galleys. As a result, Doria set sail fearing that he might see his vessels sink and understanding that his soldiers were hopelessly lost.[7] Barbarossa, equipped with 35 galleys, attacked Doria near Genoa and burned 22 Genoese galleys.

Notes and References

  1. MERCIER, Ernest. "L’AFRIQUE SEPTENTRIONALE." I888, I (1888): 182. Page 33.
  2. https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.4159/harvard.9780674421059.c7/html "VI. Relations with France to 1536"
  3. Ring, Trudy, and Noelle Watson. Routledge, 2014.
  4. Servantie, Alain. "The Mediterranean Policy of Charles V." A New World: Emperor Charles V and the Beginnings of Globalisation (2021): 83.
  5. Espinosa, Aurelio. "The Grand Strategy of Charles V (1500-1558): Castile, War, and Dynastic Priority in the Mediterranean", Journal of Early Modern History 9, 3 (2005): 239-283, doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/157006505775008446
  6. Moliner-Violle, Michel Francois Auguste, and Michel-F-A. Moliner-Violle. Précis de géographie historique de l'Algérie. A. Jourdan, 1877.
  7. de Haëdo, Diego, and Henri-Delmas de Grammont. "Kheir-ed-Din Barberousse, second roi." Histoire du Maghreb (1998): 50-75.