"Less troubled times than ours are needed to hope to make people listen with due interest to the story of the heroic fighting which, after having lasted 51 days, ended with one of the most terrifying catastrophy ever witnessed by Africa since the early days of our military conquest […]

In 1843, our troops crossed the region called The Gate of The Desert (Bab el Sahara) in the poetic language of the Arabs, and after having admired the vast barren solitude and the nudity of a few mountains burned by the heat of a red hot sun, they paraded with the French flag under the walls of Biskara […] later, the battalion commander Monsieur de Saint-Germain was appointed Commander-in-Chief over the whole area […] in the spring of 1849, he traveled to Constantine, and in his absence Mr Lagrenée, an Engineers Corps Captain, took over the command, having under his orders Mr Dubosquet, an Infantry Lieutenant, in charge of the Arab Affairs.

It was then that Bou-Zian, former Sheikh of Abd-el-Kader, started exploiting the natives' discontent caused by a tax on date-palms and exacerbated the local tribes' religious fanaticism in order to make them declare the holy war […]

Mr Séroka, sublieutenant in the 2^nd regiment of the Foreign Legion and attaché to the Arab Affairs, was touring the country with a man who was entirely devoted to our cause : al Arbi, a renegade from the Piémont and an early settler with great influence in the region.

Mr Séroka, escorted by a few Spahis, headed toward Zaatcha which he wanted to visit in order to judge by himself the natives' reaction and attitude. He was soon informed that Bou-Zian wouldn't present himself as usual in the company of the Sheikh of the oasis, his old time friend […] When they arrived at Zaatcha, they encountered Bou-Zian. "Get ready and follow me," Mr Séroka told him, "the Commander in Biskara wants to talk to you and I have to take you there." Obeying a sign from their officer, two Spahis from the escort got down and took hold of Bou-Zian trying to put him on a mule.

Being aware of the weakness of his position Bou-Zian, with the cunning proper to his countrymen, pretended to obey without resistance; yet, at the same time, he broke loose the beads of his rosary and asked for permission to pick them up. While he was bending over the ground, he made unnoticed signals to two natives passing by. The gates were immediately closed end everybody ran for their arms. The officer and his Spahis quickly forced their way out of the oasis and rode back to the plain on their breathless Arab horses.

As soon as he got informed Colonel Carbuccia, from the 2^nd régiment of the Foreign Legion, wanted a quick revenge but, despite the strength of his attack, a severe defeat showed him the impossibility of overcoming Zaatcha with the limited military means that were available to him at that time.

Soon the uprising of the Ziban spread like a fire. The Berber tribes of the Aures, lead by one of their holy men called Si Abd el-Affid, declared their rebellion and planted their banner on the barren hills not far from the walls of Biskara […] On September 17th, 1849, the Commander de Saint-Germain marched against them and was killed by a bullet in the head after a brave cavalry charge […] At the time of thoses events, General Herbillon, in command of the province of Constantine, started gathering troops he intended to lead personally in order to smother the insurrection in Zaatcha which threatened to extend to the whole of the province […]

While the troops were making ready to depart from Constantine, Bou-Zian was enrolling all the dissenters and religious fanatics and concentrated all his forces and means of resistance in the oasis.

The oasis of Zaatcha had for the Arabs a reputation for invincibility that made them feel extremely confident. Its warriors had repeatedly resisted attacks by the Beys of Constantine, and Abd-el-kader himself did not manage to defeat it […]

However, Zaatcha defenders' fanaticism was not the unique obstacle. Our soldiers, accustomed to fight the Arabs in the mountains or in the plain, had now to go for them in a maze of date-palms, fig-trees, pomegranate-trees and a lot many other fruit-trees under which grow a number of plants that turn the soil into a real jungle where it would be difficult to move. And in the middle of all that stood Zaatcha whose houses and gardens protected by walls, water streams and ditches offered good firing and hiding places for an invisible enemy […]

Those were the means of defense of Zaatcha - too ignored, one must admit - when the expeditionary column, made up of about 4000 men from different arms, reached the oasis on October 7, 1849 […] More troops and military supplies were requested from Constantine… (Note:Colonel Mr de Barral joined the camp with 1500 men), the canons were armed, the ditches were filled […]

Now started a series of deadly fights that caused the cruelest losses in our ranks… Colonel Petit, Commander-in-Chief of the Engineers Corps; Mr Besse, Artilery Captain and so many other brave officiers got killed […]

One of Bou-Zian's sons, who had lived for some time in Algiers, and an Arab who used to be a Captain in the Zouave Corps, were among the most deadly snipers… Bou-Zian's banner waved over the walls of the main place in Zaatcha, and, from time to time, the leader himself could be seen thanks to his sky-blue colored burnous… every day, towards sunset, the Arabs ceased fire for a moment. Bou-Zian went up to the mosq and, head turned toward the East, he started praying, then adressed his people… once their chief's speech was over, the besieged resumed fighting as though they had just gained fanatic courage and faith. Holding a torch in one hand and a gun in the other, they dashed against our defenses, yelling like savages in the middle of their crying children, their overexcited women who kept pushing them to fight, their barking dogs […]

The neighboring tribes transmitted the news of the raging battle in favor of the besieged, which caused several of our military outposts to be attacked. Crimes were committed on the roads that used to be safe. And fresh supplies of warriors coming from all the Zab tribes joined the besieged in order to take part in the Holy War against us and share their triumph and victory.

The urgent necessity to put an end to that rebellion was becoming more and more obvious day after day. We had to hit hard and smother the fire that threatened, every day and every minute, to spread all over the country. Two new breaches were opened and the General decided to attack.

On October 20, at dawn, two columns - one under the orders of Colonel Dumontet, the other under the orders of Colonel Carbuccia - were launched through the breaches […] soldiers and officers fell under the fire of the enemy… however, the brave battalion managed to hold position for two deadly and desperate hours, then eventually obeyed the order for retreat after the Commander's death (Note: the Commander of the battalion, Mr Guyot, son of the brave General of the Empire. Mr Guyot was Napoleon's godson). Four Captains and two other officers were killed besides a great number of soldiers and non-commissioned officers either killed or injured in the attack […]

Furthermore, the failure of the attack of the 20th made the besieged more daring and more confident than ever. Day and night, attacks became more frequent and more ferocious […]

New battalions and more artilery supplies were convoyed to Zaatcha. Colonel Canrobert arrived with one thousand of his Zouave. They were soon followed by the 8^th battalion of the Chasseurs à pied, one battalion from the 8^th de Ligne, one more from the 51^st. Those supplies brought the number of our troops to 7000 and some one hundred men from all arms. But they had also brought cholera which, combined with the enemy fire, decimated our troops. The urgency to do away with Zaatcha had never seemed so vital as it had in those terrible circumstances. New canons were armed and aimed at the houses, and as soon as they started firing, the walls crumbled and men ran out yelling […] A third breach broke out… On November 26, at seven thirty in the morning, three columns were formed… our artilery sustained a constant fire on the village… The ultimate hour had come; the terrible attack would start soon. The signal was given, the music started, the drums were beating and the three columns, preceded by their commanders, dashed ahead. They were shot from the terraces, the gardens, the walls, the houses, the ruins… cruel losses in our ranks again; yet nothing seemed to stop our soldiers, and after a moment the French flag waved victoriously on the highest point of the Arab village… the streets, the places, the houses, the terraces were all invaded. Every Arab standing was fired at, and then finished off with the bayonet. Not one single defender of Zaatcha chose to escape, no one begged for mercy – all died with their arms in their hands…

(Note 1: the population of Zaatcha had left the oasis the day before the final attack, and the 800 cadavers that were lying on the ground in the early evening – regardless of those under the ruins – were those of the warriors who came from the neighboring tribes to take part in the Holy War – Note 2: A mine that had blown up a house threw the body of a seven-year-old beautiful girl up in the air. She miraculously fell unconscious on the ground. She was thought to be dead, but a Zouave noticed she was still breathing and so hurried towards her and covered her with his hood – A commander later adopted adopted that little unfortunate homeless orphan.)

Soon Bou-Zian's house became the sole refuge for all those who had escaped our bullets and bayonets. Three to four hundred fighters were secluded there... not from fear of death, but rather to protect their chief with their arms and bodies, and get both the honor and the privilege to die at his side.  A battalion of Zouave besieged the house – in a few minutes, some 50 men from that battalion got killed – but the Zouave did not withdraw… A canon moved forward to face the house, but the occupants started shooting the artilery men, and so bags full of powder were placed near the house which eventually blew up and our soldiers rushed inside the ruins to kill the last of the Arab leader's bodyguard. Bou-Zian's execution was ordered by the General. He died with his rosary in his hand. His son was soon found out and immediately executed in a garden with some other 50 Arabs.

(Note: Bou-Zian's son was a handsome and very brave young man. He died with that rare calm that distinguishes genuine courage. A minute or so before he was executed, he said to a soldier who had  pushed him with the butt of his rifle : "I am the son of Bou-Zian. Bou-Zian's sons are killed, not hit.") […]

The massacre had lasted two hours. The harvest of the war was over… At nine-thirty in the morning, three cut-off heads (Bou-Zian's, his son's and that of Si-Moussa, a holy man from the Aures) were exhibited by Chaous (Note: Arab headsmen) to show that our victory was complete, and that the uprising had no leaders in the Ziban any longer. However, a few survivors, still hiding in obscure corners or under the ruins, continued to shoot at us till three o'clock in the afternoon.

After having spent the day of the 27th burying our dead, leveling Zaatcha to the ground and destroying the date-palms that had been its riches, the expeditionary column started on the 28th its journey back to Biskara where it arrived on the 29th and spent the whole of the 30th. The various Corps were then sent back to their respective garrison towns.

It was high time such a lesson were given, for never since our conquest had a rebellion shown such fanatic enthusiasm for the present, nor such absolute confidence in the future… "

E. Ch. BOURSEUL

(former French officier in the Armée d'Afrique, 1851)

Translated from French