The Sun.
London, England, 1839-12-05 00:00:00

THE WAR IN AFRICti

(From the French Journals of Tuesday.)
ALGIERS, Nov. 24.—Disastrous events have just oc-
curred in Algeria—the blood of a hundred men, victims
of the Emir, calls for vengeance, and it is for France to
inflict punishment. An order of the day, dated yester-
day, the 23d, orders the captains of ail the ships in the
port to hold a company, with officers, surgeons, &c., in
readiness to land at a moment's notice.

The following are some hasty details of these sad
events :—The Marshal wished to make a French column
pass the celebrated Portes de Fer (iron gates) ; he
succeeded, but was obliged to carefully to conceal his
project. He feigned an attack on the rebel tribes near
Bougia. Abd-el-Kader, deceived by this ruse of the
Marshal, who also had another project in view, marched
all his forces on Bougia, and the column from Constan-
tine was not troubled on its march. The Portes de Fer
were passed by the Prince and his escort. At this the asto-
nishment and rage of the Moors knew no bounds. Abd-
el-Kader is furious, and will never forgive having been
duped. The religious zeal of the Arabs begins to be
excited by what they consider as their holy land being
desecrated by the French, and we caa no longer hope
to see the French standard waving over this celebrated
passage.

It is not generally known that in this memorable
march a part of the rear-guard was pursued and had
their heads cut off by the Arabs.
The environs of Algiers are no longer safe. Four
thousand Arabs are scouring the plains, and four days
since they seized upon a convoy, took all the provisions,
horses, &c., and cut off the heads of all the escort, con-
sisting of 38 men, three of whom were officers.

The enemy has just attacked a newly built village in
the plains, and all has fallen before the sword and the
flames. All the doubtful tribes are incorporated in
Abd-el-Kader's army, and those which have joined our
ranks have been murdered and pillaged. We hear that
all our friendly tribes have been frightfully mas-
tacred. Forty-two farmers inhabitinc, the plains have
been decapitated, and their lands have been laid waste.
Two regiments have just started for the plains, but
their operations will be paralysed by the horrible wea-
ther, and a torrent of French blood is now rushing down
the fine road from Constantine to Algiers. It is fear-
ful to think that, if the enemy had happened to have
guessed Marshal Valee's project, the whole division
commanded by the Duke of Orleans would have been
attacked and decapitated in the defiles.
France will now bitterly repent her policy in allowing
a Bedouin to remain in Algeria more powerful than
herself.

Whilst our convoy was being plundered two other
masses of Arabian cavalry were scouring the plains, but
they were fortunately repulsed. To-morrow and for
some time the town can only be guarded by its citizens.
The National Guards are obliged to perform all the
duty, &c., as all our troops have left for the plains.
Yesterday afternoon General Duvivier's corps were
revenged on some hostile Arabs. A number of heads
were cut off by way of reprisals, and Razzias recom-
pensed the French for their losses.
TOULON, Nov. 29.—The telegraph has never ceased
its fantastic motions since yesterday. The news brought
by the Chimere was instantly transmitted to the Gene-
rals commanding the divisions at Marseilles and Paris.
A fresh movement of troops is expected ; to effect
which two ships, the Neptune and Alger, are now in
the roads, four steamers, a transport, and a great num-
ber of small craft. These ships could easily transport
4,000 men ; but Marshal Valee, unfortunately wants
10,000. _ .

Extract of a letter from Africa :—" Not, a single
soldier remains in Algiers. All are sent off to the plains
to fight the Arabs. The town is guarded by the Na-
Ilona' Guards. The Tura hove in sight yesterday. She
has on board 600 men, who will be invaluable. The
Ramier, on arriving, fired signals of distress. Alarm
spread through the town. A report was spread that
the English, in conjunction with Abd-el-Kader, had
effected a landing on the coast. The weather has lately
been terrific. All the ships in the harbour here dragged
their anchors, and several of them have been wrecked.
One hundred and four Arab prisoners have just been
brought in.
The 2lloniteur announces that " war has broken out in
Algiers. The Government has taken the measures re-
quired by the dignity of France. Reinforcements have
been ordered to Algiers in men, horses, and materiel,
and 25,000 men will be immediately called under arms."
Other journals add, " The 28th and 3d Regiments are
ordered to Toulon, • and to Africa, with 20 squadrons,
picked from the different regiments. The Dukes of
Orleans, Nemours, and Aumale have asked permission
to go to Algiers." The illessager says, "An embassy
is immediately to be sent to the Emperor of Morocco, to
intimate to him to take one side or the other, and either
break with Abd-el-Kader, and prevent his getting arms
and ammunition from Morocco, or else prepare for a
war with Frarc-2."

The National seems to approve of the determination
of the Government to prosecute the war with vigour,
but strongly objects to the idea of sending out one or
more of the Princes to Algeria. It says—

' Considerable armaments are talked of, but unfor-
tunately people also talk of the warlike pretensions of
the Dukes of Orleans, Nemours, and Aumale, whose
presence among our army in Africa would be sufficient
to cause the failure of the finest plans of campaign.
Question the experience of Marshal Clausel and of
Marshal Vallee himself on this subject, and, if we are
not very much deceived, they wil! reply, that wherever
there was a Prince the first obligation of a General-
in-Chief is to give him an opportunity of covering him-
self with eclat, or of saving him at any price. The
glory or the safety of a single head plaeed in the balance
overpowers the public interest, and commands the fate
of 20,000 soldiers. The building is crushed by the
weight of a gilt capital:'
The Presse asserts that on the arrival of Marshal,
Vallee's despatches, Marshal Soult made an offer to the
King to resign his post as Minister of Foreign Affairs,
and take the command of the troops to be sent against
Abd-el-Kader. The Temps, in corroborating this
statement, adds, that Marshal Soult proposed to go to
Africa with the Duke of Orleans, but that the King,
anxious to avoid every pretence for breaking up the
present Ministry, would not accept the Marshal's offer.
This journal adds :—" It appears that it was a question
in the Council whether a manifesto of some considerable
length should not be published in the Monileur, but it
was finally resolved to confine the insertion to the de-
claration which has appeared, and which, though con-
cise, seems to say quite enough. Already we are in-
formed 3,000 men have sailed for Africa, and 9,000
more, including 20 squadrons of light cavalry, will be
immediately embarked. The remainder of the troops,
wli
will be preparedichmayberequir required
tot m
to
omaintainveatany
thmeohmoennotur): of our
arms,
The Toulonnais of the 29th ult. thus sums up the
situation of affairs in Algiers :
" The blood of our countrymen has everywhere
flowed under the yataghan ; fire has devoured the pro-
perty of the friendly tribes and of the colonists, and our
soldiers, being inferior in numbers to the enemy, are
obliged to maintain an unequal contest. Hostilities are
general : they have broken out at Blida, Koleab, Mael-
ma, Foudouck, Arba, and all the neighbouring camps.
Several villages have been reduced to ashes, and
amongst others, that of Noirlous, whose inhabitants have
been carried off by the Arabs ; a convoy escorted by
48 men was never heard of, and a detachment of 148
men entirely put to the sword."