The Sun.
London, England, 1840-11-16 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY, NOVEMRER 16. 1840.

WAR IN FRENCH AFRICA.

TELEGRAPHIC DISPATCHES.
" TOULON, Nov. 6.
" BELIDAII, 2d (arrived by the courier.)
" MARSHAL VALLEE TO THE MINISTER OF WAR.
" The Medeah expedition has succeeded completely.
Abd-el-Kader has not dared to oppose our march, and
we have therefore not had any serious engagement.
We have had 32 men killed."

" TOULON, Nov. 7.
" THE MARITIME PREFECT TO THE MINISTER OF

THE MARINE.

" A razia was executed on the 22d ult., with the
greatest success upon the tribe of Beni Yacoub (pro-
vince of Oran). Twenty men, women, and children
have been taken, among whom are the wives of differ-
ent chiefs, and a much venerated marabout. Nine
hundred and forty-three oxen, 2,600 sheep or goats, 60
cavalry horses, 30 camels, 40 mules, 300 asses, 90 sad-
dles complete, some arms, money, &c., have fallen into
our power."

The Minister of War has received several despatcheis
from Africa, the main purport of which has been a -
ready made known through the telegraph. Gen. La-
rnoriciere, in a report from Oran, dated 26th ult., gives
an account of the razia, or foray, made by him on the
22d, among the tribes of the Oued-Aly, and the Ga-
rabas—a petty expedition, which affords another in-
stance of the cruelty, and, it may be said, barbarity,
with which these marauding expeditious are conducted :
womea having in this case been attacked and slaugh-
tered by the French soldiers. The column was mus-
tered outside of Oran, on the afternoon of the 21st,
with provisions for two or three days. It consisted of
3,000 infantry, 80 miners, six mountain guns, 700
African mounted chasseurs, 400 Spahis, and 500 allied
Arabs, under General Mustapha. The report then pro-
ceeds to the following effect :
At six in the morning the army arrived at a league
from the enemy's encampment. The first African bat-
talion, being in advance, crossed a deep ravine in front.
This passage presented several serious obstacles, but
the African battalion was followed with great readiness
by the Douairs, who were eager for the booty which
they considered to be in store. General Mustapha
soon arrived on the right, preceded by his standard-
bearers. Captain Daunias and M. Coqueret, another
officer, had placed him between thorn, and supporting
him over, he went forward with all the ardour of a
young man. The tents of the tribe of Ben.Jacoub,
which were the first fallen in with, were taken posses-
sion of by the allies ; a portion of the inmates were
able, as it was hardly yet light, to escape ; some few
who attempted resistance were killed or wounded. Se-
veral women, who received the Douairs with the cry of
Vuila les baptistes!' met with the same fate. The
tents and everything in the encampment except a few
horses, on which some of the enemy made their escape,
fell into the hands of the attacking party. The Aga
Ben-Jacoub had set out tw o days before for Mascara.
His son was among the killed ; his daughter, two of
his daughters-in-law, the wives of four interior chiefs, a
marabout, and others, amounting together to 20 per-
sons, men, women, and children, were taken prisoners
—lO men and 6 woman were killed."

A despatch from Marshal Vallee, dated Blidab, 2d
instant, states :

" That he had formed there on the 26th ult. an ex•
peditionary corps of 6,000 men, with 500 horses and
10 mountain howitzers. On the 27th this corps passed
the Chiffa. On the 29th, at 11 in the morning, all the
corps were assembled on the Col, and an insignificant
skirmish took place between the Zouaves and a de-
tachment of the troops of Abd-el-Kader, who were in
an inaccessible position. Only a few men were touched
by the enemy's tire, but an Arab squadron, having ap-
proached the Zouaves, was routed, and lost a great
number of men. When the convoy arrived at the
Olive Wood, 1,200 regular Arab troops attacked the
rear-guard ; they were vigorously attacked by General
Changarnier, but the approach of night suspended the
operations. At eight in the evening all the .roops were
under the cannon of Medeah. On the 30th, the Mar-
shal having learned that Abd-el-Kader had taken up a
position iu the valley of the Chiffa, quitted Medeah.
Abd-el-Kader had established his camp near the point
where the Chiffa enters the gorge to penetrate into the
Metidja, but as soon as he saw us he abandoned his posi-
tion. The Kabyle contingents dispersed in all directions,
and the regular battalions also separated. I caused the
Emir's camp to be burnt ; we saw by the traces that
tour battalions had been there. On arriving at the
position occupied by the artillery in the affair whieh took
place on May 12th, the tirailleurs of the 17th con-
cealed themselves behind a bend in the ground, and
when the enemy was within reach, charged him with
the bayonet. !'i►e Arabs left 40 dead on the spot, and
the rest threw themselves into the ravines, and never
made their appearance again. In the different engage-
ments of the expedition against Medeah there were 32.
men killed, and about 200 wounded, most of them
slightly. The losses of the enemy are supposed to be
much more considerable. According to the reports of
Arabs who deserted,loo regulars at least were killed or
mortally wounded in the affair of the 29th October."