page_title: Zaian War
section_title: Battle of El Herri
hierarchical_section_title: Zaian War / First World War / Battle of El Herri
caption_attribution_description: English: Khénifra, Morocco, Oum er-Rbia Deutsch: Khénifra, Marokko, Flussufer
context_page_description: The Zaian War was fought between France and the Zaian confederation of Berber tribes in Morocco between 1914 and 1921 during the French conquest of Morocco. Morocco had become a French protectorate in 1912, and Resident-General Louis-Hubert Lyautey sought to extend French influence eastwards through the Middle Atlas mountains towards French Algeria. This was opposed by the Zaians, led by Mouha ou Hammou Zayani. The war began well for the French, who quickly took the key towns of Taza and Khénifra. Despite the loss of their base at Khénifra, the Zaians inflicted heavy losses on the French, who responded by establishing groupes mobiles, combined arms formations that mixed regular and irregular infantry, cavalry and artillery into a single force.
  The outbreak of the First World War proved significant, with the withdrawal of troops for service in France compounded by the loss of more than 600 French killed at the Battle of El Herri. Lyautey reorganised his available forces into a "living barricade", consisting of outposts manned by his best troops protecting the perimeter of French territory with lower quality troops manning the rear-guard positions.
context_section_description: When Henrys had successfully repulsed the attacks on Khénifra, he believed he had the upper hand, having proven that the reduced French forces could resist the tribesmen.  The Zaians were now contained within a triangle formed by the Oum er Rbia River, the Serrou River and the Atlas Mountains, and were already in dispute with neighbouring tribes over the best wintering land.  Hammou decided to winter at the small village of El Herri, 15 kilometres (9 miles) from Khénifra, and established a camp of around 100 tents there.  Hammou had been promised peace talks by the French, and Lyautey twice refused Laverdure permission to attack him and ordered him to remain on the French bank of the Oum er Rbia.  On 13 November Laverdure decided to disobey these orders and marched to El Herri with almost his entire force, some 43 officers and 1,187 men with supporting artillery and machine guns.  This amounted to less than half the force he had in September, when he had last been refused permission to attack.
  Laverdure's force surprised the Zaian camp, mostly empty of fighting men, at dawn.  A French cavalry charge, followed up with infantry, successfully cleared the camp.  After capturing two of Hammou's wives and looting the tents the French started back for Khénifra.  The Zaians and other local tribes, eventually numbering 5,000 men, began to converge on the French column and began harassing its flanks and rear.  The French artillery proved ineffective against dispersed skirmishers and at the Chbouka river the rearguard and gun batteries found themselves cut off and overrun.  Laverdure detached a small column of troops to take his wounded to Khénifra, remaining behind with the rest of the force.  Laverdure's remaining troops were surrounded by the Zaians and were wiped out by a mass attack of "several thousand" tribesmen.
  The wounded and their escort reached Khenifra safely by noon, narrowly outpacing their pursuers, who had stopped to loot the French dead.  This force of 431 able-bodied men and 176 wounded were the only French survivors of the battle.  The French lost 623 men on the battlefield, while 182 Zaian were killed.  The French troops also lost 4 machine guns, 630 small arms, 62 horses, 56 mules, all of their artillery and camping equipment and much of their personal belongings.
caption: A modern image of the Oum er Rbia at Khénifra
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