Battle of Mazagran The Battle of Mazagran was a combat between Arab and Berber forces against French troops during the French conquest of Algeria . The small French contingent , holed up in a fortification at Mazagran , near the port city of Mostaganem , withstood several days of assault by ` Abd al - Qādir ' s troops . Unaware that the French defenders were running short of gunpowder , al - Qādir ' s troops withdrew after several days of ineffectual activity . While the standoff was a relatively minor affair , the French press touted the event as a great success . Captain Lelièvre was rewarded for his success , and a medal was struck commemorating the action . The battle of Mazagran became the anniversary of the Battalions of Light Infantry of Africa , a French penal military unit . Background . In 1839 , the French conquest of Algeria , which had begun in 1830 , entered a new phase when ` Abd al - Qādir renewed the struggle after French troops violated his interpretation of the 1837 Treaty of Tafna . Lieutenant Colonel Dubuessil , the commander of the French garrison at Mostaganem , ordered Captain Lelièvre and 122 men from the 10th Company of the Battalion of Africa to occupy a small fort in the town of Mazagran . They arrived at the fort on 1 February , which was fortified with a single 4 - pound gun , one barrel of gunpowder , and between 30 , 000 and 40 , 000 cartridges of ammunition . Battle . According to some sources , Algerian resistance forces under the command of Ben Khami ( one of al - Qādir ' s lieutenants ) began arriving and surrounding the fort as early as the evening of 1 February , with actual organized assault beginning either then or the next day . Other sources place the arrival of these forces on 2 February , with attack commencing the next day . The duration of the battle is reported to be either three or four days . Khami ' s force , numbering anywhere from ten to twenty thousand ( although many sources center on twelve to fifteen thousand ) consisted primarily of cavalry , and there was also an infantry regiment . The army had two eight - pound guns , but was apparently not able to use them effectively . For about two day , the battle raged around the fort , but the disciplined garrison was able to repulse all of the attacks . There was then a break in the fighting , so Lelièvre inventoried the remaining supplies , and determined that only 10 , 000 rounds remained . He proposed to his men to continue fighting until the ammunition was exhausted , and then to blow up the barrel of gunpowder as their last stand . This proposal was enthusiastically agreed to by his men , and the battle was once again joined . The battle persisted for two more days , until Dubuessil finally sent a relief column , prompting the Algerians to withdraw . Aftermath . Newspapers in Paris were filled with news of the battle , and it was the talk of the city . A copy of the fort at Mazagran was erected on the Champs Elysées , and all kinds of merchandise was produced that commemorated the event . Lelièvre and six other soldiers received the Légion d ' honneur . Lelièvre also received a promotion as a reward for leading the spirited defence . The French government issued a commemorative medal celebrating the victory , and there is today a Rue Mazagran in Paris . Accusation of hoax . Exasperated by French sarcasms over the British withdrawal from Afghanistan , the London " Morning Chronicle " published in 1842 an accusation that the event was a hoax , and challenged the French government to substantiate it . These accusations received limited coverage in the French press ; the French government did not apparently respond . One correspondent to a British military journal took issue with the " Morning Chronicle " reporting , describing an encounter with an unidentified French officer who claimed that something resembling the affair took place , but was significantly puffed up . He reported that Lelièvre was embarrassed over the attention and honours he had received , and eventually requested a transfer out of his regiment . A later French analysis of the affair placed the Arab strength at between five and six hundred .