Campaign of Cherchell (1531)

Campaign of Cherchell
DateJuly 1531
Location
Cherchell
Result Victory of the Regency of Algiers[2]
Belligerents

Empire of Charles V:


 France[1]		 Regency of Algiers
Commanders and leaders
Andrea Doria Hayreddin Barbarossa
Strength
1,500 men
32 galleys
8 galleons
5 brigantines
2 lateen sails
3 ships		 35 galleys
Casualties and losses
Heavy
600 captured
22 galleys		 Unknown

The Campaign of Cherchell occurred in July 1531, when Charles V sent the admiral Andrea Doria, to take Cherchell as a bridgehead in North Africa.[3][4]

A French fleet of 13 galleys took part under Andrea Doria.[1] Doria was supported by 32 galleys, eight galleons, five brigantines, two lateen sails, and three ships.[5]

In July 1531, the admiral left Genoa and landed at Cherchell with 1,500 men.[2] He seized the city and liberated several hundred Christian slaves.[2] While the troops disbanded to engage in looting, the Turks took advantage, massacred and routed the invaders,[6][2][3] as well as, took 600 captives.[3]

Some of the other Turks opened fire on the galleys. As a result, Doria set sail fearing that he might see his vessels sink and understanding that his soldiers were hopelessly lost.[7] Barbarossa, equipped with 35 galleys, attacked Doria near Genoa and burned 22 Genoese galleys.[4]

  1. ^ a b "VI. Relations with France to 1536" In Suleiman the Magnificent, 1520-1566, 126-144. Cambridge, MA and London, England: Harvard University Press, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d MERCIER, Ernest. "L’AFRIQUE SEPTENTRIONALE." I888, I (1888): 182. Page 33.
  3. ^ a b c Ring, Trudy, and Noelle Watson. Middle East and Africa: International Dictionary of Historic Places. Routledge, 2014.
  4. ^ a b Servantie, Alain. "The Mediterranean Policy of Charles V." A New World: Emperor Charles V and the Beginnings of Globalisation (2021): 83.
  5. ^ Espinosa, Aurelio. "The Grand Strategy of Charles V (1500-1558): Castile, War, and Dynastic Priority in the Mediterranean", Journal of Early Modern History 9, 3 (2005): 239-283, doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/157006505775008446
  6. ^ Moliner-Violle, Michel Francois Auguste, and Michel-F-A. Moliner-Violle. Précis de géographie historique de l'Algérie. A. Jourdan, 1877.
  7. ^ de Haëdo, Diego, and Henri-Delmas de Grammont. "Kheir-ed-Din Barberousse, second roi." Histoire du Maghreb (1998): 50-75.