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Text originally published in 1884 under the same title.
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MEMOIRS OF MARSHAL BUGEAUD
FROM HIS PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE AND ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS, 1784-1849.
BY
THE COUNT H. DIDEVILLE,
Late Prefect, of Algiers.
EDITED, FROM THE FRENCH,
BY
CHARLOTTE M. YONGE,
AUTHOR OF THE HEIR OF REDCLYFFE ETC.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
CHAPTER I. MEDEAH AND MILIANAH (1841).
Installation at AlgiersThe Colonies of Dely-Ibrahim and the dram-sellersBlidahTravel in the Province of ConstantineEvacuation of small Military PostsReturn to AlgiersVictualling of MedeahReportOrganization of an Arab TribeLetter of a Lieutenant in the 34thArrival of the Duke de NemoursVictualling of MilianahPassage of the ColBattle, admirable ManoeuvreAccounts of the Battle.
THE Governor-general had no sooner arrival at Algiers than he prepared for a campaign. In fact, he took very little time in settling himself and entering upon his government. Two days after his landing he went to visit the immediate neighbourhood of his new capital. Passing through the villages and uncultivated lands of Dely-Ibrahim and Douera, he dismounted from his horse to give some advice to the inhabitants, and especially persuaded them not to abandon their lands, though they had left them untouched from fear of pillagers and marauders.
Really, in these new centers, the miserable trade of the inn-keepers, commonly called dram-sellers {1} in Algeria, was the only one that had flourished. This trade arising from the passing, or collection, of soldiers, took up all the little capital of our few colonists, and made them desert the fields. In his ride to Blidah the Governor observed a space of 2000 metres of fertile land surrounded by a ditch, the Rogniat system. He speedily had roads marked out, and selected a site for a village; dividing off lots of six hectares for grants to the first colonists who should make their appearance. These cares and thoughts in the first moments seem to show that the Governor, while not neglecting his heavy military duties, had perceived that his mission was not limited to the conquest of fresh territory, but also included the preservation, colonisation, and cultivation of what we now possessed.
After a flying visit to the positions of Algiers and Blidah, he sailed in March for the province of Constantine, leaving orders with General Baraguey dHillers, who took the command in his absence, for the abandonment and destruction of the camps of Fondouk and Mahelma. This was but a short absence. Entering the province by Bona, he left it by Philippeville, Djijilly, and Bougie, taking care to cause the evacuation of all the military posts, except Ghelma and Stif, as Abdel-Bader might transfer the theatre of war to that quarter. The treaty of peace of the Tafna had been broken in November, 1839. Perhaps it would be rash to inquire which of the parties commenced hostilities. But certainly the Duke of Orlans expedition through the defile of Bibans, the Iron Gate, was considered a challenge by the Emir, and caused him to take a bloody revenge by massacring our colonists in the Mitidjah. Next year the Prince-Royal captured Medeah and Milianah, and returned to France.
When the Governor returned to Algiers on the 18th of March, he declared all the spots in Algeria occupied by our troops to be in a state of war. This measure, imperiously demanded by the condition of things, placed all the African militia under the orders of the military authority, and also subordinated the civil power to it for all matters of police.
The first thing to think of was the provisioning of Medeah and Milianah. This was the commencement of the series of expeditions against Abdel-Kader, and after the combats of the 29th of April and 3rd of May our formidable adversary was pursued much farther, even to the midst of the province of Oran.
There is a letter from M. Lon Roches, written while he was with the Emir, that gives most interesting information on the organization of a tribe, as it was when hostilities commenced in 1840:
Tlemcen, February, 1838.
In my letter of 19th December last, I told you about the Emir, his government, and his policy; and you may have seen that there was nothing I could teach such an able chief. So you see clearly as to Abdel-Kader. Now, I will give you an idea of the constitution of a tribe in the Tell. This is only a sketch of Arab society in Algeria; and yet, when you have read my letter, I am sure you will advise me to examine carefully everything that I see, but to be very careful not to give any advice for the improvement of the condition of a people who have the invaluable advantage of thinking themselves happy.
The tribe is a great family, bearing the name of its people and of its founder. It is divided into several douairs. Each douair is ruled by a sheik (old man). It is generally the oldest of the chiefs of tents who elect him.
The meeting of all the sheiks of douairs makes the djema, the council of ancients of the tribe.
All the orders of the head of the government are communicated by the laid to the djema, and they execute them.
Any business concerning the tribe is discussed in this assembly. The decisions are always respected by the parties interested; it decides on the desirability of any particular alliance, if, as often happens, the country is in a state of anarchy.
It fixes the site of the tribe and the douairs.
When any influential member of the tribe wishes to marry a daughter of another tribe, it is the djema that proposes for her.
The traditions of the tribe, and the titles to its property, are preserved among the ancients of the council.
Each head of a family has his property perfectly defined in deeds drawn up by the kadi; the boundaries of these properties are known by the sheiks, and they come and bear witness before the judge in case of dispute. The common property is also known by all.
Every matter of internal police is regulated by the djema; every civil or criminal dispute is sent by it to the kadi. The meeting of the kadis of several families forms medjelis, a court of appeal, before which parties can bring the decisions of a single kadi.
In every douair there is found a taheb, man of letters, who offers prayer for all, and teaches the children of the chiefs of tents to read and write. He is paid by the whole douair.
