Battle of Tlemcen (1696)

The Battle of Tlemcen took place in 1696 when a Moroccan expeditionary force conducted a raid in Algerian territory. The Algerians emerged victorious, seriously wounding the Alawi prince.

Previous attempts were made to invade Algerian territory such as in the Battle of Djebel Amour and the Battle of Moulouya, both of which ended in a victory for the Algerian forces.^[6] A further defeat was inflicted against the Moroccans in 1694, Moulay Ismail also had a tribute imposed on him by the Dey of Algiers.^{[7][8][9][10]}

In the summer of 1695 an Algerian embassy in Meknes was protesting due to the incursions that had occurred over the previous years.^[11] A move was made by the Alawites in November when the Alawite prince was dispatched at the head of an expeditionary force composed of 4,000 abid.^[11]

On February 6, the Dey decided to launch a campaign against the Moroccans.^[12] His forces consisted of 300 tents and another 105 tents stationed in Tlemcen.^[12] The preparations for the campaign were in place when on February 12 the Moroccan forces plundered the Tlemcen region. The Moroccan expeditionary force was conducting a tax raid and the rearguard of this force was ambushed by the Algerians, the Moroccans were heavily defeated.^{[13][12][11][14]}

Another conflict broke out when in July or the beginning of August the eldest son of Moulay Ismail with a force composed of 30,000 men had to take flight and abandon his provisions as well as 150 abid who were captured by the Algerians.^[15] It was at this time that rumours began circulating about how the Bey of Tlemcen was regaining the advantage after approaching Mostaganem.^[15] It was there that the Alawi prince clashed with the infantry of Tlemcen on one side and the cavalry of Algiers on the other.^[15] The Moroccan prince was defeated and seriously wounded.^[15]

Moulay Ismail conducted peace with the Algerians in the same year in 1696.^[16] Despite the peace agreement, further expeditions followed resulting in a Moroccan-Tunisian alliance against the Algerians in the Maghrebi war. Moulay Ismail repeatedly sent letters to the Ottoman sultan asking him not to protect the Algerians and described their activities as greedy pursuits.^[17] However, by this era Ottoman-Moroccan hostility had ceased but tension with the Algerians continued and the Porte was unlikely to do anything to prevent the Algerians from acting due to the lack of control they exercised in Algiers at the time.^[18]