Historedia
AfricaEvent

French capture of Constantine

When
1837
Where
Koudiat-Aty plateau; Constantine
Episodes
3

In October 1837, French forces besieged Constantine, a city in northeastern Algeria. The operation was decided by King Louis Philippe I in summer 1837, who offered military glory to gain votes in upcoming elections. After the death of commander Charles-Marie Denys de Damrémont, artillery officer Sylvain Charles Valée assumed command. Valée captured the city on 13 October, resulting in the collapse of the Beylik of Constantine.

Episodes

  1. October 1837 · ConstantineCommand Transfer

    Valée commanded the artillery. After the death of commander Charles-Marie Denys de Damrémont, Valée assumed command of the army.

  2. 9 October 1837 · Koudiat-Aty plateauSiege Initiation

    On 9 October 1837, French forces placed siege batteries on the Koudiat-Aty plateau near Constantine, initiating the siege of the city.

  3. 13 October 1837 · ConstantineCity Capture

    Valée captured Constantine on 13 October, resulting in the collapse of the Beylik of Constantine led by Ahmed Bey.

Background and detail

Background. Constantine, located inland on the Rhumel River, was the capital of Constantine Province. The siege was decided by Louis Philippe I and Count Louis-Mathieu Molé in summer 1837. The king offered military glory and revenge for Bertrand Clausel's failed 1836 expedition against Constantine in order to gain votes in upcoming elections.

Command. Sylvain Charles Valée, an artillery officer known for the Valée system, was reinstated in 1837 as commander-in-chief of the artillery in Bône. He commanded the artillery during the expedition against Constantine. Following the death of army commander Charles-Marie Denys de Damrémont, Valée took over command and captured the city, earning the Marshal's baton.

Outcome. The decisive battle resulted in the collapse of the Beylik of Constantine led by Ahmed Bey. The territory was captured by France on 13 October 1837. As later context outside this event's scope, the city became the centre of the Constantine Département from 1848 onwards.

People involved

Sources

  1. Siege of Constantine Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-22
  2. Sylvain Charles Valée Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-04
  3. Constantine, Algeria Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-01

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.