Battle of Tétouan
| Battle of Tétouan | |||||
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| Part of the Spanish-Moroccan War (1859-1860) | |||||
.jpg) The battle as painted by Marià Fortuny. |
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| Belligerents | |||||
 Spanish Army of Africa
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 Moroccan Army
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||
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Leopoldo O'Donnell Antonio Ros de Olano
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Mohammed IV
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| Strength | |||||
| 36,000 men, 65 pieces of artillery, and 41 ships | Unknown | ||||
The Battle of Tétouan (Spanish Tetuán) was fought in 1860, near Tétouan, Morocco, between a Spanish army sent to North Africa and the tribal levies which at the time made up the Moroccan Army. The battle was part of the Spanish-Moroccan War of 1859-1860.
The Spanish expeditionary force, which departed from Algeciras, was composed of 36,000 men, 65 pieces of artillery, and 41 ships, which included steamships, sailboats, and smaller vessels. General Leopoldo O'Donnell, 1st Conde de Lucena (later created Duque de Tetuán), a future Prime Minister of Spain, personally took charge of the expedition and divided these forces into three corps. These were commanded by General The 5th Marqués de Torreblanca, General Antonio Ros de Olano and General Ramón de Echagüe. Reserves were placed under the command of General The 1st Conde de Reus. Admiral Segundo Díaz Herrero commanded the fleet.
The objective of the Spanish forces was to take Tetuán, which had served as a base for raids on Ceuta and Melilla .
Hostilities between Moroccan and Spanish troops began on 17 December 1859 when the column commanded by The Marqués de Torreblanca occupied the Sierra de Bullones. On 19 December, Echagüe captured the Palacio del Serrallo. The Conde de Lucena commanded a force that landed at Ceuta on 21 December. By Christmas Day, the three columns had consolidated their positions and awaited orders to advance towards Tetouan.
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Wikipedia