# Taking of the Smalah of Abd-el-Kader [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [VERNET, Horace]() - Date: 1801-1850 - Technique: Oil on canvas ## Commentary The Battle of the Smala was fought in 1843 between France and Algerian resistance fighters during the French conquest of Algeria. The French, led by Henri d'Orléans, duke of Aumale, raided the encampment \(known as a smala or zmelah\) of Algerian resistance leader Abd al-Qadir on 16 May 1843, while al-Qadir was absent on a raiding expedition. The 500 French cavalrymen surprised the camp defenders, who fired a single volley before scattering. More than 3,000 of al-Qadir's followers \(out of a camp population of 30,000\) were captured, as were many of his possessions, including his warchest and a library. Three days later, another 2,500 followers were captured. ## Related artworks - [A Saddled Race Horse Tied to a Fence]() - [An Invalid Submitting a Petition to Napoleon at a Parade in the Courtyard of the Tuileries Palace]() - [Angel of Death]() - [Arab Chieftains in Council \(The Negotiator\)]() - [Equestrian portrait of Charles Albert, King of Sardinia]() - [Hunting Scene \(detail\)]() - [Hunting Scene]() - [Hunting Scene]() - [Judah and Tamar]() - [Louis-Philippe, Duc d'Orléans, in a Swiss Landscape]() - [Mazeppa and the Wolves]() - [Mazeppa]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()