Siege of Constantine

The 1837 siege of Constantine was decided by Louis Philippe I and the head of his government, Count Louis-Mathieu Molé, in the summer of 1837. At the time, the consolidation of the July Monarchy and the recovery of economic prosperity, the king was considering dissolving the Chamber of Deputies.

As with Charles X's 1830 expedition to Algiers, the king of France was seeking more votes in upcoming elections by offering military glory and revenge for Bertrand Clausel's failed expedition against Constantine in 1836.

The preparation of the expedition at the end of August was marred by a bitter rivalry between the king's eldest sons, Prince Ferdinand Philippe and Prince Louis, who both vied for the honor of participating. The eldest considered that it was his right, while the second, who had participated in the unsuccessful expedition of the previous year, was keen to avenge this humiliation. Ultimately it was the younger prince who went.

The army met at the Merdjez-Hammar camp established on the banks of the Seybouse River in Guelma Province, halfway between Bôna and Constantine. Placed under the command of the Governor-General, General Charles-Marie Denys de Damrémont, the army was formed in four brigades. The 1st Brigade in the vanguard was commanded by Prince Louis, Duke of Nemours, and the second, third and fourth brigades were under the command of generals Camille Alphonse Trézel and Claude-Carloman de Rulhière. General Sylvain Charles Valée commanded the artillery and General Hubert Rohault de Fleury the engineers.

The French Army left Bône on 1 October. The siege started on 10 October. On 12 October a victorious assault was begun by General Damrémont, and after Damrémont was killed was completed by his successor, General Valée. The latter was promoted to the rank of Marshal of France on 11 November and appointed Governor-General of French Possessions in Africa on 1 December.