Follow
Battle of Tangier
AKA Battle of Jew's Hill
Contributors are welcome - but please do not copy and paste Wiki!!
Photo Attribution Wiki
Date: 4th May 1664
Location: English Tangier, North Africa
Belligerents:
England English Tangier Garrison
- Strength 500
- Losses: 470 killed
Morocco
- Strength: 11000
- Losses: unknown
Commanders and leaders
England
Morocco
- Khadir Ghailan
Causes
The Tangier Garrison, (English Army force) sent to garrison Tangier, faced constant attacks from Moroccan forces opposed to their presence in the region. In 1663 Lord Teviot was sent to Tangier to serve as Governor. On arrival he implemented major reforms to the the Tangier Garrison.
Overview
The city of Tangier was occupied by England as part of its colonial empire from 1661 to 1684 after Tangier was given to Charles II as part of the dowry of his Portuguese bride, Catherine of Braganza.
On 4 May 1664, Teviot, commanding a 500-strong detachment of Tangier Garrison troops (consisting of a mixture of English and Irish soldiers) marched his men towards an area known to the English as Jew's Hill or Jew's Mount. Teviot had possibly made plans to gather stocks of stone, timber and other building materials from the surrounding areas, or perhaps the intention of the expedition may have been to forage the local area or that he planned to cut down a patch of brushwood that Moroccan forces had used as cover during their previous attacks on Tangier.
Once Teviot and his men had crossed Jew's River, they encountered around 3,000 Moroccan warriors. Teviot's men rapidly attacked and drove the Moroccans off, pursuing fleeing enemy. This turned out to be a trap as a larger Moroccan force of 8,000 men under the command of Ghaïlan was waiting to ambush them.
Result
The engagement devolved into hand-to-hand combat in which Teviot's men were overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Teviot attempted to rally his men on the top of Jew's Hill, but was killed in action. Only around thirty of the five hundred who had marched out escaped back to the safety of Tangier.
Aftermath
The Moroccans mutilated the corpses of Teviot's men who were killed during the battle. Following Teviot's death, the position of governor and command over the Tangier Garrison passed to his Irish subordinate, John Fitzgerald. Moroccan pressure on Tangier weakened due to political developments occurring elsewhere in Morocco, and Fitzgerald signed several ceasefire treaties with hostile Moroccan parties, which by 1666 had led to a general peace in English Tangier. Though occasional skirmishes between the Tangier Garrison and Moroccan forces continued to occur, a major battle did not occur until the Great Siege of Tangier in 1680
https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1971-02-33-397-1
"In 1676 a survey of Tangier, which was costing about £140000 a year to maintain, revealed that the inhabitants numbered 2225, of whom 50 were army officers, 1231 other ranks, with 302 army wives and children. Parliament was concerned about the financial cost of maintaining the Tangier garrison. The King's frequent requests for more troops for the garrison there raised suspicions that a standing army was being retained in Tangier to ensure a Catholic succession and absolute monarchy. In 1680 Parliament told the King that it would only grant supplies if he assented to a Bill of Exclusion to disinherit the Duke of York. The King refused to sacrifice his brother's right of succession to save Tangier. Preparations therefore began for evacuation. This was completed in 1684. Recognition for Mordaunt's men had to wait until 1909 when the Queen's Royal Regiment was granted the battle honour of 'Tangier 1662-80' which is the oldest in the Army".
Casualties and losses
Notable connections
Captives
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/English_army_li...
Page 302 - The Tangier Regiment of Foot
- Colonel Piercy Kirke
- Lt. Col. William Boynton
- Major Sir James Lesley - https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/James_Lesley
Captains
Jno Giles
Tho. St. John - "Shot through the body in a desperate engagement with the Moors at Tangier 14 May 1680. Returned to England with his regiment in 1684.
Brent Ely
Hen. Row
Geo. Wingfield - "Capt.of Genadiers in the Duke of Monmouth's Regt.; Capt. of 1st Ft. Gds 31 Dec 1688, with additional rank of Lt.-Col. Killed at the Battle of Landen in Flanders 19 July 1693.
Tho. Barbour -
Wm. Mathews
Chas. Wingfield - Served in the Duke of Monmouth's regt. of Ft. in 1678
Geo. Talbott
Fran. Chantrell
Zouch Tate
Jas. Guy
Jno. Burgess
Getting Involved
Feel free to follow, request to collaborate
To join the project use the request link under "actions" at the top right of the page.
Visit
Geni's Project Plaza
Working with Projects
Wicked Wiki
Geni Wikitext, Unicode and images which gives a great deal of assistance.
See the discussion Project Help: How to add Text to a Project - Starter Kit to get you going!