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Lot Essay
On 27th August 1816, a combined Anglo-Dutch fleet of over twenty-five ships, under the command of Admiral Lord Exmouth, attacked the North African city of Algiers. Its objective was to destroy the power of the Barbary Corsairs based there and also to release those Christian slaves held in captivity within the fortress. The huge bombardment lasted ten hours and only after the city had been extensively damaged by allied shelling did the Bey consent to surrender. Casualties on both sides were extremely heavy but the seabourne assault was successful and about 1,650 enslaved prisoners were liberated from Algiers and the surrounding area.