ORDER OF BATTLE // January 1, 1860
Battle of Castillejos
Estimated force strength by side, with confidence labels per surviving record.
Forces engaged
2 sides catalogued · combined 30,000 estimated
Spain
10,000
Medium-confidence figure
Morocco
20,000
Medium-confidence figure
Battle context
The Battle of Castillejos, fought on New Year's Day 1860, was an early engagement in the Spanish Army of Africa's campaign to capture Tétouan and Tangier during the Hispano-Moroccan War. Facing a Moroccan force of approximately 20,000 under Mawlay Abbas with around 10,000 troops, the Spanish under O'Donnell secured a victory that inflicted an estimated 2,000 Moroccan casualties. The outcome cleared the way for the continued Spanish advance along the North African coast, demonstrating that the Army of Africa could prevail against numerically superior opposition and sustaining momentum toward the campaign's primary territorial objectives.
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