[1] He left Lyon on 9 September 1837 for the city of Bône in the province of Constantine in Algeria to fight the tribe led by Oued Radjett.

[1] On 11 April 1842, Blandan led a detachment of twenty men to carry mail from Boufarik to Béni Mered, some 8–9 km away.

[1] He refused to surrender before the superior force, and cried "Courage mes amis, défendez-vous jusqu'à la mort!"

The jury awarded the work to French sculptor Charles Gauthier who completed it in 1887 and the statue was placed in Boufarik[3] following Algerian independence.

Presented at the Salon des artistes français in 1882, the painting was purchased by the State, which donated it to the Museum of Fine Arts in Nancy, of which Devilly was the curator.