Battle of the Bagradas River
239 BCE.
Shown on the map at 37.110°, 10.130°.
The Battle of the Bagradas River was fought between a Carthaginian army led by Hamilcar Barca, who was victorious, and a rebel force led by Spendius. The battle in 240 BC was fought in what is now northeast Tunisia. Carthage was fighting a coalition of mutinous soldiers and rebellious African cities in the Mercenary War, which had started late the previous year in the wake of the First Punic War. The rebels were blockading Carthage and besieging the northern ports of Utica and Hippo (modern Bizerte). A Carthaginian army commanded by Hanno had attempted and failed to relieve Utica earlier that year. A second army was assembled in Carthage and entrusted to Hamilcar, who had commanded Carthaginian forces on Sicily for the last six years of the First Punic War. The new Carthaginian army left Carthage and evaded the rebel blockade by crossing the Bagradas River (present-day Medjerda River) at its mouth. Rebel armies commanded by Spendius, from both the Utica siege and a camp guarding the only bridge over the lower Bagradas River, marched towards the Carthaginians. When they came into their sight, Hamilcar ordered his men to feign a retreat.
Text from the Wikipedia article Battle of the Bagradas River (240 BC), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.