The 3rd Spahis Brigade, commanded by Colonel Marc, was made up of two regiments: the 2nd Moroccan Spahis Regiment and the 2nd Algerian Spahis Regiment.

On the morning of 15 May 1940, while the 3rd Brigade was holding out at La Horgne, a small village in the French Ardennes, it was attacked by a motorised infantry battalion from the Panzer Division.

The battle lasted 10 long hours and the Spahis even managed to destroy 12 German armoured vehicles. But that wasn't enough and by 17:00 the Spahis were surrounded. The battle claimed around 700 casualties.