222 



DAHOMEY. 



deliberate and thorough fashion, English and 

 Belgian, and especially German traders, had time 

 to supply Behanzin with thousands of Snyder, 

 Winchester, and Mauser rifles, and even with 

 Krupp guns. When the news arrived in France 

 that the Dahomeyans had destroyed many vil- 

 lages in the neighborhood of Porto Novo and 

 crossed the Uemi with 6,000 warriors, the Gov- 

 ernment asked for a credit of 2,925,000 francs, 

 in voting which, on April 11, the Chamber au- 

 thorized the intended expedition. Behanzin, 

 through his European helpers, had telegraphic 

 communication with Europe: for a few days 

 after the Chambers had approved the warlike 

 preparations, he sent his troops again across the 

 Uemi and sent a defiant note to the lieutenant- 

 governor of Porto Novo, in which he said : 



The King is informed that the French Government 

 has declared war on Dahomey, and that the Cham- 

 bers have voted several millions to recommence op- 

 erations. He holds himself quite ready, and declares 

 that if the French touch his villages he will destroy 

 Porto Novo and all other French ports. 



The Dahomeyans did not attack Kotonu, 

 which was protected by gunboats, but they es- 

 tablished themselves, 4.000 strong, in the vicinity, 

 and leveled roads for manosuvring. They had 

 4 cannon. There were large forces also between 

 Godomey and Abomey - Kalavy. holding the 

 route from Kotonu to Whydah. Their total 

 strength was estimated at 14,000 men, armed 

 with 4,000 breech-loading and repeating rifles, 

 8,000 old rifles, and 6 revolving cannon. 



Col. Dodds left France on May 6, and arrived 

 in Porto Novo on May 27. His first work was 

 to construct shelter for the Senegal riflemen 

 who arrived, being replaced in Senegal by sol- 

 diers of the Algerian Foreign Legion. Behan- 

 zin recalled most of his troops from the left 

 bank of the Uemi, except 600 who held Dekame, 

 and was in an intrenched camp at Cana. On 

 June 16 the French Minister of Foreign Affairs 

 notified England and Germany of a blockade of 

 the coast, which was intended to prevent Behan- 

 zin from obtaining further supplies of modern 

 weapons through the traders at Whydah. The 

 English Government showed a willingness to 

 join in any arrangement for stricter interna- 

 tional safeguards against the importation of 

 breech-loading rifles into Africa to be used 

 against Europeans, and Germany was prepared 

 to co-operate. Baron von Puttkamer, the Ger- 

 man Imperial Commissary in Togoland, on April 

 11 issued a decree prohibiting the exportation 

 of materials of war into Dahomey under severe 

 penalties. The French force was gradually 

 raised from 500 to 2,000. This force included a 

 company of marine infantry and a battery of 

 artillery. Two gunboats were placed on the 

 Uemi. The blockading cruisers were not placed 

 under the command of Col. Dodds. This divis- 

 ion of authority was criticised. When, on March 

 4, an attack of the Dahomeyans had been re- 

 pelled by the guns of the " Sane " and the land 

 force commanded by Capt. Terrillon, Gov. Bayot 

 requested Capt. Fournier to land a party of ma- 

 rines, but the latter refused, following tele- 

 graphic orders. This incident was made the basis 

 of an interpellation, and on July 11 the policy 

 of a dual command was condemned by a vote of 

 287 against 150 in the Chamber, in consequence 



of which M. Cavaignac resigned the Ministry of 

 Marine, being succeeded by M. Burdeau. The 

 only aggressive operation undertaken by Col. 

 Dodds before the arrival of the main body of 

 re-enforcements was the bombardment on July 

 5 of the Dekames, who had attacked the village 

 of Gome. 



French Conquest. Early in August Col. 

 Dodds took the offensive all along the line, his 

 first object being to drive the Dahomeyans from 

 French territory. He had sent a demand to Be- 

 hanzin that he should withdraw his troops, and 

 the King had replied by strengthening his forces. 

 Operations began with the bombardment of 

 Whydah and of Abomey-Kalavy, on Lake Den- 

 ham. One column, advancing from Kotonu, 

 burned several villages, took Zobo, and had a 

 sharp engagement with the Dahomeyans, who 

 were finally driven into the woods. Another 

 column set out from Porto Novo toward De- 

 kame. The guides treacherously sought to lead 

 the French troops into an ambush. In spite of 

 this the operations succeeded, and the Senegalese 

 soldiers gave an excellent account of themselves, 

 holding their ground against a superior force for 

 ten hours. On Aug. 17 Col. Dodds and Gov. 

 Ballot set out from Porto Novo with 1,300 fight- 

 ing men and 2,000 porters for Sakele. They 

 were joined on the march by 2,000 native auxil- 

 iaries. They bombarded and captured a fortified 

 place in Dekame called Taku with slight losses, 

 and on Aug. 22 had another encounter with the 

 Dahomeyans. The natives received the French 

 troops hospitably, the Dahomeyans having-evacu- 

 ated the country, abandoning their intrenched 

 camp at Bekanja. Two transports arrived at 

 Kotonu on Aug. 23, bringing 1,000 men. which 

 increased the regular French to about 3,000, in- 

 cluding 1,000 men of the Foreign Legion. On 

 Aug. 21 the column entered Sakele, which was 

 not defended. On the way thence to Katugu 

 they were attacked in a forest, and a number of 

 Europeans were wounded. Several times the 

 enemy fired on the officers from ambuscades in 

 the woody region that had to be traversed. On 

 Aug. 24 Katugu was captured, and, after two 

 days of resting, they broke camp and advanced to 

 the Uemi, concentrating at Kesunu. Col. Dodds 

 returned to Porto Novo to organize the recently 

 arrived troops and the auxiliaries that had been 

 recruited before advancing into Dahomey. His 

 forces consisted of 1 battalion of Legionaries, 1 

 company of marine infantry, 4 companies of 

 Senegal sharpshooters. 2 of Haussa riflemen, 3 

 of Senegalese auxiliaries, 2 squadrons of Spahis, 

 1 battery of mountain artillery equipped with 

 melinite guns, and the auxiliaries furnished by 

 King Toffa of Porto Novo. 



The column at Kesunu scoured the country, 

 driving the Dahomeyans out of the Kingdom 

 of Porto Novo and receiving the submission of 

 all the native chiefs on the Uemi. The Daho- 

 meyans fell back on Allada, south of Dahomey, 

 where they took up a strong position. The river 

 rose sufficiently to make transport and revictual- 

 ing easy, but away from the Uemi new roads 

 had to be broken and unfordable streams 

 bridged. The advanced guard, consisting of 

 cavalry and Senegalese sharpshooters, took up a 

 position at Fanvi, on the Uemi. While the 

 French were making ready for an advance on 



