The First Franco-Dahomean War was fought in 1890 between

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

, led by General Alfred-Amédée Dodds, and

Dahomey The Kingdom of Dahomey () was a West African kingdom located within present-day Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. Dahomey developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in the early 17th century and became a regio ...

under King Béhanzin.

Background

At the close of the 19th century, European powers were busy conquering and colonising much of Africa. In what is today Benin, the main colonial power was the

French Third Republic The French Third Republic (french: Troisième République, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 194 ...

. The French had established commercial ties with the indigenous peoples of the area including one of

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mau ...

's most powerful states at the time, the Fon kingdom of

. In 1851, a Franco-Dahomean friendship treaty was ratified allowing the French to operate commercially and missionaries to enter the country. By 1890, the Fon kingdom of Dahomey was at the height of its power. It laid claim to almost all the coast of modern Benin plus much of south-central Benin as far north as Atcheribé. One of Dahomey's most important

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

was the small kingdom of Porto-Novo near the coast. The kingdom had been at odds with Dahomey on and off since the middle of the 18th century. In 1861, Porto-Novo was attacked by British anti-slaving ships. Porto-Novo asked for and received French protection in 1863, but this was rejected by Dahomey. Another issue of contention was the status of

Cotonou Cotonou (; fon, Kútɔ̀nú) is a city in Benin. Its official population count was 679,012 inhabitants in 2012; however, over two million people live in the larger urban area. The urban area continues to expand, notably toward the west. The ci ...

, a port the French believed was under their control because of a treaty signed by Dahomey's representative in Whydah. Dahomey ignored all French claims there as well and continued to collect customs from the port.

Cause of war

In 1874, King

Toffa I King Toffa I (c.1850-1908) was a ruler of the kingdom of Họgbonu, or Ajase, an area of Benin which today is known as Porto-Novo. Upon becoming ruler in 1874, he was renowned for his openness and cooperation with the colonial powers. He encour ...

took power in Porto-Novo and re-established French protection over the kingdom after Dahomey attacked it in 1882. Dahomey continued raiding the town, which culminated in an incident that brought the Fon and French into war. In March 1889, Dahomey attacked a village on the Ouémé where the chief was under the protection of the French. After remarking that the flag of the tricolour would protect him, the Fon commanded one of his Dahomey Amazons to behead him and wrap his head in the flag. Then in March of that year, France sent a mission to Dahomey's capital of Abomey to assert its claims to Cotonou and offer an annual payment. The crown prince and later king Béhanzin received the mission but nothing was achieved other than mutual distrust.

Opening of hostilities

France responded to these events by building up its force in Cotonou to 359 men, 299 of which were

Tirailleurs A tirailleur (), in the Napoleonic era, was a type of light infantry trained to skirmish ahead of the main columns. Later, the term "''tirailleur''" was used by the French Army as a designation for indigenous infantry recruited in the Frenc ...

or French trained Senegalese and Gabonese. On 21 February, the French arrested the senior Fon officials in Cotonou and began fortifying the town. Skirmishes with local militia also broke out. It was not long before word of this got back to Abomey. Dahomey sent a force straight to Cotonou with plans to bring it firmly back under Fon control once and for all.

Battle of Cotonou

On 4 March, a Dahomey army of several thousand charged the log stockade around Cotonou at approximately 5 in the morning. This was usual for the Fon army of Dahomey that almost always marched at night and attacked just before dawn. Prying apart the stakes and shoving their

musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket graduall ...

s through, the Fon fired into the enclosure. Some managed to surmount the 800-metre perimeter inflicting casualties within the walls. After four hours of intense fighting, often occurring hand-to-hand despite withering French firepower and even

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-ste ...

shells, the Fon force withdrew. The French sustained few losses, but the Fon suffered several hundred dead (129 within the French lines).

Battle of Atchoukpa

After regrouping, Dahomey sent another force south, this time toward Porto-Novo. After receiving numerous reinforcements, the French ordered 350 men with three

field gun A field gun is a field artillery piece. Originally the term referred to smaller guns that could accompany a field army on the march, that when in combat could be moved about the battlefield in response to changing circumstances (field artiller ...

s to march north and intercept the Fon. This time, the French would be assisted by 500 warriors of King Toffa I. As the French

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

arrived to the village of

Atchoukpa Atchoukpa is an arrondissement in the Ouémé department of Benin. It is an administrative division under the jurisdiction of the commune of Avrankou. According to the population census conducted by the Institut National de la Statistique Benin ...

, Toffa's warriors, who were walking ahead of the formation, came under Dahomey fire and fled the battlefield in a complete

rout A rout is a panicked, disorderly and undisciplined retreat of troops from a battlefield, following a collapse in a given unit's command authority, unit cohesion and combat morale (''esprit de corps''). History Historically, lightly-e ...

. The French formed

infantry square An infantry square, also known as a hollow square, was a historic combat formation in which an infantry unit formed in close order, usually when it was threatened with cavalry attack. As a traditional infantry unit generally formed a line to adv ...

s and held repeated Dahomey attacks for several hours. An attempt by King Béhanzin to send a detachment to bypass the French squares and sack Porto-Novo was thwarted by Colonel Terrillon. French squares slowly withdrew toward the undefended city. After another hour of unsuccessful clashes with French squares, Béhanzin ordered his army to retreat. By the next day, the Dahomey army had completely left the vicinity of Porto-Novo and withdrawn toward Abomey.

End of hostilities

Dahomey did not launch any further attacks on Cotonou or Porto-Novo. On 3 October 1890, Dahomey signed a treaty recognising the kingdom of Porto-Novo as a French

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over most of its inte ...

. Béhanzin was also forced to cede Cotonou, but did receive 20,000

francs The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' ( King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th cent ...

a year for giving up his customs rights. The war was a resounding victory for France and a humiliating, though eye-opening, experience for Dahomey. Despite the treaty, both sides believed peace could not last and made preparations for another decisive encounter. Hostilities quickly resumed despite the treaty, escalating into the

Second Franco-Dahomean War The Second Franco-Dahomean War, which raged from 1892 to 1894, was a major conflict between France, led by General Alfred-Amédée Dodds, and Dahomey under King Béhanzin. The French emerged triumphant and incorporated Dahomey into their gr ...

two years later.

References

{{French colonial campaigns 1890 in the French colonial empire 1890 in the Kingdom of Dahomey Franco-Dahomean War 01 Franco-Dahomean War 01 Franco-Dahomean War Franco-Dahomean War 01 Franco-Dahomean War 01 Franco-Dahomean War 01 Franco-Dahomean War 01 Franco-Dahomean War 01 Franco-Dahomean War 01