Battle of Kousséri
Lamy dies in the battle of Kousseri
| date | April 22, 1900 |
|---|---|
| place | Kousséri |
| output | French victory |
| consequences | colonial conquest of the French colonial territory ended |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
Rabih's realm |
|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 1,500 | 10,000 |
| losses | |
|
28 dead, 75 wounded |
1000–1500 dead, 3000 wounded |
The Battle of Kousséri marked the end of the French attempt to take control of the Chari-Baguirmi region in present-day Chad . At the turn of the year 1899/1900 France sent three columns marching separately into the area - one advancing north from the Congo, one advancing east from Niger, and one coming south from Algeria.
The plan was to unite the French colonies in Africa and finally pacify them. The columns met on April 21, 1900 on the right bank of the Shari in present-day Chad, across from Kousséri in present-day Cameroon .
The Sudanese regional ruler Rabih az-Zubayr controlled this region with an armed force of approx. 10,000 infantrymen and cavalrymen, of which only 400 had breech-loading rifles.
prehistory
In 1899 the Rabih received the French envoy Ferdinand de Béhagle in Dikoa . He was captured by the Rabih when the talks did not go according to his wishes. On July 17, 1899, Lieutenant Bretonnet's column near Togbao was completely wiped out and three cannons were captured. As an additional measure, the Rabih ordered de Béhagle to be hung.
The column under Émile Gentil , advancing from Gabon with the support of the steamboat "Leon Blot", was repulsed by the Rabih at Kouno. Despite the losses, the column was able to march again and advanced on Kouséri, uniting itself with the column coming from Algeria under the command of Amédée-François Lamy and the remnants of the Voulet-Chanoine mission under the command of Joalland - Meyniers . Lamy took command as the senior officer.
Course of the battle
The meeting took place on April 22, 1900. The French armed forces consisted of 700 Senegalese riflemen , 600 infantrymen and 200 cavalrymen from the local Bagirmis, who were hostile to the Rabih. This force moved from Kousséri to the nearby camp of the Rabih and embraced it on three sides, leaving only the river side free. In the skirmish to take the camp, Lamy was killed when the Rabih's troops made a sortie. This failure could not prevent the loss of the battle for the Rabih, he fled and was killed by pursuing Senegalese riflemen while crossing the Shari.
meaning
As a result of the Battle of Kousséri, the complete conquest of French colonial territory was complete, and the areas allocated to France in the Berlin Conference were now under effective control.
literature
- Byron Farwell. The Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Land Warfare. An illustrated World View. WW Norton & Company, New York NY et al. 2001, ISBN 0-393-04770-9 , pp. 466-467.