Part I

Dodds wanted European companies to supplement his Tirailleurs; although he had not been fully convinced by the arguments described above, the nearest thing he had for a model to his campaign was Garnet Wolseley's attack on Asante in 187374, which had been based around a European force. As in the British expedition, the key to the successful use of Europeans was the preservation of their health. Admiral Caverville, a former commander of the coastal squadron, had advised Dodds to use older soldiers who had already served in Senegal. Kaidres for African companies, he argued, should be at least aged 30, and other Europeans aged at least 25.

All Europeans should be disembarked as late as possible before setting off up country in older to expose them as little as possible to the climate (Salinis, 60). Although this advice was sensible, it did not provide the entire solution: for one thing, even acclimatized Europeans were more vulnerable to climate and disease than Africans. Nor did the French Infanterie de Marine have enough experienced Europeans. One of the squadrons of mainly Senegalese Spahis had Europeans and Algerian Arabs in its ranks, and not all of these had served in West Africa before; indeed, the Europeans did prove less hardy than the others (Schelameur, 90, 133). More of a problem, however, were the five companies of infantry and the battery of artillery.

One of the companies was of Infanteric de Marine, traditionally the source for footslogers who were to serve in West Africa. The corps of marsouins (dolphins), as they were called, was, unlike the army, recruited partly by conscription but also partly by voluntary enlistment of long service men (Clayton, 314; Badin gives a vivid but perhaps fictional description of a conscript in the corps). It was not, however, politically wise to have too many French citizens fight in West Africa when Africans or foreigners would serve instead, and therefore but one company was sent, along with the European members of the battery.

Four of the 12 regiments of marsouins provided men for service in Dahomey, and the batterie 8eme his of artillery was made up of men from 14 batteries of bigors (sea snails), as they were known. This method of forming interim companies or battalions (compagnies or bataillons de marche) for a specific campaign by taking the best men from a pool meant that the corps could maintain a high standard of combat readiness without the majority of its members seeing action.

It was partly for this reason that the Foreign Legion enjoyed a reputation for containing some of the best soldiers in the world, but for most of its members most of the time it also meant the tedium of garrison life, and it is hardly surprising that Martyn, a former British officer, and most of his depot volunteered for its bataillon de marche. Bern had read of Dahomey and its king, and he was one of the men selected to fight him. Volunteers had to be seasoned soldiers over 25; the four-company battalion was commanded by Commandant Faurax, who was said to be one of the most popular officers in Algeria (Martyn, 184-85; Bern, 2627).

Uniforms and Equipment of the European Troops

All European other ranks had much the same uniform, a blue and a cachou paletot. The blue garment was the M. 1873, double-breasted and collarless, without decoration ( Troupes de Marine, 47). The cachou one was single-breasted, and it had dark blue band around the cuffs and neck-opening for the Legion. Bern (132) describes this uniform as white; it was supposed to be pale khaki. Trousers were white, and the sun helmet was covered in cachou or white cloth. The Infanterie de Marine may have worn their cross anchor badge on the front of the helmet. Boots were black; gaiters, which were not always worn (Windrow, 82), would have been made from pale ailcloth. Table III (at the end of article) shows what each infantryman had with him; his equipment, wrapped in a tent section, was carried in the convoy.

A porter would carry the equipment of two soldiers. The latter wore their cachou paletots and linen trousers by day and the flannel paletot and white flannel trousers, and a kepi, at night, (Aublet, 185 - 88, 190, 199). The Legion kepi was dark blue, with a red top piped in dark blue, and it bore a red grenade on the front ( Windrow, 51); the Infanterie de Marine tepi was blue, piped in red, with a regimental number on the front (Troupes de Marine 127).

The equipment was based on a black leather waistbelt; of the 150 rounds carried, 100 would have been stowed in black leather pouches on either side of the buckle, and the rest in either a third pouch at the middle of the back or a so-called Negrier pouch. The latter was a speciality of the Legion, was made of black oilskin or old uniform cloth, and was worn on the middle of the chest. NCO's had 60 rounds on their persons, with the rest in their equipment gunners had but 60 rounds all told (Windrow, 49, 71 - 72; Bern, 132; Aublet, 186 - 187).

Distinction

The most important distinction between the Tirailleurs and the Europeans was the armament. The gunners had the M1874 Grass musketoon with yataghan bayonet; the infantry bad France's first repeating rifle, the M1886 Lebel 8mm ( .31 in.). This weapon used smokeless powder, and its small but powerful cartridges allowed each man to carry more ammunition; the campaign of 1892 was to be one of its first major trials in action.

Users and victims alike were shocked by its power; Martyn tells of one bullet that pierced a tree and then killed three Fon, and comments that the wounds looked as if they had been caused by "ammunition not authorised by the rules of civilised warfare" (233). The bullet had probably been distorted and flattened by hitting the tree; alternatively, the long Lebel round could have been knocked off course and sent spinning.

Both these accidents could perhaps have produced wounds such as those inflicted by dum-dum rounds, although other sources also note the nastiness of the effect of a Lebel bullet. At any rate, it could cut down trees. Volleys fired by the Legion made a sharper and more regular sound than those of the Tirailleurs (Bern, 291; Schelameur, 103, 127; Riols 72).

Less of an advantage was the Lebel's tube magazine, which had to be fed through the breech a round at a time, making the rate of sustained fire was not much higher than that of the Gras. The soldiers probably filled their magazines, operated the cut-off, and then loaded a round at a time, leaving a full magazine for emergencies.

The Lebel's bayonet (the Legion called it "Rosalie") was a formidable spike 52cm. (20.47 in.) long, and it gave the rifle an overall length of 182cm. (6 ft.). Stories exist during the First World War of "Rosalie" being dangerously weak, but no such complaints seem to have made in 1892. The soldier with a Lebel or Gras had a great advantage in combat over one with a short sword, club or war-hoe even without firing the weapon.

NCO

NCOs' uniforms were the same as those of the men, with the normal badges of rank. Adjutants (warrant officers) and sergeant- majors carried revolvers instead of rifles, and they left their sword in store (Aublet, 186). Bugles controlled the movements of the troops, and at 6 a.m. each day Dodds would gather the bugles and fifes of the Legion and the trumpets of the cavalry for an hour of marches and sonneries (bugle calls) (Martyn, 211; Nuelito, 145). It is unlikely that the musicians wore any distinction on their service dress. The Legion carried its flag (fanion), which would be placed at the front of the column to show the direction of march (Albaca, 87).

The uniforms of infantry and artillery officers and adjutants, including those of the Tirallieurs, were substantially different from those of the men, a difference which would prove a liability - what good marksmen the Fon possessed tended in battle to climb trees and shoot at French leaders. The helmet and kepi were as for the men, except that the latter had gold piping appropriate to the rank. In the daytime officers wore a white or pale khaki jacket, which was single- breasted. The low, standing collar had red (?) patches bearing gold grenades in the Legion and may have had gold keepers (brides) to hold epaulettes. The gold and silver cuff rings used to designate rank were removable for ease in washing; they were straight for the Legion and Infanterie de marine and brought to a point for artillery and (perhaps) Tirailleur officers.

The blue jacket would be much like the white one, and a frogged patrol jacket with detachable gold trefoil-shaped epaulettes, and "Hungarian knots" instead of the cuff rings, was also worn.

Officers

The officers of Infanterie de Marine had a gold foul anchor on the collar of this garment, and perhaps also on the other styles of jacket. By this time the blue of the officers' uniforms was no longer the traditional indigo colour still used by other ranks but was virtually black. Trousers were blue or white and footwear and gaiters to the individual's taste (Troupes de Marine, 59,136; Salinis, 129, 225, 276; Alb6ca, 71; Windrow, passim, and 70-71 for tables of rank badges).

Officers carried their swords and revolvers on black leather belts worn over or under the tunic, and with or without Sam Browne shoulder straps. By this time swords were carried in a steel scabbard with a single, loose ring. Infantry officers should have had the M.1882 sword, which had a straight, thrusting blade and a steel, four-bar guard. Some may have replaced this with non-regulation swords with hilts which gave more protection to the hand by means of a multiplicity of bars; some of these swords had what amounted to a half basket guard.

Officers of the Infanterie de Marine could have carried the M. 1882 or their own M.1870/1882 sword. Also straight-bladed, this weapon had a much more ornamental, pierced brass hilt than the M.1882, and it would not have given much protection. Infanterie de Marine officers' swords sometimes had the scabbards browned against the climate (Aries, fascicules VII, XIII, XXVII, XXIX).

Guns

The guns used by the bigors were 80mm. (3.14 in.) mountain pieces, systeme de Range M. 1877. They could be broken down into three pieces for transport on mules and weighed 305kg. (671 lbs). They should have had a maximum range of 4,100m. (4,485 yds), but Ditte, who was not impressed by them, claimed they were effective only to some 1,500 to 2,500m. (1,641 to 2,735 yds). Their shells weighed 6kg. (13 1/5 His) and were filled with black powder; they also appear to have fired canister (mitraille).

Shrapnel came as a surprise to the Dahomans; Fon prisoners imitated the bursting of these shells by opening and closing their hands. The M. 1877's main defects were its light weight (although it punched holes in the walls of Dahoman villages) and its rate of fire, which was said to be but one shot a minute. Officially replaced in 1908, the M.1877 lingered until the 1920's ( Troops de Marine, 173,177, 180; Schelameur, 206; Martyn, 235; Ditte, 219-20).

Table III. Equipment for Privates and Corporals of European Infantry (after Aublet, 185-88)

Carried on the man: one helmet (270g.), one cachou paletot (440g.), one pair of canvas trousers (900g.), one pair of laced boots (1.25kg.), one shirt (waistcoat of flannel or knitted fabric) (300g.), one handkerchief (25g.), one flannel belt (200g.), two bags (250g.), one small water bottle (full) with cup of quarter-litre capacity (1.425kg.), one waistbelt with pouches and bayonet frog (885g.), one M. 1886 rifle with sling and sword bayonet (4.71kg.), one daily ration (1.3kg.) and one package of dressing (30g.) in a bag, 15 packages of cartridges (3.525kg.), one arms kit (135g.) - total carried on the man 15.645kg. [34.41 As].

Second equipment (in bags carried in the convoy by coolies [one coolie for two Europeans]): one haversack (2.32kg.), one quilt (2.3kg.), one tent section with accessories (23kg.), one individual mess tin (420g.), one spoon (50g.), one duffel paletot (1 kg), one pair of flannel trousers (I kg), one shirt (waistcoat of flannel or knitted fabric (300g)), one napkin (200g.), one handkerchief (25g.), one cotton skullcap, one pair of slippers (1.13kg.), one pair of laces (25g.), one individual record book (30g.), one packed kit (200g.), two days' rations (2.6kg.). Eachfour men would also carry one camping utensil or portable tool, one rifle brush, one grease box, one bucket made from cloth; each squad would also have one distribution bag and each section a coffee mill, so that on the average these items would amount to lkg. per man. Total carried in the convoy 15kg. (33 lbs).

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