The training of women as soldiers was the most singular Dahomeyan institution. About one-fourth of the whole female population were said to be “married to the fetich,” many even before their birth, and the remainder were entirely at the disposal of the king. The most favoured were selected as his own wives or enlisted into the regiments of Amazons, and then the chief men were liberally supplied.

Of the female captives the most promising were drafted into the ranks as soldiers, and the rest became Amazonian camp followers and slaves in the royal households. These female levies formed the flower of the Dahomeyan army. They were marshalled in regiments, each with its distinctive uniform and badges, and they took the post of honour in all battles.

Their number has been variously stated. Sir R. F. Burton, in 1862, who saw the army marching out of Kana on an expedition, computed the whole force of female troops at 2500, of whom one-third were unarmed or only half-armed. Their weapons were blunderbusses, flint muskets, and bows and arrows. A later writer estimated the number of Amazons at 1000, and the male soldiers at 10,000.

The system of warfare was one of surprise. The army marched out, and, when within a few days’ journey of the town to be attacked, silence was enjoined and no fires permitted. The regular highways were avoided, and the advance was by a road specially cut through the bush. The town was surrounded at night, and just before daybreak a rush was made and every soul captured if possible; none were killed except in self-defence, as the first object was to capture, not to kill. The season usually selected for expeditions was from January to March, or immediately after the annual” Customs.”

The Amazons were carefully trained, and the king was in the habit of holding “autumn manuvres” for the benefit of foreigners. Many Europeans have witnessed a mimic assault, and agree in ascribing a marvellous power of endurance to the women. Lines of thorny acacia were piled up one behind the other to represent defences, and at a given signal the Amazons, barefooted and without any special protection, charged and disappeared from sight. Presently they emerged within the lines torn and bleeding, but apparently insensible to pain, and the parade closed with a march past, each warrior leading a pretended captive bound with a rope.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Notre Colonie de Dahomey, by G. François (Paris, 1906), and Le Dahomey (1909), an official publication, deal with topography, ethnography and economics; L. Brunet and L. Giethlen, Dohomey et dépendances (Paris, 1900); Edouard Foà, Le Dahomey (Paris, 1895). Religion, laws and language are specially dealt with in Ewe-Speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast, by A. B. Ellis (London, 1890), and in La Côte des Esciaves et Ic Dahomey, by P. Bouche (Paris, 1885). Much historical matter, with particular notices of the Amazons and the “ Customs,” is contained in A Mission to Gelele, by Sir R. Burton (London, 1864). The story of the French conquest is told in Campagne du Dahomey, by Jules Poirier (Paris, 1895). The standard authority on the early history is The History of Dahomey, by Archibald Dalzel (sometime governor of the English fort at Whydah) (London, 5793). The annual Reports issued by the British, Foreign, and French Colonial Offices may be consulted, and the Bibliographic raisonnie des ouvrages concernani le Dahomey, by A. Pawlowski (Paris, 1895), is a useful guide to the literature of the country to that date. A Carte du Dahomey, by A. Meunier, (3 sheets, scale 1:500000), was published in Paris, 1907.

Dahomey War Part 1

Uniforms: French
War Background
History
Amazonian Army

Dahomey War Part 2

Housing, Uniforms, and Weapons of the King
Campaigns and Dahomey Warfare
French OB for 1892 Dahomey War and Battles
Available Figures