Toward the end of the 19th Century, the Caliphate was being pressed by the British from the south, north, and Rabeh's empire from Bornu, French from the west and The British Royal Niger Company on the coast, sought to expand into the interior to thwart the French. Jumbo Map (slow: 115K) In January 1897, the Company outfitted a small, but well armed force to invade the southwestern emirates.There were about 500 askari soldiers, mostly Yoruba and Hausa, in seven companies, commanded by British officers. They were armed with "modern repeating rifles" (presumably Enfields), and supported by six .45 Maxim machineguns, one 12lb. and one 9lb. Whitworth breech-loading rifled field pieces, and five 7lb. muzzle-loading rifled mountain guns. I believe the uniforms were all khaki, with a pill-box fez. Five hundred native carriers toted the supplies and equipment. This short campaign was brilliant in its conception and execution, catching the emirates by surprise. The first stroke was against Nupe, which mustered about 20,000 infantry, 10,000 cavalry. Estimates on the number of gunmen range from a few hundred to 2,000, some mounted with modern rifles. The battle of Bida raged for two days, January 26-27, with the 12lb. Whitworth shelling the city every two hours during the night. The mud-brick walls were vulnerable to the powerful artillery. The Nupe cavalry could accomplish nothing against the small British square, its sides bristling with repeating rifles, plus Maxims and artillery in the corners. The emir's gunmen were forced to resort to inaccurate sniping tactics. One of the Nupe cannon was brought into action, producing only a great deal of noise but little result. In this one-sided battle the Company lost only eight killed and nine wounded, while the Nupe casualties amounted to several hundred. The victors seized ten muzzle-loading cannon, 350 rifles and muskets, 550 barrels of gunpowder, and 25,000 cartridges of all kinds from the emir's arsenal. Two weeks later, the Company force, minus some detachments, achieved an even easier victory at Ilorin, defended by about 1,000 cavalry and 5,000 foot. The Ilorin cavalry attempted to make a surprise attack on the British column before it could form square, but the cavalry waited too long to charge and although they almost succeeded in penetrating the formation, they had missed their opportunity. The battle of Ilorin was a repetition of Nupe. The Maxims and artillery did "tremendous execution", the Ilorin gunmen and cannon were ineffective, the horsemen were unable to break the square, and large quantities of munitions and modem rifles were left unused in the emir's arsenal. The explanation for the latter is that the cannon were probably very old and had served only ceremonial functions, and there were not enough men trained (and trusted?) in the use and tactical employment of the rifles. The fall of Nupe and Ilorin was the prelude to a series of Company expeditions against the other emirates between 1901 and 1903. In some cases the emirs submitted peacefully; in others armed resistance was slight. But at Adamawa in 1901, and at Kano and Sokoto in 1903, the natives put up considerable resistance. While Nupe and Ilorin were unprepared for invasion, these last emirates organized a better defense by increasing and training their contingents of gunmen. In 1901, the Company marched against Adamawa. Colonel Morland's askaris had 365 rifles, four Maxims, and four 75mm pieces. There were 400 native carriers for the supplies and 200 carriers for the guns. The defender's ex- French 91b. field guns inflicted considerable casualties on the British column. After Emir Zubeiru's cavalry charges were shot to pieces, he regrouped his forces near the palace for a final stand. Reinforced by the fire of sixty riflemen from Rabeh's old army, Zubeiru repulsed Morland's first assault with a thirty yard range volley of grapeshot from the two field guns. Although temporarily stunned and disorganized, Morland's troops re-formed and overwhelmed the defenders before the cannon could be reloaded. Zubeiru fled after losing 150 men, while the Company suffered 4 1. The victors captured the two 9lb., 105 fused shells, cartridges and a ton of gunpowder. After the conquest of Adamawa, 60 French rifles, the only major military resistance to the British occupation of the Caliphate occurred at Kano and Sokoto. obtain more rifles. The emir's had made desperate attempts to Emir Aliyu of Kano was reportedly in contact with the Sanusi, who were sending rifles from Tripoli. He sent slaves to enlist in the British Royal West African Frontier Force, become skilled in the use of modern rifles, and then desert and return to Kano as drill instructors. Allegedly, Aliyu offered rewards to deserters from the WAFF or French forces. However, these reports proved to be exaggerated in 1903. The strength of the WAFF for this last campaign was 550 infantry, 101 mounted infantry, 71 artillerymen, 4 75mm guns. and 4 Maxims. There were 1,000 carriers with the column. Emir Aliyu fielded about 800 cavalry and 5,000 foot. Sokoto had 30,000 troops. The rearmament and reorganization of the armies had not advanced far by 1903. The course and result of the battles was the same as before. The marksmanship of the hundreds of gunmen was ineffective, as were the gallant charges against the square's firepower. As one native put it, the Fulani's weapon was the sword; The White Man fights with the earthquake and the lightning. Another reason for the British success is in their organizational superiority. Although self-discipline and even a rudimentary sense of unit discipline were not unknown in Sudanic warfare, the incredible combat discipline (drill, training and precision movements) of the British askaris had no counter part among the emirs' armies. Armies of the Sokoto Caliphate The Yucatan Indian Uprising 1847-1855 Introduction and Army Organization Cavalry Infantry and Artillery Officers and Fortifications The Warfare State The British Invasions 1897-1903 Wargaming Back to Table of Contents -- Savage and Soldier Vol. XXIII No. 3 Back to Savage and Soldier List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1992 by Milton Soong. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com