Battle of Kouno
Encyclopedia
The battle of Kouno was an inconclusive battle that took place between French troops and the Muslim
army led by Rabih az-Zubayr
, in the context of French colonial expansion in Africa, and more precisely in Chad
.
On August 16, 1899 the leader of the Gentil Mission, the Captain Émile Gentil
, was informed of the utter annihilation by the warlord Rabih az-Zubayr
of the Bretonnet
-Braun
Mission at Togbao
on July 17.
Gentil knew that the Forreau-Lamy and Voulet missions were marching on southern Chad
, respectively from Algeria
and Niger
. His primary goal was to unite his forces with those of the Voulet-Chanoine Mission
; but first he felt he had to free himself of Rabih, and so left on October 23 Fort-Archambault
, leaving there only twenty men under the command of the maréchal de logis
Bauguies. Gentil started navigating upriver avigating the Chari
, counting on three canons, while the steamboat
Léon-Blot and their barge
had other two. A column formed by Cointet and Lamothe's men, under the command of the Captain Robillot, took instead the ground route marching close to the riverside.
On October 26 Gentil encamped himself near the hills of Togbao, at only 20 km from Rabih's forces, where he inspected the battlefield of the previous fight and united his forces with those of Robillot. On October 28 Gentil boarded most of his forces, and proceeded to Kouno that was first seen, at 9:00, and where Rabih was waiting Gentil; Rabih knew only of the arrival of the steamboat, while he had no knowledge of the three companies passing near the river.
Gentil immediately ordered the steamboat and the barge to open fire with their cannons; and at the same time, to the great surprise of Rabih's forces, the column proceeding by land did the same with its artillery. All the same they answered using their artillery, the three cannons won at Togbao, which they used with considerable ability. Rabih had also placed on the left a group of riflemen, whose rifle-fire also started to put Robillot's Senegal
ese tirailleur
s in difficulty, moving Robillot to order a bayonet assault on Rabih's lines. Being the latter provided only of firearm
s, they escaped disorderly to Kouno.
The assault brought the French to the outskirts of Kouno, to which they set fire. They continued advancing, till they found themselves just before the fortifications of Kouno; here Rabih had assembled all his forces, that started a massive rifle-fire, supported by an artillery piece.
After three hours of battle had passed and it was 12:00, some of Rabih's men started yielding and escaping; and this ampliated when one of Rabih's chief lieutenants, Othman Cheiko, governor of Kousséri
, was killed. Gentil ordered now to attack the palissade with a bayonet assault, that was repelled after hard fighting by Rabih in person with only a few hundred men still resisting around him.
The rifle-fire continued, but at 16:30 Gentil was forced to admit that he would never take the enemy fort that day. Gentil had suffered heavy casualties: 46 soldiers were dead, while 106 were wounded, almost half of his 344 men. Among the dead stood the maréchal de logis de Possel, while seriously wounded were the captain Robillot and the lieutenant Kieffer. Also Rabih had suffered important losses, and some of his bannermen had been killed, like Boubakar, Rabih's chief lieutenant.
After having passed the night near the fort, the following morning Gentil, after having verified that, apart from the human losses, the ammunition
and the provisions were nearly ended, ordered the retreat to Fort-Archambault, where the French returned without problems.
The battle had proved inconclusive; Kouno had not been taken, and Rabih still remained the key obstacle to the French conquest of Chad. Both sides had suffered heavy losses, and for Gentil there was now little other choice than await the arrival of the Voulet-Chanoine
and Fourreau-Lamy missions.
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
army led by Rabih az-Zubayr
Rabih az-Zubayr
Rabih az-Zubayr ibn Fadl Allah or Rabih Fadlallah , usually known as Rabah in French, was a Sudanese warlord and slave trader who established a powerful empire west of Lake Chad, in today's Chad....
, in the context of French colonial expansion in Africa, and more precisely in Chad
Chad
Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...
.
On August 16, 1899 the leader of the Gentil Mission, the Captain Émile Gentil
Émile Gentil
Émile Gentil was a French colonial administrator, naval officer, and colonial military leader.Born at Volmunster in the department of Moselle, he later attended the École Navale, the school that formed French naval officers. As an ensign, he was assigned to conduct hydrographic soundings along the...
, was informed of the utter annihilation by the warlord Rabih az-Zubayr
Rabih az-Zubayr
Rabih az-Zubayr ibn Fadl Allah or Rabih Fadlallah , usually known as Rabah in French, was a Sudanese warlord and slave trader who established a powerful empire west of Lake Chad, in today's Chad....
of the Bretonnet
Henri Bretonnet
Henri-Etienne Bretonnet was a French naval officer, killed with most of his men in the battle of Togbao.Bretonnet entered in the navy by attending the École Navale, the Navy Academy in charge of the education of the officers of the French Navy...
-Braun
Solomon Braun
Solomon Braun was a French lieutenant of artillery, born at Paris in 1868 and died in Togbao, Chad, in 1899. His father, a poor pedler, observing Solomon's capacity for learning, made the greatest sacrifices to give him a good education. Solomon successfully passed the competitive examination for...
Mission at Togbao
Battle of Togbao
On October 10, 1898 a French military expedition commanded by the Lieutenant de vaisseau Henri Bretonnet and the Lt. Solomon Braun left France directed to Chad, at the time dominated by the Muslim warlord Rabih az-Zubayr...
on July 17.
Gentil knew that the Forreau-Lamy and Voulet missions were marching on southern Chad
Chad
Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...
, respectively from Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
and Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
. His primary goal was to unite his forces with those of the Voulet-Chanoine Mission
Voulet-Chanoine Mission
The Voulet–Chanoine Mission or Central African Mission was a French military expedition sent out from Senegal in 1898 to conquer the Chad Basin and unify all French territories in West Africa...
; but first he felt he had to free himself of Rabih, and so left on October 23 Fort-Archambault
Sarh
Sarh is the third largest city in Chad, after N'Djamena and Moundou. It is the capital of Moyen-Chari region and the department of Barh Köh. It lies 350 miles south-east of the capital Ndjamena on the Chari River...
, leaving there only twenty men under the command of the maréchal de logis
Ranks in the French Army
See Ranks in the French Navy for more details about the Navy Ranks.The ranks in the Armée de Terre :Rank insignia in the French army depend on whether the soldier belongs to an "infantry" or "cavalry" unit...
Bauguies. Gentil started navigating upriver avigating the Chari
Chari River
The Chari or Shari River is a 949-kilometer-long river of central Africa. It flows from the Central African Republic through Chad into Lake Chad, following the Cameroon border from N'Djamena, where it joins the Logone River waters....
, counting on three canons, while the steamboat
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
Léon-Blot and their barge
Barge
A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Some barges are not self-propelled and need to be towed by tugboats or pushed by towboats...
had other two. A column formed by Cointet and Lamothe's men, under the command of the Captain Robillot, took instead the ground route marching close to the riverside.
On October 26 Gentil encamped himself near the hills of Togbao, at only 20 km from Rabih's forces, where he inspected the battlefield of the previous fight and united his forces with those of Robillot. On October 28 Gentil boarded most of his forces, and proceeded to Kouno that was first seen, at 9:00, and where Rabih was waiting Gentil; Rabih knew only of the arrival of the steamboat, while he had no knowledge of the three companies passing near the river.
Gentil immediately ordered the steamboat and the barge to open fire with their cannons; and at the same time, to the great surprise of Rabih's forces, the column proceeding by land did the same with its artillery. All the same they answered using their artillery, the three cannons won at Togbao, which they used with considerable ability. Rabih had also placed on the left a group of riflemen, whose rifle-fire also started to put Robillot's Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
ese tirailleur
Tirailleur
Tirailleur literally means a shooting skirmisher in French from tir—shot. The term dates back to the Napoleonic period where it was used to designate light infantry trained to skirmish ahead of the main columns...
s in difficulty, moving Robillot to order a bayonet assault on Rabih's lines. Being the latter provided only of firearm
Firearm
A firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...
s, they escaped disorderly to Kouno.
The assault brought the French to the outskirts of Kouno, to which they set fire. They continued advancing, till they found themselves just before the fortifications of Kouno; here Rabih had assembled all his forces, that started a massive rifle-fire, supported by an artillery piece.
After three hours of battle had passed and it was 12:00, some of Rabih's men started yielding and escaping; and this ampliated when one of Rabih's chief lieutenants, Othman Cheiko, governor of Kousséri
Kousséri
Kousséri is a city in Far North Province, Cameroon, lying on the border with Chad, across the Chari River from N'Djamena. It is the capital of the Logone-et-Chari department. It is a market town, and its population has recently been swollen by refugees from Chad. It had a population of 89,123 at...
, was killed. Gentil ordered now to attack the palissade with a bayonet assault, that was repelled after hard fighting by Rabih in person with only a few hundred men still resisting around him.
The rifle-fire continued, but at 16:30 Gentil was forced to admit that he would never take the enemy fort that day. Gentil had suffered heavy casualties: 46 soldiers were dead, while 106 were wounded, almost half of his 344 men. Among the dead stood the maréchal de logis de Possel, while seriously wounded were the captain Robillot and the lieutenant Kieffer. Also Rabih had suffered important losses, and some of his bannermen had been killed, like Boubakar, Rabih's chief lieutenant.
After having passed the night near the fort, the following morning Gentil, after having verified that, apart from the human losses, the ammunition
Ammunition
Ammunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...
and the provisions were nearly ended, ordered the retreat to Fort-Archambault, where the French returned without problems.
The battle had proved inconclusive; Kouno had not been taken, and Rabih still remained the key obstacle to the French conquest of Chad. Both sides had suffered heavy losses, and for Gentil there was now little other choice than await the arrival of the Voulet-Chanoine
Voulet-Chanoine Mission
The Voulet–Chanoine Mission or Central African Mission was a French military expedition sent out from Senegal in 1898 to conquer the Chad Basin and unify all French territories in West Africa...
and Fourreau-Lamy missions.