Battle of Togbao

Battle of Togbao

Infobox Military Conflict


caption= Rabeh's battle flags, captured by the French after the Battle of Kousséri.
conflict=Battle of Togbao
partof=the Rabih War (1899-1901)
date=July 17 1899
place=Togbao, near Sarh
result=Rabih's forces victory
combatant1=Rabih's empire
combatant2=flagicon|FranceFrance
Kingdom of Baguirmi
commander1=Rabih az-Zubayr
commander2=Lt. Henri Bretonnet
strength1=2,700 men with firearms
10,000 auxiliaires
strength2=51 French soldiers
400 Baguirmians
casualties1=More than 1,000 dead or wounded
casualties2=48 French soldiers
Many Baguirmians

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. With the missions were the envoys of the Muslim rulers Mohammed al-Senoussi and Abd ar Rahman Gwaranga, sultan of Baguirmi, that the captain Émile Gentil had brought to France a few months earlier. [cite book|author=Gentil, Émile|title=La chute de l'empire de Rabah|publisher=Hachette|year=1971|pages=p. 567|]

Shortly after Bretonnet's departure, news arrived that Rabih was attacking Baguirmi to punish it for its alliance with France; as a result, Bretonnet was ordered to reach the high course of the Ubangi River, and their unite with the Baguirmians and wait for instructions and reinforcements. [Ibid., p. 568]

Passing first by the Congo River and then by the lands controlled by Mohammed al-Senoussi, Bretonnet reached on June 15 [cite book|author=G.J. Decorse & M. Gaudefroy-Demombynes |title=Rabah et les Arabes du Chari|year=1905|pages= p. 14|] the French post of Kouno and met with the king of Baguirmi Gaourang. He wrote on July 8 1899 a letter to Emile Gentil, that headed another expedition proceeding shortly behind, in which he wrote that he did not trust the rumours that Rabih in person was marching on Kouno, but all the same asked Gentil to send him Captain Julien with his 130-strong company. [É. Gentil, p. 570]

Even when Bretonnet was forced to admit that Rabih was pointing to Kouno, he grossly underestimated the strength of Rabih, claiming in one of his last letters that he only had out-of-date muskets. Instead Rabih had, in Gentil's opinion, a thousand repeating rifles, 500 muzzle loading rifles and at least 1500 other firearms. [Ibid., pp. 571-72]

When Rabih arrived at Kouno on July 16, he could count on 2,700 rifles and 10,000 auxiliaires armed with lances and arcs. Against them the Bretonnet mission was no match: it included five Frenchmen (the officers Bretonnet, Braun, Durand-Autier, Martin), 44 Senegalese tirailleurs, two Arabs, 20 armed Bakongos, 3 cannons and 400 Baguirmians led by Abd ar Rahman Gwaranga.

Bretonnet choosed to evacute Kouno and position himself at the nearby hills of Togbao, using the slopes to strengthen his defensive position. The day after, July 17, Rabih attacked at 8:00; the first attack was repulsed, but Solomon Braun killed and Bretonnet wounded so badly to be forced to cede the command to the lieutenant Durand-Autier. While also the second attack was repulsed, it subjected to heavy pressure the Baguirmians, who taken from panic started fleeing; at this point arrived the third and last assault, in which Bretonnet's column was utterly annihilated. Gaourang saved himself fleeing, but not before being wounded, with other Baguirmians. [Ibid., p. 573]

Of Bretonnet's mission only three Senegalese survived, that were made prisoners and brought to Rabih, who questioned them. Bretonnet's three cannons were captured, and they were retaken by the French a year later, during the battle of Kousséri. One of the prisoners, the sergeant Samba Sall, escaped a few days later and reached the village of Gaoura, where he met on August 16 the Gentil Mission, and informed it of the disaster. [Ibid., p. 574]

The victory was to prove hollow for Rabih as it only strengthened the French determination to remove Rabih. Three distinct expeditions pointed to southern Chad, and met at Kousséri in 1900 and immediately confronted Rabih. This was the battle of Kousséri in which Rabih was killed and French possession of Chad guaranteed. [cite book|author=Farwell, Byron|title=The Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-century Land Warfare|publisher=W. W. Norton & Co.|year=2001|pages=pp. 466-67|id=ISBN 0-393-04770-9|]

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Battle of Kouno — Infobox Military Conflict caption= conflict=Battle of Kouno partof=the Rabih War (1899 1901) date=October 28 1899 place=Kouno, near Sarh result=Inconclusive combatant1=Rabih s empire combatant2=flagicon|FranceFrance commander1=Rabih az Zubayr… …   Wikipedia

  • Battle of Kousséri — The battle of Kousséri originated in French plans to occupy the Chari Baguirmi region. In 1899 ndash;1900, the French organized three armed columns, one proceeding north from Congo, one east from Niger and another south from Algeria. The… …   Wikipedia

  • Émile Gentil — (4 April 1866 30 March 1914) 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 …   Wikipedia

  • Henri Bretonnet — Henri Etienne Bretonnet (1864–1899) 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… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Chad-related topics — Chad articles=Chad related people*Ibrahim Abatcha *Abdullah I (Kanem Bornu king) *Abdelwahit About *Ahmad (Kanem Bornu king) *Ahmat Acyl *Mahamat Ali Adoum *Aissa Kili N guirmamaramama *Ali Gazi *Ali II of Bornu *Ahmad Allam Mi *Michel Arnaud… …   Wikipedia

  • 1899 — This article is about the year 1899. Millennium: 2nd millennium Centuries: 18th century – 19th century – 20th century Decades: 1860s  1870s  1880s  – 1890s –  1900s  191 …   Wikipedia

  • Voulet–Chanoine Mission — Voulet s and Chanoine s graves near the village of Maijirgui, Niger. Photo taken 1906 …   Wikipedia

  • Voulet-Chanoine Mission — The Voulet Chanoine Mission or Central African Mission (] which were anyway very vague he was only asked to explore the territory between the Niger and lake Chad, and put the area under French protection . The Minister of Colonies merely said, I… …   Wikipedia

  • Amédée-François Lamy — was born at Mougins, in the French département of Alpes Maritimes on February 7 1858 and died in the battle of Kousséri on April 22 1900.Lamy s ambition to become an officer developed very early; at ten years old, he entered the Prytanée National …   Wikipedia

  • 1899 in France — See also: 1898 in France, other events of 1899, 1900 in France. Events from the year 1899 in France.Events*16 April Battle of Lougou, French victory in Niger. *17 July The French Bretonnet Braun mission is destroyed in the Battle of Togbao, in… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”