The French
Voulet-Chanoine Mission, led by the captains
Paul Voulet
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
*Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...
and
Julien Chanoine
Julien may refer to:
People
* Julien (given name)
* Julien (surname)
Music
* ''Julien'' (opera), a 1913 poème lyrique by Gustave Charpentier
* ''Julien'' (album), by Dalida, 1973
* "Julien" (song), by Carly Rae Jepsen, 2019
Places Un ...
, had been dispatched in 1898 to
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
by the French government with the mission to conquer the territories between the
Niger River
The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through ...
and
Lake Chad
Lake Chad (french: Lac Tchad) is a historically large, shallow, endorheic lake in Central Africa, which has varied in size over the centuries. According to the ''Global Resource Information Database'' of the United Nations Environment Programme, ...
and join in uniting French territories in
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...
. After leaving
French Sudan
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...
in January 1899, they ruthlessly subjugated the native peoples, meeting little resistance.
One of the few to resist was the sorcerer queen
Sarraounia
Sarraounia Mangou was a chief/priestess of the animist Azna subgroup of the Hausa people , Hausa, who fought French colonial troops of the Voulet–Chanoine Mission at the Battle of Lougou (in present-day Niger) in 1899. She is the subject of th ...
, ruler of the ''Azna'', a
pagan
Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...
people in a long
Islamized
Islamization, Islamicization, or Islamification ( ar, أسلمة, translit=aslamāh), refers to the process through which a society shifts towards the religion of Islam and becomes largely Muslim. Societal Islamization has historically occurre ...
region. Determined to bar the expedition's road, Sarraounia wrote to Voulet a provocative letter full of insults; the French took up the challenge, and on 15 April left the camp, marching towards the villages of Lougou and Tougana, where Sarraounia had concentrated her forces.
The day after, at 6:00, started what Lt.
Paul Joalland
Paul-Jules Joalland (8 November 1870 – 27 September 1940) was a French officer, known mainly for completing the Voulet-Chanoine Mission.
He was one of the six officers of the latter expedition, and was an artillery expert with the rank of l ...
called "one of the hottest moments of the campaign". The French found the enemy assembled on the field, while women and children had already retired themselves in a small thick and almost impenetrable bush where the Azna defended themselves when facing a superior enemy. After the Azna had started to disperse under the French gunfire, their lines broke when hit by three
grapeshot
Grapeshot is a type of artillery round invented by a British Officer during the Napoleonic Wars. It was used mainly as an anti infantry round, but had other uses in naval combat.
In artillery, a grapeshot is a type of ammunition that consists of ...
balls; the Azna then retreated in the bush, where the thick foliage partly protected the natives from the gunfire.
The French felt that if left there, the Azna may attack them at night; so it was decided to assault the bush, but being careful to leave a way of escape for the Azna open, so to avoid a too deadly confrontation that could cost too much blood. The French met a strong resistance, killing two riflemen and wounding four, but were at the end successful and forced the Azna to escape.
The battle had protracted itself till 13:00, and among the French
tirailleur
A tirailleur (), in the Napoleonic era, was a type of light infantry trained to skirmish ahead of the main columns. Later, the term "''tirailleur''" was used by the French Army as a designation for indigenous infantry recruited in the French c ...
s four were killed and six wounded, with 7,000
cartridges consumed.
References
*
{{coord missing, Niger
History of Niger
Lougou
Lougou is a town and arrondissement in the Alibori Department of northeastern Benin. It is an administrative division under the jurisdiction of the commune of Ségbana. According to the population census conducted by the Institut National de la St ...
1899 in France
1899 in Africa
Conflicts in 1899