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Late nineteenth-century military technology in Upper Volta1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2009

Myron J. Echenberg
Myron J. Echenberg
Affiliation:
McGill University
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Extract

Military organization and technology have been important factors in the history of Upper Volta. The innovation of the horse in the fifteenth century as an instrument of war played an important part in the establishment of the Mossi states, formed as they were by conquering cavalry from Mamprusi. In the late nineteenth century, the new innovation of firearms threatened to contribute to equally significant political change in the region.

Type
Papers on Firearms in Sub-Saharan Africa, I
Information
The Journal of African History , Volume 12 , Issue 2 , April 1971 , pp. 241 - 254
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1971

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References

2 Important contributions to the problem of Mossi origins have been made by: Fage, J. D., ‘Reflections on the Early History of the Mossi-Dagomba Group of States’ (ed. Vansina, , Mauny, and Thomas, ) The Historian in Tropical Africa (London, 1964), 177–91;Google ScholarMichel, Izard, (‘Introduction à l'histoire des royaumes Mossi’), Recherches Voltàiques (Ouagadougou, 1970);Google ScholarNehemia, Levtzion, Muslims and Chiefs in West Africa (Oxford, 1968), 197–201. Other accounts dealing with Mossi traditions of origin can be found in:Google ScholarDim Delobsom, A. A., L'Empire du Mogho-Naba (Paris, 1933);Google Scholar and Elliot, P. Skinner, The Mossi of the Upper Volta: the political developments of a Sudanese people (Stanford, 1964).Google Scholar

3 Yarnba, Tiendrebeogo (Larhalle, Naba), Histoire et coutumes royales des Mossi de Ouagadougou (Ouagadougou, 1964), 114.Google Scholar

4 Chéron, G., ‘L'art militaire au Mossi’. Bulletin du Comité d' études historiques et scientifiques de l'Afrique occidentale française, VIII, 3 (1925), 509.Google Scholar

5 For fuller treatment of these military figures see: Izard-Hénter, F. and Izard, Michel, Les Mossi du Yatenga: étude de Ia vie économique et sociale (Bordeaux, 1959), 48;Google Scholar and Skinner, E. P., The Mossi, 103.Google Scholar

6 Chéron, G., ‘L'art militaire’, 509–10.Google Scholar

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8 Marc, A., Le pays Mossi (Paris, 1909), 167.Google Scholar

9 Marc, A., Le pays Mossi, 166–7.Google Scholar

10 Interview with Samba Ouedraogo, Lago, , Upper Volta, 20 07 1967.Google Scholar

11 References to aspects of Samo culture and history can be found in the following works: Jean, Capron, ‘Anthropologic économique des populations bwa: Mali-Haute- Volta’ (unpublished thÈse de troisiéme cycle, Paris, 1966);Google ScholarJack, Goody, ‘The Mande and the Akan hinterland’, (ed. Vansina, , Mauny, and Thomas, ) The Historian in Tropical Africa, 193–218;Google ScholarFrançoise, Izard, ‘Colloque sur lea Cultures Voltaiques’, Recherches Voltaiques, 8 (1967);Google ScholarYves, Person, ‘Les Kissi et leurs statuettes de piérre dana le cadre de l'histoire ouest-africaine’, Bulletin de l'IFAN, xxiii (1961), 11–59; Maurice Thi`ba, ‘Mémoire sur la lutte en pays Samogo’ (unpublished essay, Ecole Nationale d'Administration, Ouagado gou, 1961);Google ScholarWelmers, W. E., ‘The Mande Languages’, Georgetown University Monograph Series on Languages and Linguistics, II (Washington, 1958), 21.Google Scholar

12 Samo villages were very large, numbering up to three thousand people with an average of roughly half that. It was not unusual for as many as five or six hundred men to take to the battlefield on each side, since two or three villages could join in temporary alliance. Interview with Patimé Zanté, at Gassan, Upper Volta, 14 Mar. 1967.

13 Interview with Jean-Marc Paré, at Tougan, Upper Volta, 6 May 1967.

14 Data on Samo tactics and techniques for war were obtained from the following interviews: Alfred, Kizerbo, Toma, , 13 03 1967; Jean-Marc Paré, 17 03 1967; and Toro Sourou, Kouy, 27 03 1967.Google Scholar

15 Interview with Alfred, Kizerbo, Toma, , 13 03 1967.Google Scholar

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20 Lengthy accounts of the battle of Boussé can be found in: Mangin, G., Lettres du Soudan (Paris, 1936), 235–41;Google Scholar and in Capitaine Bonaccorsi, ‘Rapport sur la colonne de Boussé’, 27 July 1894, Archives d'Outre-Mer, Paris (hereafter abbreviated as AOM). Soudan, v, 3. I was able to interview a son of Al-Kari, Tahirou Demé, who was an eyewitness to the battle. Interview with Tahirou, Demé, at Boussé, Upper Volta, 30 03 1967.Google Scholar

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22 Interview with Adama, Diara, at Wzrou, Upper Volta, 31 03 1967 and 05 1967. Adaina Diara was a member of the Marka division which served consecutively in the armies of Al-Karl, of the Zaberma, and of Sarankeni Mory. When the French caught up with Samory and his son in 1898, Diara fled to the region of Kankan with remnants of the Samorian army. Several years later, after the French were well in control of the region of Upper Volta, he returned to his home town of Warou and became muezzin of the local mosque. Well into his nineties now, he still preserves a lucid memory of the events of the conquest period. Through reports from their spies, the French were aware that remnants of the Boussé army had joined with Sarankeni Mory. See Chanoine report, 7 November 1896, Archives du Gouvermement Général de l'Afrique occidental française (hereafter abbreviated AAOF), Dakar, 1G/221.Google Scholar

23 J. J. Holden, ‘The Zabarima Conquest’.

24 Interview with Adama Diara, at Warou, , Upper, Volta, 5 05 1967.Google Scholar

25 Interview with Anati Kayeli, Pô, Upper, Volta, 4 04 1967.Google Scholar

26 Interview with Wadego Dagano, at Longa, , Upper Volta, 20 04 1967.Google Scholar

27 Interviews with the following: Adama, Diara, Warou, , 5 05 1967; and Adama, Sanogo, Tougan, , 7 05 1967.Google Scholar

28 Interview with Adama, Diara, Warou, , 5 05 1967.Google Scholar

29 Interview with Adama, Diara, Warou, , 5 05 1967.Google Scholar

30 Interview with Adama, Diara, Warou, , 5 05 1967;Google ScholarBonaccorsi, , ‘Rapport’, AOM, Paris, Soudan, V, 3.Google Scholar

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32 Interview with Jean-Marc, Paré, Tougan, , 17 03 1967.Google Scholar

33 DrCrozat, , ‘Mission’, AAOF, Dakar, IG/145, reported on poisons in Bambara countryGoogle ScholarBinger, L-G., Du Niger au golfe de Guinée par le pays de Kong et le Mossi, 1887–1889 (Paris, 1892), 1, 176, noted that the Mossi used the same strophantus base for their poison.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

34 Kerharo, J. and Bouquet, A., ‘La chasse en Côte d'Ivoire et en Haute-Volta: rites, piantes, fétiches et poisons de fiéches’, Acta Tropica, VI, 3 (1949), 206.Google Scholar

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36 Dr Crozat, ‘Mission’, AAOF, Dakar, 1G/145.

37 Encyclopaedia Britannica, ‘Strophantus’.

38 DrHenric, , ‘Rapport médical sur lea colonnes du Dakol et la mission du Mossi du 25 février 1896 au 16 avril 1897’, Archives de Médicine navale et coloniale, LXIX (1898), 334.Google Scholar

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41 DrHenric, , ‘Rapport… du Mossi’, 334.Google Scholar

42 DrHenric, , ‘Rapport… du Mossi’, 333.Google Scholar

43 Pinchon report, 1904, AAOF, Dakar, 1G/316.

44 Pinchon report, 1904, AAOF, Dakar, 1G/316.

45 No adequate general terminology exists to describe the wide variety of firearms which were part of the nineteenth century European arsenal and to which African armies had access. The problem is complicated further by the rapidity with which the most advanced weapon of one decade became obsolete the next. The major distinction usually made is between muzzle-loaders and the more advanced breech-loaders, which came into general use around the time of the American Civil War. Technological improvements proceeded very rapidly thereafter, leading first to the development of rapid firing arms which could be reloaded by placing several additional bullets in the breech, next to arms which could be reloaded by magazines of several shots, and then to the machine gun such as the Gatling and Maxim, which could produce an even faster rate of fire. The first breech-loaders marked a technological watershed. They were the first of what can be called ‘modern firearms’. In this paper, the te m ‘musket’ is taken to be synonymous with muzzle-loader, the older and slower firing category of European firearms. ‘Rapid-firing arm’ is taken to mean any weapon from the first breech-loader forward. Most of the firearms in the region of Upper Volta were muzzle-loaders. For a detailed account of French weapons, see Hicks, J. E. and Jandot, A., French Military Weapons, 1717–1938 (New Milford, Connecticut, 1964).Google Scholar

46 Mauny, R., Tableau géographique, 499.Google Scholar

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48 Ba, A. H. and Daget, J., L' Empire Peal du Macina, I (Paris, 1962), 161–72.Google Scholar

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50 Interviews with the following: Rasmani Ouedraogo, at Gourcy, , Upper, Volta, 20 07 1967; Samba Ouedraogo, Lago, Upper Volta, 20 07 1967; Isa, Traoré, Oula, , Upper, Volta, 21 07 1967.Google Scholar See also DrHenric, , ‘Rapport…du Mossi’, 336; Pinchon report, 1904, AAOF, Dakar, 1G/316.Google Scholar

51 Chanome, to Scal, , 16 03 1897, AAOF, Dakar, 15G/191, reporting on the battle against Babato near Gandiaga, Gold Coast, of 15 Mar. 1897.Google Scholar

52 Brunet, to de, Trentinian, 29 09 1894, AAOF, Dakar, 5F/3 L-G. Binger, Du Niger, 1, 102.Google Scholar

53 Brunet, to de, Trentinian, 29 09 1894, AAOF, Dakar,Google Scholar 5F/3 Meniaud, J., Les pionniers du Soudan avant, avec et aprÈs Archinard, 1871–1894, 1 (Paris, 1931), 62.Google Scholar

54 DrHenric, , ‘Rapport…du Mossi’, 328;Google ScholarMeniaud, J., Les pionniers, 1, 62–3.Google Scholar

55 Meniaud, J., Les pionniers, 1, 62–3.Google Scholar For more on the role of firearms in the Western Sudan, and especially in the army of Samory, see Martin, Legassick, ‘Firearms, horses and Samorian army organization, 1870–1898’, Journal of African History, VII, 1 (1966), 95–115.Google Scholar

56 Interviews with the following: Lara, at Tougan, , 15 03 1967, and Ganayou, at Tougan, 17 03 1967, for the Marka region; with Pantyé Naman, at Léo, 19 04 1967, for the Gurunsi region.Google Scholar

57 Meniaud, J., Les pionniers, 1, 62–3.Google Scholar

58 Interview with Lara, at Tougan, , 15 03 1967.Google Scholar

59 Interview with Adama Sanogo, Tougan, , 7 05 1967.Google Scholar

60 Binger, L-G., Du Niger, 1, 316–19.Google Scholar

61 Voulet, to de, Trentinian, 5 11 1896, AAOF, Dakar, 1G/221.Google Scholar

62 Interview with Adama Sanogo, at Tougan, , 7 05 1967.Google Scholar

63 Drs, Le Dantec, Boyé, and Béréni, , ‘Etudes des flÈches empoisonnées du HautDahomey’, Archives du Médicine Navale et Coloniale, LXVIII (1897), 401–17.Google Scholar

64 DrManin, , ‘Rapport médica1 sur Ia colonne dirigée contre Bossi (Soudan français)’, Archives du Médicine Navale et Coloniale, LXV (1896), 64–5.Google Scholar

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67 DrManin, , ‘Rapport…de Bossi’, 58.Google Scholar

68 DrManin, , ‘Rapport…de Bossi’, 64–5.Google Scholar

69 DrManin, , ‘Rapport…du Mossi’, 323.Google Scholar

70 Though it is by no means conclusive evidence, it should be noted that the Zaberma army actually did penetrate on at least one occasion into regions claimed by the Mossi kingdom of Ouagadougou. In the early 1890s, Moro Naba Wobogo is said to have hired Zaberma mercenaries to punish a disobedient vassal, the Lalle Naba, whose area of influence lay in the mixed Mossi and Gurunsi region around the modern town of Koudougou. The Zaberma were forced by the exigencies of the rainy season to turn back before they reached the Lalle Naba's capital, but they are alleged to have left a trail of destruction in their wake. Yamba, Tiendrebeogo (Larhalle, Naba), Histoire et coutumes, 68–71; J. J. Holden, ‘The Zabarima Conquest’.Google Scholar