What Was The Role Played In The Dahomey Women's Lives?

Music played a large role in the Dahomey women’s lives. They had several instruments at their disposal from drums, bells, horns, tambourines, and flutes. The flutes were rare and not used often because the majority of the Dahomian music was bass centric. They were played during competitions, celebrations, during marches, and when the king would have mock battles. The music the Amazons made were remarked by several foreign visitors various versions of terrible. They woman appeared to them to be more concerned with volume rather than setting a specific melody. However the drums were used to keep pace during marches to attacks. This would mean the women were able to keep a steady likeable beat but instead played music that appealed to their own
The French wanted Cotonou and felt they had a claim to the port city from previous treaties with King Glele. This was already a point of contention with the two parties because the treaty made ceding parts of Cotonou to the French was made by an advisor and the King denied ever granting it. The French decided to act on their claim while Glele was dying and therefore had to deal with his son and successor Behanzin. This enraged the son and escalated the already negative situation. The French already in Cotonou started to raise an army and on February twenty first arrested the town’s officials and fought the local militia. The war launched that day went on for two months with the two most well-known engagements featuring the Amazons. The March fourth attack, better known as The Battle of Cotonou, lasted around four hours with the Warriors of Dahomey facing not only superior weapons but also for the first time bayonets. The lack of knowledge caught many off guard and led to many casualties. The Dahomeans ended their attack and retreated
It’s cause showcases that both sides were looking for a new start to the old conflict. The warriors raided villages in Oueme, a city owned by Porto-Norvo, and shot at a French resident of the lands claiming they were Dahomean territory. The French disagreed and declared war on the Dahomeans to which Behanzin, the king, responded that he had been ignorant of how to make war the first time around but understood now and would fight the French for as long as it takes to win. The French’s superior gun power stepped up even higher in the second war now using Lebel Rifles. The Rifles left a small entry hole but the exit holes were large and funnel shape. The bullets often left bones splintered and flesh blasted into pulp. On top of the new weapons the French shored up their defenses with reinforcements. The Marine Colonel Alfred odds expanded the men to include Legionnaires, naval infantry, engineers, and Calvary. While the Dahomey warriors did their best to work around the new weapons using foxholes and trenches to fire out but not receive return fire their losses were great. The French continued with slow progress to Dahomey taking far less casualties because of their lack of hand to hand combat with the warriors. The stories recounted by soldiers after the battles tell of the women being fast strong and always inflicting damage before being taken down by a gun or another French solider.