Editing Dahomey (section)

==Military==
The military of the Kingdom of Dahomey was divided into two units: the right and the left.  The right was controlled by the ''migan'' and the left was controlled by the ''mehu''.  At least by the time of [[Agaja]], the kingdom had developed a [[standing army]] that remained encamped wherever the king was. Soldiers in the army were recruited as young as seven or eight years old, initially serving as shield carriers for regular soldiers. After years of [[apprenticeship]] and military experience, they were allowed to join the army as regular soldiers. To further incentivize the soldiers, each soldier received bonuses paid in cowry shells for each enemy they killed or captured in battle. This combination of lifelong military experience and monetary incentives resulted in a cohesive, well-disciplined military.<ref name=Harms/> One European said Agaja's standing army consisted of "elite troops, brave and well-disciplined, led by a prince full of valor and prudence, supported by a staff of experienced officers".<ref>{{Cite book|title = Voyage du chevalier Des Marchais|last = Labat|pages = I:XII}}</ref> The army consisted of 15,000 personnel which was divided into right, left, center and reserve; and in each of these was further divided into [[Company (military unit)|companies]] and [[platoons]].<ref name="RA_Kea. Firearms"/>
[[File:Soldiers in Dahomey.JPG|thumb|200px|Dahomey warriors in 1893]]
In addition to being well trained, the Dahomey army under Agaja was also very well armed. The Dahomey army favored imported European weapons as opposed to traditional weapons. For example, they used European [[flintlock]] [[musket]]s in long-range combat and imported steel swords and cutlasses in close combat. The Dahomey army also possessed twenty-five cannons. By the late 19th century, Dahomey had a large arsenal of weapons. These included the [[Chassepot]] [[Dreyse needle gun|Dreyse]], [[Mauser Model 1871|Mauser]], [[Snider Enfield]], [[Wänzl rifle|Wanzel]], [[Werndl–Holub rifle|Werndl]], [[Peabody action]], [[Winchester rifle|Winchester]], [[Spencer repeating rifle|Spencer]], [[Albini-Braendlin rifle|Albini]], Robert Jones [[carbine]], French musketoon 1882 and the [[Mitrailleuse|Mitrailleuse Reffye 1867]]. Along with firearms, Dahomey employed [[Mortar (weapon)|mortars]].<ref name="RA_Kea. Firearms">{{cite journal | last=Kea | first=R. A. | title=Firearms and Warfare on the Gold and Slave Coasts from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries | journal=The Journal of African History | volume=12 | issue=2 | pages=185–213 | year=1971| issn=0021-8537 | jstor=180879 | doi=10.1017/S002185370001063X | s2cid=163027192 }}</ref>

When going into battle, the king would take a secondary position to the field commander with the reason given that if any spirit were to punish the commander for decisions it should not be the king.<ref name="Herskovits (Vol. I)" /> Dahomey units were drilled constantly. They fired on command, employed [[Musket#Countermarch|countermarch]], and formed extended lines from deep columns. Tactics such as [[Suppressive fire|covering fire]], [[Frontal assault|frontal attacks]] and [[Flanking maneuver|flanking movements]] were used in the warfare of Dahomey.<ref name="RA_Kea. Firearms"/> The Dahomey Amazons, a unit of all-female soldiers, is one of the most unusual aspects of the military of the kingdom. Unlike other regional powers, the military of Dahomey did not have a significant cavalry (like the Oyo empire) or naval power (which prevented expansion along the coast).<ref>{{harvp|Thornton |1999|p=96}}</ref> From the 18th century, the state could obtain naval support from [[Kingdom of Ardra|Ardra]] where they had created a subordinate dynasty after conquering the state in the early 18th century.<ref>{{harvp|Thornton |1999|p=78}}</ref> Dahomey enlisted the services of Ardra's navy against the [[Epe, Lagos State|Epe]] in 1778 and [[Badagry]] in 1783.<ref>{{harvp|Thornton |1999|p=95–96}}</ref>

===Amazons===
{{main |Dahomey Amazons}}
[[File:Dahomey amazon2.jpg|thumb|Dahomey female soldiers]]
The Dahomean state became widely known for its corps of female soldiers. Their origins are debated; they may have formed from a palace guard or from {{transliteration|fon|[[gbeto]]s}} (female hunting teams).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/dahomeys-women-warriors-88286072/?no-ist= |title=Dahomey's Women Warriors |last=Dash |first=Mike |work=Smithsonian Magazine |date=September 23, 2011 |access-date=February 4, 2018}}</ref>

They were organized around 1729 to fill out the army and make it look larger in battle, armed only with banners. The women reportedly behaved so courageously they became a permanent corps. In the beginning, the soldiers were criminals pressed into service rather than death. Eventually, the corps was respected enough that King [[Ghezo]] ordered every family to send him their daughters, with the fittest being chosen as soldiers.{{CN|date=January 2023}}{{dubious|date=May 2015}} European accounts clarified that seven distinct movements were required to load a [[Dane gun]] which took an Amazon 30 seconds in comparison to the 50 seconds it took a Dahomean male soldier to load.<ref name="RA_Kea. Firearms"/>

=== Siege and engineering ===
In order to repress the navies of its neighbors, Dahomey built [[causeway]]s starting from 1774.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Coetzee|first1=DanielJ.M.|last2=Eysturlid|first2= Lee W.|title= Philosophers of War: The Evolution of History's Greatest Military Thinkers [2 Volumes]: The Evolution of History's Greatest Military Thinkers|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=DW2jAQAAQBAJ&dq=benin+armor&pg=PA353|year=2013|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|pages=353|isbn=9780313070334}}</ref> During a campaign against [[Kingdom of Whydah|Whydah]] that year, Dahomey was able to force Whydah to fortify itself at an island called Foudou-Cong. Dahomey cut trees which were planted in the water to serve as a causeway and bridge the army's access to the fortified Whydah island. The causeway also obstructed the movement of a 700 canoe force belonging to Whydah. As a result, the Whydah army had to survive on the boats for months sustaining its forces with fish diet. According to [[John Thornton (historian)|Thornton]], Dahomey used this strategy of siege causeways again in 1776 against another opponent state where it built 3 bridges to connect the island housing the opponent forces.<ref>{{harvp|Thornton |1999|p=88}}</ref> 

Coastal belligerents opposing Dahomey allied with European forts against the state. Dahomey was able to capture Dutch and Portuguese forts in the 18th century through the use of ladders and [[sapper]]s. Thornton writes that in 1737, Dahomey used scale ladders against the Dutch fort in [[Keta]] simultaneously as its sappers built a tunnel under the fort's [[bastion]] causing it to collapse when its defenders fired an artillery round within the bastion. A similar tactic was employed against a Portuguese fort with 30 mounted guns at Whydah in 1743 as its bastions collapsed enabling the Dahomey infantry to enter the fort.<ref name="Thornton 1999 85"/> In 1728, Dahomey forces captured and destroyed a French fort at Whydah by blowing up the magazine that held the fort's ammunition and gunpowder.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Black|first=Jeremy|author-link=Jeremy Black (historian)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eUpGAQAAQBAJ&dq=Dahomey+captured+French+fort&pg=PA113|title=Europe and the World, 1650–1830|date=2013|pages=113–114|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=9781136407659}}</ref><ref name="Thornton 1999 85">{{harvp|Thornton |1999|p=85}}</ref> Another tactic for attacking coastal forts was the burning of nearby villages during a [[land breeze]] in order for the wind to carry the flames toward the fort. This tactic was first revealed by a British commander at Whydah in 1728, who countered it by burning the nearby villages during a [[sea breeze]] to prevent the Dahomeyan army from burning the villages during a land breeze.<ref name="Thornton 1999 85"/> 

As a result of the threat posed by Oyo in the 18th century, the state built fortifications of its own with the help of a French officer from whom they learnt [[field fortification]] and artillery. According to a Dutch source in 1772, the king of Dahomey "has made deep [[ditches]] around his entire country as well as walls and batteries mounted with cannons he captured at Fida [Whydah]." Thornton suggests these fortifications were mostly built out of wood.<ref name="Thornton 1999 86"/>  Dahomey used a tactic of [[trench]] construction against Oyo where its forces withdrew into the trenches after confrontation with the Oyo force. Despite this, Dahomey was overwhelmed by an Oyo siege after the arrival of reinforcement.<ref name="Thornton 1999 86">{{harvp|Thornton |1999|p=86}}</ref> In the mid 18th century, Abomey was surrounded by a ditch accessible by bridges whiles in 1772 the royal residence was surrounded with a mud brick wall 20 feet high, "with [[blockhouse]]s on each wall."<ref>{{harvp|Thornton |1999|p=87}}</ref> 

Dahomey also built [[Agongointo-Zoungoudo Underground Town|underground chambers]] in Abomey which served varying functions including that of providing [[military installations]] for the army. These [[souterrains]] have been dated to the late 17th century.<ref>{{cite book|last=Monroe|first= J. Cemeron|title= The Precolonial State in West Africa: Building Power in Dahomey|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=7DeNAwAAQBAJ&q=Dahomey+souterrain|year=2014|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|pages=137–142|isbn=9781107040182}}</ref> Wheeled vehicles are recorded to have been implemented in Dahomeyan warfare. In an operation against Abeokuta in 1864, Dahomey fielded three guns mounted on locally made carriages of which historian Robin Law adds that these weapons did not play an effective role in the battle.<ref name="Law wheel"/> Some references exist about the possible production of guns and gunpowder in Dahomey. In 1880, king [[Béhanzin]] informed a French mission that firearms were manufactured in the state. Amid the war with France in 1892, a French expeditionary force discovered tools and resources such as [[Cartridge (firearms)|cartridge]] cases, signal rockets and electric batteries which are necessary for making cartridges and repairing firearms.<ref name="RA_Kea. Firearms"/>