The Battle of Kenifra

 The Battle of Khenifra

Morocco, November 13th 1914, by Richard Baber

An earlier version of this article appeared in an issue of the Society of Twentieth Century Wargamers (SOTCW) magazine - The Journal

The French colonial campaigns in Africa during the late 19^th century through the early years of the 20^th Century is a period often ignored by wargamers who prefer the far better documented British campaigns of that period (Zulu wars, Sudan, The Boar war etc). I was looking for something different, Hollywood has produced a number of inspiring (and many not so) films about The French Foreign Legion in North Africa and it was through these that I drifted into this interesting region of military history. The period covers a vast range of technology and you can go from fielding French units including native troops of Franco-Prussian war vintage, through early WW1 types up to the mechanized columns with air support of the late 1920s early `30s.

My main problem is to find reasonable yet challenging scenarios, where the natives have more than a “walk-on” and “Cannon-fodder” role. This leads me to look for actions where the French (or Spanish or British) lost, so to create a scenario with better odds for the native player. This research is often more challenging than usual as when there were defeats, they were often covered up or glossed over to avoid hostile press reports back at home.

As part of their ongoing “pacification” of Morocco, in 1914 the French moved to secure the Zaian Confederation. The Zaian were by this time hemmed in by The Middle Atlas Mountains to the east and the already pacified (read conquered) lands to north, south and west. On the map the conquest seemed simple, three converging columns from north, south and east driving inland to the Zaian capital Khenifra.

Khenifra whilst not a beautiful place had a majestic presence, with its huge stone and mud-brick Kasbah (Ksar in the local language) dominating the blood red dusty plain. In fact the first European visitor called Khenifra “a red city in a red land”. Surrounded by gardens and orchards the city is divided by the Oum er Rbia River, narrow but swift running and fathoms deep which is crossed by an ancient stone bridge.

The Zaians were a nomadic tribe following their flocks of sheep and goats from the mountains (during the hot summer months) to the great plain of Khenifra (for winter grazing). They were a fiercely independent people, as are all nomads.

Their leader Moha ou Hammou Zayani was adept in both political strategy and military force; he came to power within the tribe in 1877 when just a young man of twenty. Quickly   establishing himself over his rivals by force of arms and was considered to one of the most influential men in Morocco at the time. The Sultan Moulai Hassan had recognized his Caidship and had provided him with a standing army of four hundred men and three cannon to maintain the authority of the Maghzen (Moroccan government) in his country.

This was however little appreciated by the French; many young French officers saw colonial service and Morocco in particular the way to quick promotion. It was well known that service in the colonies particularly during a military campaign could lead to promotion and better postings later. Service in Morocco (often called “The Bled” by veterans after the native word for land) was an active often-dangerous posting during the years of French expansion.

The French campaign started on June 10 and in two days with virtually no opposition they succeeded in seizing Khenifra. Unfortunately the campaign was carried out as if it was a problem at Staff College, advance your army   to a point on the map, seize your objective and win the game. The Zaians were a nomadic people and the capture of their “capital” meant nothing to them, in fact after Khenifra was occupied resistance actually increased.

The natives began attacking French wood gathering parties and only water supplies close to Khenifra were secure, supply columns were also ambushed. By the middle of July casualties mounted and the tension increased; morale particularly within the native colonial units began to suffer, whole outposts deserted taking their rifles and cartridges with them after killing the French or Algerian sergeant. The French were forced to disarm an entire squadron of Moroccan Spahis and take away their horses, this to stop them abandoning their allies and joining the rebels.        

Governor General Hubert Lyautey 

 

Then news of the outbreak of war in Europe reach the colony, the French government gave orders to the Governor General Hubert Lyautey that he was to send troops back to France and withdraw his remaining forces back to the easily defendable coastal enclaves. Lyautey gathered his area commanders together and in a brilliant stroke of foresight changed the orders to one of holding the line instead of withdrawal. His reasoning was simple, a withdrawal would be a signal for the rebellious mountain tribes to move out and ravage all the abandoned lands, all the effort and blood that had been spent over the last forty years would be thrown away. His officers agreed, no ground would be lost and when the troops returned from the war the pacification would continue as before (it should of course be noted no one in 1914 expected the war to last very long). Lyautey then issued orders to his garrison commanders that offensive action was to stop and that nothing should be done to provoke hostile tribes whilst there was a war going on in Europe. Eventually Morocco west of the Atlas Mountains was reduced to just eighteen French and colonial battalions. Some of the French officers left in Morocco were exceedingly bitter at being left out of the new war (it should be remembered that the Great War that started in 1914 was the first war in Europe since 1871).

On August 4 two battalions were stripped from the Khenifra garrison to be eventually returned to France. This weakened the garrison to the extent that Khenifra itself was virtually in state of siege for nearly a month. The garrison commander one Colonel Laverdure was particularly bitter about his exclusion from the new war in Europe. To add to his frustration he was ordered just to maintain his garrison and not provoke the natives. As winter approached Moha ou Hammou brought his camp down from the mountains to the plain as his people had done for centuries. Soon there were several islands of tents dotted across the great plain the largest of which was only seven miles from Khenifra. Colonel Laverdure saw this as a chance to bring himself to the attention of the French high command. We must understand that French military tradition often encouraged individual bravery and action especially by officers (Napoleon’s Marshal Ney being a good historic example of this tradition).

With this in mind it is not a surprise that on the night of November 12, Laverdure divided virtually his entire command (around 1,200 men) into four groups (each consisting of infantry, cavalry and a field gun or two). His plan was for the four columns to proceed across the plain during the night and converge on the Zaian camp just before dawn, at which point all the columns would assault the camp from three sides and hopefully destroy Zaian resistance for good. The plan worked well and on the morning of November 13, French shells and machine guns sweeping through the tents awaked the Zaian camp. The natives were taken completely by surprise by the attack and fled in panic, Moha ou Hammou was rescued by his sons during the confusion. Once what little resistance there was had been suppressed, the Algerian soldiers and Goumiers ransacked, looted and finally burnt the encampment, during which two of Moha ou Hammou’s wives was captured.

The Game

Tumbling Dice Algerians with a French officer from EWM

It is at this point the game starts, the French officers took quite a while to re-organise their columns. I’ve rounded down the unit strengths based on figures I had to hand and based on the rough strengths I dug up in my research. As usual I`ve built the wargames orbats based on our version of Charles Grant`s “Battle” rules.

Column 1

Col. Laverdure + staff (10 officers and men)

A company of colonial Zouaves – 30 men with 1 – MMG

A troop of Spahis Algerian (cavalry) – 10 mounted figures

1 – 75mm mle1897 (6 crew + caisson & horses)

Ambulance wagon

Imex ambulance wagon 

Column 2

A company of Tirailleurs (riflemen) Algerian – 30 men with 1 MMG

A troop of Spahis Moroccain – 10 mounted

1 – 65mm mountain gun (4 crew + mules)

Column 3

A company of Senegalese – 30 men with 1 - MMG

A troop from Chasseurs d` Afrique – 10 mounted

20 Moroccan Goums with a French officer

Mule ambulance column

Mule ambulances built by me 😁

Column 4

A company of Senegalese – 30 men with 1 MMG

A troop of Spahis Moroccain – 10 mounted

20 Moroccan Goums with a French officer

A 65mm Mountain gun (4 crew plus mules) 

David Reasoner`s Moonlite Modelworks superb 65mm mountain gun with a Tumbling Dice crew

The same gun with Legion/colonial blanc crew from B&B Miniatures

Mule packed 65mm by B&B Miniatures with some plastic Legionaires/Colonial blanc

The game calls for the four French columns to make their way back across the table to the safety of Khenifra, the game runs for 30 turns; during which the column may either move or fight. Unfortunately for the French Moha ou Hammou quickly began to organize his warriors and these immediately begin sharp counter attacks. 

Since we first played this game I ran the SOTCW game at Gauntlet 2010, where I used event cards to simulate the randomness of warfare. In re-visiting this battle I decided to try the same system.

Each turn the umpire should role 1D6 for each column this will indicate if there is an encounter or not.

 1-5 indicates an event card must be drawn

6 = no encounter and the column may move

Another role of 1D6 will indicate the direction: (on a D6: 1 – north; 2 - south; 3, 4 – west and 5, 6 east). This represents natives moving from other encampments the largest portion coming from the original camp (west) or moving to block the French (east).

Cards

Simply printed off on my PC and laminated, approximately the size of a playing card (you can get about 10 out of an A4 sheet).

Examples –

False Alarm – no encounter

Foot Warriors – 10-20 warriors (50% rifled armed) attack

Riflemen – 10-15 riflemen pop up and give a volley.

Harka – 20-30 warriors both on foot and mounted (50% rifle armed) attack column

Confused orders – unit stops and forms square for 1 turn??

Bad ammunition – unit fires at half effectiveness for the rest of game (only effects each column once)

Cavalry – 20 or so mounted warriors (50% rifle armed)

Large War-band – 40-60 warriors

Each column must fight and destroy their attacker, thus completing the turn; we played on a 6 foot by 4 table and allowed a column to move 6 inches (a total of 12 moves to cross the table). The table was mostly flat with low hills and a couple of dry streambeds, these allowed the natives to appear on all sides of the columns and also isolated the columns from one another. The terrain might also encourage the French players to fight defensively, which will prove fatal for them.

There are a couple of additional things to keep track of for the umpire:

Artillery the French have already used most of their shells against the camp this morning and each gun will only have 2-3 turns of ammo left, after which they cannot fire.

Classic French 75mle1897 (either Irregular or Bandera?) with a B&B Miniatures crew

Plastic limber & team (Imex I think)

Machine guns as with artillery these weapons have limited ammo 2-4 turns, but this can be increased using rifle bullets (rifles and MMGs use the same cartridge) this will give an additional 2 turns for the MGs but reduce the riflemen by 3 turns (see below).

Rifle ammo each man only had the ammo he carried and a lot of this has already been used, each column can only fire fully for 6-8 turns and after this only every other turn or at half strength depending on your rules.

Cavalry mounted units can move faster than infantry, if these abandon their comrades they may move twice the distance (12 inches). However if this is done this new additional column must also dice for an encounter each turn.

Relief After turn 10 a relief column from Khenifra moves from the east to link up with Laverdures columns. This Column consists of a troop of Spahis (10 mounted men) and two half companies of infantry, one Zouaves, the other Tirailleurs Moroccaine (15 figures of each type). This column will attempt to link up with their comrades and hopefully assist the withdrawal back to the city.

Morale A very important factor will be the morale of the various French and colonial troops, particularly the native elements. The Algerians and Senegalese are basically mercenaries here for pay and loot; their morale will start fair but suffer as casualty’s mount particularly if their white officers are killed! The Moroccans are also Mercenaries but were often pressed into service; therefore their morale starts lower and will quickly collapse in the face of the Zaian onslaught. The French units (Zouaves and Chasseurs d` Afrique) have better weapons and training, which should be reflected in their morale.

The game continues until the French either cross the board or are destroyed.

Historic outcome

Laverdure’s command began its withdrawal back across the plain to the city; it was now fully daylight. The French had not expected the Zaian to react so quickly, they had obviously also not thought about the other encampments either. Bands of Zaian came from all over and began attacking the strung out French and colonial troops. For a while French fire power held back the attackers, but ammunition began to run out and the natives could close with the French, who had in some instances formed squares against the native horsemen. A relief column formed from what remained of the garrison attempted a sortie but proved too weak and was forced back to the city, leaving the columns to their fate. Colonel Laverdure and some 700 men were killed and the Zaian captured a huge haul of rifles, horses, eight cannon of various calibers and ten machine guns.

Emboldened by their success the Zaian moved against Khenifra itself, only a desperate defence and the arrival of General Henry’s relief column saved the day (a further French defeat may have led to a larger uprising). This was the worst defeat by far suffered by the French in Morocco. General Lyautey did not blame the Zaian and Moha ou Hammou for the disaster but the staff officers in Paris and their traditions of bravery and honor. He arranged the trade of Moha ou Hammou’s captured wives for the bodies of Col. Laverdure and five other French officers and gave specific orders that no reprisals should be taken against the Zaian.

The defeat left Khenifra is state of basic siege, well an uneasy truce anyway as long as each side kept out of range from the other. This lasted throughout the war years with the garrison being re-supplied twice a year by a strong Group Mobile from Casba Talda.

My main source for this scenario comes from “The Conquest 0f Morocco” by Douglas Porch (ISBN 0-88064-057-X); an excellent book on the French in Morocco up to the Great War, well worth getting by anyone interested in colonial North Africa.

With additional information from:

“The Conquest of Morocco” by Vice-Admiral CV Usborne (Stanley Paul & Co Ltd, 1936)

“France, Soldiers and Africa” by Anthony Clayton (ISBN 0-08-034748-7)

Paths of Glory (The French Army 1914-18) by Anthony Clayton (ISBN 0-304-36652-8)

Les Troupes de Marine (Quatre Siecles d`historie) by Charles Lavauzelle (French text)

“Officers and Soldiers of the French Army 1918” by Andre Jouineau (ISBN 978-2-35250-105-3)

Colonial Armies, Africa 1850 to 1918 by Peter Abbott (1-901543-07-2)

An article on the fighting square Vs cavalry in an old issue of Wargames Digest (an American glossy wargames publication from the early 1970s) which mentions this action as an example of where the square failed due to bad tactics. (The issue number escapes me at present – sorry).

Playing the game

We used 20mm figures from my collection –

Senegalese – converted Waterloo1815 Anglo-Egyptian infantry, now supplemented with Early War Miniatures

Tirailleurs Algerian are tumbling Dice;

Goumier (and Moroccan natives) are a mixture of Friend or Foe & Blitz WW2 Goumier, plus some Retrokit & Force20 figures plus various plastics.

For Zouaves I use FFL figures a mix of Tumbling Dice, B&B Miniatures with the odd Italeri and Airfix plastics

My Moroccan Spahis and Chasseurs d`Afrique are converted Warrior Miniatures SCW mounted infantry with Raventhorpe heads.

My `75s are B&B, SHQ and Bandera & Hat, the limbers and horse teams Italeri or Hat

My 65mm mountain guns are Bandera or Moonlite Modelwerks with mules from all over the place (B&B, Combat Miniatures, Friend or Foe and others); all the gun crews are either converted plastics or Tumbling Dice.

The bridge over the Oum er Rbia as it looked in the 1990s