Battle of Kusseri

Upon the outbreak of World War I, French forces under the command of Colonel Largeau, across the border from German Kamerun in French Equatorial Africa stationed at Fort Lamy, invaded the colony. Their goal was to capture the German fort at Kusseri, near Lake Chad which would allow French forces to assist British ones in their attacks on German forces in western Kamerun. The German garrison, under Lieutenant Kallmeyer consisted of 31 men. Five more were recruited from the town of Kusseri when it became known that the French were invading.^[3] Kallmeyer surrounded the fort with thick thorny bushes in preparation for the oncoming attack.

The French had sent 250 riflemen and one artillery piece to capture the German fort in late August.^[2] The initial French assaults on the fort were repelled by German machine guns and resulted in heavy casualties. Additionally, the lone French artillery piece was destroyed by the Germans. After these failures, the French withdrew to Fort Lamy, but returned with reinforcements on 20 September 1914. Considering the size of his force in comparison to the French one, and the fatigue that had come about after continual attacks, Kallmeyer decided that staying to fight was futile and that retreat was the only option.