By the mid-1870s, Samori Touré had emerged as a powerful leader in the Upper Guinea region, building alliances and raising a standing army. This consolidation created the base from which he would later resist French expansion inland from Senegal.
Samori established Bissandugu as a key base and later capital of his growing state (often called the Wassoulou Empire). From there, he organized administration, trade routes, and arms repair and production to support long campaigns.
Tensions escalated when French forces treated local communities near their outposts as under French protection. Samori attacked Kiniéran, triggering French pursuit and opening a long cycle of raids, counter-raids, and expanding colonial garrisons.
At Samaya, Samori’s forces suffered heavy losses when they used frontal attacks against modern French firearms. The battle pushed him to rely more on mobility, ambushes, and hit-and-run cavalry, tactics better suited to resisting a smaller but better-armed army.
French troops moved to secure strategic points along the Niger River, while Samori’s commanders tried to draw them out and disrupt supply lines. Clashes near the Woyowoyanko river showed the war was becoming a sustained struggle over forts, river access, and regional influence.
After French pressure and setbacks around the Buré goldfields, Samori and France signed the Treaty of Kéniéba-Koura. The agreement recognized French control on the left bank of the Niger (up to Siguiri) while affirming Samori’s authority in other areas, buying time for both sides to regroup.
In Bissandugu, Samori signed another treaty with France that addressed borders and strengthened French rights on the Niger River. Although Samori viewed some terms as temporary or hard to enforce, the treaty helped the French position themselves for deeper conquest in the interior.
With his northern flank momentarily quieter, Samori focused on conquering the well-fortified city of Sikasso (capital of Kénédougou). The siege lasted about 15 months but ultimately failed, in part because Samori lacked heavy artillery and faced disease, supply problems, and renewed rebellions.
The Brussels Conference Act (1890) aimed to limit the slave trade and also tightened controls on firearms and ammunition sales in Africa. For Samori, reduced access to imported rifles and cartridges made it harder to replace losses and maintain parity with French firepower.
In 1891, Colonel Louis Archinard launched a fast campaign aimed at breaking Samori’s power in the Upper Niger region. French forces captured Kankan and pushed toward Samori’s bases, while Samori responded with a mobile defense that included scorched-earth retreats to deny supplies.
After years of pressure on multiple fronts, French forces took Sikasso on May 1, 1898. The defeat removed a major remaining center of armed resistance in the region and allowed French commanders to concentrate resources on hunting down Samori’s remaining forces.
On September 29, 1898, a French column under Captain Henri Gouraud surprised Samori’s camp near Guélémou and captured him. His capture effectively ended the Wassoulou state as an organized military opponent, marking a decisive close to this major West African resistance to French colonization.
Samori Ture’s wars of resistance against French colonization (1875–1898)