The Fall of the Benin Expedition

In the early days of eighteen ninety seven, James Phillips and his men advanced

toward the heart of Benin, ignoring the explicit warnings to halt their march through

the sacred forests. Phillips believed his diplomatic mission granted him immunity, but his refusal

to wait for the conclusion of the kingdom's religious festivals set a catastrophic sequence of

events in motion today. Edo scouts followed them silently, moving through the

bush like shadows. They watched the column grow closer to the city, reporting every movement

back to the wary chiefs of Benin. Young warriors like Efe struggled with

the weight of the coming conflict. To him, this was not just a military