First Matabele War
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| First Matabele War | |||||||||
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| Part of the Matabele Wars | |||||||||
 Bulawayo native, ca 1890. |
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| Combatants | |||||||||
 United Kingdom British South Africa Police Bechuana |
Ndebele | ||||||||
| Commanders | |||||||||
| Cecil Rhodes, Leander Starr Jameson, Major Allan Wilson, Major Patrick Forbes, Khama III |
King Lobengula, Mjaan, chief induna |
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| Casualties | |||||||||
| ca. 100 | Over 10,000 | ||||||||
The first Matabele War was fought in 1893 between the British and the Ndebele nation. Lobengula, king of the Ndebele, had worked hard to avoid confrontation with the white colonials. The Ndebele believed they had done fairly well with the concessions they had already made and Lobengula thought he would do better to treat the white people cautiously, but as equals. Besides, the odds against the British South Africa Company troupes who marched into Matabeleland appeared colossal. Lobengula had 80 000 spearmen and 20 000 riflemen, armed with nine pound Martini-Henrys which were modern arms at that time, against fewer than 700 colonials and an additional 700 Bechuana allies. Nevertheless, Cecil Rhodes and his men saw the Ndebele as uncivilized and inferior beings, incapable of putting up much resistance against far more modern colonial forces with their mechanized guns and artillery. The British South Africa Company was on a mission to "civilize" Africa and extract its wealth, so when a brutal Ndebele attack on another tribe, the Shona, broke out, the conflict seemed like a good pretense for Rhodes to start his war.
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[edit] Start of the War
The first battle in the war occurred on November 1, 1893 when the laager was attacked on open ground a few miles from the Impembisi River. The laager consisted of 670 British soldiers, 400 of whom were mounted along with a small force of native allies fought off the Imbezu and Ingubu regiments, the oldest and most tried regiments of Lobengula, computed by Sir John Willoughby to number 1700 warriors in all. The laager had with it a small artillery of 5 Maxim gun, 2 seven-pounders, 1 Gardner gun, and 1 Hotchkiss. The Maxim guns took center stage and decimated the native force. The Ndebele dashed right up to the muzzles of the guns, but were swept down before the modern rifles and machine guns with which the invaders were armed. Other Ndebele regiments were in the immediate vicinity, estimated at 5 000 men, however this force never took part in the fighting.
Jameson determined that the quickest way to end the war would be to march to Bulawayo, the headquarters of Lobengula and the capital of Matabeleland, and capture the king. The colonial force consisted of two columns: Victoria Column comprised of about 400 men, under Major Allan Wilson, and the United Salisbury Column comprised of less than 300 men under Major Patrick Forbes. An additional of 700 Bechuanas marching from the south under Khama, the most influential of the Bamangwato chiefs and a loyal friend of the British, would meet up with the two colonial columns.
[edit] Destruction of Bulawayo
The column of Khama's men from the south had reached the Tati, and won a victory on the Singuesi river on the 2nd of November. Advanced scouts for the colonial forces, including Burnham and Selous, reached Bulawayo that same day, only to watch as Lobengula burn his capital to the ground rather than allow it to be captured by the colonials. On the 3rd of November, Bulawayo was reached by the Victoria column from Mashonaland, accompanied by Jameson and Sir John Willoughby. By this time, Lobengula and his warriors were in full flight towards the Zambezi. An endeavor was made to induce Lobengula to surrender, but as no replies were received to the messages. The United Salisbury Column later arrived in Bulawayo, and on the 13th of November, Major Forbes organized his column and started in pursuit of Lobengula.
[edit] Shangani Patrol
The pursuing party was delayed by difficult roads and heavy rains, and did not come up with Lobengula until the 3rd of December. Major Allan Wilson, in command of thirty-four troopers, crossed the Shangani river in advance, and bivouacked close to Lobengula's quarters. Efforts by Forbes to re-enforce Wilson's patrol were too little and too late to make a difference. In the night the river rose, and reinforcements were unable to join him. During the early morning the Ndebele surrounded the little band.
Wilson his followers all fought most gallantly, according Ndebele reports, but the opposing forces were to great. Except for three scouts, who under orders from Wilson, miraculously crossed the swollen Shangani and returned to Forbes to request reinforcements (the Americans Frederick Russell Burnham and Pearl "Pete" Ingram, and an Australian named Gooding), all of the Wilson party, known as the Shangani Patrol were killed in what is viewed roughly as British equivalent to Custer's Last Stand.
[edit] Defeat of the Ndebele
Lobengula eventually died under somewhat mysterious circumstances sometime in January 1894. The Ndebele warriors gradually succumbed to the superior British firepower and, after the king’s death, Ndebele indunas submitted to the British South Africa Company. An order in council of the 18th of July defined the administrative power of the company over Matabeleland. Charges were made against the company of having provoked the Ndebele in order to bring on the war and thus secure their territory, but after inquiry the company was questionably exonerated from the charge by Lord Ripon, then colonial secretary. It was also discovered that Lobengula had in fact sent to Jameson gold dust worth about £1 000, and intimated his desire to surrender, but two troopers to whom the gold and message were entrusted kept the gold and suppressed the message. Their crime was afterwards discovered and the troopers sentenced to fourteen years' penal servitude, only they were released after just a few months due to technicalities.
[edit] Aftermath
In every step taken by the company the guiding hand was that of Cecil Rhodes, a fact which received recognition when, by a proclamation of the 3rd of May 1895, the company's territory received officially the name of ‘’Rhodesia’’. During this year there was great activity in exploiting Matabeleland, " Stands " or plots were sold at extraordinary prices in Bulawayo. Within nine months the rebuilt town of Bulawayo had a population of 1 900 colonials and in the various goldfields there were over colonial 2 000 prospectors. The construction of telegraphs proceeded with rapidity and by the end of 1895, 500 m. of new lines had been constructed, making about 1 500 in all. A new company, the African Transcontinental Company, had been founded under the auspices of Rhodes, with the ultimate purpose of connecting the Cape with Cairo. By the end of 1895, 1 33 m. of these lines had been laid. At this time too, the railway from Cape Town, Cape Colony had passed Mafeking, Transvaal and was approaching the Rhodesian frontier, while on the east coast the line to connect Salisbury (now Harare) with the Portuguese East Africa Colony in Beira, Mozambique was under construction.
[edit] Maxim Gun
The First Matabele War was the first wartime use of a Maxim gun by Britain and it proved to have a decisive impact on many battles. In less than optimal situations, such as hilly or mountainous terrain or dense vegetation with poor line of sight, the Maxim gun resulted in little direct impact on enemy deaths. But as a psychological weapon, the Maxim gun was truly phenominal. It generated the sense of fear in the Ndebele and made the British South Africa Police seem invincible. In one engagement, for example, 50 British soldiers with just four Maxim guns fought off 5 000 Ndebele warriors.
[edit] See Also
[edit] References
- History of Rhodesia, by Howard Hensman (1900) -- the full-text of the book can be found online for free PDF
- The Story of Baden-Powell, by Harold Begbie (1900)
- Scouting on Two Continents, by Major Frederick Russell Burnham, D.S.O., Autobiography. LC call number: DT775 .B8 1926. (1926)
- Shangani Patrol, a feature film, docudrama by David Millin. Filmed on location by the Rhodesian Broadcasting Corporation. Stars Brian O'Shaughnessy at Major Allan Wilson and co-stars Will Hutchins as Fred Burnham. [Internet Movie DataBase](1970)
[edit] External links
- Britain Matabele War 1893. Armed Conflict Events Database. Retrieved on 2006-07-09.
- Map of the First Matabele War. Retrieved on 2006-10-29.
