| Richard D Mohun | |
|---|---|
Mohun in the Congo c.1895 |
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| Born | 1865 Washington, D.C. |
| Died | July 13, 1915 Royal Oak, Maryland |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Explorer and soldier of fortune |
Richard Dorsey Loraine Mohun (1865 – July 13, 1915) was an American explorer and soldier of fortune.[1][2] Mohun worked for the US government as a commercial agent in Angola and the Congo Free State. During his time as commercial agent, he volunteered to command a unit of Belgian artillery in a campaign to force Arab slavers from the country. Mohun remained in the service of the US government during this time and was subsequently posted as consul to Zanzibar. In this capacity, he was called upon to act as an intermediary between the combatants in the Anglo-Zanzibar War. Following the conclusion of his three-year posting, Mohun returned to the Congo to prospect for minerals, and later worked with the Belgian authorities.
His most ambitious undertaking was a three-year expedition, beginning in 1898, that laid a telegraph line from Lake Tanganyika to Stanley Falls. He then spent some time prospecting in South Africa before returning to the Congo to reform the Abir Congo Company on behalf of Leopold II of Belgium. Mohun claimed to be the first American to cross the African continent, a credit usually given to Henry Morton Stanley.[3] Mohun's claim may have been due to knowing Stanley was born in Wales.[3] Mohun is considered to be one of three Americans who played key roles in opening the Belgian Congo to outsiders, alongside Stanley and William Henry Sheppard.[4]
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Richard Dorsey Mohun was born in Washington, D.C., in the United States in 1865, and was the grandson of the Catholic writer Anna Hanson Dorsey.[1][5] He was privately tutored and developed a keen interest in Africa and in the eradication of the slave trade which continued there.[2] He was the fourth member of his family to have an active interest in the slave trade, particularly as carried out by Arabs in Eastern and Southern Africa.[2] His first known appointment in Africa was as commercial agent for the government of the United States of America at Loanda in Angola.[6]
In 1892, Mohun was appointed the US commercial agent to the Congo Free State to be resident in the port city of Boma.[1] Mohun made his journey to Africa via Belgium, the colonial power, where he met King Leopold II who impressed Mohun with his ambition to bring peace and western civilization to the Congo.[7] As commercial agent, Mohun's duties were to investigate the commercial potential in Congo and to promote trade between the two countries, something which previously had been almost non-existent.[1] Mohun spent much of his time exploring and visited several areas which had not been seen before by a western man.[7]
Early in his appointment, the Belgian authorities were involved in a conflict with Arab slavers from the East coast of Africa. On April 19, 1893, Mohun himself became involved when he was appointed commander of artillery attached to an expedition sent against the slavers.[1] Mohun was appointed because of the illness of the previous Chief of Artillery, a Belgian officer.[8] Mohun played a leading role in several subsequent engagements, including an occasion when he was made second-in-command of an expedition to determine whether it was practical to establish a route to bring water from Lake Tanganyika to the upper Lualaba River.[8] When another Belgian commander fell ill, Mohun assumed command and successfully completed the remainder of the expedition.[8] The Belgian forces, made up of black soldiers led by white officers, were eventually successful in driving the slavers from the Congo.[4][6] During the campaign, Mohun remained a commercial agent for the US and drew no pay for his services as Chief of Artillery, although he was remunerated with $5000 from the Société Anonyme Belge pour le commerce du Haut Congo Brussels.[1] In 1894, he was awarded honorary membership of the Société Royale Belge de Géographie (Royal Belgian Geographical Society).[1]
Mohun stated that his priority in Congo was to improve conditions for the inhabitants by bringing them within the Belgian sphere of influence.[9] He also stated that the popular image of Belgian brutality in the Congo was a lie spread by missionaries - a statement contradicted by evidence of unnecessary cruelty by Belgian troops in the region.[9] Mohun was concerned about his public image, and wrote a diary, with publication in mind, that includes little self-criticism.[9] The diary does, however, record an incident where punitive action was taken against a Chieftain by burning his village. Mohun reflects on his own responsibility in this: "[I was] satisfied in my own conscience that I had rid the country of a brute and unnecessary member of society."[10]
The US State Department was, perhaps surprisingly, not displeased with Mohun's undiplomatic conduct in assisting the Belgians.[8] This may have been because he did not receive a salary for his work and assisted in making the Congo more commercially stable.[8] Mohun was appointed US Consul to Zanzibar on May 25, 1895. His appointment, which he then held until November 22, 1897, may have been a reward for his work in the Congo.[1][8] During this time, he became involved in the Anglo-Zanzibar War, as an intermediary between the Sultan of Zanzibar and the British authorities.[2] In return for his services, he was decorated by the new Sultan.[2] During the course of the war Mohun compiled a portfolio of photographs that he later published.
Following the expiration of his contract with the US government, Mohun returned to Congo to work as a mineral prospector.[1] He was then contracted by the Belgian government, which had been impressed by his work on behalf of the United States,[2] and worked alongside Francis, Baron Dhanis, vice-governor general to the Free State.[2] Mohun continued his work to eradicate the slave trade, made several surveying expeditions, governed 5 million native inhabitants, established new trade markets, and assisted in the suppression of cannibalism.[2] He estimated that there were 20 million cannibals in the Free State, and spoke of witnessing both a cannibal feast, and the practice of burying people alive.[11]
In 1899 Mohun was involved in an expedition to lay a telegraph line from Lake Tanganyika to the Nile.[1] He advertised among the Askari of Zanzibar for volunteers to provide the escort required by the expedition, and received more than one thousand responses.[12] From these, he selected one hundred men to accompany him, twenty of whom had served with him in the Congo expedition of 1894.[12] His escort was placed under the command of Captain Verhellen.[12]
In order to negotiate with the local population along his route, Mohun took "100 boxes [of] trade goods consisting of bells, knives, locks, mirrors, music boxes, watches, clocks, fezzes, and other odds and ends".[13] His diary also notes that spectacles, Arab-made incense and American-made cloth were popular, and that he used the latter to pay his Askari escort.[12] The expedition also included porters to carry the equipment and to lay the telegraph line.[14]
A ship named Sir Harry Johnson took them from Zanzibar to the African mainland in the German colony of Tanganyika.[15] The expedition then proceeded to the northern tip of Lake Nyasa before moving along the western bank of the lake to the settlement of Karonga in North-Eastern Rhodesia.[13] The expedition probably used the Stevenson Road which connected Karonga to Zombe at the southern tip of Lake Tanganyika.[13] From there, they began laying the telegraph line, heading north along the western bank of the Lake and entering the Congo Free State before turning west to meet the River Congo at Kasongo.[13] Mohun's party followed the river north to Stanley Falls where, after three years, the expedition ended the line some distance short of the Nile.[13][16] Mohun was the only white survivor of the party (whose medical officer was Dr. Castellote)[2][17] and as a result, Mohun claimed to be known amongst the indigenous peoples along the route as "Big master of the telephone".[9]
Upon completing the expedition, Mohun moved to South Africa where he prospected for minerals and rubber.[1] He also acted as an agent for the Rubber Exploration Company of New York and undertook exploration and prospecting expeditions to Equatorial Africa and Madagascar.[5][18] In December 1905, on the recommendation of King Leopold, he was appointed director of the Abir Congo Company.[19] The Abir Rubber Company was the only company mentioned by name in a Congo Commission report, which reported: "the imprisonment of women as hostages, flogging to excess, and various acts of brutality are not contested. It is the black spot on the history of Central African settlement." Mohun was appointed to institute reforms addressing these practices.[6] He also devoted much time to an attempt to exterminate the tsetse fly.[2] He returned to his home at Royal Oak, Maryland to recover from wounds he had received during his twenty years service in Africa. Aged 50 and without any prior signs of illness, he died on July 13, 1915.[2] Although he was alone when he fell ill at two o'clock in the morning a non-Catholic woman made a 26 miles (42 km) journey to fetch a priest to conduct the Last Rites.[5]
Mohun was married to Hariett L. Barry from New York, who accompanied him to Zanzibar but spent much of her time in Belgium where communications with Africa were very quick.[2] He had two sons, one of whom was born in Zanzibar and the other in Belgium.[5] Mohun received honours from the British, French and Belgian governments and—though never employed directly by their armies—often wore a uniform to maintain discipline amongst his followers.[2] Mohun was a member of the Royal Geographical Societies of Britain, France and Belgium.[2]