Richard Mohun

Infobox Person
name = Richard D Mohun


caption =
birth_date = 1865
birth_place = Washington, D.C.
death_date = 13 July 1915
death_place = Royal Oak, Maryland
other_names =
known_for =
occupation = Explorer and soldier of fortune
nationality = American

Richard Dorsey Loraine Mohun (1865 – July 13, 1915) was an American explorer and soldier of fortune.Harvnb|Barrett-Gaines|1997|p=54.] Citation | title = African Explorer Dead | newspaper = The New York Times | pages = p.9 | year = 1915 | date = 15 July 1915 | url =http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=2&res=9B00E0DD153EE033A25756C1A9619C946496D6CF&oref=slogin&oref=slogin] Mohun worked for the US government as a commercial agent first at Loanda, Angola and then Boma, Congo Free State. Following this he worked with the Belgian authorities in the Congo, commanding a unit of artillery during the campaign to force Arab slavers out of the country. Mohun returned to US government service with a short posting as Consul to Zanzibar, during which time he was involved as an intermediary in the Anglo-Zanzibar War. He returned to the congo to prospect for minerals and later resumed his work with the Belgians.

His most ambitious undertaking was a three year expedition which laid a telegraph line from Lake Tanganyika to Stanley Falls, starting in 1898. He spent some time in South Africa prospecting before returning to the Congo to reform the Abir Congo Company on behalf of Leopold II of Belgium. He claimed to be the first American to cross the African continent, an accolade usually awarded to Henry Morton Stanley and was considered to be one of three Americans pivotal to the opening of the Congo to outsiders.

Early life

Richard Dorsey Mohun was born in Washington, D.C., in the United States in 1865. He was privately tutored and developed a keen interest in Africa and the eradication of the slave trade which continued there. He was the fourth member of his family to have an active interest in the slave trade, particularly that carried out by Arabs in Eastern and Southern Africa. His first known appointment in Africa is as commercial agent for the government of the United States of America at Loanda in Angola.Citation | title = The Appointment of an American | newspaper = India Rubber World | pages = p114 | year = | date = January 1 1906 | url =http://www.archive.org/details/indiarubberworld33phil ]

US Government work

In 1892 Mohun was appointed the US commercial agent to the Congo Free State. During this time Mohun was stationed in the port city of Boma. As commercial agent his duties were to investigate the commercial potential in Congo and to promote trade between the two countries, previously almost non-existent. During this time he became involved in a conflict between Belgian forces and Arab slavers from the East coast of Africa and on 19 April 1893 was placed in command of the artillery attached to an expedition to suppress the slave trade. The Belgian forces were made up of black soldiers led by white officers and eventually drove the slavers out of the Congo, a victory in which he was a key figure.Harvnb|Benedetto|Vass|1996|p=73.] Mohun later became Chief of Artillery for the Congo Free State and was remunerated with $5000 from the Société Anonyme Belge pour le commerce du Haut Congo Brussels. In 1894 he was awarded honorary membership of the Société Royale Belge de Géographie (Royal Belgian Geographical Society).

Mohun stated that his priority in Congo was to improve conditions for the inhabitants by bringing them within the Belgian sphere of influence.Harvnb|Barrett-Gaines|1997|p=56.] 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. Mohun was concerned by his public image and wrote his diary with publication in mind to increase his fame and includes little negative of himself. Although he does include a description of burning a Chieftain's village and being "satisfied in my own conscience that I had rid the country of a brute and unnecessary member of society".Harvnb|Barrett-Gaines|1997|p=54-55.]

Mohun was appointed US Consul to Zanzibar 25 May 1895, a position he held until 22 November 1897. During this time he became involved in the Anglo-Zanzibar War as an intermediary between the Sultan of Zanzibar and the British authorities. In return for his services he was decorated by the new Sultan. During the war Mohun created a portfolio of photographs which he later published.

Belgian Government work

Following the expiration of his contract to the US government Mohun returned to Congo to work as a mineral prospector. He was then contracted by the Belgian government, who had been impressed by his work on behalf of the United States. He worked alongside Francis, Baron Dhanis during his time as vice-governor general to the Free State. During this time he 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. Mohun estimated that there were 20 million cannibals in the Free State and speaks of witnessing a cannibal feast and the practice of burying people alive.Harvnb|Dennis|1897|p=154.]

Tanganyika-Nile telegraph expedition

Mohun was involved in a 1898 expedition to lay a telegraph line from Lake Tanganyika to the River Nile. Mohun asked for Askari volunteers from Zanzibar to provide the escort required by the expedition and received more than one thousand responses.Harvnb|Barrett-Gaines|1997|p=63.] From these he selected one hundred men to accompany him, of whom twenty had served with him in the Congo expedition of 1894. The escort was placed under the command of Captain Verhellen.

Mohun took with him "100 boxes [of] trade goods consisting of bells, knives, locks, mirrors, music boxes, watches, clocks, fezzes, and other odds and ends" which he used to negotiate with the local population along the line's route.Harvnb|Barrett-Gaines|1997|p=62.] Mohun's diary states that spectacles, Arab-made incense and American-made cloth were also popular and he used the latter to pay his Askari escort. Also present was a group of porters to carry the equipment and to lay the telegraph line.Harvnb|Barrett-Gaines|1997|p=67.]

The ship "Sir Harry Johnson" took them from Zanzibar to the African mainland in the German colony of Tanganyika.Harvnb|Barrett-Gaines|1997|p=65.] 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. The expedition probably used the Stevenson Road which connected Karonga to Zombe at the southern tip of Lake Tanganyika. From here they began laying their 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. 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.Harvnb|Barrett-Gaines|1997|p=53.] Mohun was the only white survivor of the party, whose medical officer was Dr. Castellote.Harvnb|Grogan|1900|p=167.] As a result of this expedition Mohun claimed to be known as "Big master of the telephone" amongst the indigenous peoples along the route.

After the expedition

Upon completing the expedition Mohun moved to South Africa where he prospected for minerals and rubber. During this time he was an agent for the Rubber Exploration Company of New York. [ [http://www.hoover.org/hila/collections/19190869.html?section=overview Hoover Institution African collection] ] In December 1905 he was appointed director of the Abir Congo Company on King Leopold's recommendation. [Citation | last = | first = | author-link = | last2 = | first2 = | author2-link = | title = Congo post for American | newspaper = The New York Times | pages = 1 | year = 1905 | date = December 9 1905 | url = http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=980DE7DC113AE733A2575AC0A9649D946497D6CF] The Abir Rubber Company was the only company mentioned by name in a Congo Commission report for "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." and Mohun was appointed to institute reforms to these practices. Mohun also devoted much time to an attempt to exterminate the Tsetse Fly. He returned to his home at Royal Oak, Maryland to recover from wounds he had received during his twenty years service in Africa and died there, suddenly, on July 13 1915.

Personal life

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. He received honours from the British, French and Belgian governments and, though never employed directly by their armies, he often wore a uniform to maintain discipline amongst his followers. Mohun was also a member of the Royal Geographical Societies of Britain, France and Belgium. He claimed to be the first American to cross the African continent, a credit usually given to Henry Morton Stanley.Harvnb|Barrett-Gaines|1997|p=57.] This is perhaps because Mohun did not consider Stanley to be American as he was born in Wales. Mohun is considered to be one of three Americans who played a key role in opening up the Belgian Congo to outsiders, alongside Stanley and William Henry Sheppard.

References

Bibliography

*Citation | last = Barrett-Gaines | first = Kathryn | title = Travel Writing, Experiences, and Silences: What Is Left out of European Travelers' Accounts: The Case of Richard D. Mohun | journal = History in Africa | volume = 24 | issue = | pages = pp. 53-70 | date = | year = 1997 | url = http://www.jstor.org/stable/3172018 | doi = | id =
*Citation | last = Benedetto | first = Robert |author-link = | last2 = Vass | first2 = Winifred K | author2-link = | title = Presbyterian Reformers in Central Africa: A Documentary Account of the American Presbyterian Congo Mission and the Human Rights Struggle in the Congo, 1890-1918 | place = | publisher = Brill | year = 1996 | volume = | edition = | url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=M6Ks3Aod8awC | doi = | id = | isbn = 9004102396
*Citation | last = Dennis | first = Reverend James Shepard | title = Christian missions and social progress : a sociological study of foreign missions | place = | publisher = Fleming H. Revell Company | year = 1897 | volume = 1 | edition = | url = http://digilib.bu.edu/dspace/handle/2144/1040 | doi = | id = | isbn =
*Citation | last = Grogan | first = Ewart S | title = Through Africa from the Cape to Cairo | journal = The Geographical Journal | volume = 16 | issue = 2 | pages = pp. 164-183 | date = August 1900 | year = 1900 | url = http://www.jstor.org/stable/1774555 | doi = | id =

Persondata
NAME = Mohun, Richard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = American explorer and diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH = 1865
PLACE OF BIRTH = Washington, D.C., United States
DATE OF DEATH = 13 July 1915
PLACE OF DEATH = Royal Oak, Maryland, United States