Pioneer Column

).

Rhodes was anxious to secure Matabeleland and Mashonaland before the Germans, Portuguese or Boers did. His first step was to persuade the Matabele King Lobengula, in 1888, to sign a treaty giving him rights to mining and administration (but not settlement as such) in the area of Mashonaland which was ruled by the King by use of coercion and murderous raids involved tribute-taking and abduction of young men and women. Using this Rudd Concession (so called because Rhodes's business partner, Charles Rudd, was instrumental in securing the signature) between Rhodes' British South Africa Company (allegedly on behalf of Queen Victoria though without any official knowledge or authority)and Lobengula, he then sought and obtained a charter from the British government allowing him to act, essentially although in a limited way, with the government's consent. The next step was to occupy the territory.

Military advisers counselled Rhodes that it would take 2,500 men and about one million pounds to win the war that would, they thought, inevitably result when Lobengula realized that Rhodes meant not only to mine but also to occupy his land. Frank Johnson, a 23-year-old adventurer, however, undertook to deliver the territory in nine months with a mere 250 men for £87,500. Frederick Selous, a hunter with close knowledge of Mashonaland, agreed to join the effort as guide. Johnson published recruitment notices in Kimberley offering each volunteer 3,000 acres of land and 15 mining claims (aggregating about 21 acres). On the advice of Rhodes, Johnson selected for his column, from thousands of applicants, mostly the sons of rich families, so that if they were, indeed, imperilled by Lobengula their families would be more likely to enlist British government support for their rescue. Johnson’s column eventually consisted of 180 civilian colonists, 62 wagons and 200 volunteers (who ultimately formed the nucleus of what became the British South African Police). A further party of 110 men, 16 wagons, 250 cattle and 130 spare horses later attached itself to the column. The troopers were equipped with Martini-Henry rifles, revolvers, seven-pound field guns and Maxim machine guns, as well as an electric searchlight (which they later used to good effect to intimidate Matabele warriors shadowing the column).

The route began at Macloutsie in Bechuanaland on 28 June, 1890. On July 11th, it crossed the river Tuli into Matabeland. It proceeded north-east and then north over a distance of about 650km intending to terminate at an open area explored by Selous a few years earlier that he called Mount Hampden. However, the column halted about 15km before that at a naturally flat and marshy meadow bounded by a steep rocky hill; (today's Harare Kopje) on 12 September. The British union flag was hoisted on the following day, September 12th (later celebrated as a Rhodesian public holiday).

Three towns were founded; the first in early August at the head of a gentle route that led up from the low altitude area known as the Lowveld (named Providential Pass), called Fort Victoria (renamed Masvingo in 1982); the second at Fort Charter on a plateau halfway to the terminus of the column at the originally named Fort Salisbury. [Sunshine and Storm in Rhodesia, FC Selous, Rhodesiana Reprint Library, Salisbury, 1969]

The Pioneer Corps was officially disbanded on 1 October, 1890 and each member was granted land on which to farm.

Consequences

The effects of the Pioneer Column were immense. With one act the destiny of the territory was changed forever. Mashonaland and Matabeleland ceased to be the poorly developed backwaters they had slipped into since the subsidence of the Mwenemutapa state about 500 years earlier and were irreversibly propelled into alignment with the world of the capitalist Christian West. A new elite snatched control from the Iron Age monarchy which had formerly held sway and retained power through demonstration of overwhelming technological superiority along with a towering confidence in its achievements. A new moral order was also imposed that has dramatically altered the culture and beliefs of the indigenous people. [The Cambridge History of Africa: From 1870 to 1905 v. 6 (The Cambridge History of Africa) CUP, 1985]

References

* Bridger, P., House, M., and others, 1973. "Encyclopaedia Rhodesia", College Press, Salisbury, Rhodesia.
* Samkange, Stanlake, "On Trial for My Country", Heinemann African Writers Series 1966, for an African perspective.
* Hill, Geoff, "The Battle for Zimbabwe", Zebra Press, Cape Town, 2003.
* Hensman, Howard, "History of Rhodesia", Wm Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh & London, 1890, for a contemporary and jingoistic British view.

See also

* Shangani Patrol