Aftermath Shangani Patrol

extract journal of soldier serving in column during retreat

matabele raiding parties attacked retreating column 6 times during two-week journey bulawayo. in pouring rain, dishevelled men on foot, existing off horse meat , wearing makeshift shoes made ammunition wallets. forbes felt humiliated events retreated command in name, surrendering de facto control commandant raaff. in leading column bulawayo, raaff repeatedly drew on experience anglo-zulu war ensure survival of haggard men. avoided several matabele ambushes, , @ 1 point set convincing decoy camp matabele fired on half day, wasting of ammunition.

on column s inglorious return bulawayo on 18 december 1893, forbes received in muted disgrace. officers , men stood on parade cecil rhodes, , company chief passed major without word. raaff, on other hand, publicly commended rhodes, , thanked ensuring column s safe return.

meanwhile, lobengula moved north-east, out of company s reach foreseeable future. however, sickness, turned out smallpox, sharply intensified , killed him on 22 or 23 january 1894. king dead, mjaan, senior of izinduna, took command of matabele. mjaan old man, , son had been killed in war. wished make peace. in late february 1894, convened indaba @ , contemporaries met james dawson, trader known them many years, offered olive branch on behalf of company. izinduna unanimously accepted. told trader had happened shangani patrol, , led him battle site survey it, examine , identify largely skeletonised bodies of soldiers, still lay had fallen. dawson first non-matabele learn of last stand.

cultural impact, burial , memorial

the shangani memorial, erected @ world s view in matopos hills in 1904

news of patrol s fate relayed rhodesia south africa, , on rest of british empire , world. in england, patriotic play overtly influenced incident, cheer, boys, cheer!, written augustus harris, cecil raleigh , henry hamilton, , staged @ theatre royal, drury lane, starting in september 1895. show tells story of young colonial army officer in south africa , rhodesia, culminating in third act fictionalised account of first matabele war. climaxes scene reminiscent of wilson s last stand. production ran 6 months in london, , toured british provinces more 2 years, reportedly drawing large crowds. according historian neil parsons, contributed patrol fast gain[ing] mythological status .

in historical terms, shangani patrol subsequently became integral part of rhodesian identity, wilson , borrow in particular woven national tapestry heroic figures symbolising duty in face of insuperable odds. last stand became kind of national myth, lewis gann writes, glorious memory, [rhodesia s] own equivalent of bloody alamo massacre , custer s last stand in american west . in 1895, 4 december declared shangani day , annual rhodesian public holiday endured until 1920, when folded occupation day, national non-work day commemorated several colonial events together. shangani day remained part of national calendar, however, , still marked each year.

the remains of patrol s members buried on 14 august 1894, in ruined city of great zimbabwe. rhodes later wrote wished have patrol re-interred alongside him @ world s view, in matopos hills, when died; done in 1904, 2 years after rhodes s death. according rhodes s wishes, memorial shangani patrol erected @ world s view in july 1904, , dedicated bishop gaul of mashonaland. monument, called shangani memorial, oblong, flat-topped structure, 33 feet (10 m) tall , made granite nearby kopje. designed herbert baker, , based on pedestal of agrippa @ athens acropolis. each of memorial s 4 sides bears bronze panel john tweed, depicting members of patrol in relief. main inscription reads, brave men , smaller dedication given beneath: erected enduring memory of allan wilson , men fell in fight against matabele on shangani river december 4th, 1893. there no survivor .