Pioneer Column
The Pioneer Column was a force raised by Cecil Rhodes and his British South Africa Company in 1890 and used in his efforts to annex the territory of Mashonaland, later part of Zimbabwe (once Southern Rhodesia).
Background
Rhodes was anxious to secure Matabeleland and Mashonaland before the Germans, Portuguese or Boers did. His first step was to persuade the Ndebele 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 not under direct Ndebele rule.[1] 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.
Column assembly
Rhodes's military advisers estimated that it would take 2,500 men and about one million pounds to win the war that would, they thought, inevitably result when Lobengula realised that Rhodes meant not only to mine but also to occupy his land.
Occupation
The route began at Macloutsie in
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.[3]
The Pioneer Corps was officially disbanded on 1 October 1890 and each member was granted land on which to farm.
Consequences
The occupation of Mashonaland by the Pioneer Column lead to the start of Company rule in Rhodesia. The BSAC would expand its rule across the Zambezi in 1891, and over Matabeleland through the First Matabele War in 1893-1894.
Campaign medal
In 1927, the government of Southern Rhodesia issued a new British South Africa Company Medal to commemorate the earlier 1890 Pioneer Column. This medal was identical to the prior British South Africa Company Medals issued for the First Matabele War and Second Matabele War, except that it was struck without any campaign details on the reverse.[4]
See also
- Nehanda Nyakasikana
- Shangani Patrol
References
- ISBN 978-0-14-004978-7.
- ^ *Bridger, Peter Anthony; House, M., eds. (1973). Encyclopaedia Rhodesia. College Press.
- . R. Ward and Company.
- ^ "BSA CM". angloboerwar.com. Archived from the original on 22 January 2008. Retrieved 4 April 2009.
- ISBN 9780435900335.
- Hill, Geoff (2003). The Battle for Zimbabwe: The Final Countdown. Cape Town: Zebra Press. ISBN 978-1-86872-652-3.
- Hensman, Howard (1900). A History of Rhodesia. Edinburgh & London: Wm Blackwood and Sons.