The Military History Thread

[Ennath]

March 23, 1901
Capture of Aguinaldo

On November 12, 1899, with his conventional forces shattered, Philippine nationalist leader Emilio Aguinaldo ordered a shift to guerrilla warfare. The Americans spent the next year and half chasing his dwindling forces, but the rebels remained in the field. The Americans concluded that the resistance would never be broken until Aguinaldo was killed or captured. However, they did not know his whereabouts.

On February 8, 1901, Brig. Gen. Frederick Funston was at San Isidro, Nueva Ecija Province, on Luzon Island when 6 tired and famished guerrillas surrendered at Pantabangan town to Lt. James Taylor, Jr., commanding Company C, 24th Infantry Regiment of US Volunteers. The town mayor, Francisco Villajuan, had convinced the worn-out men to give up. The group was led by Cecilio Segismundo, an Ilocano and Aguinaldo’s messenger, who carried some important dispatches. He was a native of Ilocos Norte Province and used to be a member of the municipal police (Guardia Civil Veterana) of Manila under the Spanish. He defected when the Revolution broke out in August 1896. In 1899, he became a corporal in the Philippine army under Major Nazario Alhambra.

Some of the dispatches Segismundo was carrying were coded and signed with “Pastor” and “Colon de Magdalo”, pseudonyms often used by Aguinaldo. In addition, Segismundo revealed that Aguinaldo had no more than 50 guards in the village and pinpointed Aguinaldo’s headquarters as the village of Palanan in mountainous Isabela province in northeastern Luzon, near the Pacific Coast. (Aguinaldo later charged that Segismundo did not talk until after he had been given the water cure twice, but American officers insisted that he gave his cooperation voluntarily). Funston’s aides, with the help of Lazaro Segovia (a former Spanish army officer who had defected to the Philippine army and then switched allegiance to the Americans; he understood English, Spanish, and the Tagalog dialect), deciphered the messages. Most important of the messages was an order to Gen. Baldomero Aguinaldo instructing him to send some troops to Palanan. With this information in hand, Funston and his staff began to formulate a plan for Aguinaldo’s capture.

Funston disguised 78 Macabebes and sent them to Palanan, posing as the men Aguinaldo had requested. The Macabebes are a tribal clan who look no different from all other Filipinos, but who had, under the Spanish government, by reason of long-standing feuds with their more rebellious neighbors, come to be absolutely loyal to the Spanish authorities. When the Americans came, they had transferred that loyalty and had become a recognized and valuable part of the American force. They were soon organized into the Philippine Scouts, a special unit of the US Army. Funston and 4 other American officers, disguised as prisoners of war, accompanied the column. The handpicked Macabebes turned in their Springfields and were issued 50 Mausers, 18 Remingtons and 10 Krag-Jorgensens, which were the types of rifles used by Aguinaldo’s soldiers. Twenty of them wore the uniform of the Philippine army. In addition to Segismundo, Funston included Hilario Tal Placido, who had been a Lieutenant Colonel in the Philippine army and knew Aguinaldo personally.

Some months previously, Funston had captured Gen. Urbano Lacuna’s seal and official signed correspondence. From this material, 2 letters were forged, supposedly from Lacuna to Aguinaldo. One contained information as to the progress of the war., the other stated that in accordance with instructions from Baldomero Aguinaldo, he was sending 80 men to Palanan under the command of Placido, Segovia, and Segismundo.

Funston was concerned for the security of the mission, fearing that locals would warn Aguinaldo should the carefully concocted ruse be discovered anywhere along the journey. So they sailed on the gunboat USS Vicksburg, making it appear that it was an ordinary patrol, went down to the southern end of Luzon, and through the San Bernardino Strait into the Pacific, and thence up the east coast of Luzon to Casiguran Bay, about 100 miles south of Palanan, landing on March 14. With the ship's lights screened to avoid detection, the Vicksburg at once departed out of sight of land, agreeing to rendezvous off Palanan, their destination, on March 25.

Finally Funston reached Palanan on the 23rd, the “prisoners” quite far in the rear. Placido got safely into Aguinaldo’s presence, followed at a short distance by the main body of his Macabebes. Aguinaldo’s guard of some 50 men, neatly uniformed, presented arms as Placido entered the insurgent headquarters, and thereafter waited at attention outside. Placido entertained Aguinaldo with a invented stories about the march across country, made obediently to the President's order, keeping a weather eye out of the window.

As soon as the Macabebes had come up and formed facing the Aguinaldo life-guard, Placido went to the window and ordered them to open fire. They quickly killed 2 of the insurgents and wounded their commanding officer, Col. Simeon Villa. The rest fled. Then Placido, a very stout individual, grabbed Aguinaldo, only about 115 pounds, threw him down, and sat on him, until Gen. Funston came.

On the morning of March 25, Aguinaldo and 3 of his men were marched to the seashore at Palanan Bay, arriving at noon. The Americans made 2 signal fires and hoisted a white flag. Within two hours the Vicksburg was anchored near the beach. During the trip, Aguinaldo admitted to Funston that he had been completely fooled by the phony dispatches. He later confided that he could “hardly believe myself to be a prisoner” and that he was gripped by a “feeling of disgust and despair for I had failed my people and my motherland”.

At 2:00 AM on March 28, the Vicksburg anchored in Manila Bay, with all lights screened, to keep the return of the expedition secret. They went up the Pasig River to the residence of the Governor-General in Malacañan, where they disembarked. Aguinaldo was presented to Brig. Gen. Arthur MacArthur, Jr. as a prisoner of war. He was treated by the Americans more as a guest than as a prisoner. At breakfast, MacArthur promised Aguinaldo that he would immediately send for his family, whom he had not seen for a long time. Aguinaldo complimented his captors: “At all times since our capture, as well in Palanan as on board the Vicksburg, we have been treated with the highest consideration by our captors, as well as by all the other American officers with whom we have come in contact.”

Everything that had been done by the Americans since November, 1899, was explained to Aguinaldo, and he was made to see that there was no altering American determination. Seeing this, Aguinaldo bowed to the inevitable. He took the oath of allegiance to the American Government and on April 1, 1901 issued a proclamation recommending abandonment of further resistance.

[Ennath]

March 24, 1843
Battle of Hyderabad

After the British victory at Miani (see posting), Sir Charles Napier got word of one of the Baluchi Amirs, Mir Sher Mohammad, mustering to continuing resistance. Napier was under the impression that Sher Mohammad would offer little resistance as he had very little in the way of funds or weapons, and was therefore surprised to hear that he had almost 30,000 troops.

Upon hearing of Sher Mohammad’s large army, Napier immediately sent for reinforcements from Ferozepur. Around the same time, Baluchi warriors began attacking British supply routes along the Indus as well as those from Karachi to other British holdings. It was Napier’s intent to hold off battle as long as he could so as to build up his strength as much as possible. He was sent a message from Sher Mohammad, promising the safety of Napier and his men if he would give up the fort at Hyderabad and the confiscated wealth. In reply, Napier had cannon fired from the fort as a sign that he would not surrender.

On March 20, Napier went out to reconnoiter Sher Mohammad’s position near Tando Ali Jam, finding the Amir’s army to be strong and holding excellent defensive ground. The next day, Napier received some much needed reinforcements, who arrived by ship, coming down the Indus from Sukkur. This brought him up to about 15,000 men.

On March 24, the British set out from Hyderabad to seek open battle. While waiting for the rest of army, the Scinde Horse, one of Napier’s irregular cavalry regiments, began to position themselves in a line opposite the Baluchi, who opened fire. Napier himself had to do much of the positioning of the troops, as he lacked experienced regimental commanders. As each regiment made its way into position, the firing grew fierce, The Baluchis were well entrenched and, due to the terrain, Napier was unable to get an idea of just how far away the Baluchi line was and how well it was supported. Soon the British had brought up artillery and opened fire on the Baluchi trenches. As the British approached the Baluchi left, they found themselves faced with heavy fire from the trees, where a large number of warriors had positioned themselves.

After almost an hour exchanging fire, Napier saw an opportunity to break through a weak spot in the Amir’s lines. The Scinde Horse and 3rd Bombay Light Cavalry made a move to attack the enemy right and crashed into the Baluchis before they could do significant damage. Meanwhile, the British right charged the Baluchi lines, piling over the trenches where the tightly packed enemy found difficulty in using their 2-handed swords. Seeing the desperation of the situation, Sher Mohammad left the battle at the suggestion of his commander, Hosh Mohammad Kambrani, hoping for another chance at victory. Hosh Muhammad, on the other hand, stayed behind with the troops, fighting to the death.

The British troops, seeing the Baluchi center giving way, charged it and split Amir’s line. About this time, Napier was almost killed when a magazine exploded nearby, killing some soldiers near him. The Amir’s army, routed and disorganized, began to flee, and Napier with the Bengal Cavalry pressed on after them, cutting them off from escape across the Indus and preventing them from regrouping. With the Baluchis dispersed, Napier returned to his men who celebrated their victor with 3 cheers.

This battle would be one of the last efforts by Sher Mohammad to resist. On June 14, he was surprised by British troops and his remaining forces scattered. Sher Mohammad himself escaped to Afghanistan. Napier is said to have confirmed the conquest of Sind with his punning Latin message “Peccavi” (I have sinned [Sind]). This pun appeared under the title “Foreign Affairs” in the satirical magazine Punch on May 18, 1844. The true author of the pun was, however, Catherine Winkworth, who submitted it to Punch, which then printed it as a factual report.

Following the British victory, and consequent annexation of Sind, troubles quickly arose. Captain James Outram, who had been sent back to England following his posting in Sind, began to plead the case of the Amirs in England. This was coupled with stark criticism towards both Lord Ellenborough and Napier, who wrote, pleading their case and arguing over the details of their dealings with the Amirs. The authorities in England were not pleased with the annexation and had in mind to restore the territory to the Amirs. However, thinking that the process would be difficult and that the forced resignation of Ellenborough and Napier would cause further criticism from England, the British retained Sind. The government did write to Napier and Ellenborough, condemning the annexation and their actions. The province was not as prosperous as Napier had hoped and for many years the British gained very little from its possession.

[Ennath]

March 25, 1655
Battle of the Severn

Maryland was founded by the first Baron Baltimore, who had been secretary to James I. Baltimore resigned from his position after the death of James and his own conversion to Catholicism. After a visit to what would be Maryland in 1628, Baltimore requested that Charles I make a grant of land for a colony in which Catholics could worship freely. Following his death on June 20, 1632, the grant of land was made to Cecil Calvert, the new Lord Baltimore.

The Charter of Maryland was unique in that it made Lord Baltimore and his heirs the “absolute Lords and Proprietaries” of the new colony. The effect of this document was to create a semi-independent colony, ruled by Lord Baltimore as Duke. The first settlers, a party of Catholic gentry and Protestants, landed on March 27, 1634. Using his absolute powers, Cecil Calvert named his brother Leonard as royal governor of the new colony, a post he held 1634–44, and again from 1646 until his death in 1647.

Using the language of the charter that allowed him to take possession of land between the Delaware Bay and Potomac River “not cultivated or planted”, Cecil Calvert lay claim to Kent Island. William Claiborne, however, had a claim to Kent Island arising from 1631 when he had landed and set up a fur trading post on behalf of Virginia. Following the arrest of one of his agents for trading in Maryland waters without a license in 1635, Claiborne fitted out an armed ship, and a naval battle ensued on April 23, 1635 by the mouth of the Pocomoke River. Following this, Leonard Calvert captured Kent Island by force in February 1638. The fallout, and the vengefulness of Claiborne, would resonate through Maryland for years to follow.

In April 1643, aware of the civil war in the home-country, Leonard Calvert departed Maryland to consult with his brother Cecil, leaving Giles Brent as acting governor. During this time, St. Mary's City was visited by Captain Richard Ingle, an ardent Parliament man, who was placed under nominal arrest for making disloyal comments about the King, but who was allowed to escape. Upon Leonard Calvert's return, he discovered that Ingle had joined forces with Claiborne and they were planning an invasion of the colony. In September 1644, Ingle captured St. Mary’s City, and Claiborne recovered Kent Island, forcing Calvert to seek refuge in Virginia. What followed became known as the Plundering Time, a nearly two-year period when Ingle and his companions roamed the colony, robbing at will and taking Jesuits back to England as prisoners. This ended only in 1646 when Calvert returned from exile in Virginia, recaptured St. Mary’s City, and restored order.

Following the death of Leonard Calvert in 1647, Cecil Calvert named William Stone as governor in 1649. Stone’s appointment was carefully made, as he was a Protestant (along with the majority of his council) and a friend of Parliament. By choosing Stone, Calvert could avoid criticism of Maryland as a seat of Popery, where Protestants were allegedly oppressed. Stone and his council, however, were required to agree not to interfere with freedom of worship. In 1649, the colonial Assembly passed the Act Concerning Religion (Toleration Act), ensuring freedom of religion within Maryland.

During the period of Parliamentary rule, Virginia remained faithful to Charles II, though Parliament, which had declared England a Commonwealth, had decreed that support for Charles was treason. Baltimore and Stone stayed mute on the subject, but almost immediately after taking office, Stone allowed a group of persecuted Virginia Puritans into the colony, who then settled at Providence, modern Annapolis. The issue of which side Maryland stood on was finally settled, at least in appearance, when Thomas Greene, deputy to Stone and a Catholic, declared on November 15, 1649 that Charles II was the “undoubted rightfull heire to all his father's dominions”. All acts taken by the Maryland Assembly would further require an oath of fidelity to Baltimore as Lord Proprietor.

In 1651 there began a set of rumors that Baltimore would lose his charter. Parliament had appointed 2 Commissioners, one of them none other than Claiborne, to force Maryland to submit to Parliamentary authority. In March 1652 they removed Stone as governor, only to reinstate him in June. On March 2, 1654, Stone decreed that although he was faithful to the Commonwealth, all writs should “run in the Proprietary’s name as heretofore”. On January 3, 1654, the Puritans who had settled at Stone’s invitation in Providence communicated to the commissioners that they objected to the oath of fidelity to Baltimore as a Catholic. On July 20, Stone resigned as governor under duress. The Commissioners became de facto governors of the colony, and the first general assembly under their authority was held on October 20, 1654. Catholics and any other individuals who had borne arms against the Parliament could not be members (effectively limiting the membership to Puritans), and among the acts passed was a repeal of the Toleration Act, and another that forbade Catholics from practicing their faith.

On January 31, 1655, the Golden Lyon, a merchant ship commanded by Captain Roger Heamans, arrived in Maryland, and Stone reported to the Captain that he was no longer governor. At about that time, another ship, the Golden Fortune, arrived with a letter from Oliver Cromwell, addressed to Captain Stone, Governor of Maryland. Using this as a form of recognition, Stone challenged the authority of the commissioners, seized back the records of the colony, and mustered his troops, to deal with the Puritan settlers allied with the commission. Recruiting, from St. Mary’s County, Stone recaptured the Assembly records, located on the Patuxent River, and sailed with a small fleet and 130 men up Chesapeake Bay, north towards Providence.

Heamans was informed of an alleged plot to kill the inhabitants of Providence, as well as to burn his ship and kill his crew. Following the removal of the women and children of Providence to Golden Lyon, a war council was convened and appointed William Fuller military leader of the Puritan settlers. On March 23, the council issued a warrant to Heamans to serve as a counselor, with Heamans relating to Stone that he was bound to do so, ignoring his contrary orders.

On March 24, Heamans fired on sloops and boats heading toward his ship, forcing their retreat. He then ordered an armed sloop to bar their escape by blocking Spa Creek, the inlet of the Severn to which Stone’s forces had retreated. On March 25, after Fuller retrieved the only Commonwealth flag in the colony for use as his colors in battle, the forces met on Horn Point, with Fuller’s 175 men driving Stone’s force to the end of the peninsula. In less than 30 minutes, the battle was over, with 17 of Stone’s force being killed and 32 wounded, including Stone. Only two of Fuller’s force were killed. Governor Stone surrendered after he was promised mercy. Following hostilities, however, the war council issued death sentences for Stone and 9 others. Four of the prisoners were executed, but the remainder were saved when the women of Providence begged that their lives be spared.

The Puritan assembly retained powers until April 27, 1658, when proprietorship was restored to Lord Baltimore, religious freedom was ensured, and a general amnesty declared. Thus, in the end, Lord Baltimore not only retained his lands and powers, but was able to avoid the grisly fate of many of his contemporaries in England. The proprietor appointed Josias Fendall to succeed Stone as governor for his loyalty during the battle.

The issue of the ongoing Claiborne grievance was finally settled by an agreement reached in 1657. Baltimore provided Claiborne amnesty for all offenses, Virginia laid aside any claim to Maryland territory, and Claiborne was indemnified with extensive land grants in Virginia for his loss of Kent Island.

Governor Fendall soon had a falling out with Lord Baltimore and led a bloodless revolution in 1659 whereby he and Fuller reorganized Maryland’s government to resemble the Commonwealth’s. However, the Restoration of Charles II in 1660 forced Fendall into exile and restored the proprietorship. Fendall was replaced as governor by Phillip Calvert. In addition, Fuller’s estate was confiscated and Claiborne never recovered his former holding of Kent Island.

[Ennath]

1818
Battle of Gqokli Hill

The Zulus were originally a close-knit ethnic group community that had migrated to the eastern plateau of present-day South Africa; they became a strong tribal nation largely due to the efforts of an ambitious chieftain named Shaka (c.1787-1828). A rebellious young man, Shaka was estranged from his father, a chief named Senzangakhona, and became a warrior with the Mthethwa people. The Mthethwa paramount chieftain Dingiswayo helped Shaka become recognized as head of the Zulus after Senzangakhona died in 1816. The two chieftains were close friends, and their warriors fought together against common enemies, such as the Ndwandwe headed by King Zwide. The Ndwandwe were the paramount military force in KwaZulu-Natal.

After Dingiswayo was captured and executed by Zwide, the Mthethwa placed themselves under Shaka and took the Zulu name. Shaka revolutionized traditional ways of fighting by introducing the assegai, a short stabbing spear, as a weapon and by organizing warriors into disciplined units that fought in close formation behind large cowhide shields.

Zwide moved against this new threat, seeking to finish his subjugation of the Mthethwa. This was to be Shaka’s first major battle,k and he was significantly outnumbered, with about 5000 men to the invaders’ 12,000.

To delay the Ndwandwe army, under command of Zwide’s eldest son and heir, Nomahlanjana, Shaka posted forces along the drifts (fords) of the White Umfolozi River while the river was still relatively high. Meanwhile, he laid waste to the area on the south (Zulu) side the river, and moved most of his non-combatants and cattle into hiding in the Nkandla Forest, on the southern extremities of Zulu land. He then placed the bulk of his troops around the top of Gqokli hill, with a reserve and all his supplies out of sight in a depression at the top of the hill. To Nomahlanja, it seemed like a much smaller force at the top of the hill and he anticipated it would be an easy massacre, “like butchering cattle in a kraal”, his is reputed to have said. Before the Ndwandwe army was across the river and surrounding his position, Shaka dispatched about 700 men, with a fraction of the clan’s cattle herd, to make a diversion about 6 miles south and tempt Nomahlanjana to split his force. The Ndwandwe general, thinking he was seeing the entire Zulu herd and half their army, obliged by sending 4 regiments (about 4000 men) off to chase the cattle down.

By about 9:00 AM, once all 8 of the remaining Ndwandwe regiments (about 8000 men) were arrayed at the bottom of Gqokli Hill, Nomahlanjana gave the signal for the attack. In the first charge up the slopes, it quickly became apparent that the Ndwandwe superiority in numbers would actually be a hindrance, for the converging formations began to crowd into each other, making it difficult to throw their spears effectively. And when Shaka ordered a counterattack, his men, who had no throwing spears but were armed with the new, shorter, stabbing assegai (amaKlwa), charged downhill and routed the disorganized attackers.

Nomahlanjana saw that his confidence was premature. He correctly reasoned that the problem presented by the Zulus’ central hilltop position, and the congestion that caused in his own forces, needed more flexible tactics. As many as 5 attacks were made during the day, each one trying a slightly different technique. But all failed to overwhelm the seemingly small band of Zulus. The Ndwandwe commander was also aware that his men, who had drunk all of their water, were becoming thirsty and exhausted in the hot, dry weather. They were starting to slip away in increasing numbers to make their way back to the Umfolozi river, about a mile from the battlefield, to refill their water skins. Shaka’s men, by contrast and thanks to his foresight, had plenty of water, food and first aid supplies, so were not nearly so taxed by the weather.

But Shaka didn’t have all day to win his battle. He had arranged for the decoy force to the south to signal him with smoke when the 4000 Ndwandwe on the cattle raiding expedition were heading back. Just after the 4th Ndwandwe attack had been repulsed, Shaka saw the ominous signal to the south. That meant he had very little time left to destroy Nomahlanjana’s main army before it was reinforced.

Both sides had suffered casualties during the day, but Nomahlanjana calculated, based on the thinning ranks of the 4 Zulu regiments he could see on the hill, that he still had a vastly superior force. He also concluded that the Zulus must be getting as hot, tired and thirsty as his own men. He decided to make one, last, decisive attack. He moved 1500 warriors, including his crack amaNkayia brigade, to the north of the hill in a gigantic attack column, about 20 men wide and 75 ranks deep. There were only, from what he could see, about 500 Zulus left on this side of the hill. He would lead this charge in person and simply roll over the remnant of the Zulu force. He left the remainder of his regiments in an arc to the south of the hill as a pinning force to keep Shaka from reinforcing his threatened flank.

But Shaka could see very well what was coming and felt that the time was ripe to spring his trap. All day long he had been fighting off the Ndwandwe assaults with just 4 of his 6 regiments, keeping his own elite brigade, consisting of the uFasimba and iziChwe regiments, out of sight and fresh in the hilltop depression. As the Ndwandwe shock column charged up the hill and into the waiting amaWombe regiment, Shaka launched his reserves in 2 encircling wings, completely enveloping the Ndwandwe column. These men had not expected such a large force to come out of nowhere and were thrown into a panic. This envelopment was the first trial of a maneuver that would thereafter become the signature tactic of the Zulu army, the Impondo Zenkomo, or “buffalo horns”. In several minutes, virtually all of the surprised and demoralized Ndwandwe in the column, including Nomahlanana and 4 of his brothers, were killed.

As the fighting on the northern slope wound down, Shaka ordered his remaining regiment on the south side, the Jubingwaqa, to attack the Ndwandwe southern wing. These, hearing first rumor and then confirmation of the massacre of their comrades on the north, made a fighting retreat in the direction of the approaching 4000 cattle raiders. When these came in sight, the Jubingqwanga broke off and, with the remnants of the regiment with the decoy (the Nkomendala), hung on the flanks of the retreating Ndwandwe to harass them and take back as many cattle as they could. Meanwhile, Shaka dispatched 2 regiments (probably the fresher uFasimba and iziChwe) to the north to mop up stragglers who had gone off in search of water at the river.

The battle was a bloody one, in which the Ndwandwe supposed lost as many as 7500 men (including 5 of Zwide’s oldest sons). The Zulus, though, suffered about 2000 casualties (most of them killed). In the Nguni tradition of war-of-annihilation, neither side took prisoners.

While Shaka's new tactics, his newly trained army, and his shrewd battle plan saved his people from extermination, he had by no means eliminated the Ndwandwe threat. He had only earned a respite. The Zulus had given up several hundred cattle (the economic capital of the Zulu economy) and sacrificed precious fighters they could not afford to lose. Zwide, for his part, was infuriated by the loss of his sons, by the blow to his arms, and, most of all by the temerity of the upstart usurper of the Zulu clan, and came back the following year with an even larger army and smarter generals. Shaka had just that year to build up his own power to meet the second invasion he knew was coming. This he was able to do by vigorous diplomacy with other tribes, and by attracting thousands of angry warriors with scores to settle with the Zwide.

The Ndwandwe and the Zulus met again in combat in 1819. By this time the Ndwandwe had adopted Zulu tactics and weapons so Shaka wore the invaders down with guerrilla tactics before launching his major attack when the Ndwandwe army was divided during the crossing of the Mhlatuze River. Zulu warriors arrived at Zwide’s headquarters near present-day Nongoma before news of the defeat, and approached the camp singing Ndwandwe victory songs to gain entry. Zwide was killed, and most of the Ndwandwe abandoned their lands and migrated north establishing Zulu-like Ngoni kingdoms in Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. This was the final phase of the Mfecane, a catastrophic, bloody war and eventual migration of many different tribes in the area, initially (c.1802) caused by famine but ultimately as a result of escaping from the Zulus. The Ngoni groups caused their own havoc using Zulu tactics. Shaka was the ultimate victor, and his people still live today throughout Zululand.

[Ernesto75]

In the film Zulu by Joseph Levine with Stanley Baker and Michael Caine, we see zulu warriors with their assegai and their large cowhide shields.

At one moment the tactics of the Impondo Zenkomo, or buffalo horns is also mentionned.

[Ennath]

March 26, 1953
Decision at Old Baldy

From late 1951, the fighting in Korea centered around a series of hill positions. One of the most prominent hills came to be called Old Baldy, which earned its nickname after artillery and mortar fire destroyed the trees on its crest. But as the highest point on a prominent east-west ridge, Old Baldy held strategic importance because it dominated terrain in 3 directions. From June to October 1952, the hill was the side of 4 inconclusive battles as the Chinese tried to seize control. In early 1953, they prepared another attempt.

Colombia was the only Latin American country participating in the United Nations Forces in Korea. A frigate, the Almirante Padilla, and an infantry battalion with 1080 men were sent to join the UN Forces in August 1951. The Colombian ground forces had been awarded for their exemplary performance in previous fighting, Operations Nomad, Thunderbolt, Climber (Hill 400) and Barbula (Hill 180) with Presidential United Citations from the United States and South Korea. At the time of Old Baldy, the Colombian Battalion was under US 7th Division (Maj. Gen. Wayne Smith). The South American unit was the 4th Battalion, US 31st Regiment commanded by Col. William Kern who had ordered Lt. Colonel Alberto Ruiz Novoa, the Colombian commander to relieve the Regiment’s 1st Battalion on Old Baldy.

The Colombians had just been in the Battle of Yeoncheon Hill. At dawn the battalion’s C Company initiated an operation to capture Hill No.180, a strongly built Chinese outpost, but faced stiff resistance. After capturing Hill No.180, C Company destroyed the defense facilities. But regimental intel had failed. The attack should have been carried out by at least a full battalion. The Colombians had 11 men KIA, 43 WIA, and 10 missing in action. Intercepted communications from the Chinese confirmed the struggle and hand-to-hand combat. The casualties were too high for C Company. They could not hold the position and were ordered to retreat. Two days later the Battalion received orders for Old Baldy.

On their new post, Company A was placed at Dale and B Company on Old Baldy, going west to east and C Company was behind both, in between. The 4th company of the Colombian Battalion was used to fill in the missing men in the other companies which meant the whole battalion was used in the frontline. Lt. Col. Ruiz Novoa asked the Col. Kern for reserve troops and a US company from the Regiment was assigned to the battalion as a reserve unit.

On March 20, artillery fire was felt all over 31st Regiment. The Colombian Battalion was on Baldy in the middle with 2nd Battalion to its left and 3rd Battalion on Pork Chop Hill. Intercepted communications and deserters confirmed the imminence of an attack, but Kern remained skeptical. On the 21st, 5 bodies were exposed by the Chinese on the crest of Hill 180, 4 Colombians and an American. The enemy wanted to tempt the Colombians in trying to recover them. The Colombian commander ordered a rescue mission which surprised regiment and division HQs. The bodies were recovered and heavy casualties inflicted; 4 Silver Stars were awarded. Nevertheless, the artillery fire intensified.

On the 23rd, since B Company had been on the line of fire for 11 days, Col. Kern ordered C Company to rotate with B. Ruiz objected the order. He was expecting a Chinese attack and considered it a mistake to move his troops, his reserve unit was the American company which he did not know, and C Company had been hit very hard on Hill 180 so he did not want to expose them to heavy fire yet. But Kern confirmed the order and the companies started rotation. The movement began toward 1500 hours under heavy fire, making it difficult for C Company to advance toward their new position. Once again the company began receiving heavy losses. B Company was completely demoralized. It had been under constant artillery fire since arrival. Men were eager to rotate as soon as they heard the new orders. C Company had not yet arrived, so B was reinforced with a .50 cal HMG borrowed from an American tank commander.

1st Battalion, Chinese 423rd Regiment, 141st Division (Hou Yung-chun), was selected to assault Old Baldy. The unit's political officer hand picked the 3rd Company to lead the attack and plant the Victory Flag on the hill. The Chinese were directly facing the battered B Company. At 2030 hours, A Company on Dale was attacked brutally. After a tenacious resistance and heavy support from B and C Companies he had to give up his position. Pork Chop Hill was also hit with the same heavy fire, beginning a fierce battle (see posting). 3rd Battalion could not hold its position and lost the hill. Kern, believing the main objective of the attack to be Pork Chop Hill sent in 2 companies to reinforce 3rd Battalion, but the fighting diminished making it possible for the Americans to retake its position on the hill 2 hours later.

Meanwhile, with US attention focused on Dale, another Chinese regiment moved in the dark to Old Baldy and 40 minutes after the attack on Dale and Pork Chop, Chinese artillery opened a heavy fire on Old Baldy, followed by the infantry assault. Days of bombardment had destroyed much of the wire and mines. A first attack failed, but a second broke in. At this point, C Company began to arrive; B Company retained commanded but half the men were now from C. The rotation had left the Colombian Battalion in a poor situation and the troops were now paying for it. Col. Ruiz asked his US reserve company to counterattack, but the American liaison officer informed him that the company had been used on Pork Chop. There had been no notice or warning sent to Ruiz. The Colombian Battalion was on its own. The unit had no reserves to counterattack. Company A had had to retreat with the ferocity of the attack that preceded the one on Old Baldy, but was determined to recover its position without any backup or reinforcements. B and C, in middle of the confusion of the rotation, could do absolutely nothing but try to survive.

Despite adversity, the Colombians almost broke the assault, as shown by a communication intercepted by Division intel, in which Hou Yung-chun said the assault was unsuccessful and the capture impossible. The Chinese response was a ruthless command: take it or suffer the consequences. Moments later, they announced the dispatch of reinforcements.

As the number of attackers increased and that of the defenders decreased, the defense began to weaken. The Chinese, taking advantage of their enormous numerical superiority, had to conquer the position trench by trench, stronghold by stronghold in fierce hand-to-hand combat.

At about 1 AM on the 25th, both parties, believing that the other had captured the hill, began heavy artillery fire. Casualties came from friendly and enemy fire alike. At midnight only one platoon had managed to reach West View and tried to help contain part of the attack. There the Colombians awaited for reinforcements to retake the lost position. These never arrived. By 4:30 AM, B Company’s 2nd platoon was down to 6 men.

At 8:00 Am on the 26th, a U.S. platoon arrived and was asked by the Colombians for fire support in order to retake the lost hill, but after a short reconnaissance they withdrew. Nevertheless, the Chinese did not pursue and their intention of breaking into 7th Division’s main line of resistance had been frustrated. Division HQ declared the hill a no-man’s land and unleashed a tremendous bombardment. This also fell on Colombians who had been cut off and unable to regain their lines.

Colombian casualties were 95 killed, 97 wounded and 30 MIA, over 20% of the battalion. 7th Division estimated 750 Chinese dead.

[Ennath]

March 27, 1756
Battle of FortBull

Following the failure of aggressive British campaign plans in 1755, a chain of forts along the Mohawk River connecting the Hudson to Lake Ontario were garrisoned during the winter of 1755–1756. The largest garrison was left at Fort Oswego at the end of the chain, on Lake Ontario, which depended on the others for its supplies. Two forts along the Oneida Carry were a key element of this supply chain. The Oneida Carry traversed an unnavigable section between Rome, NY and Wood Creek 1-6 miles long, depending on seasonal water levels. Ft. Williams, on the Mohawk, was the larger of the 2, while Ft. Bull, several miles north on Wood Creek, was little more than a palisade surrounding storehouses. Ft. Bull was garrisoned by a small number of men from Shirley’s Regiment under William Bull, and held large quantities of military stores, including gunpowder and ammunition, destined for use in the 1756 campaign.

In early 1756, French military leaders in Canada decided to send a raiding expedition to attack Oswego’s supply line. On March 12, a company of men left Fort de La Présentation and began an overland trek toward the Oneida Carry. Under the command of Lt. Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry, a Canadian-born seigneur, the force consisted of 84 troupes de la Marine, 111 Canadian militiamen, and 110 natives, mostly Iroquois but also some Hurons. After nearly 2 weeks of difficult winter travel, they arrived near the carry on March 24.

Early on March 27, Léry’s men captured 12 men of a British detachment near Ft. Bull; the others escaped capture and ran toward Ft. Williams. Learning from the prisoners of Bull’s minimal defenses, Léry decided to attack at once. As he had no field pieces, the only possibility was to attempt storming the fort by surprise. The fort’s defenders managed to get its gate closed just before the French arrived. The attackers managed to fire through loopholes in the fort's walls to distract the garrison, which responded by throwing rocks and grenades over the walls. After Bull refused several calls to surrender, the gate was taken down by the use of axes, and the attackers stormed into the fort. Nearly all of the small garrison was killed and scalped, according to a report by Sir William Johnson, who inspected the carnage when he eventually arrived at the head of a relief column. Léry's men set fire to the works, which included 45,000 pounds of gunpowder. The resulting conflagration destroyed the wooden fort. The victory cost the French 1 dead and 2 wounded. The British lost 76 dead and 35 captured.

Léry withdrew, not venturing to attack Fort Williams. Johnson, warned by Indians of the approach of the French, had pushed up the Mohawk with reinforcements, but came too late.

A star-shaped wood stockade with four interior buildings was built in May-August 1756 as Fort Wood Creek. This was destroyed by the British in August when reports of another French force were received. Léry was promoted to captain for his successful command. The loss of the supplies at Fort Bull effectively ruined British plans for a campaign against French forts on Lake Ontario, and may have contributed to the French capture of Fort Oswego in August.

[Ennath]

March 28, 1814
Capture of the Essex

The frigate USS Essex was built by Enos Briggs, Salem, Massachusetts. Essex was armed with 40 short range 32-pounder carronades that could not hope to match the range of 18 and 24 pounder naval guns, but superior at close range. There were also twelve 12-pounder guns. She was launched on September 30, 1799.

Essex served in the closing stages of the Quasi-War with France, during which she became the first US naval ship to cross the Equator. Under the command of William Bainbridge, she then served throughout the war with Tripoli. Returning to the Washington Navy Yard in July 1805, she was placed in ordinary until February 1809 when she was recommissioned for sporadic use in patrolling American waters and a single cruise to Europe.

When war was declared against Britain on June 18, 1812, Essex, commanded by Captain David Porter (father of the Civil War admiral), made a successful cruise to the south. On July 11, near Bermuda she fell in with 7 British transports and by moonlight engaged and took one of them as a prize. On August 13, she encountered and captured the sloop HMS Alert. By September, when she returned to New York, Essex had taken 10 prizes. The youngest member of the Essex crew was 10-year-old midshipman David Farragut, who would become the first admiral of the US Navy. Farragut, who was Captain Porter’s foster son, remained with the ship for the next 2 years.

The Essex entered the South Pacific in the spring of 1813. She had originally been part of a larger squadron, but the Constitution had run into HMS Java and despite defeating the British warship had been forced to return home for repairs. Captain Porter decided to continue his cruise alone, and, though her crew suffered greatly from a shortage of provisions and heavy gales while rounding Cape Horn, reached the port of Valparaiso, Chile on March 14. Along the way the Essex captured a British whaler and the Peruvian man-of-war Nereyda. The latter had captured 2 American whalers, Walker and Barclay, only to have the British whaler/privateer Nimrod take Walker. Nereyda had sent Barclay to Callao, where Porter was able to capture her before she could enter port. He sent a disarmed Nereyda back to the Peruvian authorities as a gesture of good will. He searched for Nimrod and Walker, but was unable to find them.

Over the next 5 months, Essex captured 13 British whalers. One of these ships, the Atlantic, was renamed the Essex Junior and armed with 20 guns, sailing in company with her captor to the Island of Nuku Hiva for repairs. Porter put his executive officer John Downes in command of that ship.

The British were also planning an expedition into the Pacific, in this case to the American Northwest, where they planned to destroy a fur trading post on the Columbia River. The frigate Phoebe (36) and the sloops Cherub and Raccoon (both 18) were allocated to this task, all under the command of Captain James Hillyard. This small force entered the South Pacific in the summer of 1813, and also visited Valparaiso. The Raccoon was then sent on to deal with the fur trading post, while Phoebe and Cherub attempted to track down the American ships.

On February 3, 1814, Essex and Essex Junior returned to Valparaiso, Phoebe and Cherub arrived 5 days later. All four ships spent a tense time together in the harbor while the British took on fresh supplies, before the British put to sea and blockaded the American ships in port.

The status of Spanish waters was a little complex in 1814. Spain and Britain were allies in the war against Napoleon, but Spain was neutral in the War of 1812. The 2 British ships respected the neutrality of the port of Valparaiso, but once the Essex attempted to escape from the port the British considered the Americans to have relinquished the protection of neutrality.

Phoebe carried a mix of guns. She was armed with twenty-six 18 pdr long guns, fourteen 32 pdr carronades and four long 9 pdr guns. Cherub carried another eighteen 32 pdr carronades, six 18 pdr carronades and two long 6 pdr guns. The Americans could match the British in the weight of their broadside, but not in range. The Essex Junior carried ten 18 pdr carronades and ten 6 pdr long guns, but she had not been built as a warship and her structure was thus not strong enough to withstand much punishment. Essex had her mainly carronade armament. If Essex could get close to the Phoebe then she had a chance of victory, but if the battle was fought at longer ranges the British had the advantage.

The blockade lasted for 6 weeks, but eventually an accident forced Porter to put to sea. On March 28, one of the Essex’s 2 cables snapped in a fierce squall. Porter was forced to cut the other cable and attempt to get past the blockade. At first, the same fierce winds that had caused the damage helped the Americans, and the Essex found herself to the windward of the British ships. At this point her luck changed - another fierce squall carried away her main topmast, meaning that there was no way she could escape from the British. The Essex sailed north along the coast for a short distance, before anchoring in a small bay.

The British ships gave chase, and when they found the Essex at anchor, decided to attack. The first clash came at around 4 PM. Although the Essex could only use her long guns in this fight, she was able to inflict some damage on the British ships before they were forced to abandon the attack to get some more sea room. The fight was renewed at around 5.30. Once again the British took advantage of their longer range guns and pounded the Essexfrom a distance. Porter attempted to run the Essex onto the shore to allow her men to escape, but yet another unlucky gust of wind prevented this. She caught fire twice, but on each occasion the fire was controlled. At this point, some 50 men had abandoned the ship and swam for shore, only half of them landing; the British saved 16. These were mainly British sailors captured earlier in the cruise of the Essex who had changed sides, and were now eager to escape British captivity Finally, at around 6.20, Essexwas forced to strike her flag and surrender.

Captain Porter reported his losses during the battle as 58 dead, 39 severely wounded and 27 lightly wounded from a crew of 154. The British lost 4 men dead and 7 wounded on Phoebe, and 1 dead and 3 wounded on Cherub. Hillyard’s report on the battle emphasized the skill and bravery of the Essex’s crew and of Captain Porter.

Essex Junior was also captured. Her captors used her to transport their prisoners of war to New York. Just outside New York, a British warship detained them overnight. Porter took the view that the detention abrogated the terms he had signed with Hillyard and contrived to escape on shore. The British released Essex Junior, and she sailed into harbor, past various forts that mistook her for an enemy ship and fired on her, without effect. When she arrived at New York in July 1814, the marshal of the district seized her. She was condemned, and sold on August 26.

Captain Hillyard placed Lt. C. Pearson in command of Essex for the voyage to England, where she arrived in November. There, the Admiralty had her repaired and taken into the Royal Navy as HMS Essex. The Royal Navy never fitted her for sea, but reclassed her as a 42-gun ship. She served as a troopship in July 1819. She was hulked at Cork to serve as a prison ship in Ireland in October 1823, and served in this capacity at Kingstown until 1834. On June 6, 1837 she was sold at public auction. During early 21st century resurfacing work on the east pier of Dun Laoghaire harbor, Essex’s permanent mooring anchor was discovered embedded in the pier.

[Ennath]

March 29, 1885
Pescadores Campaign

The Pescadores Islands, also known from their Chinese name as P’eng-hu, were an important transit stop for reinforcements to the Chinese army under the command of Liu Ming-ch’uan confronting the French in northern Taiwan around Keelung, and their capture would prevent further reinforcements from reaching Taiwan. Admiral Amédée Courbet had wanted to mount an expedition to capture the Pescadores for several months, but the feasibility of the operation depended on the progress of the Keelung Campaign. Col. Jacques Duchesne’s defeat of Liu Ming-ch’uan's forces and capture of the key Chinese position of La Table on March 7, 1885 finally disengaged Keelung, allowing the French to detach troops from its garrison for a descent on the Pescadores.

Courbet's flotilla consisted of the ironclads Bayard and Triomphante, the cruisers d’Estaing and Duchaffaut, the gunboat Vipère and the troopship Annamite. His landing force consisted of an understrength battalion of marine infantry (400 men of the usual complement of 600) under the command of chef de bataillon Lange and a marine artillery section of two 80mm mountain guns (Lt. Lubert).

The Chinese garrison of the Pescadores, which had been substantially reinforced at the beginning of 1885, was commanded by the generals Chou Shan-ch’u and Cheng Ying-chieh, and numbered around 2400 men. A number of foreign officers served with the Chinese, including an American officer named Nelson, responsible for the defense of one of the Makung forts, whose diary of events was later recovered by the French. Initially optimistic, by March 1885 Nelson had despaired of training up the Chinese gunners to the standard necessary to meet the French in battle.

The fortifications of the Pescadores were designed primarily to protect Makung and deny entrance to Makung Bay, and also if possible to cover the southern entrance to P’eng-hu Bay, which would have to be traversed first by an attacking squadron. The most formidable obstacles were the 2 Makung forts, placed on either side of the entrance to the bay. The Northern Fort, just southwest of Makung, had 3 Armstrong cannons, and was flanked by a number of subsidiary positions in which the Chinese had deployed a dozen rifled French Voruz cannon of various calibers. The Southern Fort, or Dutch Fort (it had been built by the Dutch in the 17th century), was armed with two 220mm and two 140mm smoothbore cannon. A third battery, on Observatory Island just inside Makung Bay, also covered the entrance to the bay, which had also been blocked by a barrier of chains. The Observatory Island battery was armed with 2 Armstrong cannon and a Chinese 200mm cannon. The Chinese had also built a battery armed with smoothbores to sweep the plain to the east of Makung and a large entrenched camp north of the town to house the regular troops of the island’s garrison. The outer defenses were much weaker. The southern entrance to P’eng-hu Bay was covered on the west by the Hsiaochi battery on Fisher Island (modern Hsi-yu), and on the east by a battery on Plate Island. The Plate Island battery was quite close to the Southern Fort, and could also cover the approach to Makung Bay. Unfortunately for the Chinese, both these batteries were armed only with a mixture of antiquated smoothbores that offered little threat to the French squadron.

The French flotilla concentrated off Tai-wan-fu (modern Tainan) and approached the Pescadores from the west before dawn on March 29. During the morning the French ships bombarded and silenced the Hsiaochi battery and other shore batteries guarding the approaches to Makung. In the late afternoon Lange’s battalion was put ashore on the southern cape of P’eng-hu Island, at Dome Hill, where it set up a defensive position for the night. There were no Chinese in sight, and the landing was made without resistance.

During the night the French sent boats to scout the chain barrage across the entrance to Makung harbor. The scouting party discovered that no mines had yet been attached to the chains, and at dawn on March 30 a party of sailors from Bayard went forward in launches to cut a gap in the barrage. Chinese riflemen tried to disrupt this operation, and a French sailor was killed.

With the barrage breached, Courbet’s flotilla entered Makung Bay on the morning of the 30th and bombarded the defenses of Makung. At the same time, Lange’s battalion began to advance towards Makung, its flanks covered by d’Estaing and Vipère in Makung Bay and Annamite in Dome Bay. The column was guided towards its objective by an elderly local fisherman, who had volunteered his services for pay. During the afternoon Lange’s men cleared Chinese infantry from the village of Kisambo and closed up to the village of Siu-kuei-kang (modern Suo-kang), which was strongly held by the Chinese. The French bivouacked for the night west of the village, ready to attack the following morning. During the evening the French column was reinforced by the landing companies of Bayard, Triomphante and d’Estaing and by four 65mm cannon.

On the morning of March 31, Lange attacked the main Chinese defensive line around Siu-kuei-kang. Although the marine infantry and sailors were heavily outnumbered, French naval gunfire tipped the balance. The Chinese were driven from their positions and attempted to make a second stand before Makung, near the village of Amo. Lange attacked again, with equal success, and occupied Makung late in the afternoon. Most of the defeated Chinese soldiers escaped to Amoy in mainland China or to Tai-wan-fu on junks and fishing boats under cover of darkness, though a number were caught and handed over to the victorious French by the inhabitants of the Pescadores, who saw no reason to distinguish between two equally unwelcome sets of intruders.

French casualties were 5 killed and 12 wounded. Chinese casualties may have amounted to 300 dead and around 400 wounded, and included several senior officers. The French were told by islanders that the American artillery officer Nelson was beheaded during the bombardment of March 29 on the orders of an enraged Chinese commander, because his guns were unable to make any effective reply to the French warships.

The Pescadores campaign was Courbet’s last military victory. Although it was a minor operation compared with the capture of Son Tay or the Battle of Foochow (see posting), in the eyes of his officers it was his most flawless military achievement. Significantly, Courbet directed operations in person, and chose to fight this brief colonial campaign in the traditional style, with ships of the French navy supporting the land operations of marine infantry and artillery. The decision reflected inter-service rivalries. Courbet was disrespecting the army ministry, which had long ago wrested the direction of the Tonkin campaign away from the navy ministry. His timing was perfect. While the army ministry was struggling to explain away defeat in the battle of Bang Bo (March 24) and the subsequent retreat from Langson, Courbet presented the navy ministry with an elegant, almost bloodless victory in the Pescadores.

On July 27, in the wake of an enquiry into their conduct, the defeated Chinese generals were demoted and punished for the loss of the Pescadores by being posted to the remote northern Chinese province of Heilungkiang.

Makung became the main base for Courbet’s Far East Squadron for the remainder of the war and a brief period of occupation in summer 1885. The Sino-French War ended in April and under the terms of the settlement the French continued to occupy the Pescadores until July, as a surety for the withdrawal of the Chinese armies from Tonkin. Makung Bay was a superb natural harbor, and many of the squadron’s officers hoped that France would retain its recent conquest as a counterweight to the British colony of Hong Kong. This was never a realistic prospect. France had fought the war to oust the Chinese from Tonkin, not to make colonial conquests in China itself, and the French punctiliously evacuated the Pescadores on July 22.

[Ennath]

1872
Baker’s Invasion of Bunyoro

The kingdom of Bunyoro (now in northern Uganda) was situated on the Upper Nile, east of Lake Albert. This area was a sort of frontier zone between the tribes of the southern Sudan and the more sophisticated kingdoms of the Great Lakes region, notably Bunyoro’s southern neighbor Buganda. Bunyoro had once formed the core of an empire that had dominated the Lake Victoria region between the 14th and 17th centuries. Like some other local kingdoms, it was divided between a farming caste of local origin - the Bairu - and an aristocracy of Bahima cattle-herders who had arrived from the north. In Bunyoro, however, the social divide was less rigid than in kingdoms further to the south, probably due to the influence of a 3rd group, the Babito. These were formidable warriors who arrived in the 15th century and seized power in Bunyoro, founding a new royal line.

Since its peak in the 17th century, the military power of Bunyoro had gradually been eclipsed by that of Buganda. The loss of several provinces to this more populous neighbor in the late 18th century, followed by that of Toro, which broke away in the 1820s, meant that the kingdom no longer had the resources or manpower to seriously threaten Baganda hegemony. A series of 4 civil wars against rebellious princes in the 1820s further weakened the Banyoro army.

After the death of King Nyabongo around 1860, Kamrasi succeeded to the throne with the assistance of an army sent by King Mtesa of Buganda, who hoped by this to reduce Bunyoro to vassal status. Kamrasi defeated a rival claim by Nyabongo’s brother Nukabari, but the new king’s own brother, Rionga, broke away and set up an effectively independent state in the north of the country. Sporadic fighting continued throughout the 1860s and 1870s between Kamrasi and his successors on one hand, and Rionga on the other. Both sides recruited units of Turkish slavers as allies and, less successfully, tried to persuade the explorers John Speke and Samuel Baker to use their guns against their rivals. In 1869, Kamrasi died and another succession war broke out, in which mercenaries from the Sudan took part on both sides. Mtesa of Buganda again played kingmaker, sending a force to support Kabarega, who eventually secured the throne. However, the new ruler not only refused to be a Baganda puppet, but began restoring Bunyoro’s tattered military reputation.

In 1871, Khedive Ismail of Egypt sent Samuel Baker on a mission to annex the southern Sudan and eradicate the slave trade there. The boundaries of his area of operations were not made clear in his orders, so after achieving partial success, Baker decided to press on southwards to Bunyoro. He took with him a force of 212 Egyptian soldiers, leaving the rest behind in fortified camps. He detached another 100 men to establish a base camp at Fatiko in the Madi country, just north of the Banyoro border, and in May 1872 arrived at the Banyoro capital at Masindi with the remaining 112 soldiers. There he was greeted by King Kabarega. As the first white man to meet this monarch, Baker was in a unique position to influence foreign opinion. Unfortunately, the explorer was not impressed: “a gauche, undignified lout of twenty years of age”, he wrote, “who thought himself a great monarch. He was a coward, cruel, cunning and treacherous to the last degree.”

On his earlier visit to the country, Baker had found Kamrasi to be easily intimidated, but his attempt to treat Kabarega in the same fashion misfired. Without asking permission, he raised the Turkish flag, began building a timber fort, and announced that he was annexing Bunyoro to the Egyptian empire. Kabarega at first pretended to cooperate and provided the expedition with porters, while secretly sending out messengers to assemble his army. Baker claimed that the king also tried to dispose of the Egyptian troops with a gift of poisoned plantain cider, but Banyoro informants later denied this, saying that the men had simply got drunk. At any rate, about 40 of Baker’s men did become ill for a time, but the rest remained on duty.

At 5:00 AM on the morning of June 7, 1872, Kabarega launched a surprise attack on the Egyptian camp. Baker and his men, however, were already on the alert and were standing to, fully armed. Baker was walking around outside the partly completed fort when he heard shots, and ordered the bugler who always accompanied him to sound the alarm. The well-drilled Egyptians immediately formed square, just in time to meet a charge by an estimated 8000 Banyoro. The majority of these were spearmen, but about 50 had muskets, with which they fired a volley from the cover of some bushes growing near the fort. Two of Baker’s men were killed, but the attack was repulsed. Most of the soldiers who were still fit were from the elite company known as the Forty Thieves, who were armed with Snider breech-loaders. The Egyptians then fought their way out through the town, setting fire to the huts as they went, and escaped under cover of the smoke. So effective was their shooting that later Banyoro oral tradition claimed that Baker had a machine gun.

Kabarega was sufficiently shaken by the reverse to propose negotiations, but Baker realized that his own position was untenable. His lines of communication were in danger and he had no choice but to retire. In fact, the 300 porters lent to him by Kabarega to bring up supplies from Fatiko had secret orders to massacre the garrison there, and so cut off Baker’s retreat. The king no doubt believed that the expedition would be forced to surrender by lack of food, but Baker’s wife Florence, who had unofficially accompanied the column, saved the day by revealing a secret store of flour, which she had hidden away in sealed boxes in case of emergency.

Baker managed to withdraw his troops to Fatiko, a distance of over 100 miles through country covered in tall grass, ideal for ambushes, and harassed the whole way by the Banyoro. They made false trails to lead the column astray, threw spears from cover, and even constructed ambush sites in advance at river crossings and other points where they knew Baker would have to pass. A screen of tall grass or reeds was left along the trail for concealment, behind which a large open space was cleared, so that the warriors could get a good run up before throwing their spears. Meanwhile, other warriors would lurk behind the column to cut off any stragglers. The Egyptians could respond to these tactics only by firing blindly into the grass, wasting much of their scarce ammunition. Nevertheless, Baker kept the column in good order and, by means of bugle calls, kept it from becoming split up. Flexible march deployment allowed them to respond effectively to pressure anywhere along the line. After 7 days of continuous fighting, Baker arrived in the territory of the rival claimant, Rionga. At Fatiko, he found that Kabarega’s plan had miscarried and the garrison was still intact. Baker eventually returned home and claimed victory.

Rionga happily accepted Egyptian overlordship in return for protection against Kabarega, and the Egyptians quickly built and garrisoned a string of forts in the territory. Baker’s parting shot was to proclaim Rionga King of Bunyoro, under the Khedive, and to announce that Kabarega was deposed. Charles “Chinese” Gordon assumed command, and established several forts in Bunyoro, even forcing Kabarega to abandon Masindi, but the Banyoro king held on to most of the kingdom. From this point, his strength grew, and began to take the offensive against his other neighbors.