The Basuto Rebellion, Civil War and Reconstruction, 1880-1884
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University of Nebraska at Omaha DigitalCommons@UNO Student Work 7-1-1973 The Basuto rebellion, civil war and reconstruction, 1880-1884 Douglas Gene Kagan University of Nebraska at Omaha Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/studentwork Recommended Citation Kagan, Douglas Gene, "The Basuto rebellion, civil war and reconstruction, 1880-1884" (1973). Student Work. 441. https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/studentwork/441 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UNO. It has been accepted for inclusion in Student Work by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UNO. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE BA5UT0 REBELLION, CIVIL WAR, AND RECONSTRUCTION, 1B8O-1804 A Thesis Presented to the Dapartment of History and the Faculty of the Graduate College ‘University of Nebraska at Omaha In Partial Fulfillment if the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts by Douglas Gene Kagan July 1973 UMI Number: EP73079 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI EP73079 Published by ProQuest LLC (2015). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 t Accepted for the faculty of The Graduate College of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Art3. Graduate Committee Departme Chairman PREFACE The author embarked on this study because most accounts of this Basuto crisis do not uncover and properly interpret the events which transpired. Historical thought on tha British Empire and Commonwealth in recent years has shifted from dissemination of the "civilize the despicable and barbarous na tive with a gun or a Bible for the glory of the Empire" line of thought to a circulation of the "destruction of the pure and innocent native tribes by the gluttonous and malignant spread of European civilization" line of reasoning. This work, it is hoped, will illustrate the fallacies in both schools of thought in regard to Basutoland. The basic argument in this thesis contends that the Basuto conflict was not caused by opposition of the entire tribe to disarmament but rather by civil insurrection and rebellion of one section of the tribe against lawful authority. Up to this time, there has been written no adequate history of the Dasuto Rebellion, Civil War, and Reconstruction, 1800-1884. Some secondary works cited supply much of the background; other books are outdated, incom plete, or inferior studies. My thesis is intended to fill a gap in historical thought and to rectify a historical error perpetuated since 1884. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the preparation of this thesis, I have received generous help from a number of people. I am grateful to Dr. A. Stanley Xrickett for reading the manuscript, offering many helpful suggestions, and awaiting with divine pa tience its completion; to Mrs. Marlene Bernstein for advice and comments, and to the authors of works cited in my footnotes. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE PREFACE iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv I. ADJUSTMENT OF BASUTOLAND TO EUROPEAN DOMINATION Basutoland under British rule --- Basutoland under Cape Colony rule --- Basuto labor in the diamond fields — - The Quthing Question. II. PRELUDE TO CRISIS 24 The Sprigg visit to Basutoland and the Proclamation of the Peace Preservation Act — - Basuto opposition to disarmament and the response of the Cape Parliament --- The French missionaries oppose the disarmament policy. III. THE THREATENING TEMPEST 53 The British Parliament debates the Peace Preservation Act --- Heightened Basuto resistance to disarmament — - Basuto militia and police. IV. THE BASUTO CIVIL WAR 67 Causes of the civil war and later rebellion --- The Basuto Civil War, June-September 1880 -— Sprigg examines conditions in Basu toland — The recall of Governor Frere — Cape Colony mobilizes for war. V. THE BASUTO REBELLION 105 September 1880 --- October 1880 November 1880 -— December 1880 January 1881 February 1881 -— March 1881 --- Malevolent meddling by French missionaries — — Contemplation of British military assistance --- Potential British intervention in the conflict♦ v VI. THE BASUTO RECONSTRUCTION The end of the war and the Robinson Award --- Commentary on and implications of the colonial and rebel military conduct in the rebellion --- Reconstruction: First Phase — - Reconstruction: Second Phase -— ‘'Chinese” Gordon and Basuto Reconstruction --- The Basutoland Losses Commission. VII. BASUTOLAND REVERTS TO BRITISH RULE VIII. CONCLUSION APPENDIX A Act for the Disannexation of Basutoland from the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope PHOTOGRAPHIC REPRODUCTIONS AND MAPS Sir Bartle Frere Sir Hercules Robinson Sir Philip V/odehouse Sir Marshal Clarke Sir John Charles Molteno Major-General Sir J. G. Dartnell Moshesh I Eugene Casalis Lerothodi I Thaba Bosigo Masupha A Mosuto warrior Basuto assegais Major G. R. Dears leading the PAG bayonet charge against the village of Lerothodi, October 22, 1880 Attack on Lerothodi's village Native territories neighboring Basutoland 230 The attack on Maseru 231 Battle of Kalabani 232 Map of Basutoland 233 Leribe and Berea Districts 234 Thaba Bosigo District 235 Cornet Spruit and Quthing Districts 236 Partial family tree listing descendents of Chief Moshesh I 237 Bibliography 238 0 vii CHAPTER I ADJUSTMENT OF BASUTOLAND TO EUROPEAN DOMINATION BASUTOLAND UNDER BRITISH RULE Ths Rasutos did not become an organised tribe and therefore not a promi nent factor in British affairs until 1818, when Moshesh, a minor chief (Infra, family tree, p. 239, PI. XXV ; illust., p. 225, PI. VII), unified remnants of various clans scattered by Zulu and Matabele raids. After these incursions stopped, a greater threat arose from the trekker Boers, who coveted Basuto land but refused to recognize the suzerainty of Moshesh. Chief Moshesh because of this threat continuously sought British protection, and his pleas became more plaintful as the Boers seized more of his land"!1 When a military expedi tion under a Major Warden from Cape Colony attempted to intimidate the tribe into accepting definite boundaries with the Boers, Moshesh smashed this force 2 and soon after destroyed a punitive expedition commanded by a General Cathcart. Chief Moshesh, nevertheless, desperately sought British protection in 3 4 1868, and, on March 12, 1868, Basutoland became British territory; the Duka of Buckingham, then Colonial Secretary, yielding to the insistent pleas of Mo shesh for protection when it appeared to London that the Boers threatened the iBasutoland, Report for the Year 1963 (London: HMS0, 1964), p. 123. 2 Lord Hailey, The Republic of 5outh Africa and the High Commission Terri tories (London: Oxford University Press, 1263), pp. 15-l6. 3 Austin Coates, Basutoland (London: HM5Q, 1966), p. 37; Richard P. Stevens, Lesotho, Botswana, and Swaziland (New York: Frederick A- Praeger, 1967), pp. 24-25. Hereafter cited as Stavsns, Lesotho, etc. ^The Basutos became British subjnets but not protected persons until Ba sutoland received protectorate status in 1884, W. E. 5imnett, The British Co lonial Empire (London: Geo. Allen &. Unwin Ltd., 1949), p. 108. 1 2 5 Basutos with extinction. Britain had not wanted to increase the financial burden of administering her Empire during this period, but the annexation of Basutoland seemed the only method to maintain a peace on the frontiers of Cape Colony and to protect the stability of the Empire^ Earlier, in 1B66, the Orange Free State had closed mission stations in Basuto territory after Boer commandos had overrun much of the region. Another factor leading to the an nexation was growing British fear that the Boer republic would secure an east 0 coast seaport. The Colonial Secretary at first had thought that Governor Sir Philip Wodehouse had exceeded his authority by annexing Basutoland but later 9 advised the governor to act at his own discretion. Soon after, however, the Cape"Parliament expressed some hostility to the Wodehouse actions, contending that hs had exceeded his instructions. The parliament berated London for con senting to an annexation which excused the Imperial Government from financial Great Britain, Parliament, Hansard’s Parliamentary Debates, 3rd ser., Vol. 257 (1881), p. 1073, 5ir Henry Holland speaking, January 20, 1881. Here after cited as Hansard, etc.; Great Britain, Parliament, Sessional Papers (House of Commons), (1883), XLVIXI: "Correspondence Respecting the Affairs of Basutoland," 330, Mr. ’Wood speaking on^a memorandum of the Basutos in the House of Representatives. Hereafter cited as 13.j5.P., (date), etc. ^Margaret L. Hodgson and W. G. Ballinger, Indirect Rule in Southern Afri ca , (Mo. 1) Basutoland (Lovedale, Cape Colony: Lovedale Press, 1931), p. 7. ; Hereafter cited as Hodgson and Ballinger, Indirect Rule. ^Orange Free State: This Boer republic bordered Cape Colony on tTie north and Basutoland on the north and west, Eric Rosenthal, ed . , Encyclopedia of Southern Africa -"(London: 1961), p. 374. Hereafter cited as Rosenthal, ed., Encyclopedia. 8 Stevens, Lesotho,