TOPIC:

August Anderson

Trooper, Salisbury Horse – Matabeleland 1893
Trooper, Gifford’s Horse – Rhodesia 1896

Wounded in Action - 29 March 1896
Died of Wounds sustained on the Shiloh Patrol – 6 June 1896

- British South Africa Company Medal (Matabeleland 1893 reverse) clasp Rhodesia 1896 to TROOPR A. ANDERSON. SALISBURY HORSE



August Anderson was a rare casualty in the 1896 Matabeleland Rebellion.

Born on 25 February 1871 in Munzen (Munsala), Finland he was the son of farmer, Anders Anderrson and his wife Sofia Anderrson. The family farm was called “Ollandt,” which in Finnish means “Dutch” Munsala is to be found in Österbotten near Vasa, a Swedish speaking part of Finland which, no doubt, accounts for the family’s Swedish surname.

Anderson, at some point in the early 1890’s headed south where, having reached the southernmost tip of the Dark Continent, he headed inland to what was to become known as Rhodesia – a vast expanse of land inhabited by the Ndebele (Matabele) and Mashona tribes to the north of the Zuid Africaansche Republiek (or Transvaal.)

Although earlier explorers had traversed this territory as they headed towards the equator, it wasn’t until the arch-Imperialist Cecil John Rhodes with his Charter Company began to infiltrate across the Zambezi River with his Pioneers in 1890 that bellicose rumblings began to permeate the air. Rhodes brokered a deal with the Matabele Chief Lobengula who conceded substantial land grants to his British South Africa Company. In the aftermath of this settlers, prospectors and adventurers began to drift northwards in search of their fortunes which began to rankle with the local tribes.

One such was August Anderson, he was already in the territory in 1893 when the smouldering embers of discontent among the local tribes burst into flames and Matabele impis went on the warpath, plundering and murdering settlers and traders in isolated areas who were in their path.



Several units were raised to take the fight to the Matabele – one of them being the Salisbury Horse, a unit formed on July 23, 1893, as part of the Salisbury Field Force. All the men were volunteers with the first intention being to have four Troops of fifty mounted men each (Salisbury Horse) and fifty men manning two Maxim guns on ‘galloping’ carriages, one one-pounder shell Maxim gun and a Gardner gun.

According to the medal roll, Anderson (mistaken named as Alexander Anderson) fought in both of the seminal engagements of the 1893 campaign – the Battle of Shangani on 25 October 1893 and the Battle of Bembesi, fought on 1 November – a week later. Shortly thereafter the Matabele, their capital of Bulawayo having fallen, gave up the fight. Rhodes and the Field Forces called into action to subdue their foe were, however, remiss in that they didn’t press home their advantage and allowed the Matabele to return home to their kraals, almost without any form of retribution. This oversight was to prove costly a mere three years later when, in 1896, they rose again and continued where they left-off with the massacring of traders and prospectors.

Anderson, having survived the travails of the ’93 campaign, volunteered for service with Gifford’s Horse who, as part of the Bulawayo Field Force, consisted of about 850 men distributed as an Artillery troop, Engineer troop, Greys Scouts, Dawsons Scouts; Giffords Horse and an Afrikander Corps. They were raised on 25 March 1896 and disbanded on 4 July of that year – their work done.

It was in this campaign that Anderson was to meet his Maker as part of what became known as the Shiloh Patrol. I turn to the relevant portions of the work “Sunshine and Storm” by the legendary scout Selous for details surrounding the incident wherein, although not named in the book, he was Wounded in Action on 29 March 1896:

“At midnight on the Saturday before my return to Bulawayo from the Matopo Hills, Captain Pittendrigh of the Africander Corps had left town with a small party only eleven strong, in order first of all to reinforce for the night a small party at Jenkins' store, and then push on some thirty miles farther, in order to relieve Mr. Graham, the native commissioner at Inyati, who with Sub-inspector Hanley and five other white men was believed to be in laager there. There were many volunteers for this expedition, but as the Government was unable to furnish them with horses or rifles, only those could go who were in a position to equip themselves.

Jenkins' store was reached at half-past two on Sunday morning (29 March 1896). Here ten men were found in laager, including a younger brother of Mr. Graham the native commissioner. He, with an assistant native commissioner, Mr. Carter, a cart and four mules and two spare horses, had been on his way to Inyati to bring his brother, who was suffering from an attack of fever, into Bulawayo. As an attack had been expected on the store that night, the thatch had been removed from the roof, and a rough fence put up round the building. However, no attack was made, and at 5 A.M. the whole party, now consisting of nineteen men, with the two spare horses and the cart and mules driven by two colonial boys, set out for the Bembisi, twenty-three miles distant.

For the subsequent experiences of this small rescue party, I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Moodie Thomson, the able editor of the Matabele Times, who accompanied Captain Pittendrigh and wrote an account of the expedition. This he has kindly placed at my disposal, and I will take up his narrative at the point when the start was made from Jenkins' store early on Sunday morning. It proceeds as follows:—

"We were now in a very different country from the open veld of the earlier ride. Kopjes were close on either hand, the road was of the roughest, and progress with the mule cart consequently slow. The word was constantly given for a good look-out on either hand, but for over an hour not a man or a woman was seen, though tracks crossing the path were met with at frequent intervals. The kopjes in which we had expected to have trouble were passed, and the more open undulating ground at the Elibaini Hills reached. Progress was slow along this portion of the ascending road, and near the highest point skirting the base of the most prominent hill a strip of bush was entered. No sooner had we made our way into this cover than a shot was heard from the hill-slope. In a second it was seen to be occupied by half a dozen or so natives, who sent in another and another shot. It was impossible to make a sufficient reply from our position, and a dash was made from the road through the strip of bush to the open slope of the hill. One or more of the natives was shot as they retreated over the crest, and a hot pursuit was made.



"When those of our party who were foremost reached the top of the hill they found that affairs had assumed a different aspect from repulsing a handful of stray rebels. A glance was sufficient. The natives were there in a dense mass, throwing out skirmishers on either flank to surround us, one body proceeding rapidly around the lower slope to cut us off. Our advance men fell back, and the natives began to show themselves in the open. Firing became hot on both sides, but taking advantage of the strip of bush we were able at first to inflict considerable damage. The natives to the number of about three hundred were soon in the bush also, advancing in excellent open order and becoming formidable. Several rushed in to close quarters, and Captain Pittendrigh, who had dismounted, lost his horse. Before he could get one of the spare horses, a native armed with an assegai grappled him, and a hand-to-hand struggle took place. The native, however, was thrown off and shot, and the captain escaped with some slits in his coat. At the same moment Thomas Haden, who had been fighting most determinedly in the front, received a shot on the upper part of his bandoleer, which exploded three of his cartridges, one bullet passing through his shoulder and with a ricochet entering his neck and passing through his cheek.

Immediately after Mr. S. Carter received a bullet through his ankle. The natives began to approach closer in their attack despite our heavy fire, and as they were gradually surrounding us, it was found advisable, encumbered as we were with two wounded men, to retire to the road.

"With a rush through without further casualty on our side, we regained the road and found that one of our boys at the mule waggon had vanished, and the other was getting away on one of the spare horses. The mules and cart had therefore to be abandoned, and at a good pace we cut across through the lower bush over rough ground, avoiding the curve round the hills, to where the road bent round on the open.

"Here half-sections were again formed, the wounded in front, and a quick canter gave us a good start. Looking back, the natives could be seen in hot pursuit, and it was thought they might be able to reach one of the kopjes ahead whose base we must skirt. Suggestions as to taking up a position on a kopje were untenable on account of the wounded men, and there was nothing for it but to get over the seventeen miles to the Bembisi as rapidly as possible. Again and again the natives seemed to be closing up on us, and sundry indications were closely scrutinised as to the presence of hostile forces ahead. The ride was made heavier by two of the ponies becoming done up. It was an anxious time, as the road ran through the hollows, but the clearness of the day gave abundant scope for noting the absence of an enemy ahead and the black mass falling farther astern.

"About eleven o'clock Campbell's store came in sight, and we crossed the Bembisi with gladdened spirits. These, however, were immediately damped. The news was awaiting us that the party at Inyati, eight miles farther on, which we had been sent to relieve, had been massacred. The intelligence was given by Patrick Madden, miner, who, and a native in his employ, were the sole survivors. This man told with most circumstantial and convincing detail how Native Commissioner Graham, Inspector Hanley, George Hurford, George Case, and S. H. Corke had fought against ever-increasing odds on the evening of the previous Friday—this was now Sunday—until they were killed.

Further, there was the news that an impi of from 1200 to 1500 lay at Inyati. It was hard to decide to abandon the projected relief, but the facts were obvious that with an impi ahead, and with a body of 300 at least following us, and very shortly seen to be in the bush across the river, there was nothing for it but to take up the strongest position possible.

"Across the river the natives could be seen in the bush, and were we even to venture with our wounded to go by the road, we were at their mercy. At the store we had found Mr. Campbell with a waggon and oxen, hourly expecting to be pounced upon, and it was resolved to set to work to fortify the store. The verandah thatch was cut away, passages were pierced so that there might be free communication through the large building, and loopholes were cut through the brick walls in every direction. In addition, a case of dynamite was found in the store which was utilised to lay mines with ingeniously-contrived short fuse, and to make a score or so hand grenades with a radius of about fifteen yards that could be thrown at assailants. The large stock of meal in sacks was put into service to block windows, and then we were certain that, having about 2000 rounds of ammunition, we could hold out well against a night attack.

"It was necessary, however, to send word to Bulawayo of our condition and the intelligence we had received, and to obtain reinforcements which we calculated could arrive in time to fall on the rear of the natives attacking us at daybreak. Messrs. Fincham and Mostert were mounted on the best horses as despatch-riders. A diversion was made by the whole party crossing the river as if returning by the road we had come, and as we saw the natives moving to meet us the despatch-riders went off at an angle by the Queen's Reef road, passing the Shiloh Hills. The rest of the day was spent in completing our fortifications. Strong guard was set at night, and we waited eagerly for the natives to come for the reception prepared for them. The wounded had been bandaged and made as comfortable as possible; the horses were stabled in the bar and store-room, and every man was at his post carefully looking out.

"About four on Monday morning the silence was broken by the sound of firing, and speculation was rife as to its meaning. It came nearer and nearer, and it was soon decided that this was the reinforcing party fighting its way through the natives lying in wait for us. There was silence for a time, broken again by the cracking of shots, and with the dim dawn we could see a body of men emerging from the thick bush. As they came nearer it became plain that they were white men, and we left the store to send up a cheer to let them know we were still safe. As day came more brightly, in they rode across the open veld, and with answering cheers dashed up the river-bank to the store. They were thirty strong, fifteen from the Africander Corps under Commandant Van Rensburg and Captain Van Niekerk, and the remainder from various Rhodesia Horse Volunteers, troops or volunteers under Captain Macfarlane. They had ridden the whole night through, with only a brief halt at the Queen's Reef, and in our vicinity had been met in the black darkness of the bush with a volley fired not twenty yards off. They had replied, and a running fire had been kept up for about half an hour. No one in the party had been wounded, but two men in the advanced guard, Messrs. Celliers and Henderson, were missing. Several dead bodies of natives seen in the bush testified later to the effect of the replying fire.

"About nine o'clock it was decided that the whole party should return by the Queen's Reef road and ride straight for Bulawayo. A start was made with strong flanking parties, Captain Pittendrigh's men being placed in the rear-guard after the waggon containing our two wounded. Cautious progress was made through the bush where the natives had been assembled and where spoor was thick, but without a sign of life visible. The Queen's Reef was reached about eleven o'clock, and at noon the column got again into dangerous bush.



"Nothing occurred, however, until the Shiloh Hills were reached, when on the spur of a kopje and in the bush below natives were seen. They opened fire, but their aim was high. Those of them who were venturous enough to make the attack were summarily disposed of—nothing being more convincing of the perfection of the fire of our party than the manner in which seven, eight, or nine shots would simultaneously bowl over a native who exposed himself even for a moment. The fire was fairly hot while it lasted, but a party of about fifty was too strong for the natives, even though they may have been several hundred. They had to depend upon their firing, as close quarters against such marksmen was almost an impossibility.

"The Kotki river was reached after a heavy detour through the bush to avoid giving the natives around us too much opportunity at the kopjes, and a halt made for an hour. Just before reaching there a herd of native cattle had been met and seized, and heifer steaks cooked on ramrods proved refreshing after our twenty-mile ride at ox-waggon pace. Then on again, the remaining fifteen miles without further attack, until in the darkness a cheer from the pickets about ten o'clock announced that Bulawayo had been reached.

"The wounded were conveyed to the hospital, and tired horses and men had the satisfaction of seeking what comfort was available in a laagered town. The men in Captain Pittendrigh's party who had this experience of Matabele skirmishing, were, with one or two additional exceptions, members of the Africander Corps. It is useful to testify that their courage, their determination, their skill with the rifle, and their expert employment of every ruse in such fighting as we had at the Elibaini Hills, command the highest admiration. We were in a fairly tight place, as may be judged when hand-to-hand fighting was possible, and we were only nineteen against several hundreds; but the pluck and brilliant dash displayed, as well as the good comradeship throughout, are convincing that in a like or even a stiffer affray one could neither wish nor hope to have better men than these. It remains to be said that the two missing men came in to Bulawayo on Wednesday morning. Celliers had had his horse shot under him and was himself badly wounded in the knee. With that consideration which is akin to heroism Henderson placed him on his horse, and walking beside him for three days they had hidden amongst the hills, making their way through most dangerous country. Henderson tended his wounded comrade in every way possible, and succeeded in keeping clear of natives, though at times they passed in unpleasantly close proximity. Such conduct is something more than typical of the men who are bent upon holding Matabeleland."

Anderson, shot through the thigh, was one of those hospitalised once the comparative safety of Bulawayo was reached. It was there, on 6 June 1896 that he expired from his wound. The official notification appeared in the London Gazette of April 5, 1898. His death notice in the Zimbabwe Archives reported his cause of death as Influenza but the certificate issued by the Finnish authorities clearly indicates (translated) that he died from fever occasioned by his wound which had never satisfactorily healed.



Anderson left no property behind, although the records indicate that, as a Prospector, he was believed to have “certain gold claims in partnership” with a gentleman named Wentworth D. Gray. On 28 August 1894 he acquired a Bulawayo Mining District prospector's licence no. 10692 and, on 24 September 1894, he appears in the Register of Mining claims in the Bulawayo District where he is shown to have registered a block of ten claims (reg. no. 1821). These were in the Tuli Reef, but the claim was recorded as Abandoned on 10 September 1895 – meaning that he either didn't develop it into a mine and, saddled with it, didn’t find a buyer for the claim either.

Anderson’s address was c/o the Board of Executors and, having consulted these in the Zimbabwe Archives, correspondence was found that, on 3 March 1904, John Olson of Johannesburg wrote to the Board, saying he had Power of Attorney from August's father in Munsala, Finland. Olson was writing in connexion with WD Grey about mining claims in Gwanda District which he and August shared. The Board then wrote to Grey, who replied on 19 May 1904 from Salisbury about the Munsala Reef to say he'd been unable to do anything with these claims "and I imagine that they must have been forfeited." He asked the Board to inform him if they had any better luck.

For Anderson, his luck had run out.


Mistakenly named as part of the Africander Corps although he was with them under Pittendrigh at Shiloh

Acknowledgements:

- Sunshine and Storm by F Selous
- Zimbabwe Archives (Archives ref. M 9/13/2); (Archives ref. M 9/1/12); (Archives ref. S 3096/1); (Archives ref. MS 1183/1005)
- Zimbabwe Field Guide for maps
- Lars Ahlkvist for Finnish research