The Bechuanaland Expedition or Warren Expedition, of late 1884/1885, was a British military expedition to the Tswana country, to assert British sovereignty in the face of encroachments from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

, and to suppress the

Boer Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled this are ...

states of Stellaland and Goshen.

History

In December 1884, Major-General

Charles Warren General Sir Charles Warren, (7 February 1840 – 21 January 1927) was an officer in the British Royal Engineers. He was one of the earliest European archaeologists of the Biblical Holy Land, and particularly of the Temple Mount. Much of his mi ...

was sent as HM Special Commissioner to command a military expedition to Bechuanaland, to assert British sovereignty in the face of encroachments from

and the

, and to suppress the

states of Stellaland and Goshen, which were backed by the Transvaal. Warren's force of 4,000 British and local troops headed north from

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, accompanied by the first three observation balloons ever used by the British Army in the field. On 22 January, Warren met the Boer leader

Paul Kruger Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger (; 10 October 1825 – 14 July 1904) was a South African politician. He was one of the dominant political and military figures in 19th-century South African Republic, South Africa, and President of the So ...

at the

Modder River The Modder River is a river in South Africa. It is a tributary of the Riet River that forms part of the border between the Northern Cape and the Free State provinces. The river's banks were the scenes of heavy fighting in the beginning of the ...

where Kruger sought to bring the expedition to a halt on the basis that he would take responsibility for maintaining order in the Tswana country. Warren did not abandon his march, however, and on reaching the area he dissolved up the republics of Stellaland and Goshen without bloodshed and in July proclaimed a British protectorate. In September he halved the size of the protectorate by proclaiming the Crown colony of British Bechuanaland, its northern border following the Molopo and Nossob rivers. Warren was recalled in September 1885. An interesting sidelight on the expedition is related by Jose Burman, who writes that when Warren’s force reached

Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibia to the north ...

station (at that stage the terminus of the railway line to Kimberley, as the bridge over the river had not yet been built) the general had a transport problem. “At this stage Warren’s difficulties were solved by a number of farmers who arrived at the river and offered their services as transport riders. Warren accepted their services gratefully, and they were paid £2 a day. With their help the expeditionary force advanced cautiously into Bechuanaland. Stellaland accepted British rule – but Goshen did not, and Warren headed for Mafikeng. When he arrived he found that the Goshenites were no longer in residence, having mysteriously disappeared. Goshen was then proclaimed part of British Bechuanaland. “Later it transpired that the helpful transport riders whom Warren had been paying £2 per day were mostly Goshenites who thus earned enough to buy farms at a later stage.” Scottish missionary John Mackenzie (1835–99), who accompanied Warren, described his experiences with the expedition in an 1887 work,
Austral Africa: Losing It or Ruling It
'.

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 1880s in Bechuanaland Protectorate 01 Boer Wars History of Bechuanaland Protectorate Military expeditions 1884 in Africa 1884 in the British Empire 1885 in Bechuanaland Protectorate 19th-century establishments in Bechuanaland Protectorate