
Charles Duncan Cameron (1825–1870) was a British soldier who was serving as British consul in
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
when he was imprisoned by Emperor
Tewodros II
Tewodros II (, once referred to by the English cognate Theodore; baptized as Kassa, – 13 April 1868) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1855 until his death in 1868. His rule is often placed as the beginning of modern Ethiopia and brought an end to ...
as one of the acts which led to the
1868 Expedition to Abyssinia
The British Expedition to Abyssinia was a rescue mission and punitive expedition carried out in 1868 by the armed forces of the British Empire against the Ethiopian Empire (also known at the time as Abyssinia). Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia, ...
.
Life
Cameron was the son of Colonel Allan Cameron, 3rd Buffs, and was born in the Isle of Man in 1825. He entered the army 19 May 1846, by purchasing the commission of an ensign in the 45th Foot, and served with that unit until July 1851. During this time he was attached to the native levies during the
Kaffir war of 1846–47. Having settled in
Natal on his retirement from the 45th, he was employed by (afterwards Sir) B.C. Pine, then lieutenant-governor of that colony, on diplomatic service in the Zulu country, and acted as Kaffir magistrate in the
Klip river district of Natal. He commanded the Kaffir irregulars sent from Natal to the Cape Colony overland during the war of 1851–52. At the outbreak of the
Crimean War
The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...
he was appointed to the staff of Sir Fenwick Williams, her majesty's commissioner with the Turkish army, receiving the local rank of captain. He was placed in command of the fortifications under construction at
Erzeroum, and after the fall of
Kars
Kars ( or ; ; ) is a city in northeast Turkey. It is the seat of Kars Province and Kars District.[� ...]
was detached on special service to
Trebizond until September 1856. For his military services he received the Kaffir and Turkish war medals, and the Turkish medal for his service at Kars.
Cameron entered the civil service, and was appointed vice-consul at Redout Kale in April 1858, and was removed to Poti in 1859. He was appointed British consul in Abyssinia to reside at
Massawa
Massawa or Mitsiwa ( ) is a port city in the Northern Red Sea Region, Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, located on the Red Sea at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahlak Archipelago. It has been a historically important port for ...
in 1860, and left for his new posting in November 1861, arriving there 9 January 1862. He accompanied the Grand Duke of Saxe-Cobourg during a visit to the interior in that year.
Cameron afterwards left Massawa to deliver to Emperor Tewodros a royal letter and presents from Queen Victoria, arriving at
Gondar
Gondar, also spelled Gonder (Amharic: ጎንደር, ''Gonder'' or ''Gondär''; formerly , ''Gʷandar'' or ''Gʷender''), is a city and woreda in Ethiopia. Located in the North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, Gondar is north of Lake Tana on ...
23 June 1862, and reaching the Emperor's camp that October. In his report back to the British Foreign Office, Cameron included a letter from the Ethiopian Emperor, which went unread.
Meanwhile, Consul Cameron went on a visit to the
Bogos, where he worked to re-establish British influence, as well as the towns of
Kassala
Kassala (, ) is the capital of the state of Kassala (state), Kassala in eastern Sudan. In 2003 its population was recorded to be 530,950. Built on the banks of the Mareb River, Gash River, it is a market city and is famous for its fruit gardens. ...
and
Metemma, returning to Ethiopia in June 1863. Once there, he stayed with the missionaries at
Jenda in
Dembiya. His visit to the Sudan raised Emperor Tewodros' suspicions, but more important to the Emperor was the lack of a reply to his own letter to Queen Victoria. In response to the Emperor's concern, Cameron reportedly offered his own head if a response did not come within two months. The Emperor took his frustration out on one of the missionaries,
Henry Aaron Stern
Henry Aaron Stern (*11 April 1820, Unterreichenbach near Gelnhausen; † 13 May 1885, Hackney, London) was an Anglicanism, Anglican missionary and priest of Jews, Jewish origin. After converting to Christianity in London in 1840 and studying with ...
, who had mentioned the Emperor's humble beginnings in his book. Stern watched his servants beaten to death, then he with his associate Rosenthal, were "chained, severely treated, and the latter thrashed on several occasions." Consul Cameron spent the following months unsuccessfully working to secure Stern's release. When the long-awaited response to his report finally arrived 22 November 1863, it contained a reprimand to Cameron for his travels beyond Massawa and an order to return to that port; there was not even a mention of the Emperor's letter. Cameron still pleaded with Tewodros for patience, and permission to obey his superiors' commands and return to Massawa; the Emperor, who had become deeply suspicious, on 3 January 1864 ordered the British Consul, his European staff, and the four missionaries at Jenda put into chains. Cameron was forced to then write to London a succinct message: "No release until civil answer to King's letter arrives."
Cameron remained Tewodros's prisoner until after the arrival of
Hormuzd Rassam
Hormuzd Rassam (; ; 182616 September 1910) was an Assyriologist and author. He is known for making a number of important archaeological discoveries from 1877 to 1882, including the clay tablets that contained the ''Epic of Gilgamesh,'' the world ...
at the Emperor's camp in January 1865. Rassam had been sent with a copy of the belated reply to the Emperor's letter to obtain the release of all of Tewodros' European captives, and had spent the better part of a year forced to wait in Massawa before he could travel inland.
[The intrigues on the British side which affected Rassam are described by J. R. Hooker, "The Foreign Office", pp. 248-254] Although released after a show trial, Cameron, the missionaries, and even their rescuer Rassam were arrested once more, and confined to
Maqdala from 12 July 1866, until released, with the other prisoners, on the appearance of the British army before Maqdala, 11 April 1868. Cameron returned to England in July 1868, and retired on a pension in December of the same year. He died at Geneva on 30 May 1870.
Cameron was elected fellow of the
Royal Geographical Society
The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...
in 1858.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Charles Duncan
1870 deaths
Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society
People of the Abyssinian War
Year of birth unknown