Shangani Patrol's Last Stand

The Shangani Patrol, headed by Major Allan Wilson, was a unit of the British South Africa Company comprising members of the Mashonaland Mounted Police and the Bechuanaland Border Police. Scouting ahead of Major Patrick Forbes's column attempting the capture of the Matabele King Lobengula, who had fled his capital Bulawayo a month before, the patrol crossed the Shangani River late on 3 December 1893. It moved on Lobengula the next morning, but was ambushed by a host of Matabele riflemen and warriors near the king's wagon.

Outnumbered about a hundredfold and surrounded by Matabele warriors, the patrol made a last stand and, through great effort, killed over ten times their own number before being ultimately annihilated. The Patrol's dramatic last stand, also known as 'Wilson's Last Stand', achieved a place similar to events such as the Battle of the Little Bighorn and the Battle of the Alamo in the United States. Major Allan Wilson and Captain Henry Borrow, among others, were elevated in death to the status of national heroes, representing endeavor in the face of insurmountable odds.

The anniversary of the battle on 4 December 1893 became an annual public holiday in Rhodesia two years later, and was an official non-work day until 1920. A historical war film depicting the episode, Shangani Patrol, was produced and released in 1970.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons