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Reichstagsakten 1890/91, 8. Legislaturperiode, Volume 137, Attachment 165: Collection of Documents pertaining the Uprising in East Africa, No.57: Report by the Imperial commissioner for East Africa
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On board of the "Ethiopia"
Red Sea, June 7th 1890
arrived Berlin, June 18th 1890
Most obediently I report to your Excellency the following on the reconquest of the southern part of our sphere of interest and about events in East Africa until my departure :
In accordance with the instructions concerning the operation against the south, which I had the honour to present your Excellency in last
month's report, the entire troops and vessels were assembled in Dar-es-Salam on the evening of April 29th. S.M.S. "Carola" already had advanced toward Kilwa Kivindji, in order to observe the town. On the morning of the 30th the troops embarked and in the course of the morning S.M. cruiser
"Schwalbe", further the vessels "Harmonie", "Barawa", "Muenchen", "Max" and "Besiro" left the port. The south western monsoon had begun 14 days earlier than usual, and with an intensity that we had to face considerable obstacles. We were forced, because of the "Harmonie", to enter Mafia Channel, and to twice anchor over night. Only on May 2nd we arrived off Kilwa Kivindji, where S.M.S. "Carola" and the British warship "Turquoise" lay on the roadsted.
As, according to the judgment of corvette captain Hirschberg and of the captain of the "Harmonie", the latter, in the still prevailing strong monsoon wind the danger was to capsize, the plan for the landing of troops had to be abandoned and Kilwa Kisiwani had to be selected as landing site. On the same afternoon the vessels sailed on to that place, except the "Harmonie", which had to be sent to a location further north within the reefs. We reached the port of Kisiwani at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and, as the inhabitants did not act hostile, disembarked the troops before dark at the southern end of the peninsula reaching from Kilwa Kivindji southward. During the night I marched to the vicinity of the "Harmonie" which was anchoring further to the north in calm waters. At daybreak of the 3rd the remainder of my troops was landed from the "Harmonie", in which I again was supported by S.M. cruiser "Schwalbe". While the disembarkation was still going on, my advance posts to the north were attacked by a troop of 200 men, obviously dispatched from Kilwa Kivindji at the report of our landing. After a brief skirmish the enemy was repelled, suffering heavy losses. Despite the fact that my men, namely those who had been embarked on the "Harmonie", were utterly exhausted from sailing on the heavy seas and from the permanent downpours, I immediately after the completed landing marched northward, in order to allow Kilwa as little time as possible to
take countermeasures against an attack from the land side. Natives taken prisoner, who were brought in by patrols, served as guides. At first I proceeded northward along the coast, but then changed direction to northwest
toward Mt. Kisimo. My advance troop under chief Leue, at a location suitable for defense, met Arabs and Kilwamen, but, in a frontal attack after firing a few salvos, expelled the enemy so fast that it was not even
necessary for his line to fully unfold. Only when darkness set in we took camp in a deserted settlement. The night went by without disturbance, despite the fact that the terrain, lushly overgrown, and the vicinity of the enemy made us expect a nightly ambush. On the morning of the 4th our march was continued and during the first two hours our advance guard fought a few skirmishes. At about 7 o'clock we could hear the artillery fire of S.M.S.
"Carola" and S.M.S. "Schwalbe". When we approached the town from the southwest at around 8 o'clock, I dispatched the 2nd battallion (every battallion of 3 companies of 120 men each) to the town's south, the 1st
battallion to the town's west, while the 3rd battallion formed the reserve. From a position close to town I had a few granades fired into town and sent a strong patrol to the beach, with the German flag, to indicate to the navy
to stop shelling the town. To our own surprise we entered the town without coming under fire. The town hastily had been evacuated the night before, the wisest decision the enemy could have taken, because the town was not
fortified on the land side, and after the southern part of the town would have been taken, the 1st battallion from the west would have cut of their retreat and pushed them into an area between coast and river, where they
either would have drowned or fallen into our hands. Kilwa was heabily fortified to the seaside, by a souble line of palisades filled with clay. At several spots, regular bastions had been established. In the north and south the fortifications reached kniggs. Indians returning to us estimated their strength at 5,000 to 7,000 men. They had left behind camels, donkeys, cattle in large numbers, also ammunition for cannons and a large number of rifles.
About a quarter of town had been burnt down by incendiary granades or, according to reports of Indians, by fire laid by the fleeing enemy. I told the Indians and Banians who returned the same day, after they had fled and
hid in the maize fields, that the British gunboat laying on the roadsted was prepared to take them to Zanzibar. The next day 117 of them, among them only 20 men, embarked on the "Turquoise; the remainder, c. 200, stayed in town. On May 5th I landed the equipment necessary to fortify the place, and the artillery pieces. The rain had not stopped since our departure from Dar-es-Salam, so that the entire force had not been dry since. Kilwa, by the
way the largest town on the entire coast belonging to the Sultan, had, so to say, been turned into a swamp by the continuous rain. It was to be expected, under these circumstances, where trenches had to be dug, that in this unfavourable season malaria infections would occur in considerable numbers. In the next days I sent a strong patrol of 3 companies for several hours into the hinterland; they returned with the report that the fleeing refugees
had made their first halt 7 hours distance from Kilwa. On the 8th fortification works, the combination and preparation for defense of 4 stone houses, had reached a state that I decided to break camp and head for Lindi.
I handed over the station with 15 Europeans, 2 companies and 5 artillery pieces to chief von Zelewski.
(p.1192) After the embarkation was concluded, on noon of the 9th, with S.M.S. "Carola" and "Schwalbe", with the "Barawa", "München" and "Vesuv" we took course on Lindi, where we arrived on the morning of the 10th. The "Harmonie" stayed back in Kilwa. At my request, S.M.S. "Carola" opened the operation against Lindi with three neavy granades fired from the roadsted, while the other boats entered Lindi river. As the latter were taken under fire from both banks of the river, S.M. cruiser "Schwalbe" fired intensely at 400 meters, not without effect, it enabled the troops to land unopposed. I had all 5 companies to advance through the town in different directions and clear the adjacent hinterland, densely overgrown by the bush, from the enemy; an enemy unit, which had established itself in the northeast of town, was expelled after an energetic assault. A battallion took guard post; the otjer troops immediately began unloading the ships. Enemy troops returning in the evening were repelled every time, without great losses, as the terrain provided cover everywhere. In the skirmish, which lasted on until two o'clock in the morning, on our side a NCO was wounded. Three stone houses were selected for a provisorical fortification, and the necessary works were begun immediately. The important Arab Selim ben Selum returned to
town under the white flag of truce and offered the submission of himself and all the Arabs; the two main rebel leaders of Lindi also send messengers with white flags, to which letters requesting peace and amnesty were attached. Constantly, natives returned to town. On the 11th, the "Carola" sailed out, appeared off Mikindani and returned from there to Zanzibar. On the 12th I sailed up the Lindi River with the "München", visited the residence of aforementioned Selim ben Selum, where all Arabs from the area were assembled to indicate their submission. On the 13th I handed over the station with 18 Europeans, 2 companies and 6 cannons to chief Lt. Schmidt and, after
embarking the remainder of the troops, took course on Mikindani, where we arrived on the afternoon at 4 o'clock.
From Lindi, overland, I had sent a letter to the Wali of Mikindani, calling on him to submit peacefully on my nearby arrival - Kilwa and Lindi were already occupied by me. When we entered the harbour, we were met by boats
with white flags, bringing letters by the Wali indicating his submission. With one officer I went ashore and found 100 mostly armed Arabs assembled in a Schauri at the fort. I informed the men that I would disembark the troops
the next morning and would begin with the construction of a fortification, and I called upon the men of the surrounding villages to remain calm. The landing took place at daybreak on the 14th. A settlement surrounding a stone house was evacuated to provide lodging for the troops, and works on the fortification were begun. Only one village, the only one which did not fly the white flag, was evacuated by force. After I accepted the Wali, the
Jemadar and the Akida of the Sultan in my service, I left Dr. Schmidt in charge of the further works and returned with the "München" to Zanzibar. Chief Dr. Schmidt has received the order, after completing the fortification
works, to hand over the station with 11 Europeans, 2 companies and 4 cannons to chief End, to send the two remaining companies back to Bagamoyo and Pangani and himself to come with S.M.S. "Schwalbe" to Zanzibar.
On the return trip I visited Lindi and Kilwa again and found everything in the best order. In Kilwa several hundred natives had returned; the larger part of the rebels, however, was assembled several day's journeys from Kilwa. Kilwa Kisiwani had sent as a representative a completely Arabised Italian, now called Jussuf, to chief von Zelewski. asking to garrison troops also in Kisiwani. As to be expected, the health condition of the troops in Kilwa was poor. The "Max", Which I had sent back from Kilwa to Zanzibar with the mail, I met there again with the European mail; it brought the message, that the Arab Mohammad bin Kassim, who generally is accused of having murdered the German merchant Giesecke in Tippu Tip's camp in 1885, has been captured. After anchoring again in Dschungu Bay because of bad weather I arrived in Zanzibar on the afternoon of the 17th. Because of the large distances to the southern ports and the heavy sea, continuously over 6 months during the southwest monsoon, I can only uphold secure connection with the "Barawa", chartered from the Sultan. The
"Harmonie" is not fit for the conditions prevailing here, and the three other vessels are too small.
On May 18th I went to Saadani. During my stay, Bana Heri had his sword handed over to me, as a sign of his complete submission, and with the request that another one would be sent to him, which he, from now on, would carry only in German service. I recognized the Mohammad bin Kassim aforementioned, which I had met three years ago on the Lualaba, and sent him to Bagamoyo where I ordered a court-martial to judge over him. When I returned to Zanzibar, Sultan Seyyid approached me with the request to hand Mohammad bin Kassim over to him, a request I denied. The person in question, if his guilt is established, will probably be sentenced to death. In the meantime, rather satisfactory reports came in from the other stations. After I had taken leave of the Sultan Seyyid Ali, on May 26th I took the vacation most gracefully granted to me by His Majesty.
signed Wißmann
His Excellency the Reich Chancellor, General of the Infantry
Mr. von Caprivi
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Originaldokument
[S.1191]
[S.1192]
translation and English language table of contents: AG
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