It does not take big men long to recognize other big men, and
Burnham's remarkable work as a scout at once brought him to the
notice of Rhodes and Dr. Jameson, who was personally conducting
the campaign. The war was their own private war, and to them, at
such a crisis in the history of their settlement, a man like Burnham
was invaluable.
The chief incident of this campaign, the fame of which rang over
all Great Britain and her colonies, was the gallant but hopeless
stand made by Major Alan Wilson and his patrol of thirty-four
men. It was Burnham's attempt to save these men that made him
known from Buluwayo to Cape Town.
King Lobengula and his warriors were halted on one bank of the
Shangani River, and on the other Major Forbes, with a picked
force of three hundred men, was coming up in pursuit. Although at
the moment he did not know it, he also was being pursued by a
force of Matabeles, who were gradually surrounding him. At
nightfall Major Wilson and a patrol of twelve men, with Burnham
and his brother-in-law, Ingram, acting as scouts, were ordered to
make a dash into the camp of Lobengula and, if possible, in the
confusion of their sudden attack, and under cover of a terrific
thunder-storm that was raging, bring him back a prisoner.
With the king in their hands the white men believed the rebellion
would collapse.
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