The Force Publique’s campaigns in the Congo-Arab War, 1892-1894

ABSTRACT

Between 1892 and 1894 the Force Publique of King Leopold II’s Congo Free State engaged in a series of little-known counter-insurgency operations against ivory and slave traders from Zanzibar, commonly referred to as Arabs. Without a particularly strong tradition of imperial service, this article argues that the predominantly Belgian officer corps borrowed and adapted methods used by more experienced colonial forces in the 19^th Century. Whether taken from existing literature or learned through experience, it reveals that the Force Publique’s counter-insurgency methods reflected many of the more recognisable aspects of traditional French and British approaches. It suggests that, despite the unique nature of each colonial campaign, basic principles could be adapted by whomsoever to overcome the military and political challenges of colonial conquest. The Force Publique’s campaigns in the Congo-Arab War, therefore, provide further evidence as to how some base theories could be universally applied.

KEYWORDS:

• Congo Free State
• slavery
• learning
• tradition
• Belgium
• firepower
• mobility
• politics

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Bibliography

Primary & Contemporary Sources

La Belgique Militaire

Musée Royal d’Afrique Centrale

Francis Dhanis Papers

Royal Archives, Brussels

Cabinet Léopold II, Expansion, 144.

War Heritage Institute

Archives of Belgian Military Abroad, (Congo Free State and Belgian Congo (1885–1960)), 43/51, 43/55 & 43/56.

Newspapers

Le Soir

Notes

1. Donny, L’art militaire au Congo.

2. Callwell, Small Wars; Lyautey, “Du rôle colonial de l’armée.” To understand the frequency of colonial campaigning in the late nineteenth century, see Beckett, Modern Insurgencies and Counter-Insurgencies, 31–2.

3. Rid, “The Nineteenth Century Origins of Counterinsurgency Doctrine”; French, The British Way in Counter-Insurgency; and Porch, Counterinsurgency.

4. Porch, “Bugeaud, Galliéni, Lyautey,” 377.

5. Porch, Counterinsurgency, 50.

6. See note 4 above.

7. Marechal, De ‘Arabische’ Campagne, 239–41.

8. Ibid., 241; and Gann and Duigan, The Rulers of Belgian Africa, 53.

9. Captain Callwell, “Lessons to be Learnt from the Campaigns.”

10. Beckett, Modern Insurgencies and Counter-Insurgencies, 24–5, 35.

11. Ibid., 27–9, 40; and Porch, Counterinsurgency, 52–4.

12. Ibid., Beckett, 42.

13. For more on Belgian colonial campaigning, see Leconte, Les Tentatives d’Expansion Coloniale sous le Regne de Léopold 1er. For Mexico, a detailed account of Belgian involvement in Mexico, see Albert Duchesne, L’Expédition des volontaires belges au Mexique 1864–1867: au service de Maximilien et de Charlotte. .

14. Porch, The French Foreign Legion, 145–8.

15. Gann and Duigan, The Rulers of Belgian Africa, 55–6.

16. Macola, The Gun in Central Africa, 84.

17. Guy Vanthemsche, 19–22.

18. Royal Archives, Brussels [RA], Cabinet Léopold II [CLII], Expansion, 144/39, Report to the King on the political and military measures taken to bring about the repression of the slave trade in the territories of the State. Undated [Likely, 1889].

19. War Heritage Institute, Brussels [WHI], Archives of Belgian Military Abroad [BMA], 43/51 XV/16, Théophile Wahis to Camille Janssen, 31 August 1890.

20. Macola, The Gun in Central Africa, 107.

21. Vanthemsche, Belgium and the Congo, 22–3.

22. RA, CLII, Expansion, 144/39, Report to the King. Undated [Likely, 1889]; WHI, BMA, 43/55 XV/263/18, Henri Doquier to Merette & Constant Desmet, 3 August 1892; and Macola, The Gun in Central Africa, 93.

23. Marechal, De ‘Arabische’ Campagne, 240; WHI, BMA, 43/55 XV/314, Émile Lémery Papers, clipping from Le Soir, 5 August 1955. This was part of a series of articles printed between 4–6 August 1955 based on rediscovered correspondence by Lémery’s nephew. And Le Baron Dhanis au Kwango et pendant la campagne arabe. 21.

24. Pakenham, The Scramble for Africa, 438.

25. Beckett, Modern Insurgencies and Counterinsurgencies, 34. For a general appreciation of British recruitment policy in India, see Omissi, The Sepoy and the Raj. The Indian Army 1860–1940; Roy, War and Society in Colonial India, 1807–1945; and The Army in British India: From Colonial Warfare to Total War, 1857–1947; and Johnson, “General Roberts, the Occupation of Kabul,” 304, 311–2.

26. Porch, “Bugeaud, Galliéni, Lyautey,” 380–1.

27. Vandervort, Wars of Imperial Conquest in Africa, 68.

28. Rid, “Origins of Counterinsurgency Doctrine,” 739–40; and Sullivan, Thomas-Robert Bugeaud, 99–100.

29. Beckett, Modern Insurgencies and Counterinsurgencies, 41.

30. Porch, “Bugeaud, Galliéni, Lyautey” 388; and Counterinsurgency, 51–4.

31. Callwell, Lessons to be Learnt, 363.

32. RA, CLII, Expansion, 144/39, Report to the King. Undated [Likely, 1889].

33. WHI, BMA, 43/51 XV/17, Edmond van Eetvelde to Camille Janssen, 15 September 1890.

34. WHI, BMA, 43/51 XV/13, Théophile Wahis to Camille Janssen, 30 July 1890.

35. WHI, BMA, 43/51 XV/16, Théophile Wahis to Camille Jannsen, 31 August 1890.

36. WHI, BMA, 43/51 XV/12, Copy of Instructions from the Governor General to Nicolas Isidore Tobback, 30 April 1890.

37. Ibid.

38. Ibid.

39. Ibid.

40. Ibid.

41. La Belgique Militaire, No. 1052, 31 May 1891, 657–8; and Lord Wah, “Le Congo: le retour de Dhanis – La Guerre Arabe,” 29.

42. Boulger, The Congo State, 161–2; and WHI, BMA, 43/51 XV/36, Lieutenant Sibieux to Nicolas Isidore Tobback, 14 March 1892.

43. Packenham, The Scramble for Africa, 436–7.

44. Marechal, De ‘Arabische’ Campagne, 233–4.

45. Deuxième Section de l’État-Major de la Force Publique, La Force Publique de sa Naissance à 1914, 36–9.

46. Gann and Duigan, The Rulers of Belgian Africa, 79.

47. Marechal, De ‘Arabische’ Campagne, 233–4; Vanderstraeten, “Léopold II et la Force Publique,” 12; and De Boeck, BAONI, 34–35.

48. WHI, BMA, 43/51 XV/35, Nicolas Isidore Tobback to Camille Jannsen, 27 February 1892.

49. WHI, BMA, 43/55 XV/314, Émile Lémery Papers, clipping from Le Soir, 5 August 1955.

50. Vanderstraeten, “Léopold II et la Force Publique,” 15.

51. Marechal, De ‘Arabische’ Campagne, 233–4.

52. Le Soir, 21 August 1892; and Le Baron Dhanis au Kwango, 18–19.

53. RA, CLII, Expansion, 144/39, Report to the King. Undated [Likely, 1889]; and Marechal, De ‘Arabische’ Campagne, 233.

54. Marechal, De ‘Arabische’ Campagne, 234.

55. Callwell, Lessons to be Learnt, 362.

56. Porch, Counterinsurgency, 20; The French Foreign Legion, 147–9; and Spiers, The Late Victorian Army, 295, 317–8.

57. Hull, Absolute Destruction, 134–5.

58. Donny, L’art militaire au Congo, 17.

59. Callwell, Lessons to be Learnt, 364.

60. Beckett, Modern Insurgencies and Counter-Insurgencies, 33.

61. Vandervort, Wars of Imperial Conquest, 68.

62. Musée Royal d’Afrique Centrale [MRAC], Francis Dhanis Papers, HA.01.0003/40, Letter of Promotion to Second Lieutenant, 12 May 1884.

63. Draper, The Belgian Army and Society from Independence to the Great War, 51, 74–6.

64. Gann and Duignan, The Rulers of Belgian Africa, 61–4.

65. Marechal, De ‘Arabische’ Campagne, 240–1. An interesting example of this was Lieutenant Henri Doquier, who hoped that his service in the Congo-Arab War and his decision to risk the perils of another expedition in 1896, would ensure his promotion to Captain, which was ‘in his sights’. See WHI, BMA, 43/55 XV/263/26, Henri Doquier to Merette & Constant Desmet, 27 November 1893; 43/55 XV 263/1–33, Henri Doquier to Merette & Constant Desmet, 9 June 1896; and 43/55 XV 263/33, Henri Doquier to Constant Desmet, 2 November 1896.

66. Porch, “Bugeaud, Galliéni, Lyautey,” 380–2, 385–6, 401.

67. MRAC, Francis Dhanis Papers, HA.01.0003/140, Francis Dhanis to Alexandre Delcommune, 28 December 1892.

68. Hinde, The Fall of the Congo Arabs, 215; and Vanderstraeten, “Léopold II et la Force Publique,” 21.

69. Callwell, Lessons to be Learnt, 367.

70. MRAC, Francis Dhanis Papers, HA.01.0003/140, Francis Dhanis to Alexandre Delcommune, 28 December 1892; Wah, “Le Congo: le retour de Dhanis,” 32; and Le Baron Dhanis au Kwango, 19.

71. Wah, “Le Congo: le retour de Dhanis,” 33; and Le Baron Dhanis au Kwango, 20.

72. Porch, “Bugeaud, Galliéni, Lyautey,” 378–9.

73. See note 69 above.

74. Marechal, De ‘Arabische’ Campagne, 240.

75. See note 49 above.

76. WHI, BMA, 43/55 XV/192, Edgard Cerckel Papers. Clipping from Le Soir, October 1952 entitled ‘Un survivant de la campagne anitesclavagiste du Congo; and 43/55 XV/188 Florent Cassart Papers. Extract from Le Franc Tirreur, 7 December 1913.

77. Donny, L’art militaire au Congo, 41–2.

78. Callwell, Lessons to be Learnt, 370.

79. Donny, L’art militaire au Congo, 141–2.

80. Beckett, The Victorians at War, 182.

81. Callwell, Lessons to be Learnt, 397.

82. Baron Dhanis, 25; Wah, “Le Congo: le retour de Dhanis,” 35.

83. Baron Dhanis, 27.

84. Hinde, The Fall of the Congo Arabs, 231.

85. Baron Dhanis, 28.

86. For more on this see Laqua, The Age of Internationalism and Belgium, 56–7; and Pakenham, The Scramble for Africa, 586.

87. WHI, BMA, 43/55 XV 284/1, Extract from La Belgique Militaire, 24 October 1897.

88. MRAC, Francis Dhanis Papers, HA.01.0003/138, Louis-Napoléon Chaltin to Francis Dhanis, 17 November 1893; WHI, BMA, 43/56 XV 426, Notes of Servive by Auguste Théophile Léon Rom [Undated]; and Wah, “Le Congo: le retour de Dhanis,” 37.

89. Porch, Counterinsurgency, 16, 20; and, “Bugeaud, Galliéni, Lyautey,” 378.

90. Callwell, Lessons to be Learnt, 407.

91. Vanderstraeten, “Léopold II et la Force Publique,” 15.

92. Donny, L’art militaire au Congo, 42–5.

93. Vanderstraeten, “Léopold II et la Force Publique,” 23; and Wah, “Le Congo: le retour de Dhanis,” 36.

94. Gann and Duignan, The Rulers of Belgian Africa, 57.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mario Draper

Mario Draper is Lecturer in Modern British and European History at the University of Kent. His research focussed predominantly on Belgium in the long 19^th Century.