The Battle of Vinya-Njara
Henry Morton Stanley’s Most Desperate Moment
Best known for his expedition to find Dr. David Livingstone, Stanley tore a bloody path across Africa and nearly lost his life at the remote village of Vinya-Njara.
Henry Morgan Stanley was born in Wales, but immigrated to the United States as a young man. During the American Civil War he ended up fighting for both sides. He joined up as a Confederate infantryman, but was captured at Shiloh and switched sides. He then spent a brief spell in the Union navy, before deserting near the end of the war.
Afterwards, he became a journalist and covered several military campaigns, including campaigns against the American Indians and the British invasion of Abyssinia. In 1871 he was hired by the New York Herald newspaper to find the lost explorer Dr. David Livingstone. Stanley’s expedition was a success and propelled him into fame.
In 1874 a group of newspapers agreed to back Stanley on a new expedition to trace the route of the Congo River. Stanley set off with five other Europeans and over 300 Africans. Always one to take the direct approach, Henry Morton Stanley drove his expedition at a relentless pace straight through some of the most dangerous parts of Africa. He fought dozens of minor battles with local warlords, and his expedition suffered a horrendous degree of attrition due to fighting, disease, hunger, and desertion.
After nearly two years of exploration, Stanley’s party was down to 140, and only 40 of those were in a condition to fight. All of the other Europeans were dead. One night, near the end of 1876, Stanley’s party camped on the riverside and came under a brief attack by natives. The attack ended with darkness, but the next morning, Stanley ordered that barricades be constructed out of brush wood. Just as the barricades were completed, several hundred native warriors charged out of the forest. For two hours, Stanley’s party held them back with concentrated gunfire, until the enemy retreated.
During the lull, Stanley rowed out into the river to get a better look at his defences, and spotted an abandoned village further down the river. Stanley immediately packed up and moved his expedition to the village which was identified as part of a string of villages called Vinya-Njara. Upon arrival, Stanley once again set about fortifying his position. Barricades were constructed at either end of the village and a pair of towers, big enough to hold ten gunmen each, were raised up to guard the approaches. That day was quiet, but on the next, a new attack came. This time warriors charged out of the forest, while another force of 500-800 men came floating down the river in canoes. Leaving the men in the towers to guard the forest approach, Stanley took his last 20 gunmen to make a stand at the riverside. With the enemy closing in on all sides, Stanley knew he could not hold off the enemy. Then, when things seemed most desperate, war horns sounded in the forest. Tippu Tib, an infamous Arab slaver and friend of Stanley’s had marched a relief column over land and come to save his friend in the nick of time. Startled by this turn of events, the natives retreated.
Even with Tippu Tib’s men, Stanley was still greatly outnumbered. That night, Stanley led a force silently across the river. The natives of Vinya-Njara had left their canoes unguarded on the river bank. Stanley and his men stole the canoes and returned safely to their encampment. The next morning, the Vinya-Njara found their canoes missing and agreed to make peace.
Few members of the expedition actually made it to the end, but Stanley’s mission was a success. Later in life, Stanley was charged with being overly brutal, violent, and reckless in his African explorations, but he remained unrepentant.
Reference:
Stanley’s Congo War author Chris Peers in Military Illustrated, No. 218, July 2006.
