Benin

Benin The City Of Blood Written By Sir Reginald H. Bacon (1863 - 1947) And Was Published In 1897 In England. This Work Includes Illustrations By William Heysham Overend (1851 - 1898).. Sir Reginald Hugh Spencer Bacon Kcb Kcvo Dso (6 September 1863 – 9 June 1947) Was An Officer In The Royal Navy Noted For His Technical Abilities. In 1897 He Served As A Member Of The British Punitive Expedition To Benin And On His Return From Active Service Wrote The Book Benin The City Of Blood (1897) Describing The Campaign.. The Benin Expedition Of 1897 Was A Punitive Expedition By A British Force Of 1200 Men Under Sir Harry Rawson In Response To The Ambush Of A Previous British Embassy Under Acting Consul General James Phillips Of The Niger Coast Protectorate. Rawson'S Troops Captured And Sacked Benin City Bringing To An End The Kingdom Of Benin Which Was Eventually Absorbed Into Colonial Nigeria. (From Wikipedia). Preface. The Reasons For Writing The Story Of The Benin Expedition Of 1897 Are Two In Number. Firstly For The Relations And Friends Of Those Concerned To Have A Full Account Of What Happened And Secondly To Leave On Record Certain Details Of Organisation And Equipment Which May Be Useful In The Future To Officers Serving On Similar Expeditions. All Tendency To Enlarge Has Been Carefully Avoided And The Reader Must Kindly Accept The Baldness Of The Narrative As Surety For Its Lack Of Exaggeration.. Excerpts. Truly Has Benin Been Called The City Of Blood. Its History Is One Long Record Of Savagery Of The Most Debased Kind. In The Earlier Part Of This Century When It Was The Center Of The Slave Trade Human Suffering Must Here Have Reached Its Most Acute Form But It Is Doubtful If Even Then The Wanton Sacrifice Of Life Could Have Exceeded That Of More Recent Times. Nothing That Can Be Called Religion Exists Within Its Limits Only Paganism Of The Most Unenlightened Description With Certain Rites And Observances Which From Their Ferocious Cruelty Have Caused Benin To Be The Capital Of Superstitious Idolatry And Barbarity For More Than A Hundred Miles Inland. The Benin Juju Is The Juju Bowed To By Tribes Even Beyond The Kukuruku Country And Even Holds The More Civilized Jakri Or Water Tribes Now For Some Years Under English Protection In A Half Doubtful Belief.. The Massacre Took Place On January 4 1897 But The News Did Not Reach Admiral Rawson The Commander-In-Chief Of The Station Till The Loth. He Immediately Ordered The Widgeon And Alecto To Benin River And The Phœbe To Brass As The Effect Of The News On The Brass Chiefs Who Previously Had Given Considerable Trouble Was Expected To Be Disquieting. On The 14Th The Philomel Was Ordered To Brass. But It Was Not Till The 15Th That Orders Were Received From The Admiralty To Organize An Expedition Against Benin And I Venture To Think That The Commander-In-Chief And Captain Egerton Chief Of The Staff May Be Congratulated On Having Performed A Feat Of Organisation And Equipment Which Has Never Been Equaled In Similar Expeditions.. The Publisher Has Copy-Edited This Book To Improve The Formatting Style And Accuracy Of The Text To Make It Readable. This Did Not Involve Changing The Substance Of The Text. Some Books Due To Age And Other Factors May Contain Imperfections. Since There Are Many Books Such As This One That Are Important And Beneficial To Literary Interests We Have Made It Digitally Available And Have Brought It Back Into Print For The Preservation Of Printed Works Of The Past. Making This Copy Very Readable.