First Matabele War: A patrol of 34 British South Africa Company soldiers is ambushed and annihilated by more than 3,000 Matabele warriors on the Shangani River in Matabeleland.

The First Matabele War was fought between 1893 and 1894 in modern-day Zimbabwe. It pitted the British South Africa Company against the Ndebele kingdom of Mthwakazi. Lobengula, king of Mthwakazi, had tried to avoid outright war with the company's pioneers because he and his advisors were mindful of…