Chapter 14

Colonel Lumley, Lieutenant-Governor of Sierra Leone claims my first attention. I had the good fortune to make his acquaintance at the seat of government, and during the whole time I had the pleasure of knowing him, I always found him to be actuated by a most zealous devotion to the many important duties which his situation imposed upon him. Nor was his high character as a public officer more praiseworthy, than his estimable qualities us a man. I shall always look back with pride and satisfaction to the period of our intimacy, which was clouded only with the apprehensions I entertained of the fate that awaited him. Perhaps the prophetic forebodings with which he was impressed might have led me to such gloomy anticipations; for he often observed to me, he felt convinced that if he should ever be attacked by the fever, it would prove fatal, as it unfortunately did, not very long after I left the colony: and I was informed he caught it from a young friend whom he was kindly attending, and who fell a victim to the disease.

With Captain Ricketts, the commandant of the fortress, I also had the pleasure of enjoying an intimate acquaintance. Captain Ricketts has served many years on this coast, and was engaged with the Ashantees at the battle of Essamacow, where Sir Charles McCarthy lost his life. On that occasion he had a most miraculous escape, both in, and after the battle, particularly on his return to the coast, where he was obliged to follow the course of rivers, traverse the jungle and forests alone, to evade the murderous Ashantees. He subsequently became commandant of Cape Coast Castle, in which capacity he acquired so much influence with the natives as to succeed in prevailing on them to build a market-place, to lay out several new lines of streets, and otherwise improve the town; but above all, to induce them, after a great deal of persuasion, and perseverance, to take down all the houses adjoining, and in the immediate vicinity of the castle walls, a measure which must have greatly interfered with their religious prejudices, as they were obliged to remove the remains of their relatives, who are always buried under the apartments they inhabit, and to carry them to their new habitations to be deposited in a similar manner. He had also succeeded with the King and carboceers in getting them to cut away all the jungle from the suburbs of the town, for three or four miles distant, and in fact his influence was so great, and the positive utility of the works he designed so obvious, that the natives of Cape Coast almost adored him. The castle, which is a fine building, was kept in the best order under the superintendence of this active and useful officer.

It is astonishing that the Portuguese, who have been so enterprising, and expended so much money on their early discoveries in the erection of fortresses, many of which may still be considered good modern fortifications, should now allow most of their foreign possessions to go to decay, and even to fall into ruins. Look at the once celebrated city of Goa on the Malabar coast, dwindled into insignificance, and proverbially called a city of priests and beggars. What is the cause of this decadence? Is it a just visitation for the unjust means they practised to acquire those possessions? All for the thirst of gold! Or is it that the active spirit of the Portuguese ceases with the acquisition of novelties, and that they are destitute of those persevering qualities which improve and foster the possessions that are originally obtained by enthusiasm and energy?

We had frequent heavy showers during our stay at Cape Coast, although this was not the regular rainy season, for these showers were what are called the after-rains, which last about a fortnight.

When the weather clears up after very heavy rains, many of the poor people, principally old women and children, take up the mud from the gutters, and wash it well in calabashes, when they generally find a few grains of gold for their pains. This is also the case after a very heavy surf has subsided which, during the violence of the storm, generally throws up a great quantity of black mud on the shore.

There is a strange exhibition to be witnessed every morning on the sea-shore, which, however, I shall forbear to describe.

There is a singular old man, upwards of 60 years of age, at Cape Coast Castle, who is well known by the name of Dr. Saguah, and who acts in the capacity of a native doctor. This person excites a great deal of attention, not only by the peculiarity of his manners, but by the circumstances through which he has reached a station of some consideration. He was originally a slave to the African Company at Cape Coast, and having been accidentally placed in the house of the medical establishment, he learned to compound medicines. In the duties which he performed in this capacity he rendered himself very useful, and continued at the pestle and mortar until Sir Charles McCarthy's arrival, when the African Company was dissolved, all their slaves liberated, and the new charter proclaimed, (for Sierra Leone and Cape Coast) on March 29, 1822. Having received his freedom, he now assumed a position of some importance, and was retained on the medical establishment as dispenser, with a small salary. His excellent conduct and judgment in the discharge of his new office procured him the general respect and confidence of Europeans, and his reputation, when I was at Cape Coast, stood so high that he was frequently consulted on the diseases of the climate in preference to medical gentlemen from Europe. He is in the habit of making daily visits to all the European residents, whether they require his services or not, and they generally invite him to take some refreshment, handing him at the same time the keys of their celeret or cupboard, that he may help himself to spirits, or wine. He sometimes avails himself of their offer, chiefly for the sake of gratifying his vanity, by shewing to the servants the confidence that is reposed in him; for no other native, perhaps, except himself, would be entrusted with the keys of any place where wine and spirits are kept. Trade was very dull during my stay at Cape Coast, and had been so for some time; the merchants, however, looked forward to its revival, in consequence of the prospects of peace with the Ashantee people, who were very desirous to terminate hostilities, for the sake of being enabled to resume their commercial intercourse with the English, and other Europeans on the coast. During the war it was believed that they had accumulated a great quantity of gold and ivory, which are the principal articles they barter for goods of European manufacture, and for which they had no sale while hostilities lasted, except in some few instances, where individuals risked the hazard of embarking in smuggling transactions.

Captain Hutchison (whom I have before mentioned, as being left at the Ashantee capital after the departure of the mission), when the troops returned to the coast, subsequent to the Ashantee war was appointed commandant of the Fortress of Annamaboe, a post which he resigned for a time, in consequence of some difference of opinion with Colonel Lumley, acting Governor of Sierra Leone, when he was at Cape Coast; however, he was afterwards induced to resume the command of the fort, where he has a mercantile establishment, as well as at Cape Coast. His opportunities of acquiring popularity have been very favourable, for he has held several high posts at one and the same time, namely:--

Commissioner of Requests, Commandant of Annamaboe, One of H.M. Justices of the Peace for the Gold Coast, Colonial Secretary of Cape Coast, and Captain of the Royal Gold Coast Militia.

And I have the satisfaction of adding my personal testimony of his worth, having found him a most intelligent, hospitable, and friendly man. In addition to all the kind offices he had rendered me during my short residence at Cape Coast, he presented me with a hoop basket-worked ring, richly chased, made of virgin gold from the Ashantee country, and also an Ashantee stool, which is described by Bowdich to be made out of a solid piece of wood, called zesso, which is very light, white, soft, and bearing a high polish. In addition to the soft nature of the wood, it is said to be well soaked in water to make it still softer, previous to its undergoing the process of carving.

From its being the custom among the Ashantees for their great men to be seated on stools, some of them take much pride and pains in having them highly carved or ornamented. The pattern is generally the same, being a very low concave seat; the only difference is the manner of ornamenting them. Bowdich relates, that in one of the grand processions at Coomassie, the stools of the great men were carried on the heads of favourites, and he observes that they were laboriously carved, with two bells attached to each. He also describes the King's stool as being entirely cased with gold. The word stool also signifies a high place of office in the King's council, to which his captains are occasionally raised for any distinguished act of bravery; but this promotion is attended by a heavy fee to the King's household, being no less than eight ounces of gold. When a rich man dies, the person that succeeds to his fortune is said to succeed to his stool. I will conclude the subject of stools with an observation relating to cushions, which is, that no subject can sit in public with a cushion on his stool, unless it has been presented to him by the King, or one of his four principal captains.

[20] Nine miles to the westward of the mouth of this river, is the rock Cestus, where there is a settlement of about seventy Fishmen, who have run away from their own country, to avoid the penalty of the law. They are principally from Niffon, Baddon, and Pickaninny Cess.

CHAP. VII.

Recollections of the Ashantee War--Battle of Essamacow--Accession of Osay Aquatoo to the Throne--Battle of Affatoo--Investment of Cape Coast--Flight of the Ashantees--Martial Law proclaimed--Battle of Dodowah--Ashantee Mode of Fighting--Death of Captain Hutchison

I cannot sufficiently express my sense of the uniform kindness I experienced from the residents at this station. My excellent friend, Capt. Hutchison, lodged me in a good stone house, which was entirely appropriated to my own use, and I had also apartments allotted to me at the castle, so that I passed my time as agreeably as I could possibly desire. The interesting conversations in which I had the good fortune to participate, afforded me a variety of curious and valuable particulars respecting the natives; and, when it is remembered that the gentlemen from whom I derived those anecdotes and descriptions, had mingled personally in the scenes to which they referred, they acquire an enhanced value, from so unequivocal a proof of their authenticity. Many incidents, connected with the Ashantee war, were related to me with all the fire and energy which the soldier exhibits when he enumerates the dangers he has escaped, and the victories in which he has shared; I wish I could transfer to my pages the spirit which inspired my informants; but I must leave the imagination of the reader to supply the strong feelings of personal interest involved in the details, contenting myself with a plain recital of a few short reminiscences.

The battle of Essamacow, which is registered in the Gold Coast Almanack, with the significant prefix of "fatal," was fought on the 21st of January, 1824. Hostilities commenced about two o'clock in the afternoon, when both parties opened a brisk fire across a small river, that separated their forces. Our troops consisted of only a few regulars, a small body of militia, and some irregular native allies, the whole commanded in person by his Excellency Sir Charles McCarthy, Governor of Sierra Leone.

The regulars and militia alone were armed with bayonets, so that, in the event of close collision, in which, unfortunately, this conflict terminated, we were at a fearful disadvantage, contending against a foe so much superior in numbers, and so expert in the use of their hand-arms. The firing across the river continued for four hours, but at six o'clock in the evening, the English were compelled to cease in consequence of having exhausted all their remaining ammunition. The Ashantees, perceiving the difficulty in which our troops were placed, resolved to turn the opportunity to immediate account, and, uttering discordant yells, rushed into the river, and advanced _en masse_ upon our forces. Sir Charles McCarthy saw that there was but one means of resistance left, and received the tumultuous enemy at the point of the bayonet. For some time, the steadiness and courage of the English prevailed over the barbarian rage of the multitudes that threw themselves upon their "serried ranks," and the Ashantees fell in rapid succession; but it soon became evident that the strictest discipline of such an inferior body, could not withstand the increasing crowds that poured upon them: the English soldiers, finding themselves so hemmed in that their muskets became inconvenient to them, for want of space to exercise their arms with freedom, relieved themselves from the encumbrance by unfixing their bayonets, and casting their muskets away. With this awkward weapon they continued the engagement against an enemy armed with long knives, in the use of which every Ashantee is singularly skilful. All the advantages of European knowledge and cooperation, were at an end. It now became a terrific scene of slaughter, in which physical power had the inevitable superiority. Opposed to such infuriated masses, the coolness of the English was of no avail. They fell quickly before the knives of the Ashantees, exhausted from the loss of blood, and covered with numberless wounds. Happily their sufferings were of short duration, for the enemy, in the fulfilment of a barbarous usage, cut off their heads as they fell, as trophies of their own personal prowess.

Sir Charles McCarthy saw that the day was lost, and that it would be but an inglorious sacrifice of his own staff, and the few soldiers that yet remained, to continue on the field. He, therefore, prepared to retire; but this resolution--which, in the breast of so brave an officer, was slow to find a place--was taken too late. A large body of the enemy had already advanced upon his rear, and intercepted his retreat. All hope, even of escape, was now cut off. The victory of the Ashantees was complete: and nothing but conjecture is left as to the cruel sufferings which were inflicted upon our gallant countrymen and allies before they surrendered their spirits to their Creator on that fatal day.

Two officers only escaped--Brigade-Major Ricketts and Lieut. Erskine. Almost all the principal Europeans were slaughtered, and only one, Mr. Williams, is known to have survived: he was sent to the court of Ashantee. The most melancholy feature in this affair is, that the officer who had charge of the ammunition, neglected to keep the troops properly provided with powder, for had the supply been sufficiently prompt, it is believed that the Ashantees never could have succeeded in their advance movement, or, indeed, that they never would have attempted it, so great was our superiority over them in loading and firing. It is to be feared, that great blame is attached to the management in this part of the arrangement for the necessities of the battle, for when Major Ricketts opened the three last kegs supplied to the troops for ammunition, he found, to his consternation, that they were filled with macaroni! although, when the Ashantees plundered our camp the day after the battle, they discovered ten kegs of ball-cartridges, amongst a great quantity of valuable booty. But, however lamentable this negligence was, it should be suffered to pass into oblivion. The officer upon whom it is charged, perished with his brave companions; and, like them, he is placed for judgment before a higher tribunal: it is, therefore, unnecessary, as it would be cruel, to pain his friends and relatives by registering his name, to mark a military error, which might have been caused by the unexampled confusion of the scene in which he was called upon to act so responsible a part.

Shortly after this disastrous event, the late King of Ashantee, Osay Tootoo Quamina, died. He just lived long enough to receive the intelligence of a triumph which inspired the Ashantees with the most extravagant hopes, and led them to prosecute the war with sanguinary violence. Osay Aquatoo (the Orange[21]), the brother of the deceased king, had no sooner succeeded to the vacant throne, than he resolved to follow up the advantages of the war with vigour. He believed that the death of an officer of such estimation as Sir Charles McCarthy, must have thrown the ranks of the British soldiers into confusion and despair, and, taking it for granted, that a military demonstration, on his part, would be sufficient to complete the successes which had opened so successfully under his predecessor, he departed from his capital to take the command of the army, which was then advancing on Cape Coast. On this occasion, agreeably to the superstitious usage of the natives, the head of the late king was carried into the files of the Ashantees, as a charm to protect them in the battle, and an incentive to the performance of valorous deeds. When the King had made some progress towards the encampment, he sent a sarcastic message to the Commander-in-chief, who was then at Affatoo, within ten miles of Cape Coast, which abundantly shewed the confidence by which he was animated. His message was to the effect, that he had learned, in Coomassie,[22] that all the white men had been killed in the late action, and demanding to be informed, what he, the Commander, and all his young men were about, that they had not taken the Castle.--"Stop!"--was the _naïve_ reply of the General to the messenger--"Stop till Friday, when the white men are going to attack us: then you can carry back to the King the news of what you see, and of what the young men have to do." Friday came in due course, and the army of the Ashantees went forward to redeem the pledge of their exulting General. This was the battle of Affatoo, which took place on the 21st of May, 1824. The result was disastrous to the cause of the King. The natives were completely routed and driven from the scene of action, without the loss of a single officer on our side, and with but one wounded (Capt. Hutchison), who commanded the Annamaboe militia, and who was shot through both arms, while he was leading his men to the charge.

The Anglo-Fantee army, immediately after the battle of Affatoo, fell back on Cape Coast Castle, as had been previously arranged by Colonel Sutherland, who had arrived from Sierra Leone just before the battle. This movement of that portion of our troops, enabled Major Chisholm, who possessed the entire confidence of all the soldiers, to take the command in the field. The King of Ashantee, now joined the army, which he headed in person, and concentrating all his forces, he advanced towards Cape Coast Castle with the intention of blockading the town. On the 10th of June, 1824, he pitched his gorgeous pavilion,[23] sparkling with its rich colours and costly embroidery in the effulgent sunlight, on a height to the northward of the town; in the valley between which and the back of the town lay the ground where the important issue was to be contested.

For a whole month the belligerent parties lay in sight of each other, mutually watching their opportunities to attempt a decisive movement. Several skirmishes took place from day to day, but without making much impression on either side; and during this interval of suspense, in which our troops were exposed to the rays of a vertical sun, and in continual expectation of a hidden and treacherous attack from a barbarous horde, greatly superior in numbers, and with whom "revenge is virtue," ascending volumes of smoke wreathing up into the air, and blackening the bright expanse of heaven, marked the terrific conflagrations that were constantly taking place in the surrounding country.

At length the eventful day arrived on the 11th of July, 1824. In order to understand the peculiar perils which our army had to encounter, it is necessary to observe that Cape Coast Castle stands near the sea, and that the town is built on the west side of it, at a short distance from the beach. Upon three conical hills that arise close to the back of the town, and run nearly parallel with the coast, our troops were stationed. The right hill was occupied by Major Chisholm's division, the left by Major Purden's, and the centre by Captain Hutchison's; while the subordinate officers commanded the passes between the valley and the town, which were four in number, two beyond the hills, and two between them. These passes were choked up with a dense jungle. The whole army was commanded by Colonel Sutherland, assisted by Sir John Phillirnore, and most of the officers, seamen, and marines, of H.M.S. Thetis.

At noon the enemy pushed forward in immense numbers, and with ferocious valour towards the passes, with the design of forcing them. Their attention was particularly directed to the right wing, as the town was considered to be most accessible on that side. Their savage cries, their heedless desperation, and tumultuous onset, were well calculated to unnerve the bravery of troops accustomed to discipline and a more honourable species of warfare, but our soldiers met the Ashantees with an unmoved front: the resistance was as courageous as the attack was fierce; and the first approach of the enemy was repulsed with steadiness. It was at this crisis that Lieutenant Swanzy fell, covered with wounds at the head of his detachment. To this fine young man, whose gallantry was conspicuous in the action, might be applied with truth the celebrated words of the poet,

"The young, the beautiful, the brave!"