The relief of Kumasi

Front matter

966 BISS r

966 BISS Relief of Kumasi y

50976

Preface

The closing year of the nineteenth century, one of the most eventful in British history, has afforded much to the chronicler. The all-absorbing war in South Africa, the Ashanti rising, and then the campaign in China, have combined to make an unprecedented call upon the attention of the public. Presumably from the difficulty of obtaining suitable representatives, not one of the newspapers had a professional war correspondent in the expedition of which the following pages furnish an account. For this reason, there seemed to be a danger lest this chapter in Her Majesty's long reign ' should be inadequately recorded in proportion to its historical importance; and the author has therefore endeavoured to tell, as an eye-witness for the most part, the story of what has happened. The book has necessarily been written from a personal point of view ; consequently, should there appear to be too much egotistic detail, he trusts it will be charitably remembered that he has written according to the impressions made upon his own mind, and also that this is his first attempt in literature. No man can write with complete accuracy about that in

' The reader will kindly understand that this book was completed before Her late Majesty's lamented death.

viii PREFACE

which he did not participate, nor convey the same kind of interest to the reader. The number of the contemporary operations which have taken place in the suppression of this rebelHon, has made it impossible for any single individual to take part in them all, even had he served from the beginning to the end, and if more space has been devoted to what the author actually saw, that is due to the fact that the book is primarily a record of personal impressions.

No attempt at criticism has been made : this would have been not only an unbecoming liberty, but even an impossibility, without a fuller knowledge of all that was occurring than was then available. Doubtless, a Blue-book upon this subject will, in due course, be issued for the information of all who take an interest in West African affairs. Accordingly, political and commercial details have only been superficially touched upon, and that only when absolutely necessary ; the writer's object having been mainly to furnish a diary of occurrences. From unavoidable causes, this book has had to be written at great speed, and nobody is more conscious than its author that it bears the marks of haste, though he trusts exactitude has been secured in all points. On this account, he craves the leniency of the reader, and begs that it may not be forgotten that the story presented is one of plain fact, without any colouring of romance. Until a standard history of this war be written by some more competent hand, he hopes that his little volume may be of use and interest in furnishing a less worthy but not less reliable narrative.

He gladly acknowledges, with sincere gratitude, the help afforded him by many friends, who, having been present at other points in the field of operations, were able to give him information regarding many things

PREFACE IX

which might otherwise have escaped him. As far as possible he has taken advantage of all published printed matter so as to secure correctness in details.

It is due to the kind permission of the Intelligence Department of the War Office that he is able to publish a copy of their map, which is the best obtainable. As, however, much of it has been compiled from the necessarily rapid work of officers moving about this little known country, it must be borne in mind that complete accuracy cannot be expected : for example, the alternative road from Fumsu to Bekwai via Obuasi does not appear. He is also indebted to the courtesy of Baron de Reuter for news derived from the reports of his Agency, and to the Editor of the Standard for permission to extract facts from that paper's Ashanti correspondence.

Wellington Club, London, S.W.

January, 1901

Contents

Introduction. Preliminary Considerations . . . i

CHAPTER

I. SCORED OFF ...... 17

Introduction

PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS

TO save people unnecessary trouble is a sound maxim to follow, and specially advisable on such an occasion as this. Life is nowadays too short to learn all one could wish : consequently, I may be forgiven, by those who know West Africa, if I state a few of the geographical and historical facts which, I venture to think, are necessary to enable the reader to intelligently follow the course of events in this Ashanti War of 1900. At the same time, I hope these particulars will help to interest him the more in the narrative of what occurred, as given in the subsequent chapters.

The West African colonies, with which we are now concerned, extend from French Senegambia down to the German Cameroons. The first one touched at, on the outward-bound voyage, is Sierra Leone, between which and the Gold Coast are Liberia and the French Ivory Coast. Liberia is the republic which was formed by the freed slaves from the United States, and the Yankee accent is very noticeable there to-day.

After leaving the Gold Coast, German Togoland and

B I

French Dahomey have to be passed before sighting our next possession — Lagos. The course then is due east, and in the Gulf of Guinea. Southern Nigeria Hes south-east of Lagos, no foreign possession dividing them. Finally Northern Nigeria (formerly known as the Niget Territories) extends from the northern boundaries of the Hinterlands of Lagos and Southern Nigeria (recently called the Niger Coast Protectorate) northwards and eastwards as far as Lake Chad, up to the southern frontier of the French Hinterland, and the north-western one of the German Cameroons, which all converge at this lake.

Each of these colonies of ours has its own Governor, staff of civilian officials, and troops, but they are none the less intimately connected with one another. In fact, I should never be surprised to hear in the future of their becoming united under one government. Northern Nigeria, for example, the most recent addition, is not at present self-supporting, and, therefore, Lagos and Southern Nigeria each contribute annually a large sum towards its expenses. Again, the troops, as has just been done in Ashanti, are moved from one colony to another as reinforcements, whenever emergency requires.

Sierra Leone is perhaps the most important colony of all this group, inasmuch as it is one of our first-class coaling stations. For this reason it has most troops. Freetown, the port and capital, is strongly fortified, and has a permanent garrison of one battalion of the W.I.R., together with some fortress batteries of artillery. There is also one more unit in this command, the W.A.R., which is immediately under the War Office, and has only recently come into being. The W.I.R., which has also some light field guns on its strength, has so long been part of our army that little need be said about it.

The men are West Indian negroes, the officers Europeans, and there is one British non-commissioned officer to each company. The regiment is armed and treated exactly Hke any line regiment.

The W.A.R., however, is somewhat different. There is the proportion, usual in African regiments, of British officers and non-commissioned officers, but its soldiers are recruited in the colony, and are chiefly Mendis and Temanis. They are little, agile men, and, being natives of the forest, are of the greatest use in such country ; owing to this, they have rendered specially valuable service as scouts in this campaign, a kind of work the other troops were not very successful at, owing to their homes being in much less densely timbered lands. This regiment wears the red fez and blue uniform common to every West African force. This, however, will probably soon be altered to khaki, as was done in the case of the W. A.F.F. immediately prior to its going on service in this expedition, and the same change is likely to become universal along the coast. The men are armed with the "303 Martini-Metford carbine, and small swords ; which latter are almost useless, for they are apt to trip up the men when moving, do not fix on to the rifle like a bayonet, and are too short to use as a sabre ; which, after all, an infantryman does not want.

This "303 carbine, which is used by all our West African troops, is a most excellent little weapon for them, especially as the West African native is invariably weak in the arms. The wisdom of the authorities in this selection has been abundantly proved to any observant person, and one cannot be too thankful that the magazine rifle was not issued instead. In " bush " fighting the critical moment, when intensely rapid fire is required, does not seem to occur at all frequently and, when it does, the Maxims, which are liberally supplied to all West African infantry, would do ample execution. On the other hand, the risk of men wasting their ammunition is greatly reduced. Good fire discipline has always been regarded as the highest test of efficiency, but when one's company, usually about one hundred and fifty men in single file, is firing, it is practically impossible to control their expenditure in the effective way one would like. When it is remembered that every box of ammunition has often to be carried hundreds of miles, that eight hundred rounds of small-arm cartridges is the maximum weight one carrier can manage for any length of time, one realises the enormous difficulty of its transport, and the care which ought to be taken regarding the way in which it is used. To run out of ammunition might mean annihilation in impenetrable forests, and retirement would always be of the extremest difficulty and danger. Nothing seems to please the black man more than to let off firearms. No doubt, he imagines the noise of the explosion has a great moral effect, and the subject of ammunition supply and porterage is a detail which does not readily appeal to the inconsequent savage brain.

The Gold Coast has only its Constabulary (as it is at present miscalled), consisting of a battalion and a few 7-pr. guns. These men speak Hausa, and are, therefore, commonly supposed to have been recruited from that race. However, a glance at the map shows one that distance alone would prohibit such a thing, although, no doubt, there are Hausas amongst them. The uniform and armament of these soldiers are really the same as those of the W. A.R., but they carry, as do all the troops in these colonies with the before-mentioned exception, the short bayonet instead of the cutlass-like sword.

Lagos, the best developed colony of all, has, to all intents and purposes, the same garrison as the Gold Coast, though rather less numerous ; it is also similarly equipped and clad. The rank and file are a mixture of Hausas and Yorubas, the latter being the inhabitants of the Hinterland of this colony, but it is known as the Lagos Hausa Force.

The Southern Nigerian Regiment, again, resembles the Lagos force in all respects, and its men are of the same two races. During this year it has been called the 3rd Bn. W.A.F.F.

Northern Nigeria is somewhat differently situated to the other colonies as to its troops, which are more numerous, better armed, and more liberally supplied with British officers and non-commissioned officers than any except those of Sierra Leone. This force was raised in 1897 by Brigadier-General Sir Frederick Lugard, K.C.M.G., C.B., D.S.O., and Colonel Sir James Willcocks, K.C.M.G., D.S.O., with two objects. Firstly, because owing to the disputes with the French as to our territorial boundaries, which were then most vaguely fixed, it was necessary to have a considerable number of soldiers in that portion of our Empire, which had up to that time been but weakly held in military occupation by the Constabulary of the Royal Niger Company; secondly, because this enormous tract of new countrj' would shortly have to be opened up for governmental and trade purposes, which necessitated a very considerable increase in our West African fencibles. The position at that time was one of grave emergency, consequently, the raising of these two battalions and three batteries, together with some Engineers and a Medical Department, was carried out with great expedition. The authorities at home were most liberal in

6 THE RELIEF OF KUMASl

their grants of every kind, and the armament was of the best. The uniform was originally blue. The infantry, each battalion with eight companies one hundred and fifty strong, was armed with the Martini-Metford carbine, and each company was supplied with a Vickers-Maxim ■303 gun. The batteries had the powerful 75-m/m guns, which throw a 12-lb. shell, and have done good service in the recent war. The artillery had also 7-pounders (which have again proved themselves insufficient for the work demanded of them), along with some rockets and Maxims. It must be remembered that all these guns are portable, the two heavy kinds being mounted on wheeled carriages, whilst the Maxims, for convenience in this country, are adjusted to tripod stands. Each battalion had its band — indeed the way in which the native soldiers played was quite wonderful. The tunes and bugle-calls were whistled to them by the European band-master, and they picked them up with surprising rapidity. The men were all Hausas and Yorubas with the exception of one company of Nup^s, which was raised as an experiment, and did excellent work in the war. Northern Nigeria is peculiarly fortunate in having these fine races to recruit from, inasmuch as they are practically all natives of the colony. The vast stretch of country to the east and north-east is Hausa-land ; the Nupe territory extends along the immediate left bank of the Middle Niger, and, as has been stated, the Yorubas inhabit the Lagos Hinterland, which adjoins this Protectorate on the south-west. These soldiers were able to be outfitted, immediately prior to their departure for Ashanti, with new uniforms of khaki, in place of their former blue ones, which in many cases bore the marks of hard wear and overtime almost to the verge of indecency. Owing to their new costume, the common name given to them at first by the other soldiers in the expedition was " The Khaki Soldiers " ; but none the less, the Northern Nigerian contingent looked not onlyworkmanlike, but very smart when they were inspected prior to their going to the front. But the part of the soldier's kit which suffers the most in this damp climate of West Africa is the leather pouches and braces ; and these were invariably issued, in the first instance, more than half worn out. One must admit one would like to see this portion of the equipment replaced by a bandolier cartridge-belt, which has three great advantages over the old pattern : firstly, the weight is removed from the waist to the shoulders — no inconsiderable item when each round of ammunition weighs an ounce ; secondly, cartridges would no longer be able to drop out of pouches ; and thirdly, the counting of a soldier's number of rounds would be greatly facilitated.

The only other troops employed in this way, and the only ones which do not come from the west, but from the east coast was a weak battalion of the C.A.R., with a small detachment of Sikhs, who were as new to the dense bush as the majority of the Ashanti Field Force. The principal races from which these soldiers are recruited are the Yaos, Atongas, and Angonis, and excellent fighting men they make. The officers are British, and this force is fortunate in having a large number of its N.CO.'s Sikhs. These grand soldiers of the Indian Army and their intrepid bravery are too well known to require further description. They had, of course, their own uniforms and turbans, whilst the men of the regiment also wore khaki and a rather elongated black fez, which looked very well. They were armed with the Martini rifle, with its well-remembered long bayonet. They are small, wiry men, and formed a most noticeable contrast to their gigantic N.C.O.'s. They have a peculiar habit, when starting, of chanting a savage paean of their own, whicli sounds like a sort of question and answer appeal in music, the former part being solo, and the latter a general chorus.

Finally, a detachment of West India gunners, with their 7-pounders, completed the list of units which constituted the Ashanti Field Force.

So it came to pass that all the troops employed were young regiments, mostly composed of recruits, few of the men having seen any previous war service ; and this was the material our Commandant had to work with. Even their own officers were surprised at the splendid service the men have rendered ; they cannot be given more credit than their pluck and soldierly qualities merit. This is the first time in British history that a force composed entirely of native troops has ever successfully undertaken such a large task. My own part of the force, from Northern Nigeria, which was raised little more than two years ago, and therefore the newest unit of all, and which Colonel Sir James Willcocks himself previously commanded, was certainly never surpassed by any of the others. Owing to this circumstance, and to the peculiar interest one took in the men, I feel compelled to record my own satisfaction, which, no doubt, will be considered pardonable. It is also a comforting reflection that Her Majesty's West African troops have proved themselves practically able to cope, unaided, with all future native troubles on that coast. Owing to this fact, this campaign is probably the cheapest on record, despite the enormous cost of transport when only human carriage is available ; nor could a larger expenditure of money have enabled the work to be more satisfactorily finished.

It is known that when Colonel Sir James Willcocks arrived in the Gold Coast and thoroughly grasped the situation, the seriousness of which could not have been previously appreciated, he asked for troops from India, which were, one understood, to have been sent later on, '^ had not the subsequent outbreak of hostilities in China made it impossible. Then a Soudanese regiment was hoped for, but it also never came, and a similar disappointment followed the offer of their services from the Jamaica Militia. British soldiers were at this time out of the question on account of the war in South Africa.

There is an unsupported rumour that all the West African forces will in time be amalgamated into one large body, like the Indian Staff Corps, and some more advanced conjectures even go so far as to hint at an African native army.

Even without reference to the political .situation of the British nation, and the hostilities in South Africa and China, the Ashanti rising was most inopportune in so far as the West African section of our Empire was concerned at that time, for not one of these colonies could then with due caution be denuded of its troops, which are, naturally, not more numerous than circumstances require. In barbarous lands like these, the forces are usually split up into detachments, which garrison districts and preserve order. These small units are often separated by considerable distances. For this reason alone, it is far from easy to collect a regiment for service anywhere, and, under the most auspicious conditions, it must always take much time, progress being probably about a dozen miles a day as an all-round estimate. It would probably be as lo THE RELIEF OF KUMASI

expeditious to entrain a concentrated unit at Aldershot for the sea, and ship them out to the seat of war, as to get a similar force of native West African soldiers from their own colony to another one on that coast.

Sierra Leone, not to speak of its being a most important coaling station, wanted its troops, because further inland, in the Gambia district, matters were unsettled, and have now gone so far as to necessitate punitive operations.

The Gold Coast force was quite unable by itself to wage war with such a powerful nation ; it was also widely dispersed both in the part of the colony south of Ashanti and the northern territories beyond it.

Lagos, the most peaceful of any, was not quite happy at the attitude displayed by the Abbeokuta people.

Southern Nigeria was known to be only waiting for the rains to cease before commencing hostilities with the inhabitants of the Cross River District, who had absolutely put a stop to trade, and refused all intercourse with the white men.

In Northern Nigeria it was even more inconvenient, because active measures were actually in progress, and the despatch of its complement of soldiers to the A.shanti Field Force will probably retard the development of this colony in a more marked degree than will be the case in any of the others. It was only on January i, 1900, that this colony was formed definitely into a Protectorate, under Brigadier-General Sir Frederick Lugard as its first High Commissioner. He is too well known as an African explorer, pioneer of our Empire, sportsman and author, to require any introduction, but one would like to bring to remembrance here, that it was largely due to him, backed by Lord Salisbury's foresight and diplomacx*, that we now,

INTRODUCTIOX ii

instead of the French, possess so much of the hinterland of Western Equatorial Africa. His adventurous and lonely journey, some years ago, through what now constitutes the south-western portion of his administration, was the cause of our now owning the large province known as Borgu. The French had actually gone to the extent of subduing its warlike inhabitants, but the prior treaties made by Sir Frederick Lugard with the native chiefs decided matters in our favour when disputes actually arose. Until the advent, in December, 1899, of the newly appointed High Commissioner, with the nucleus of his civil staff", the country had been held by the military ; the control of affairs on the spot, at a very anxious time, from an international point of view, and the training of the recently organised force, being vested in the hands of Colonel Sir James Willcocks, to whose soldierly qualities, ability as an organiser, and tact, the success of both is due. A man of action, such as Sir Frederick Lugard, does not let the grass grow under his feet very long, though he had indeed a gigantic task before him, with between three and four hundred thousand square miles of scarcely known country to break in and develop. The charter, originally granted to the Niger Company, had hampered the action of the Imperial officers very much, and, until all legislative powers were taken from it at the commencement of last year, the administration of this barely explored region was practically impossible. Missionary enterprise and trade always find work for the soldier, so the early spring brought severe fighting up the river Benue.

At the same time, owing to its unhealthiness, and the alarming death-rate amongst the Europeans, it was decided to abandon Jebba, at first selected as the capital. The two bases in this colony had been Lokoja and Jebba : the former was situated at the confluence of the Benue and the Niger, the spot where the latter river turns westward to the sea; the latter, an island, was about three hundred miles further up the Niger, and north of Lokoja. Arrangements were in consequence made for surveying parties to penetrate into this untraversed tract of territory on the left bank of the Niger, and select a site for a new headquarters. Each party had necessarily to be escorted by a strong column of troops ; one was to go from Jebba in the charge of Major (local Lieutenant-Colonel) Morland, who commanded the first battalion, and one from Lokoja, under the orders of Major (local Lieutenant-Colonel) Lowry-Cole, to whom had been entrusted the second battalion. These two forces were to work their way inland from the river, and concentrate in the neighbourhood of Zaria, a large and powerful Hausa city. As was rather anticipated, the kindly civilising influence of the white man was not acceptable ; indeed, opposition and fighting were met with. It was then that Colonel VVillcocks set out from Jebba to take command of these amalgamated units ; however, just before he reached his destination, a telegram offering him the command of the Ashanti campaign overtook him, and altered his plans.

Before proceeding from these introductory remarks to the commencement of the actual history of the campaign, it seems imperative to add a few words about the Gold Coast Colony and Ashanti, so as to enable the reader to start with a comprehensive view of the general position of affairs.

The Gold Coast has been known to the European for centuries, and is probably one of our richest possessions in West Africa ; this naturally explains our preference for having full control over it and declining to allow the

Ashanti to have any right of veto, even where his own country is concerned. It is only since the early part of the nineteenth century that we have attempted to administer this possession of the Crown, and as recently as the sixties it was seriously discussed whether we should not withdraw from these localities altogether. But there is undoubtedly " money in it." A glance at the statistics show, as a satisfactory quid pro quo, that the imports of the Gold Coast have been doubled during the last few years. This colony extends in reality only up to the river Prah, seventy miles inland from the coast, but we have lately taken over, when Germany, France, and Britain divided up this part of the map amongst themselves, a large and valuable tract of the hinterland, now called the " Northern Territories Gold Coast." The natural outlet for all the produce from this region was straight through Ashanti down to Cape Coast, but the Ashantis did not agree with us in regarding their country as a short cut for our merchandise, and interfered so much with the transit of commerce that much trade was diverted through the Protectorates of our European neighbours. Again, the Ashanti has a short memory, an easy conscience, and the usual low code of honour common to the savage. The war indemnity of twenty-seven years' standing still remained unpaid, human sacrifices and slave-raiding were continued, and the beautiful road they had promised to make to facilitate traffic through their country had not even been started.

Consequently, when they actually went to the length of rebellion, nothing remained to us but to give them a sharp lesson, with the endeavour to make it of such a kind as to be remembered. It seems a fairly common, though none the less erroneous, belief that Ashanti was British territory. Such was not really the case : although we nominally annexed the country in 1896 we have only exercised a suzerainty over it. The fact must not be lost sight of that the Ashantis, until now, have never been a conquered race. They are probably the most warlike tribe in Africa, and certainly have been the terror of all the others for miles around them. This influence is very noticeable, and explains why others joined them in this war. In past days they overran all the countries around their own, right down to the sea coast, and even the white merchant had a wholesome dread of them. After the Ashanti invasion in 182 1, the Governor of the Gold Coast, Sir Charles M'Carthy, organised a small expedition against them, but was entirely defeated. He himself was killed, and his skull is now supposed to be in use amongst the enemy as a drinking-bowl. In 1863 another force met with total failure. The strong forts on the sea-board bear silent witness to the difficulties and pertinacity of the early traders, who, although unable to do little exploration, made much money by barter with the natives. It was in 1873 that Sir Garnet Wolseley, for the first time, formed an adequately powerful column, and drove the Ashantis completely out of the colony, penetrating to their capital, which he burnt.

Even at that time the country north of the river Prah was, unfortunately, never fully traversed by troops and the rebellion everywhere stamped out, as has now been done. Lord Wolseley's fortifications for the defence of Cape Coast can still be seen, but few of the Ashantis, with whom we have conversed, remember this lesson at all clearly. The tribe abandoned, indeed, their raids across the Prah, but continued the old practices, so seriously retarding development, civilisation, and business, that in 1895 Sir Francis Scott got together and took up a fourth expedition. For some reason or another, probably owing to the presence of the white troops, this warHke nation offered no resistance, and permitted their king Prempeh to be removed ; they even accepted, without reluctance, a permanent British Resident in their capital, who was to supervise the native legislation ; and it was chiefly on account of the installation and appointment of this new official that the present fort was built in Kumasi. But one Resident could never cope with the needs of such a large district ; it must be borne in mind that such a person requires to be more than an ambassador at a civilised court. A race like this one must be moulded into shape by the effective military occupation of their country, be it but temporary. There must be armed force behind the orders before the barbarian can be expected to obey orders and respect the white man's position. There is now every reason to feel positive that after Sir Francis Scott's column was disbanded the Ashantis again longed for their independence, and the restoration of their king ; but the fact that every available soldier we had was compelled to take part in the Transvaal War was the chief reason why this particular time was selected by them.