58 



ASHANTEE. 



notified the English general that he had in- 

 structed Amanquatia to pay the indemnifica- 

 tion, on condition that General Wolseley re- 

 mained in Fommanah. General Wolseley now 

 believed the war to be at an end, and sent an 

 express steamer to England to notify his gov- 

 ernment. The captives informed the English, 

 however, that in every house in Coomassie 

 slaves were busy making slugs out of stones. 

 Of the liberated captives, Mr. and Mrs. Ram- 

 seyer were sent to Cape-Coast Castle, while 

 Bonnat remained with the expedition. The 

 Ashantee messengers were sent back by Gen- 

 eral Wolseley on the afternoon of January 26th. 

 During the negotiations for peace, the regiment 

 of Russell had advanced farther, and Lord 

 Gifford, by extensive reconnoissances, had found 

 that the villages on the road were strongly 

 occupied by Ashantee warriors, and that the 

 women and children had been removed from 

 them. Major Kussell summoned these garri- 

 sons to evacuate the villages, and, when they 

 refused, attacked one of the villages and set it 

 on fire. General Wolseley, still believing in the 

 sincerity of the King's propositions for peace, 

 gave orders to Major Russell hereafter not to 

 burn any village, nor at any future encounter 

 with the Ashantees to open fire. Soon after 

 Lord Gifford intercepted a powder-convoy 

 which was sent from Coomassie to Borborasi ; 

 at the same time he learned that the Ashan- 

 tee general Essamanquatia and the Prince of 

 Adansi were there with a considerable force! 

 Colonel McLeod, who had been appointed brig- 

 adier of the native forces, received orders to 

 march to Borborasi, first to open negotiations, 

 and, in case resistance should be made, to attack 

 the enemy, but not to destroy the place. Captain 

 Nicol, who led the van, stopped in front of the 

 village, but, when on the point of beginning 

 negotiations, was treacherously shot through 

 the heart. Colonel McLeod then took the vil- 

 lage, but, in accordance with bis instructions, 

 did not destroy it. On January 28th, other 

 Ashantee messengers came to Fommanah, but 

 immediately returned. The English soldiers 

 were officially informed that the negotiations 

 had been broken off, and that the war would 

 go on. The Ashantee general Amanquatia had 

 concentrated his new strong army and taken po- 

 sition at Amoaful, twenty miles from Coomassie. 

 The van of the Ashantees occupied the village 

 of Egginasi, half a mile from Amoaful. The lat- 

 ter is a place of about 2,000 inhabitants, and 

 situated on a high hill, while Egginasi lies on 

 a lower hill; between both is a marshy val- 

 ley crossed by a 'turbid creek. The slopes of 

 both hills were densely wooded. Here Aman- 

 quatia had an army of 20,000 men, while the 

 English only numbered 3,000. The English 

 van, embracing the regiments of Wood -and 

 Russell, on January 30th, occupied Quarman, a 

 village situated half a mile south of Egginasi ; 

 in the afternoon Major Home widened the 

 road to Egginasi, and during the night Lord 

 Gifford reconnoitred the enemy's position. The 



bulk of the English army was at Jusarfu, four 

 miles south of Quarman. It consisted of the 

 Forty-second Regiment, the Black Watch, un- 

 der Major Duncan McPherson ; the Rifle Bri- 

 gade, under Lieutenant-Colonel Warren ; and 

 one hundred men of the Twenty-third Regi- 

 ment, under Lieutenant-Colonel Moslyn. To- 

 gether, these troops formed the White Brigade, 

 commanded by Brigadier Sir Archibald Alison, 

 son of the English historian ; to this were added 

 the Naval Brigade under Captain Grubbe, a 

 company of the Second West Indians, under 

 Lieutenant Jones, and the Houssa with sev- 

 en-pounders and rockets, under Captain Rait. 

 As General Wolseley saw that the small Eng- 

 lish army would be encircled by the overwhelm- 

 ing numbers of the enemy, as soon as it would 

 reach Egginasi, he formed his army into a large 

 square, in order to front the enemy on all sides, 

 and to keep the inclosed ground free from all 

 hidden enemies. Brigadier Alison, with the 

 Forty-second Regiment, Gifford's skirmishers, 

 Home's sappers, and Rait's artillery, was to ad- 

 vance and take Amoaful. Lieutenant-Colonel 

 Moslyn commanded the right flank, and Colo- 

 nel McLeod the left. General Wolseley, with 

 his staff and Commodore Hewett and a 

 company of the Twenty-third Regiment, took 

 his place behind the front column. Quarman 

 was occupied by Lieutenant Jones and the 

 Second West Indian ; the rear was command- 

 ed by Lieutenant-Colonel Warren. On Janu- 

 ary 31st, early in the morning, the Black 

 Watch marched through Quarman and Eggi- 

 nasi into the woods, where, at about eight 

 o'clock, they were most vehemently attacked 

 by the Ashantees. The battle lasted until 

 nearly twelve o'clock, when the end of the 

 wood was reached, the hill taken, the fire of 

 the Ashantees silenced, and Amoaful occupied. 

 The Ashantees had lost a large number of 

 killed and wounded, but the losses of the 

 Black Watch were likewise severe. Nine offi- 

 cers and one hundred and five men were se- 

 verely wounded ; one officer and two men 

 killed. The three other columns of the Eng- 

 lish army had also encounters with the Ashan- 

 tees, who even destroyed a part of the baggage ; 

 but, at last, the Ashantees had to fall back on 

 all sides. After the battle at Amoaful, there 

 was a comparative lull for one day ; though, 

 even on that day, February 1st, some of the 

 troops which had been most hotly engaged in 

 the battle had to attack the village of Becquah, 

 on the left flank of the English position. But 

 on the second day, when the general moved 

 forward as far as Agimmamu, the enemy dis- 

 puted every mile of ground. Again, on Feb- 

 ruary 2d, the enemy was in great force, oppos- 

 ing the advance of the English, and hanging 

 round their flanks. The King on that day sent 

 to Sir Garnet a characteristic letter, alleging, 

 perhaps with unconscious truth, that "your 

 Excellency's very rapid movements put me 

 into confusion," and offering compliance if he 

 were given time. Sir Garnet, in reply, de- 



