On the 8th of November, while these warlike preparations were still far from being completed, intelligence arrived at the colony, that King George, who, with his people, had previously evacuated the neighbouring town, and to whom the African youths had deserted, was advancing upon the settlement with a force, composed of such people, from among all the neighbouring tribes, as had the daring to set the authority of King Boatswain at defiance. Happily for the colonists, they had a means of acquiring intelligence of their enemy's deliberations and intentions, of which that enemy was little aware; a circumstance which enabled them effectually to guard against surprise, and of which the Agent took advantage to press the necessity of coolness and determination upon the attention of the men.
On the evening of November 10th, the army of King George made its appearance, at the distance of little more than half a mile to the westward of the settlement, where it encamped for the night. The number of warriors comprising this force, was generally estimated at nine hundred; but, as the chiefs were the only persons who could tell the exact amount, and each was afterwards interested to diminish the account of their individual subjects, it is probable that the force was much greater than it was allowed.
The most wakeful vigilance was kept up by the settlers throughout the night; but the out-piquet having imprudently ventured, in violation of their orders, to leave their station at the dawn of day, were immediately followed by the native force; who, suddenly presenting a front of ten yards in width, fired a volley, and then rushing forward, took possession of the post, towards which they had been so incautiously led, and from which the men were driven without having been able to discharge their guns. Had the enemy possessed the skill, or the self-denial to have kept their advantage, the colonists must have been utterly destroyed; but such was their avidity for plunder, that, abandoning every thing for the pillage of four houses in the outskirt of the settlement, they so far impeded and confused the main body of their army, that the colonists had time to recover from their panic, and, by keeping up a rapid fire with the brass field-piece, they brought the whole body of the enemy to a stand. A detachment of musketeers, with E. Johnson at their head, was, meanwhile, despatched round the enemy's flank, which considerably increased their disorder, and, in about twenty minutes, the main front of the assailants began to recoil, but from the numerous obstacles presented to their rear, the entire absence of discipline, and the difficulty of giving a reversed order, without method, to so large a body, and added to all, the delay arising from their practice of carrying off their dead, their retreat was, for a time, rendered impossible; and the violence used by those in front, to hasten this measure, only increased the difficulties of its accomplishment. The colonists, perceiving their advantage, quickly regained possession of the western post, and brought their long nine-pounder to rake the whole line of the enemy, who, pressed together into so dense a body, that a child might have walked on their heads from one end to the other, remained thus defenceless, and exposed to the destructive fire that was poured upon them by a cannon of great power, at no more than sixty yards distance; every shot from this tremendous engine did immense execution, and savage yells filled the forest with horrible echoes. These gradually died away, as the terrified host fell back. At eight o'clock the well-known signal for their retreat was sounded, and immediately after, small parties were seen running off in different directions. One large canoe, employed in carrying a party across the mouth of the Montserado, venturing within the range of the long gun, was struck by the shot, and several men killed.
On the part of the settlers it was soon ascertained that considerable injury had been sustained. One woman who had imprudently, and contrary to express orders, passed the night in a house outside the fortifications, and which happened to be at the point first attacked, received thirteen wounds, and had been placed aside as dead, (after incredible suffering she, however, recovered.) Another, flying from the house with two infant children, received a wound in the head, and was robbed of both her babes; but she herself providentially escaped. A young married woman, with the mother of five small children, finding their house surrounded, barricaded the door, in the vain hope of resistance. It was forced, when each of the women seizing an axe, held the barbarians in check several minutes longer; they were, however, speedily overpowered, and the youngest stabbed to the heart: the mother instinctively springing through the window to preserve her suckling babe, providentially escaped, but the babe recoiling through fright, was left behind and fell into the enemy's hands.
It was not possible to ascertain the number lost by the enemy, but it must have been very considerable, as it is calculated that the killed carried away by water alone amounted to not less than 150. Many others were conveyed along the beach on mats; and twenty-seven bodies were at one period found by a party of friendly Condoes employed by the Agent to remove them; and long after this action the offensive effluvia from the wood proved that the researches of these persons were still incomplete.
The numerical force of the settlers at this period amounted to 35 persons, including six native youths not sixteen years of age. Of this number, but one half were engaged. After this action it was determined to contract the lines, and to surround the central houses, and stores, with a musket-proof stockade, and before night more than eighty yards of this erection were completed.
The work was carried on with no other interruption on the following day, than the necessary one of burying the dead: and was so speedily completed that by the fourteenth of the month half the number of men were, by the contraction of the lines, relieved from camp duty: thus obtaining for each a larger portion of rest during the day, which enabled them to perform their night watch with renewed vigour. An additional gun was mounted and posted on the same day, and every hour witnessed some progress in the discipline or defences of the colonists.
It was at this period that a friendly message, accompanied by a small present, consisting of the country's produce, sent by Prince Tom Bassa, a chief of some distinction, inspired something like encouragement to the hopes of the desolate little band; but it cannot be denied that their despondency outweighed their hopes, on discovering that, exclusive of rice, there remained but fifteen days provision in store. Each individual was now placed on an allowance per diem, scarcely sufficient to sustain animal strength, especially when such constant demands were made upon their industry and vigilance. No supplies could be obtained from the natives, in whose hands seven infant children were retained as captives, added to which the enemy's troops, though repelled, had not dispersed, and the colonists remained in daily expectation of a fresh incursion upon their little territory; to complete all came the cruel conviction that their stock of ammunition was insufficient to maintain more than an hour's defence.
These considerations, as well as the fear that the infant captives might fall victims to their infuriated enemies, determined the Agent to make another attempt to open a treaty for peace with the hostile chiefs, and after great difficulty he succeeded in conveying a message to their council (then in the act of debating a second attack), descriptive of the wishes of the colonists to maintain peace, and of their equal determination to oppose an invasion, with measures still more destructive than those under which their assailants had already suffered. These negotiations being unsatisfactorily entertained for some time, a day of humiliation and prayer was set apart at the settlement, after which the preparations for resistance were carried on as before. Fortunately, at this juncture a trading vessel touched at the Cape, from which the most pressing wants of the people obtained relief, and a few days after, a still more bountiful supply was received through the disinterested kindness of Captain Brassey of Liverpool, who, unsolicited and without prospect of remuneration, nearly exhausted his own stores to relieve the necessities of the sick and wounded, and presuming upon a long acquaintance with the people of these parts, he undertook to negotiate for peace; his efforts were however not successful; and immediately after the departure of his vessel a considerable army advanced upon the colonists; they, however, on their part were better defended than on the former occasion, and although the force against which they had to contend was more numerous and better disciplined than before, yet as the forest in the neighbourhood of the town was now converted into a wide plain, the assailants were obliged to approach under a fire from the cannon, the rapidity of which to them appeared like magic.
The natives sustained these destructive measures with surprising fortitude and perseverance; several times throwing themselves on their faces to allow the shots to pass over them, and renewing their own fire immediately after each discharge. But a contest so unequal could not be long maintained—in seventy minutes from the commencement of the attack a final victory was accomplished; and the terrified fugitives dispersed as suddenly as they had appeared, many throwing themselves into the water and diving to avoid the shots that were fired after them. The loss on the part of the natives was supposed not to be greater than upon the former occasion, but its results were longer and more fearfully remembered. Three men belonging to the colony, serving at the guns on the eastern post were wounded, Gardiner and Crook dangerously, Tines mortally; the Agent received three bullets through his clothes, but providentially escaped without any bodily hurt.