Meantime the small force which had been organising in England was on its way to the scene of operations. The 42nd was the principal regiment of the line, as a large part of the 23rd Welsh Fusileers had to re-embark, owing to the desertion of some thousands of native carriers who had been engaged to carry the necessary baggage through the unwholesome country. As we said at the conclusion of the history of the 79th, a considerable number of volunteers from that regiment accompanied the Black Watch, which left Portsmouth on the 4th of December 1873, and arrived off Cape Coast Castle on the 17th, disembarking on the 3rd and 4th of January 1874. Besides the 23rd, 42nd, and 2nd battalion Rifle Brigade, there were detachments of Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers, and Royal Marines, which, with the force already on the ground, formed the army with which Sir Garnet Wolseley was to pierce into the very heart of the Ashantee kingdom, through a country of marshes and matted forests, the growth of centuries, and forming an almost impenetrable ambush for the enemy, who knew how to take advantage of it. As Lord Derby remarked, this was to be “an engineers’ and doctors’ war.” The engineers worked admirably in the construction of roads, bridges, telegraphs, and camps; and it became simply a question whether the British soldiers would be able to hold out against the pestiferous climate long enough to enable them to reach Coomassie and return to the Gold Coast ere the heavy rains set in in the early spring. Happily the energy, skill, and knowledge of General Wolseley were quite equal to the emergency; and backed by an able and determined staff, and his small force of brave and willing soldiers, he accomplished his mission with complete success. All possible preparations were made on the road to Prah-su, previous to the commencement of the march of the main body, in order that not a moment of the precious time might be lost,—the white troops must be back, and ready to embark by the end of February.
We have said that at starting there was considerable difficulty in procuring a sufficient number of native carriers for the baggage of the small force. This caused some delay after the landing of the force at Mansu, some distance to the north of Cape Coast Castle,—which delay, a 42nd officer said with truth, “did more harm to our men than all the hard work in Ashantee.” To Europeans idleness in such a climate is utterly prostrating. In the dearth of carriers, the 42nd men themselves, greatly to their honour, volunteered to act as porters. On the 23rd of January General Wolseley with the advanced guard had crossed the Adansi Hills, and fixed his headquarters at Fomannah, the palace of the Adansi king. On the 26th Colonel M’Leod of the 42nd, who commanded the advanced guard, took Borborassie. After this service the 23rd Fusileers, 42nd, Rifle Brigade, the 2nd West India Regiment, and the Naval Brigade, which by this time had reached Prah-su, were brought forward, resting on Insarfu. They encamped on the night of the 30th about that place, and about two miles north of it, towards the enemy’s main position at Amoaful. The advanced guard, under Colonel M’Leod, was at Quarman, within a mile or two of the enemy’s position.
The entire country hereabout is one dense mass of brush, penetrated by a few narrow lanes, “where the ground, hollowed by rains, is so uneven and steep at the sides as to give scanty footing. A passenger,” to quote the London News’ narrative, “between the two walls of foliage, may wander for hours before he finds that he has mistaken his path. To cross the country from one narrow clearing to another, axes or knives must be used at every step. There is no looking over the hedge in this oppressive and bewildering maze. Such was the battlefield of January 31st. The enemy’s army was never seen, but its numbers are reported by Ashantees to have been 15,000 or 20,000. Its chief commander was Amanquatia, the Ashantee general. The Ashantees were generally armed with muskets, firing slugs; but some had rifles. As they were entirely concealed in the bush, while our countrymen stood in the lane or in the newly-cut spaces, precision of aim was no advantage to our side.”
The main body of the enemy was encamped on the hill rising towards the town of Amoaful; but thousands of them also must have been skulking in the bush through which the small British force had to march before reaching the encampment. At early dawn on the 31st the British force moved upon the village of Egginassie, where the first shots were fired from an Ashantee ambush. The force was carefully arranged to suit the nature of the ground, with a front column, a left column, a right column, and a rear column, all so disposed that when they closed up they would form a square, the columns taking in spaces to the right and left of the central line of advance, so as to prevent any attack on the advancing front centre.
The front column was commanded by Brigadier-General Sir Archibald Alison, Bart., C.B. It consisted of the 42nd, under Major Baird, Major Duncan Macpherson, and Major Scott, a detachment of the 23rd Fusileers, Captain Rait’s Artillery, manned by Houssas, and a detachment of the Royal Engineers. The left column was commanded by Brigadier-Colonel M’Leod of the 42nd, and the right column by Lt.-Col. Evelyn Wood, 90th Light Infantry; part of the right column consisted of miscellaneous native African levies, under Captain Furze of the 42nd. The paths through the jungle were cut for each column of troops by large parties of native labourers.
Thus clearing their way through the jungle, and often scarcely able to obtain foothold from the slippery state of the marshy ground, the force advanced against the enemy. When the front of the small force had got a few hundred yards beyond the village of Egginassie, it was assailed by a tremendous fire of musketry from an unseen foe, very trying to the nerves even of an experienced and well-trained soldier. By this time five companies of the 42nd were in skirmishing order. The slugs were dropping thick and fast; had they been bullets, scarcely a man of the Black Watch would have lived to tell the tale. As it was, there were few of the officers who did not receive a scratch, and nearly 100 of the men were wounded. Major Macpherson was shot in the leg, but limped on with a stick, and kept the command for some time, when he was compelled to give it up to Major Scott. It was at this critical moment that Capt. Rait’s gun—there was no room for two—came into action at 50 yards from the enemy, on the direct line of advance. The shells fired at that short distance, with deadly effect, soon forced the enemy to clear the road. In a moment, as they gave way upon their own left upon the road, the 42nd pushed them in thence along the whole line, and they began to yield another 50 yards or more, and Rait’s gun again came into action against the enemy, who had at once taken up a fresh position, as the bush prevented the Black Watch from forming quickly.
Again the enemy per force gave way before the shells along the road. Again the 42nd took instant advantage of it, and the enemy rolled back. The men were now in such high spirits, according to the account of one who was present, that the terrors of the bush were no more. Sir Archibald Alison saw that the moment had come. He ordered the pipers to play. Down together, with a ringing cheer, went the splendid regiment under his orders, straight at the concealed foe. Away rolled every Ashantee in front of them; away down one hill and up another, on which stood the village of Amoaful itself. By half-past eleven the village was in the hands of the British force. It was not, however, till after two that the fighting was over, as the flank parties, the left as we have said, commanded by the Colonel of the 42nd, had much more trouble and numerous casualties in fighting and clearing their way through the bush. By the time mentioned, however, the last Ashantee had shown his heels in full retreat. Of the 42nd Bt.-Major Baird was severely wounded, from which he died at Sierra Leone on the 6th of March, Major Macpherson, Captains Creagh and Whitehead, Lts. Berwick, Stevenson, Cumberland, and Mowbray, and 104 men wounded.
