A breastwork had been thrown up round the village, and the church was converted into a sort of keep, platforms having been raised inside to the level of the upper windows, through which the marines and seamen could fire at the advancing enemy. When, from the noise in the woods, Major Russell became assured that the news was true, he sent a messenger to Cape Coast for assistance, and prepared to repel the attack. The Ashantis advanced with great bravery, but were driven back by the rapid fire kept up upon them from the breastworks and church, and presently fell back into the woods again. They, however, continued to beleaguer the place, occasionally showing in great masses.
Directly the news reached Cape Coast every available seaman and marine was landed from the ships, and at seven in the morning the column started. The distance was about 15 miles, and the heat tremendous. An hour’s rest was allowed at a village where the road for Abrakrampa turned off from the main line, and at the end of that time the great proportion of our men were sufficiently recovered to continue their march. They made a long détour, so as to avoid coming down by the road by which the Ashantis would naturally expect them to advance, and in which they would have been engaged in a fight in the thick of the forest. They therefore arrived at Dunquah without firing a shot.
It was then late in the evening. The following morning the black troops advanced into the forest, and reported that the Ashantis were in full flight. The garrison then sallied out, and found that the village occupied as the Ashanti headquarters had been deserted, and that the enemy had left. They still, however, lingered in large numbers in the woods near, for a party of Fantis were fallen upon, and many were killed.
The force of bluejackets and marines, together with the 2nd West India Regiment, now advanced towards the Prah, the Ashantis hastily retreating, and no more fighting took place.
Thus the invasion of the protectorate was defeated, and the invaders driven across their frontier, with a loss admitted by themselves of several thousands, before the arrival of a single soldier from England, solely by the naval forces, aided by the one black regiment upon the spot. The West Indians were placed in garrison upon the Prah, and the bluejackets returned to their ships.
In December the 42nd, a battalion of the Rifle Brigade, and the 23rd Fusiliers arrived. It was found, however, that it was impossible to provide transport for so large a force, and the 23rd were therefore re-embarked, together with a battery of Royal Artillery which had also come out. Two hundred of the Fusiliers, however, subsequently re-landed and marched to the front.
On the 1st January the disembarkation took place, and the 42nd Highlanders and Rifle Brigade marched for the front, the Naval Brigade having gone up a week previously. On the 20th the bridge across the Prah was completed by the bluejackets and engineers, under the command of Colonel Home. Lord Gifford, in command of a party of native scouts, first went forward, and was followed by Wood and Russell’s native regiments. These pushed forward without opposition, and gained the crest of the Adansi hills. The King of Ashanti was now seriously alarmed, and sent in three German missionaries and a French merchant, whom he had retained for some time as prisoners.
Short as the time had been that the force was on shore, already large numbers were suffering from sickness, and out of the total European force of 1800 men, 215 were already unfit for duty.
Without opposition the force arrived as far as Fommanah, a large village 30 miles from Coomassie. Here letters were received from the king, asking for peace. Sir Garnet Wolseley, however, demanded that hostages consisting of leading members of the king’s family should be given up as proofs of his sincerity. The king, however, who was in reality only trying to gain time, took no notice of the demand, and the advance continued.
At the village of Borborassie, a few miles farther, the Ashantis offered their first resistance. The place was carried with a rush by the Naval Brigade, a company of Fusiliers, and some of Russell’s regiment. Captain Nicol, who led the advance, was killed.