S3E13: The Battle of Anomabu

 

Fort William, Anomabu. The site of the battle

In 1806, war between the Ashanti Empire and their neighbors/rivals the Fante confederation broke out. The main issue of contention: the Fante's harboring of several rebellious noblemen who exhumed the graves of an important Ashanti family. This grave insult could not go unpunished, so when it was discovered that the noblemen had fled into the Fante confederation's lands, the Ashanti demanded their extradition. When the man who delivered the message was executed, the asantehene Osei Bonsu and the Kotoko council declared war on the Fante.

A wing of the Ashanti Royal Palace, illustrated by T.E. Bowdich

The two armies met at Abura, where the Ashanti scored an incredibly crushing victory that eliminated nearly the entirety of the Fante's professional soldiers. The few survivors, as well as many civilian refugees, retreated further south to escape the Ashanti. As the Ashanti pressed on deeper into Fante territory, and the situation became more grim for the Fante, many retreated to hide in the forts owned by the British, Dutch, and Danish trading companies on the coast. One of the rebellious noblemen who provoked the war, along with a crowd of several thousand Fante refugees, fled to the British Fort William at the Fante town of Anomabu. As the pursuing Ashanti army, commanded by Osei Bonsu himself, approached, the British allowed 2,000 of the Fante including the rebellious noble into Fort William. Several thousand more were left outside to fend for themselves. 

A view of Fort William from the ground

The Fante inside the fort, terrified that the British would sell them out for their own safety, barred the British in the fort from sending any sort of communication outside as the Ashanti army approached Fort William. The Ashanti army outside, unaware of the reason for the lack of communication, began to massacre the Fante outside of the fort's gates to provoke a response. Still receiving no response, the Ashanti began to try to capture the fort. The Ashanti army, as a mobile force designed to encircle their enemies in open battle, had little experience in siege warfare. Inexperienced in siege warfare, the Ashanti incurred heavy casualties and made little progress in overcoming the fort's walls. However, after six hours of fighting, the British began to run low on gunpowder and supplies, and surrendered. 

In the wake of the battle, Osei Bonsu extracted a treaty of submission from both the British and the Fante, with both sides acknowleding sole Ashanti sovereignty over the coast of Ghana. However, the rebellious noble managed to escape before the surrender. Ashanti's troubles on the coasts were far from over. Next episode, we'll see the Ashanti struggle to deal with multiple wars in the south, a war in the north, and see Osei Bonsu struggle to right his failure to capture the rebellious nobleman who started this entire war in the first place.