S3E16: The First Anglo-Ashanti War

 

Map of the Ashanti Empire, its clients, and its road networks in 1820

Prior to 1821, relations between the British and Ashanti Empires had been complicated. From the empire's birth until 1807, the empires had been peaceful trading partners, engaging in the immoral but profitable trade of enslaved people, as well as gold, kola nuts, finished goods, rum, firearms, and other goods. Tension between the empires first erupted in a brief spat in 1808, during the battle of Anomabu and again in 1811 at the Battle of Winnebah. Both of these conflicts were small theaters of larger conflicts between the Ashanti and their southern neighbor, the Fante confederation, and started due to the generally strong relationship between the Fante and British. However, by the resolution of these conflicts, the Ashanti emerged the victor. The Company of African Merchants signed humiliating treaties of submission in order to maintain trading rights in the region.

    However, the decline of Anglo-Ashanti relations was closely tied to the failure of the British Company of African Merchants. After Britain abolished their participation in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in 1807, the company struggled to make a profit. Many within the company continued to illegally participate in the trade, eventually leading the frustrated government to nationalize the company. The problem with this was that the Ashanti had signed their treaties not with the British government, but with the now non-existent British Company of African Merchants. One of the most important stipulations of the treaty was that the British recognize Ashanti overlordship over the Fante peoples. The British government, however, did not honor these agreements, and instead disembarked soldiers in coastal Ghana to begin signing protectorate treaties with Fante kings. This came much to the chagrin of Osei Bonsu and the Ashanti. An Ashanti army, seeking to force the holding of a conference before British expansion could continue. The army invaded the town of Abura, captured a local Fante military leader, and demanded that the British reaffirm their old treaty obligations. The British sent no response, and the Fante man was executed. The British governor of Sierra Leone and the Gold Coast, Charles MacCarthy, decided that this execution amounted to a declaration of war, and convened his Fante allies assemble an army to fight the Ashanti.
MacCarthy had led wars in Africa before, but only again small kingdoms in Sierra Leone, never an empire of the scale or military modernity of the Ashanti. He vastly underestimated the capability of the Ashanti as a result, and figured that a small group of Fante militiamen and British officers was sufficient to crush the Ashanti at Abura. At first, the British and their allies tried to attack the Ashanti at their base at Abura. However, poor logistics and superior Ashanti mobility allowed the Ashanti army to ambush and crush this invasion column. 

Ashanti Talking Drum, used for long-distance communication in both civilian and military contexts

So, MacCarthy devised a new plan. He ordered the creation of a new, much larger army. This army was divided into three columns. One would head west, attempt to provoke an anti-Ashanti uprising against the Wasa people of the Ashanti's western provinces. Another column in the east would try to do the same with the region's Akyem and Akuapem people. Finally, the largest column in the center would march straight towards Kumasi.

Map of Ashanti and British troop movements in the Nsamankow campaign of 1822-1823

The plan ended in disaster. MacCarthy's army was met by a larger Ashanti force almost immediately and forced into an orderly but costly retreat. They tried to meet with the western column for reinforcements. However, simultaneously, another Ashanti army to the west routed a group of Wasa rebels before continuing south towards the British western column. The British and Wasa dug out defensive positions at a village called Nsamankow, and were put under intense pressure. When MacCarthy met his western column, he did not encounter needed reserves, but rather a group of tired and nearly-beaten allies. Soon after, the two Ashanti armies converged and encircled the British. The Ashanti general, Amankwatia, ordered conservative probing attacks against the British, drawing their fire and forcing them to waste ammunition with no hope of resupplying. Once the British began to run out of ammunition, Amankwatia ordered his army to advance. The British were defenseless without ammunition and peppered by the better-supplied Ashanti gunmen. Of the roughly 5,000 British and Fante soldiers at Abura, less than 800 escaped the battle without being killed or captured. Even Charles MacCarthy himself was beheaded after being struck with an Ashanti musketball. His head was infamously hollowed out and kept as a trophy in the Ashanti royal palace.

Modern Illustration of Ashanti Soldiers

However, Osei Bonsu would not live long to enjoy the prestige of his victory. A few months after the battle of Nsamankow, the Ashanti king Osei Bonsu passed away. The responsibility to finish the war with the British fell to his younger brother, Osei Yaw Akoto. As we'll see in two weeks, Osei Yaw's performance would not live up to his brother's example.