S3E20: The Second Anglo-Ashanti War

 

Afro-Caribbean soldier in British service during the Second Anglo-Ashanti War

In 1863, the Ashanti and British armies once again met on the field of battle. That year, the British colonial government in the Cape Coast decided to harbor two Ashanti fugitives: a runaway slave and an amanhene under trial for hoarding state funds. This frightened the Ashanti authorities, then under the rule of the long-time Asantehene Kwaku Dua. By harboring the fugitives, the British were violating the agreement hatched between the nations at the conclusion of the first Anglo-Ashanti war. Kwaku Dua worried that, since the British were willing to violate this stipulation of the agreement, they would violate other, more important stipulations in the future. So, that year, the previously pacific rule of Kwaku Dua erupted into its first major external war.

The Ashanti and their Neighbors (1850)

The war saw many early victories for the Ashanti. Particularly, at the battle of Barikuma, the Ashanti army defeated and inflicted heavy losses on a British regiment. Throughout the conflict, the British struggled to organize a resistance to the invading Ashanti. However, the onset of the rainy season combined with outbreaks of malaria and smallpox in both armies caused the Ashanti offensive to grind to a halt. The war eventually became a deadly stalemate, with the Ashanti losing many soldiers to disease, and the British losing even more. Eventually, after a year and a half of fighting, the British relented. They returned the fugitives, granted the Ashanti control over disputed regions north of the Birim River, and announced that, for the foreseeable future, the British protectorates in southern Ghana would be on their own. Angry at this announcement, the Fante and Ga of southern Ghana pushed for greater autonomy from British rule, forming two new semi-independent states, the Republic of Accra and the Fante Confederation.

Map of Ghana in 1868