"I certainly should not have volunteered for this work, Bullen, if
I had known what it was like. I was mad at not being able to go out
to the Cape, and as my regiment was, like yours, stationed in
India, there was no chance of getting away from there, if I had
once returned. Of course, I knew all about the expeditions of
Wolseley and Scott; but I forgot that these were carried on in the
dry season, and that we should have to campaign in the wet season,
which makes all the difference in the world. We are wet through,
from morning till night--and all night, too--and at our camping
places there is no shelter. The low-lying land is turned into deep
swamps, the little streams become great unfordable torrents, and
the ground under our feet turns into liquid mud. It is really
horrible work, especially as we get very little food and less
drink. It is not work for dogs."
"It is all very well for you to grumble, Hallett, but you know just
as well as I do that, if the offer were made to you to go home, at
once, you would treat it with scorn."
"Oh, of course I should! Still, one may be allowed to have one's
grumble and, after all, I think we are pretty sure of some stiff
fighting, which makes up for everything. I am not afraid of the
enemy a bit, but I do funk fever."
"I don't think we are likely to get fever, so long as we are on the
move; though I dare say a good many of us will go down with it,
after the work is done. We have only to think of the starving
soldiers and people, in Coomassie, to make us feel that, whatever
the difficulties and dangers may be, we must get there in time. The
great nuisance is, that we can get no news of what is doing there.
We constantly hear that the governor, with a portion if not all of
the force, has broken out, some days since; and we begin to look
out for them; and then, after a time, comes the news that there has
been no sortie whatever. It is really most annoying, and I am often
kept awake at night, even after a day's fight, thinking of the
position of the garrison."
"I don't think, if there were a hundred garrisons in danger,"
Hallett laughed, "it would affect my sleep in the slightest. I lie
down as soon as I have eaten what there is to eat, which certainly
is not likely to affect my digestion; and however rough the ground,
I am dead asleep as soon as my head touches it, and I do not open
an eye until the bugle sounds in the morning. Even then I have not
had enough sleep, and I always indulge in bad language as I put on
my belts, at the unearthly hour at which we are always called. I
don't begin to feel half awake till we have gone some miles."
"You would wake up sharp enough, Hallett, at the sound of the first
gun."
"Yes, that is all right enough; but unless that comes, there is
nothing to wake one. The close air of the forest takes out what
little starch you have in you, and I verily believe that I am very
often asleep, as we march."
"It is monotonous, Hallett, but there is always something to see
to; to keep the men from straggling, to give a little help,
sometimes, to the wretched carriers."
"You are such a desperate enthusiast, Bullen. I cannot make out how
you keep it up so well. I really envy you your good spirits."
"They are indeed a great blessing; I had plenty of occasion to make
the most of them, when I was marching in the ranks of the 32nd
Pioneers, on the way up to Chitral. Still, they came naturally
enough, there; and I am bound to acknowledge that it is hard work,
sometimes, to keep them up here."
"I think that it would really be a mercy, Bullen, if you were to
pour a bucket of water over my head, when the bugle sounds. I have
no doubt I should be furious with you, and should use the strongest
of strong language; but still, that would not hurt you."
"Except when the carriers bring up our bundles of dry clothes, we
lie down so soaked that you would scarcely feel the water poured
over you. At any rate, if you really think that it would do you
good, you had better order your servant to do it; that is to say,
if you don't think you would slay him, the first morning."
"No, I suppose I must put up with it, as best I can; but really,
sometimes I do envy the colonel's little terrier, which frisks
along all day, making excursions occasionally into the bush, to
look for rats or mongooses. He seems to be absolutely tireless, and
always ready for anything.
"Well, I shall turn in, now, and try to dream that I am on a
feather bed, and have had supper of all sorts of dainties."
"I would not do that, if I were you. It would be such a
disappointment, when you woke up."
"Well, perhaps it might be," Hallett said, despondently. "I will
try to dream that I am with you on that Chitral expedition, and am
nearly frozen to death; then possibly, on waking, I might feel
grateful that things are not so bad as I thought they were."
They spent a few pleasant days at Prahsu and, while there, received
the news that a column had started, from Tientsin, for the relief
of the Europeans collected in the various legations at Pekin, news
which created general satisfaction.
"I have no doubt they will have some stiff fighting," Hallett said,
as he and Lisle sat down to breakfast, after hearing the news. "One
thing, however, is in their favour. As they will keep by the river
all the way, they will never be short of water. The last news was
that they were collecting a large flotilla of junks, for carrying
up their provisions. Lucky beggars! Wouldn't I like to change
places with one of them! I hope all the different troops will pull
well together for, with a force of half a dozen nationalities, it
is almost certain that there will be some squabbling."
"I should hardly think that there would be any trouble, Hallett. Of
course, it was reported in the last mail that the Russians, French,
and Germans were all behaving somewhat nastily; but as the Japs
have the strongest force of all, and the Americans stick to us, I
should think that things will go on well. It would be a disgraceful
thing, indeed, if troops marching to the relief of their countrymen
could not keep the peace among themselves. Of course, there may be
fighting; but it is morally certain that the Chinese cannot stand
against us, and I imagine that, in proportion to the numbers, their
casualties will enormously exceed ours.
"Britain has her hands pretty full, at present, what with the big
war in the Transvaal, and the little one here, and another in
China. It is a good thing we thrashed the Afridis, two years ago.
If we had not, you may be sure that there would be an even more
formidable rising on our northern frontier than that we quelled.
News travels marvellously fast, in India; the Afridis always seem
to know what is going on elsewhere, and I am pretty sure that they
would be up, all over the country, if they had not had to give up
the greater portion of their rifles, and had not more than enough
to do to rebuild their houses. So we have something to be thankful
for."
"I am glad that Marchand business did not come off just at the
present time," Hallett said. "You may be sure that we should have
had a war with France; it was a mighty near thing, as it was."
"Yes; I think they would not have backed down, if we had been busy
with Boers, Chinese, and black men. They were at fever heat as it
was; and we could have done nothing, if we had had two hundred and
fifty thousand men engaged at the Cape."
"It would have made no difference," Lisle said, scornfully, "we
have plenty of soldiers at home. Every barrack was crowded with
men, as we came away; and there were a great number of the militia
and volunteers, to back them up. Above all there was our fleet
which, however much the Frenchmen value their warships, would have
knocked them into a cocked hat in no time.
"Well, I suppose it is time to go out and inspect our men."
"I suppose it is, Bullen," Hallett said despondently, as he
stretched himself. "If there were no inspections and no parade, an
officer's life would be really a pleasant one."
Lisle laughed.
"And if there were no inspections and parades there would be no
soldiers, and if there were no soldiers there would be no need for
officers."
"Well, I suppose that is so," Hallett said, as he buckled on his
sword. "Now, just look at me; do I look like an officer and a
gentleman? Nobody could tell what was the original colour of my
khaki; it is simply one mass of mud stains."
"Well, I do think you hardly look like an officer and a
gentleman--that is to say, you would hardly be taken for one at
Aldershot. Fortunately, however, there are no English ladies here
to look at you and, as the blacks don't know what an officer and a
gentleman should be, it doesn't matter in the slightest."
While at Prahsu, there was nothing to do but to speculate as to
what would be the next move. Colonel Willcocks kept his plan to
himself, for information as to our movements reached the enemy in a
most extraordinary manner.
It was a busy camp. Bamboo grass-covered sheds, for stores, were in
course of construction. The engineers were employed in making a
road, to take the stores and troops across the Prah.
Three of the wounded officers--Captain Roupell, Lieutenants
Edwardes and O'Malley--were invalided, and left for home in a
convoy with over a hundred wounded. This was necessary, owing to
the fact that there was no Roentgen apparatus in the colony, and it
was found impossible to discover and extract the slugs with which
the great proportion were wounded.
It was unknown that four hundred men of the West African Regiment,
with nearly twenty officers, and a company from Jebba were on their
way to reinforce them. Three officers were away to raise native
levies in Denkera and Akim, and there were rumours about more
troops from other parts of the world. But the one thing certain was
that some more troops were coming down from Northern Nigeria.
Colonel Burroughs arrived with a strong party, and Lisle and
Hallett prepared to go up again. No resistance was met with, as far
as Fumsu; but it was found that a foot bridge that had been thrown
across the river was washed away, and communication with the other
bank was thus cut off. To the disgust of the officers and men, they
were called out to a false alarm and, when dismissed, went back to
bed grumbling. When they rose again, the men cleaned their arms and
received their pay and rations. The latter amounted to but a pound
of rice a day, but this was subsequently increased. The officers
were little better off, for there was, of course, nothing to buy.
Two companies had gone on in advance to open the main road, find
out the ambushes and stockades, and to join Colonel Wilkinson at
Bekwai. Those who remained in camp had little to do, and were
therefore glad to spend their time on fatigue duty; the officers
building shelters for themselves, while the men erected conical
huts, until the station was covered with them.
A day or two after their arrival a letter, written in French on a
scrap of paper, was brought down. It stated that the garrison could
hold out until the 20th, a date that was already past. Supplies
were urgently wanted. It also warned the relief column that there
was a big stockade within an hour of the fort. Colonel Willcocks
sent out a messenger at once, asking that every available man
should join him; but the man never reached the coast, and no help
came from there.
Sir Frederick Hodgson had then been out of Coomassie four days, and
was making his way down to the coast through a friendly country;
with an escort of six hundred soldiers, and all his officers but
one, who had remained in the fort with a hundred men.
On the morning of the 27th Colonel Burroughs, with five hundred
men, started on his journey north. Scouts flanked the advance
guard, thereby preventing the chance of an ambuscade; but greatly
delaying the column, as they had to cut their way through the
bushes. They halted that night at Sheramasi. A detachment was left
at a village at the foot of the hills. Just as the head of the
troops arrived at the top, they were fired into from behind a
fallen tree. A sharp fight took place for nearly an hour, until the
enemy were turned out of their position, and pursued through the
bush, by a company which had moved round their flank. Kwisa was
reached after dark, when it was found that the place had been
entirely destroyed by the enemy.
Next morning they moved forward with the greatest caution, fully
expecting that there would be another terrific fight at Dompoasi.
This place, though only four miles from Kwisa, was not reached till
nightfall. Darkness set in with heavy rain, and the officers
commanding the two leading companies held a council of war, and
decided to call in the scouts--who were useless in the dusk--to
make a dash for the village, and try to rush it before preparations
could be made for its defence.
The terrible downpour of rain was all in their favour. The enemy's
scouts, who had reported the advance upon Kwisa, had given up the
idea of watching, that night; and they and the whole war camp were
at their evening meal. The noise of the rain drowned the sounds of
feet, and the troops were in the village before the enemy
entertained a suspicion of their approach.
A scene of wild confusion then ensued. The enemy rushed wildly to
and fro, while our men poured volley after volley into them.
Savages have no idea of rallying, when thus taken by surprise. Many
fell; some fled into the forest; others ran down the prepared
pathway and manned the big stockade, but the troops rushed forward,
and soon compelled them to quit it.
Half a company were sent into the bush, to follow up the flying
foe. They remained out all night, and did much execution among the
Adansis. This was the first real success gained over them.
Pickets and sentries were thrown out in a circle round the village.
At midnight, the troops got a scratch meal under the protection of
the huts. Many guns were captured, some Sniders, many cakes of
powder, and much food which was cooking over the fires when the
troops entered the village. Some of the rifles that had belonged to
the men who had fallen in the unsuccessful attack were found,
together with three thousand rounds of ammunition to fit them. All
this was accomplished without any casualties to our troops.
The next day was spent in destroying the two great stockades,
cutting down the bush round them, and blowing up the fetish tree;
as well as burying the enemy's dead, thirty in number. On the
evening of the next day, Bekwai was gained.
Colonel Burroughs determined, after this success, to get rid of the
next danger by making another attack on the entrenchments and war
camp at Kokofu and, with five hundred men and four Maxims, he
started out for that place. But the task was too heavy for him, and
the enemy were quite ready to receive our troops. They were in
great force, and fought bravely for some hours. The turning
movement which was attempted failed; and the colonel decided, at
last, to retire to Bekwai. This the troops accomplished safely,
although the enemy followed them till they reached the town.
Lieutenant Brumlie was killed, six other officers were hit
slightly; and one British non-commissioned officer and three
soldiers were killed, and seventy-two men wounded.
After this, no fighting took place until Colonel Willcocks arrived
to carry out the main object of the expedition. Convoys of stores,
however, kept pouring in incessantly and, to Lisle's delight, a
large box of provisions, which he had bought before starting from
Cape Coast, arrived.
Then Colonel Neal arrived, with the Sappers. He and his men built a
bridge across the Fum. It was twelve feet above the water, but
within thirty-six hours it was swept away.
While the troops were waiting, a runner came in and reported that
heavy firing had been heard round Coomassie. On the evening of the
30th of June, news came that Colonel Willcocks would start the next
morning. He would have but a small escort of fighting men, but a
very large number of carriers, to bring in the stores intended for
Coomassie.
Colonel Willcocks reached Fum on the night after leaving the Prah.
As the supplies were failing at Kwisa, and another post, Captain
Melliss took down a convoy to them, with twenty days' rations, and
succeeded in doing so without opposition.
Colonel Willcocks pressed on, leaving all baggage behind. The
defeat of the Dompoasis had its effect, and the little column
joined Colonel Burroughs's men unopposed. The combined force then
pushed on, until they arrived at a town under the sway of the King
of Bekwai.
Next morning they marched to Bekwai. Here it was decided to
evacuate Kwisa, for a time, and bring up the garrison that had been
left there.
The next march was laborious, and wet, as usual. The troops marched
into the little village of Amoaful, where Sir Garnet Wolseley had
fought the decisive battle of his campaign, and saw many relics of
the fight. Signal guns were heard, at various times, acquainting
the enemy of our advance. The column stayed here for three days,
which both soldiers and carriers enjoyed greatly, for the fatigues
of the march had fairly worn out even the sturdy and long-enduring
British troops.
Colonel Willcocks went forward with his staff to Esumeja, where the
three companies, of which the garrison was composed, had already
suffered sixty casualties. The Pioneers, some carriers with
hatchets, and some of the Esumeja were sent out, a hundred yards
down the road to Kokofu, to cut the bush on each side and build two
stockades. This was done to deceive the garrison, there, into the
belief that we were about to advance on the place by that road.
The ruse succeeded admirably. The general there sent information to
the commander-in-chief of the Ashanti army, and the latter at once
despatched a considerable number of men to reinforce the garrison.
Thus the resistance along the main road was greatly reduced; and
the Kokofu, standing on the defensive, did not harass the force
upon its march.
On the evening of the 11th, a starving soldier made his way down
from the fort with this message:
"Governor broke out, seventeen days ago. Garrison rapidly
diminishing by disease, can only last a few more days, on very
reduced rations."
Six star shells were fired, that night, to let the garrison know
that help was coming, but they never saw them.
At midnight, the last contingent from Northern Nigeria, the Kwisa
garrison, and an escort of two companies of the West African
contingent arrived. This brought the force up to the regulation
strength of one battalion, on its war footing. At sunset the
officers were called, and orders were given for the next day's
work.
The direction of the march was, even at that moment, a profound
secret. The column was to be kept as short as possible, and only
two carriers allowed to each officer. Only half rations were to be
issued.
At daybreak the advance sounded, and the force moved out. It
consisted of a thousand rank and file, sixty white men, seventeen
hundred carriers, six guns, and six Maxims. The rain fell in
ceaseless torrents. The road was practically an unbroken swamp, and
the fatigue and discomfort of the journey were consequently
terrible. The Ordah river was in flood, and had to be crossed on a
felled tree.
The distance to Pekki, the last Bekwai village, was fifteen miles.
It did not lie upon the main road, but that route had been chosen
because a shorter extent of hostile country would have to be
traversed, and the march thence to Coomassie would be only eleven
miles; but it took the relief force nineteen and a half hours to
get in, and the rear guard some two hours longer. Darkness fell
some hours before they reached their destination and, thence
forward, the force struggled on, each holding a man in front of
him.
Nothing broke the silence save the trickling of water from the
trees overhead, and the squelch of the mud churned up by marching
columns. At times they had to wade waist deep in water. The
exhausted carriers fell out by dozens, but their loads were picked
up and shouldered by soldiers, and not a single one was lost.
The men got what shelter they could in the huts of the village and,
in spite of wet and sleeplessness, all turned out cheerfully in the
morning. The start was made at eight o'clock, in order that the men
might recover a little from the previous day's fatigue.
The enemy's scouts were encountered almost on the outskirts of the
village and, in a short time, the advance guard neared the village
of Treda. It was a large place, with a very holy fetish tree. It
stood on the top of a slope and, long before the rear guard had
fallen out at Pekki, it was carried by a brilliant bayonet charge,
by the Yorubas and the Sierra Leone frontier police. The enemy
fought stubbornly, in the village; but were driven out with only
some half-dozen casualties on our part.
Thirty sheep were found in the village, and they were a Godsend,
indeed, to the troops. As in every other place, too, numbers of
Lee-Metfords, Martinis, and Sniders were found.
Treda was burnt by the rear guard. The Ju-ju house, which was the
scene of the native incantations, was pulled down, and the sacred
trees felled. The enemy, however, were not discouraged; but hung
upon the rear, keeping up a constant fire. Some of them proceeded
to attack the Pekki people.
Fighting went on at intervals throughout the day, and it was
decided to spend the night in a village that had been taken, after
some resistance. This place was less than halfway on the road from
Pekki to Coomassie. During the night a tropical deluge fell, and
the troops and carriers were, all the time, without shelter.
Late that evening Colonel Willcocks called the white officers
together and, for the first time, told them of the plan formed for
the advance. He said that, after marching for an hour and a half,
they would reach a strong fetish stronghold, where a fierce
resistance might be looked for; but the final battle would be
fought at the stockades, two hundred yards from the fort. He
intended to attack these without encumbrance. A halt would
therefore be called, at a spot some distance from the stockades;
which would be hastily fortified, with a zereba and a portion of
the troops. Here all the carriers and stores would be placed. Then
the fighting force would take the stockades, return for the
transport, and enter Coomassie. By this means there would be no
risk of losing the precious stores and ammunition.
So determined was Colonel Willcocks to reach the forts, at all
costs, that he gave orders that, if necessary, all soldiers killed
should be left where they fell.
At four o'clock next morning the bugle sounded and, at the first
streak of dawn, the column moved off. The march was maintained
under a heavy skirmishing fire but, to the general surprise, the
fetish town of which Colonel Willcocks had spoken was found
deserted. Night was approaching, so that the plan proposed
overnight could not be carried out. The troops, therefore, went
forward hampered by the whole of the carriers and baggage of the
column.
At four o'clock action began, at the point where the Cape Coast and
Pekki roads converged towards Coomassie. The Ashantis had taken up
a position on slightly rising ground--a position which was
favourable to the assailants, as it tended to increase the enemy's
inclination to fire high. Each of the roads was barred with massive
entrenchments, which stretched across them into the bush, and
flanked with breastworks of timber. These obstacles had been
originally intended to envelop the garrison. Consequently, the war
camps were on the British side of the stockades.
The battle began by a heavy fire, from the bush, upon both flanks
of the rear guard. The attack on the left was soon successfully
repulsed. On the other side, however, the roar of musketry never
ceased, the enemy moving along abreast of the column, protected by
a stockade expressly prepared; until they approached the main
stockade, where they joined their companions. About fifty yards
from the stockades, which were still invisible, a fresh path
diverged towards the left; and the officers commanding the scouts
were discussing what had best be done, when the enemy poured in a
terrific volley from their fortified position in front, slightly
wounding one officer and four soldiers. The rest immediately took
shelter behind a fallen tree, which was lying across the path.
Colonel Wilkinson, commanding the advance guard, ordered up the
guns. These were massed in a semicircle behind the fallen trees,
and opened fire on the unseen foe; while the Maxims poured their
bullets into the adjacent bush. The reply of the enemy was
unceasing and, for an hour and a half, the battle raged, the
distance between the combatants being only forty yards. Then
Colonel Willcocks gave the order to cease firing and, in a minute,
a strange silence succeeded the terrible din. The Ashantis, too,
stopped firing, in sheer surprise at the cessation of attack; but
soon redoubled their fusillade.
The leading companies moved up and formed in line, to the front and
rear flank. Then came the inspiring notes of the charge and, with a
cheer, the whole of the advance guard sprang forward into the bush.
The dense undergrowth checked the impetus, as the soldiers had to
cut their way with their knives but, as they did so, they
maintained their deep-toned war song. As they got more into the
open, they rushed round and clambered over the stockade; and the
enemy, unable to stand the fury of their charge, fled in panic.
As a prolonged pursuit was impossible in the bush, and as daylight
was fading, the troops were recalled at once. The first thing to be
done was to pull down the stockade along the fetish road, to enable
the transport to pass. When this was done, Colonel Willcocks
collected the troops nearest to him and moved forward, at their
head, along the broad road.
Their delight, when they emerged into the open and saw Coomassie
ahead of them, was unbounded. Keeping regular step, though each man
was yearning to press forward, they advanced steadily. The silence
weighed upon them; and a dread, lest they had arrived too late,
chilled the sense of triumph with which they had marched off. At
last, the faint notes of a distant bugle sounded the general
salute, and a wild burst of cheering greeted the sound. The bugles
returned the call with joyous notes. Then the gate opened, and
Captain Bishop, Mr. Ralph, and Dr. Hay came out, followed by such
few of the brave little garrison as still had strength to walk.
Just at this moment, a great glow was seen in the distance. The
flying enemy had fired the Basel Mission. A company therefore
started at once, at the double, to drive them off.
The relieving force had, indeed, arrived only just in time. The
means of resistance had all been exhausted, and another day would
have seen the end. The garrison had held out desperately, in the
hope that Colonel Willcocks would be able to fulfil the promise he
had sent in, that he would arrive to relieve them on the 15th of
July; and he had nobly kept his word to an hour, at the cost of an
amount of hard work, privation, hardship, and suffering such as has
fallen to the lot of but few expeditions of the kind.
The Ashanti rising was the result of long premeditation and
preparation. On the 13th of March, the governor of the Gold Coast,
accompanied by Lady Hodgson, left Accra to make a tour of
inspection. On his way up country he was received with great
friendliness at all the villages and, when he arrived at Coomassie
on the 25th, he found a large number of Ashanti kings, who turned
out in state to meet him. A triumphal arch had been erected, and a
gorgeous procession of kings and chiefs marched past. There was no
sign of a cloud in the horizon.
Several days passed quietly, and Sir Frederick Hodgson had several
meetings with the chiefs about state matters. Gradually the eyes of
the governor's followers, accustomed as they were to savage ways,
saw that all was not right; and a wire was despatched, asking for
reinforcements of two hundred men. These arrived on the 18th of
April.
Captains Armitage and Leggatt, with a small party of soldiers, went
out to the neighbouring village to bring in the golden stool. This
was regarded by the natives with considerable veneration, and was
always used as the throne of the king, as the sign of supreme
authority. When they reached the village the party were fired upon,
the two officers being wounded; and had to retire without having
accomplished their purpose.
It was clear now that rebellion was intended. The native kings were
all sounded, and several of them decided to side with us, among
them five important leaders. On the 25th the Basel Mission servants
were set upon, and several of them killed. The Ashantis then
attacked and captured the villages in which the friendly natives
and traders lived, and set fire to these and to the cantonment. The
refugees, to the number of three thousand five hundred, with two
hundred children, crowded round the fort, imploring the mission to
allow them to enter.
It was wholly beyond the capacity of the fort to accommodate a
tenth of their number. Troops were therefore ordered down from the
barracks, and formed a cordon round the fugitives. The fort gate
was closed, and a rope ladder led down one of the bastions. In this
way, only one individual could enter at a time, and the danger of a
rush was obviated.
Close round the walls, huts were erected to shelter the fugitives,
who were exposed to all the inclemency of the weather. Thus passed
some wretched days and worse nights, sleep being constantly
interrupted by alarms, due to the fact that the rebels were in
possession of all the buildings in the place, except the fort, many
of which they loopholed.
On the 29th a determined attack was made, the enemy advancing
boldly across the open, and fighting long and obstinately. Captain
Marshall, however, with his two hundred and fifty native troops and
friendly levies, taught them such a lesson that they never again
tried fighting in the open. A hundred and thirty corpses were found
and buried, and many more were carried off, while the fighting was
going on.
That evening Captain Apling came in with his little column, but
without food and with little ammunition. Aided by these troops, the
outlying official buildings were occupied; and the friendly natives
lodged in huts a little farther from the fort.
Things remained quiet until the 15th of May, when Major Morris
arrived with his force. He too was short of food and ammunition,
and famine already began to stare the beleaguered garrison in the
face. Meanwhile the enemy had been busy erecting stockades, to bar
every outlet from Coomassie. Many attempts were made to take these
entrenchments; but they always failed, as they could not be pushed
home, owing to want of ammunition; and the troops became, to some
extent, demoralized by want of success.
Although the food had been carefully husbanded, it was running
perilously low. Rations consisted of one and a half biscuits, and
five ounces of preserved meat, per day. Five ponies, brought up by
Major Morris, and a few cows kept at the Residency were killed and
eaten. A few luxuries could still be bought from the native
traders, but at prodigious prices. A spoonful of whisky cost 2
shillings, a seven-pound tin of flour 6 shillings, a box of matches
2 shillings, and a small tin of beef 2 pounds, 16 shillings.
The refugees fared much worse. They had no reserve of food, and
foraging was next to impossible. As a result, they died at the rate
of thirty and forty a day.
When only three and a half days' rations were left, it was decided
that something must be done, and a council of war was called. It
was then agreed that those who could walk should make a dash for
it; and that a garrison of three Europeans, and a hundred rank and
file, should be left behind. For these twenty-three days' rations
could be left.
Major Morris, as senior officer, was to command the sortie. The
direct road down to the Cape was barred by a great force of the
rebels, and he therefore chose the road that would lead to the
Denkera country. If that could be reached, they would be in a
friendly country. The line to be taken was kept a profound secret,
and was not revealed until ten o'clock on the evening before
starting. The force consisted of six hundred soldiers, with a
hundred and fifty rounds of ammunition a man, seven hundred
carriers, and about a thousand refugees.
There was a mist in the morning, and the garrison who were to
remain made a feint, to direct the enemy's attention to the main
road. The column was not engaged until it reached a strong
breastwork, at Potasi. This was taken after a severe fight; and
Captain Leggatt, who commanded the vanguard, was mortally wounded.
Four men were also killed, and there were nine other casualties.
A part of the stockade was pulled away, and the force moved
forward. It was constantly attacked on the way and, on one
occasion, Captain Marshall was seriously wounded in the head.
Numbers of soldiers, refugees, and carriers fell out from
exhaustion, and had to be left behind. Nearly all the carriers
threw away their loads, and the men who carried the hammocks of the
two ladies found themselves unable to support the weight.
The night was spent at Terrabum, eighteen miles from Coomassie;
some two thousand human beings being crowded into the village, in a
deluge. The soldiers were posted round the camp, in the form of a
square.
The second day was a repetition of the first--heavy rain, muddy
roads; dying soldiers, carriers, and refugees; attacks by the
enemy. Twelve miles farther were made that day.
Thus seven days were passed. Captains Marshall and Leggatt both
died. The ladies bore their trials wonderfully, as they had to
tramp with the rest, along the miry track. At last Ekwanter, in the
friendly Denkera country, was reached, and the force rested for two
days. They then set out again and, after a terrible march, in the
course of which they had to cross many swollen rivers, they
arrived, two weeks after they had left Coomassie, half starved and
worn out, on the coast.
In the meantime the three white officers, Captain Bishop of the
Gold Coast Constabulary, Assistant Inspector Ralph, Lagos
Constabulary, and Doctor Hay, medical officer, remained behind,
with a hundred and fifteen Hausas, few of whom were fit for the
task of holding the fort. After the departure of the column, the
Ashantis swarmed down on the fort, thinking that it was entirely
evacuated. They were met, however, with a heavy fire from the
Maxims, and soon withdrew.
The first duty of Captain Bishop was to tell off the men to their
posts. The soldiers who were to man the guns were ordered to sleep
beside them. The ammunition was examined, and found to amount to a
hundred and seventy rounds a man. The rations were calculated, and
divided up for the twenty-three days that they were intended to
last.
Attempts were then made to burn the native shanties, for sanitary
reasons. They were so soaked, however, with water, that all
attempts to burn them failed; till June 27th, when a short break in
the rain enabled them to be fired. When they were all burned down,
the Residency windows on the windward side were opened, for the
first time.
Sickness, unfortunately, broke out very soon; and three of the
little band died on the first day. This rate mounted higher and
higher, and at last smallpox broke out. So dismal was the prospect
that the men sank into a dull despair.
A few women traders hawked their wares outside the fort. A little
cocoa, worth a farthing, cost 15 shillings; plantains were 1 pound,
6 shillings each; and a small pineapple fetched 15 shillings. The
men received 3 shillings daily, in place of half a biscuit, when
biscuits ran short; and this ready cash was willingly bartered for
anything eatable.
Three heart-breaking weeks passed thus. Two-thirds of the troops
had been buried outside the fort, the remainder were almost too
weak to stand. When the food was all gone, it was arranged that
they should go out to forage in the darkness, each man for himself.
The three white men, each with a dose of poison, always stuck
together and, come what might, agreed not to fall alive into the
hands of the enemy.
However, on 14th July reports were brought in that firing had been
heard. The news seemed too good to be true, but an old native
officer declared that he had heard distant volleys. It was not
until four o'clock on the next day, however, that a continuous and
tremendous roar of guns convinced them that a relief column was at
hand. The three imprisoned officers opened their last comfort, a
half bottle of champagne, and drank success to their comrades.
Several of the troops died while the fighting was going on, the
excitement being too much for their weakened frames.
At last the Ashantis were seen flying in terror. Then the two
buglers blew out the general salute, time after time till, at six
o'clock, the head of the relief column came in view. The gate was
thrown open, and those of the little garrison who were able to
stand went out, to welcome their rescuers.
Five star shells were fired, to tell those left behind at Ekwanter
that the relief was accomplished. Then the outlying quarters were
occupied, and all slept with the satisfaction that their struggles
and efforts had not been in vain, and that they had succeeded in
relieving Coomassie.