ASHMUN--NECESSITY OF DEFENCE--FORTIFICATIONS--ASSAULTS--ARRIVAL
OF MAJOR LAING--CONDITION OF THE COLONISTS--SLOOPS-OF-WAR
“CYANE” AND “JOHN ADAMS”--KING BOATSWAIN AS A SLAVER--MISCONDUCT
OF THE EMIGRANTS--DISINTERESTEDNESS OF ASHMUN--U. S. SCHOONER
“PORPOISE”--CAPTAIN SKINNER--REV. R. R. GURLEY--PURCHASE OF TERRITORY
ON THE ST. PAUL’S RIVER--ATTACK ON TRADE-TOWN--PIRACIES--U. S.
SCHOONER “SHARK”--SLOOP-OF-WAR “ONTARIO”--DEATH OF ASHMUN--CHARACTER
BY REV. DR. BACON.
The acting agent of the colony judiciously managed its affairs until
the arrival of Mr. Ashmun and his wife, with thirty-seven emigrants,
part of whom were recaptured slaves, who had been delivered over to
the Colonization Society by the Marshal of Georgia, under the Act
of Congress already noticed. Mr. Ashmun held the appointments of
government and society’s agent. He took a comprehensive view of the
colony. The entire population did not exceed one hundred and thirty, of
whom thirty only were capable of bearing arms. The settlement had no
adequate means of defence. He found no documents defining the limits of
the purchased territory--explaining the state of the negotiations with
the natives, or throwing light on the duties of the agency.
It was now perceived that means, as well as an organized system of
defence were to be originated, while the materials and artificers for
such purposes were wanting. One brass field-piece, five indifferent
iron guns and a number of muskets, ill-supplied with ammunition,
comprised all the means for defence. These were brought from the island
and mounted, and such fortifications as the ability and resources
of the agent could construct were erected. Public stores and more
comfortable houses were also raised. The settlement, except on the
side towards the river, was closely environed with the heavy forest.
This gave an enemy an important advantage. The land around was,
consequently, cleared up with all possible dispatch.
Mr. Ashmun experienced an attack of fever. On the following day his
wife was seized, and soon afterwards died: she thus closed a life of
exemplary faith and devotedness.
It has been observed, that the dread of provoking King Boatswain’s
resentment, led the hostile kings to assume a show of friendship;
but the disguise could not conceal their intentions. The chiefs
attributed the departure of the agents to a want of spirit, and dread
of their power. The arrival of Mr. Ashmun had delayed the execution
of their purpose, of a general attack on the colony; but when the
vessel sailed, early in October, which had brought out the agent and
emigrants, a council of kings determined upon instant hostilities.
King George had abandoned his town early in September, leaving the
Cape in possession of the colonists. This had been regarded by the
natives as the first step of colonial encroachments; if left alone for
a few years, they would master the whole country. The natives refused,
throughout the consultation, to receive any pacific proposals from the
colony.
On the 7th of November, Mr. Ashmun, although still suffering from
the effects of fever, examined and strengthened the defences. Picket
guards were posted during the night, and every preparation made for a
vigorous defence. On the 11th the attack was commenced by a force of
eight hundred warriors. The picket, contrary to orders, had left their
station in advance of the weakest point of defence; the native force,
already in motion, followed close in the rear of the picket, and as
soon as the latter had joined the detachment of ten men stationed at
the gun, the enemy, presenting a front, opened their fire, and rushed
forward to seize the post; several fell, and off went the others,
leaving the gun undischarged. This threw the small reserve in the
centre into confusion, and had the enemy followed up their advantage,
victory was certain; but such was their avidity for plunder, that they
fell upon the booty in the outskirts of the town. This disordered
the main body. Mr. Ashmun, who was too ill to move at any distance,
was thus enabled, by the assistance of one of the colonists, Rev.
Lot Carey, to rally the broken forces of the settlers. The brass
field-piece was now brought to bear, and being well served, did good
execution. A few men, commanded by Elijah Johnson, passed round on the
enemy’s flank, which increased their consternation, and soon after the
front of the enemy began to recoil. The colonists now regained the post
which had at first been seized, and instantly brought the long-nine
to bear upon the mass of the enemy; eight hundred men were in a solid
body, and every shot literally spent itself among them. A savage yell
was raised by the enemy, and the colonists were victors.
In this assault the colonists (who numbered thirty-five) had fifteen
killed and wounded. It is impossible to estimate the loss of the
natives, which must have been very great. An earnest but ineffectual
effort was made by the agent to form with the kings a treaty of peace.
Notwithstanding this disastrous result, the natives determined upon
another attack. They collected auxiliaries from all the neighboring
tribes who could be induced to join them. The colonists, on the other
hand, under Ashmun, the agent, were busily engaged in fortifying
themselves for the decisive battle, upon which the fate of the
settlement was suspended. On the 2d of December the enemy attacked
simultaneously the three sides of the fortifications. The colonists
received them with that bravery and determination which the danger of
total destruction in case of defeat was calculated to inspire. The main
body of the enemy being exposed to a galling fire from the battery,
both in front and flank, and the assault on the opposite side of the
town having been repulsed, a general retreat immediately followed, and
the colonists were again victorious.
Mr. Ashmun received three musket-balls through his clothes; three of
the men stationed at one of the guns were dangerously wounded; and
not three rounds of ammunition remained after the action. Had a third
attack been made, the colony must have been conquered; or had the first
attack occurred before the arrival of Mr. Ashmun, it would have been
extirpated. But its foundations were now secured by a firm and lasting
peace.
The British colonial schooner Prince Regent, with a prize crew in
charge of Midshipman Gordon, R. N., opportunely arrived, with Major
Laing, the African traveller, on board, by whose influence the kings,
being tired of the war, signed a truce, agreeing to submit all their
differences with the colony to the Governor of Sierra Leone. Midshipman
Gordon and his crew volunteered to assist the colonists, and see
that the truce was preserved inviolate. The Prince Regent furnished
a liberal supply of ammunition. Four weeks after sailing, Midshipman
Gordon and eight of his men had fallen victims to the malaria of this
climate, so inimical to the constitution of white men.
At this period, 1823, the colonists were in a sad condition: their
provisions were nearly consumed, trade exhausted, lands untilled,
houses but partially covered; the rainy season was approaching, and the
people, in many instances, had become indolent and improvident. Captain
Spence, of the Cyane, arrived at the Cape, and proceeded to adopt
efficient measures for the benefit of the colony. He fitted out the
schooner Augusta, under the command of Lieutenant Dashiell, with orders
to cruise near the settlement and render it aid. Dr. Dix, the surgeon
of the Cyane, died of the fever. Upon her leaving the coast, Richard
Seaton, the captain’s clerk, volunteered to remain as an assistant
to Mr. Ashmun. In the course of two or three months he fell a victim
to the fever, and his death was soon followed by that of Lieutenant
Dashiell, of the Augusta. On the homeward-bound passage of the Cyane
forty of the crew died from the effects of the African climate,
superadded to those of the climate of the West Indies, where she had
been cruising previously to proceeding to the African coast.
The slave-trade had received no effectual check. King Boatswain,
although one of the best friends of the colony, partook in no degree
of the views for which it had been established, and at this time
committed an act of great atrocity, in making an attack at night upon
an inoffensive tribe, murdering all the adults and infants, and seizing
upon the boys and girls, in order to fulfil his engagements with a
French slaver.
In the month of May, Dr. Ayres brought a reinforcement of sixty
emigrants. He announced his appointment as the government and colonial
agent. Mr. Ashmun was at the same time informed that a bill drawn
by him to defray expenses for the necessities of the colony had
been dishonored, and that the board of directors of the society had
withdrawn from him all authority except as sub-agent. Very soon after
this, Dr. Ayres was obliged on account of ill health again to leave
for the United States. Had Mr. Ashmun acted under the impressions of
indignation naturally flowing from such treatment, the colony would
have been utterly extinguished. But he was of nobler spirit than to
yield to any such motive, and therefore resolved to remain in this
helpless and disorganized community, sending home at the same time
to the board a proposal that he should receive from them less than
one-third the sum which a man of ordinary diligence might in his
position gain by traffic. This proposal he had made from the most
honorable sense of duty, in order in fact that the people for whom he
had done and suffered so much should not utterly perish. And yet he had
the mortification to learn afterwards that the directors, influenced by
slanderous reports to the detriment of his character, had refused to
sanction this proposal.
At this period a number even of the principal colonists became
disaffected, in consequence of the regulations of the board, requiring
that any emigrant who received rations from the public store, should
contribute two days’ labor in a week on the public works. About twelve
of the colonists not only refused work and threw off all restraint, but
exerted their influence to induce others to follow their example. Soon
after this occurrence Mr. Ashmun published the following notice:
“There are in the colony more than a dozen healthy persons who will
receive no more provisions out of the public store until they earn
them.” On the 19th of December he directed the rations of the offending
party to be stopped. This led to a riotous assembly at the agent’s
house, which endeavored by denunciations to drive him from his purpose;
but finding him inflexible, they then proceeded to the public store,
where the commissary was issuing rations to the colonists, and each one
seized a portion of the provisions and hastened to their homes.
The same day Mr. Ashmun directed a circular to the people, in which
he strongly appealed to their patriotism and conscience. This measure
induced the disaffected to return to their duty. The leader of the
sedition acknowledged his error, and by his subsequent good conduct
fully redeemed his character.
A faithful history of the colony would furnish, at intervals, a dark
shady as well as a sunny side. The friends of the cause are prone to
exaggerate its success, while its enemies regard the colored race,
judging them in their condition when in contact with the whites, to be
incapable of developing the mind and character, which, under their own
independent government, is now manifested.
Early in February, 1824, a vessel arrived, after a short passage, with
one hundred and five emigrants in good condition.
Mr. Ashmun had heard nothing from the board for some time after the
departure of Dr. Ayres; and finding his health beginning to fail,
and that his services had been received with calumny instead of
approbation, he applied to be relieved from the service of the board.
After making this application, he appointed Elijah Johnson to act as
agent during his absence, and proceeded to the Cape Verde Islands in
the hope of recruiting his health, and finding some government vessel
at that place.
The navy department, on application by the society, ordered the U. S.
schooner Porpoise, Lieutenant Commandant Skinner, with the Rev. R.
R. Gurley, to proceed to the coast of Africa. These gentlemen were
appointed by the government and society to examine into the affairs
of the colony, and into the reports in circulation prejudicial to the
agent. The Porpoise reached the Cape Verde Islands soon after Mr.
Ashmun’s arrival there; and he returned with the commissioners to the
colony. As the result of communications received by the board from the
commissioners, Messrs. Skinner and Gurley, a resolution was passed,
completely exonerating Mr. Ashmun from the calumnious charges which had
been made against him, and expressing their cordial approbation of his
conduct.
The commissioners, on the conclusion of their investigation, deeply
impressed with the zeal and ability of Mr. Ashmun, left him in charge
of the colony as formerly. But previously to the reception of the
report of the commissioners, and of the resolution above noticed,
that body had appointed Dr. John W. Peaco, already selected as the
agent of the government, to be their agent also. On the 25th of April,
after their acquittal of Mr. Ashmun, they modified this resolution by
reappointing him colonial agent, requesting and authorizing Dr. Peaco
to give assistance and support to Mr. Ashmun in the fulfilment of his
duties, and to assume the charge of those duties, in case of “the
absence, inability, or death of Mr. Ashmun.”
At the suggestion of the commissioners, a greater share in the
government of the colony was conferred on the people. The general
consequence of these proceedings was, that comparative tranquillity and
energy prevailed.
Mr. Ashmun had made the important acquisition of the rich tract of
land, afterwards the location of the settlement on the St. Paul’s
River, extending twenty miles into the interior, and of unequalled
fertility. The colony now seemed to be emerging from the difficulties
which often had threatened its very existence. Four day-schools,
in addition to the Sunday-schools, were in operation; two churches
had been erected; a religious influence more generally pervaded the
community; the acclimating fever was becoming less fatal; many of the
colonists preferred the climate to that of the United States; they were
living in comparative comfort. In addition to the rich tract of country
lying on St. Paul’s River, the right of occupancy was obtained at Young
Cesters and Grand Bassa. The adjoining tribes regarded the colonists
so favorably as to desire to come partially under their jurisdiction;
and sixty of their children were adopted as children of the colony. A
Spanish slave-factory, near Monrovia, was destroyed, and the slaves
recaptured and freed by the colonists.
At Tradetown, there were three slave-factories, guarded by two armed
vessels, with crews of thirty men each, besides twenty men, mostly
Spaniards, well armed, on shore. On the 9th of April, the Columbian
man-of-war schooner “San Jacinto,” Captain Chase, arrived at Monrovia,
and offered to co-operate with Mr. Ashmun and Dr. Peaco for the purpose
of breaking up this slave establishment. The offer was accepted; and
Mr. Ashmun, accompanied by Captain Cochran, of the “Indian Chief,”
who gallantly volunteered his services, with two companies of the
colonial militia, embarked in the San Jacinto for Tradetown. There they
fortunately found the Columbian man-of-war-brig “El Vincendor,” Captain
Cottrell, mounting twelve guns; which vessel had, the same afternoon,
captured one of the slave-vessels, the brigantine Teresa. Captain
Cottrell united his forces with the others.
On the following morning, while the vessels covered the landing, they
pulled for the shore, through a passage of not more than five or six
fathoms wide, lined on both sides with rocks, and across which, at
times, the surf broke furiously, endangering the boats and the lives of
the assailants. The boat in which were Mr. Ashmun and Captain Cottrell
was capsized in the surf, and a number of men were thrown upon the
rocks. Nothing daunted, although Mr. Ashmun was badly injured, they
made a dash upon the enemy, which was met by a galling fire from the
Spanish slavers. The colonists and their allies rapidly advanced upon
the town, demolished their slight palisades, and before the enemy had
time to rally behind their defences, forced them to retreat, in great
confusion, into the jungle.
As soon as the colonists found themselves in quiet possession of the
town, Mr. Ashmun demanded from King West the delivery of all the
slaves belonging to the factories. The king was told that if this was
not complied with, not a vestige of Tradetown should be left. On the
same day the Kroomen of King West brought in thirty or forty slaves,
evidently the refuse of those which they held.
The natives, notwithstanding, collected, and, in conjunction with the
Spaniards, continued to rush out occasionally from the jungle and
direct their fire upon the invaders. The surgeon of the San Jacinto
was badly wounded, and several of the colonists slightly. A peaceable
settlement was now impossible. On the 12th, after the recaptured slaves
had been sent on board, the town was fired, and at three o’clock all
were embarked. The explosion of two hundred kegs of powder consummated
the destruction of Tradetown.
The annihilation of Tradetown and of the slave-factories was a severe
blow to the traffic, which was felt as far south as the Bight of Benin.
It convinced the slave-traders that their commerce was insecure,
inasmuch as a powerful enemy to their crimes had gained a permanent
establishment on the coast.
Here is developed an influence for the suppression of the most
atrocious commerce which has ever existed. The writer, however, by no
means concurs in opinion with the zealous friends of colonization,
that the slave-trade can be suppressed on the entire coast of Africa
by Liberia alone. Yet it is an established fact that within her
jurisdiction of six hundred miles of sea-coast and thirty miles inland,
it has been effectually extirpated.
At this period many piratical vessels, well armed, were hovering about
the coast. A brig from Portland, and a schooner from Baltimore, were
robbed of a large amount of specie, by a vessel mounting twelve guns,
manned principally by Spaniards. Scarcely an American merchant vessel
had, for a year or more, been on the coast as low down as 6° North,
without suffering either insult or plunder from these vessels. Mr.
Ashmun then erected a battery for the protection of vessels at anchor,
while he represented to the Secretary of the Navy the necessity of
the constant presence of a man-of-war on the African coast for the
protection of legal commerce.
Five of the most important stations from Cape Mount to Tradetown, one
hundred and fifty miles, now belonged to the colony by purchase or
perpetual lease, and all Europeans were excluded, or attempted to be,
from possessions within their limits. On the 18th of August, Dr. Peaco
was compelled from ill health to return to the United States.
The native chiefs not unfrequently proposed to the colonists to aid
them in their wars, promising as an inducement the whole of the enemy’s
country. This was of course declined, on the ground that the colony
was established for the benefit, and not for the destruction of their
neighbors; and that their military means were sacred to the purpose of
self-defence. The kings were now favorable to the colony, and began to
appreciate the benefits of legal trade.
The U. S. schooner _Shark_, and the U. S. sloop-of-war _Ontario_,
arrived on the coast during the year 1827, and besides affording aid
to the colony, rendered good service towards the suppression of the
slave-trade.
A reinforcement of emigrants was received; the school system
reorganized and put in comparatively efficient condition, under the
superintendence of the Rev. G. M’Gill, a colored teacher. The schools
were all taught by colored people: the number of scholars amounted to
two hundred and twenty-seven, of whom forty-five were natives. The
native children belonged to the principal men in the adjoining country.
The Chief of Cape Mount, fifty-two miles N. E. from Cape Mesurado,
entered into stipulations with the colonial government to establish
a large factory for legal trade between it and the interior. The land
north of the St. John’s River, about sixty miles southeast of Cape
Mesurado, was ceded to the colonists. In this extent of territory there
were eight eligible sites, upon which comfortable settlements have been
founded. Four schooners were built. The colony was mainly supported
by its own industry. The life of this industry was, however, rather
in trade and commerce than in agriculture, the fact being overlooked
that men ought to seek in the latter the sources of their prosperity.
Liberia has suffered from the want of steady agricultural effort.
Industry like that of our Puritan fathers in New England, would,
with the Liberian soil and climate, have prevented the recurrence of
difficulty, and produced uninterrupted abundance.
On leaving Liberia, the commander of the “Ontario” permitted eight
of his crew, colored men, to remain, furnishing them with a valuable
collection of seeds, obtained in the Mediterranean and up the
Archipelago. On his arrival in the United States, the captain bore
testimony to the encouraging prospects of the colony, and its salutary
influence over the native tribes.
Mr. Ashmun’s health failing from excessive labors in the administration
of the government, he was seized in July, 1828, with a violent fever,
and having been advised by his surgeon that a return to the United
States afforded the only hope of his recovery, he left Africa on the
twenty-fifth of March, 1828, and reached New Haven, where he died on
the twenty-fifth of August. Of Ashmun it may be said, that he united
the qualities of a hero and statesman. He found the colony on the
brink of extinction: he left it in peace and prosperity. He trained a
people who were unorganized and disunited, to habits of discipline and
self-reliance; and to crown his character, when death approached, he
met it with that unshaken hope of a blissful immortality, which the
true Christian alone can experience.
The remains of this honored martyr to the cause of African colonization
repose in the cemetery at New Haven. At his funeral the Rev. Dr. Bacon,
preaching a sermon from the text, “To what purpose is this waste,” said:
“Who asks to what purpose is this waste? He is not dead to usefulness.
His works still live. The light which he has kindled shall yet cheer
nations unborn. His influence shall never die. What parent would
exchange the memory of such a departed son, for the embrace of any
living one! I would that we could stand together on the promontory
of Cape Mesurado, and see what has been accomplished by those toils
and exposures, which have cost this man his life. Years and ages
hence, when the African mother shall be able to sit with her children
under the shade of her native palm, without trembling in fear of the
man-stealer and murderer, she will speak his name with thankfulness to
God.”