THE STORMING OF SABBAJEE, 1853--THE RELIEF OF CHRISTIANSBORG, 1854.
On March 23rd, 1853, No. 3 and No. 6 Companies, under Captain A.W.
Murray and Lieutenant Upton, embarked at Port Royal, Jamaica, in the
troopship _Resistance_, for the relief of the West African garrisons. On
May 17th, the _Resistance_ arrived at the Gambia with four out of the
six companies forming the relief for the detachments of the three West
India regiments, and reinforcements being urgently required for the
suppression of a hostile movement amongst the Mohammedans at Sabbajee,
they were landed.
On the 25th of May, Lieutenant-Colonel O'Connor prepared to take the
field with a force of 603 men, consisting of 463 of the 1st, 2nd, and
3rd West India Regiments, 35 pensioners, and 105 of the Gambia Militia.
A field battery, consisting of 2 six-pounder field-guns and 2 howitzers,
was also organised. On the 30th May, the brigade marched from Bathurst
to Josswung, a distance of eight miles, where a camp was formed; and on
June 1st, the force advanced to the attack of Sabbajee.[56]
Sabbajee was one of the oldest Marabout towns in Combo, and boasted the
possession of the largest mosque in that portion of Africa. The town,
more than a mile in circumference, was surrounded by a strong stockade,
double ditches, and outward abattis; and the inhabitants, who could
muster 3000 fighting men, were, from their predatory and warlike habits,
the dread of the surrounding country.
On approaching the town, a strong body of the enemy was observed
stationed round the mosque, while the stockade was lined with men. A
portion of the stockade presented the appearance of having been removed,
but had in reality only been laid lengthwise, so as to form a very
formidable obstacle; while a deep trench dug in rear was crowded with
men, who, in perfect security, could fire upon the advancing British,
should they fall into the trap which had been laid for them, and attempt
to carry the town at this point.
The force was drawn up in three divisions: the 1st West India Regiment,
under Captain A.W. Murray, forming the centre division; the 2nd West
India Regiment, under Captain Anderson, the right; and the 3rd West
India Regiment, under Captain Brabazon, the left. At about four hundred
yards from the stockade the field battery opened fire, and with such
precision that after a few rounds the roof of the mosque and those of
the adjacent houses were in flames. Observing the disorder caused
amongst the enemy by the burning of their sacred building,
Lieutenant-Colonel O'Connor determined to seize the opportunity, and
storm.
The right and left divisions extended in skirmishing order, the centre
remaining in column, and the whole advanced to the assault. The enemy
kept up a heavy fire from the loop-holes of their stockade, over which
the green flag was flying; but at the same moment the three divisions,
which had in advancing formed a crescent, rushed at the stockade at
three different points, and, clambering over, got at the enemy with the
bayonet. This was more than they could stand, and abandoning their
stockade, they fled down the streets and escaped through sally-ports in
the rear of the town.
A strong body of fanatics, however, still held the mosque, the fire in
the roof of which they had succeeded in extinguishing, and, amid the
beating of war-drums and cries of "Allah" from the priests, kept up a
smart fire upon the troops as they entered the large central square in
which the mosque stood. To have stormed the building would have involved
great sacrifice of life; the men, therefore, were directed to occupy the
houses enclosing the square, and open fire, until the rockets could be
brought into play.
The second rocket fired whizzed through the roof of the mosque, the
defenders of which, however, only increased their drumming and shouts of
defiance, for they were secure in their belief of the local tradition,
which said that the mosque was impregnable and indestructible. In a very
few minutes flames began to appear on the roof, and, though the enemy
worked hard to extinguish it, it rapidly increased, until the mosque was
untenable. Dozens of the fanatics blew out their brains rather than
surrender, while others threw themselves out of the windows and
passages, and rushed sword in hand, in a state of frenzy, upon the
British. The coolness and steadiness of the troops was, however, more
than a match for the mad rage of the Mandingoes, who were shot down one
after another, until the whole of the defenders of the mosque were
killed or made prisoners. The remainder of the enemy, who fled at the
storming of the stockade, had taken refuge in the neighbouring woods,
and, the object of the engagement being accomplished by the capture of
the town, they were not pursued.
The stockade and mosque being destroyed, the force left Sabbajee on June
4th, and returned to Josswung, where, by an arrangement with the King of
Combo, a portion of that kingdom, including the town of Sabbajee, was
ceded to the British.
The mosque was a singularly strong building, and for a day and a half
resisted every effort to pull it down, being eventually reduced to
ruins by blasting the walls with bags of gunpowder. It consisted of a
large central hall, with walls made of baked clay, three feet in
thickness, and an external corridor running round the whole
circumference of the inner apartment. The roof, conical in shape, was
supported by six masonry pillars.
As the Gambia was still in an unsettled state, Lieutenant-Colonel
O'Connor deemed it prudent to increase its garrison at the expense of
that of Sierra Leone. No. 6 Company of the 1st West India Regiment was
therefore detained at Bathurst, and on June 8th, No. 3 Company, under
Captain Murray, proceeded in the _Resistance_ to Sierra Leone. On
arriving at that station, on June 17th, Captain Murray assumed the
command of the troops.
No. 2 Company embarked at Sierra Leone for Jamaica on June 22nd,
arriving at Kingston on August 5th. On October 18th the _Resistance_
returned from the West Indies with the remaining companies destined for
the quinquennial relief, and No. 5 Company, embarking in her on October
22nd, reached Jamaica on November 25th. The West African garrisons were
now as follows: At the Gambia, one company of the 1st West India
Regiment, two of the 2nd, and one of the 3rd; at Sierra Leone, one of
the 1st West India Regiment, and one of the 3rd.
In the West Indies the following changes had taken place: Nos. 7 and 8
Companies had been moved in August from Nassau to Barbados and Dominica
respectively, and, in July, the light company had proceeded from Nassau
to Jamaica. In December, 1853, the distribution of the regiment was then
as follows: 4 companies at Jamaica, 2 at Barbados, 1 at Dominica, 1 at
St. Christopher's, 1 at Sierra Leone, and 1 at the Gambia.[57]
In September, 1854, the inhabitants of Christiansborg, a Danish
settlement on the Gold Coast four miles from Accra, which had been
recently purchased by the British, rose in rebellion against the
Colonial authorities. The only armed force then on the Gold Coast
consisted of the Gold Coast Artillery, recruited from amongst the Fanti
tribes, and this body the rebels blockaded in the Castle of Christiansborg.
On the outbreak of the rebellion, the Lieutenant-Governor of the Gold
Coast at once sent to Sierra Leone for assistance; and, on the 12th of
October, the following detachments embarked at Sierra Leone in H.M.S.
_Britomart_ and _Ferret_: Lieutenant Strachan and 33 men of the 1st West
India Regiment, Captain Rookes and 46 men of the 2nd West India
Regiment, Lieutenant Haneahan and 31 men of the 3rd West India Regiment.
From the Gambia were also despatched in the Colonial steamer _Dover_, on
the 24th of October: Ensign Anderson and 25 men of the 1st, Captain
Mockler and 70 men of the 2nd, and Lieutenant Hill and 23 men of the 3rd
West India Regiment.
The troops from Sierra Leone and the Gambia arrived at Christiansborg on
the 27th of October and the 7th of November respectively. Several small
skirmishes had taken place between the Gold Coast artillery and the
rebels without either side gaining any material advantage; but, on the
arrival of the reinforcement from Sierra Leone, the siege was raised,
and the natives retired inland to some villages on the plain behind
Christiansborg. There, like all undisciplined bodies, they gradually
melted away; the chiefs, finding their followers abandoning them, were
compelled to ask for terms; and directly negotiations were opened, the
detachments of the three West India regiments re-embarked to return to
Sierra Leone, sailing from Christiansborg on the 12th of November.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 56: See map.]
[Footnote 57: This year, 1853, appears to have been particularly
unhealthy in the West Indies, to judge from the following inscription,
taken from an intramural monument in Kingston Cathedral Church:
TO THE MEMORY OF THE FOLLOWING:
Capt. Robt. Mostyn, 3rd W.I.R., died of yellow fever, at Nassau,
Bahamas, 23rd July, 1853, aet. 27.
Ensign John Alex. Gordon Pringle, 3rd W.I.R., died of yellow fever at
Kingston, Jamaica, 31st July, 1853, aet. 21.
Assist.-Surg. Walter William Harris, 1st W.I.R., attached to 3rd W.I.R.,
died at Up Park Camp, of yellow fever, 4th Aug., 1853, aet. 24.
Lieut. John Maryon Wilson, 3rd W.I.R., died at Up Park Camp, of yellow
fever, 13th Aug., 1853, aet. 22.
Eliza Chancellor Wilson, wife of the above, died at Up Park Camp, of
yellow fever, 5th Sept., 1853, aet. 22.
Cath. Elizabeth, wife of Lieut. Wm. Hen. Wilson Hawtayne, 3rd W.I.R.,
died of yellow fever at Nassau, Bahamas, 9th Aug., 1853, aet. 23.
Asst.-Surg. Gideon Jas. Wm. Griffith, 3rd W.I.R., died of yellow fever
at Lucia, 26th Aug., 1853, aet. 23.
Also, Selina Maria, wife of Capt. C.S.H. Hingston, 3rd W.I.R., died at
Up Park Camp, 11th April, 1854, aet. 23.
Erected by the officers of the 1st and 3rd W.I. Regts.
]