Anglo-Asante Wars
Encyclopedia
The Anglo-Ashanti Wars were four conflicts between the Ashanti Empire
Ashanti Empire
The Ashanti Empire , also Asanteman was a West Africa state of the Ashanti people, the Akan people of the Ashanti Region, now in Ghana. The Ashanti or Asante are a major ethnic group in Ghana, a powerful, militaristic and highly disciplined people of West Africa...
, in the Akan interior of what is now Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, and the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
in the 19th century between 1824 and 1901. The ruler of the Ashanti (or Asante) was the Asantehene. The wars were mainly over the Ashanti establishing strong control over the coastal areas of what is now Ghana. The Ashanti impressively defeated the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
in some of these wars but, in the end, the Ashanti Empire became a British protectorate.
Earlier wars
The British were drawn into three earlier wars:In the Ashanti-Fante War
Ashanti-Fante War
The Ashanti-Fante War was fought between the Ashanti Confederacy and the Fante Confederacy of present-day Ghana.The Ashanti Confederacy was a major African kingdom on the Gold Coast...
of 1806-07, the British refused to hand over two rebels pursued by the Ashanti, but eventually handed one over (the other escaped).
In the Ga-Fante War
Ga-Fante War
The Ga-Fante War in 1811 was a war in the Ashanti Confederacy situated roughly in present day Ghana.It involved a series of battles between the Asante and their allies, the Ga people of...
of 1811, the Akwapim captured a British fort at Tantamkweri and a Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
fort at Apam
Apam
Apam is a coastal town in the Central Region of Ghana, located approximately 45km east of the regional capital of Cape Coast.Apam is the site of Fort Lijdzaamheid, a Dutch-built fort which was completed in 1702, which dominates the fishing harbour and town from a rocky peninsula located on the...
.
In the Ashanti-Akim-Akwapim War of 1814–16 the Ashanti defeated the Akim-Akwapim alliance. Local British, Dutch, and Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
authorities all had to come to terms with the Ashanti. In 1817 the (British) African Company of Merchants
African Company of Merchants
The African Company of Merchants was a Chartered Company in the Gold Coast area of modern Ghana, in the coastal area where the Fante people lived...
signed a treaty of friendship that recognized Ashanti claims to sovereignty over much of the coast.
First Anglo-Ashanti War
The First Anglo-Ashanti War was from 1823 to 1831. In 1823 Sir Charles MacCarthyCharles MacCarthy (governor)
Brigadier-General Sir Charles MacCarthy KCMG was an Irish-born soldier who served in the French, Dutch and British armies, and was a governor of various British territories in West Africa....
, rejecting Ashanti claims to Fanti areas of the coast and resisting overtures by the Ashanti to negotiate, led an invading force from the Cape Coast
Cape Coast
Cape Coast, or Cabo Corso, is the capital of the Central Region of Ghana and is also the capital city of the Fante people, or Mfantsefo. It is situated 165 km west of Accra on the Gulf of Guinea. It has a population of 82,291 . From the 16th century the city has changed hands between the...
. He was defeated and killed by the Ashanti, and the heads of MacCarthy and Ensign Wetherall were kept as trophies. At the Battle of Nsamankow, MacCarthy's troops (who had not joined up with the other columns) were overrun. Major Alexander Gordon Laing
Alexander Gordon Laing
Major Alexander Gordon Laing was a Scottish explorer and the first European to reach Timbuktu via the north/south route.-Education and service:...
returned to Britain with news of their fate.
The Ashanti swept down to the coast, but disease forced them back. The Ashanti were so successful in subsequent fighting that in 1826 they again moved on the coast. At first they fought very impressively in an open battle against superior numbers of British allied forces, including Denkyiras. However, the novelty of British Congreve rockets caused the Ashanti army to withdraw. In 1831, the Pra River
Pra River (Ghana)
The Pra River is a river in Ghana, the easternmost and the largest of the three principal rivers that drain the area south of the Volta divide. Rising in the Kwahu Plateau near Mpraeso and flowing southward for 240 km through rich cocoa and farming areas and valuable forests in the Akan...
was accepted as the border in a treaty, and there were thirty years of peace.
Second Anglo-Ashanti War
The Second Anglo-Ashanti War was from 1863 to 1864. With the exception of a few minor Ashanti skirmishes across the Pra in 1853 and 1854, the peace between the Ashanti and the British Empire had remained unbroken for over 30 years. Then, in 1863, a large Ashanti delegation crossed the river pursuing a fugitive, Kwesi Gyana. There was fighting, with casualties on both sides, but the governor's request for troops from England was declined and sickness forced the withdrawal of his troops.Third Anglo-Ashanti War
The Third Anglo-Ashanti War lasted from 1873 to 1874. In 1869 a German missionary family and a Swiss missionary had been taken to Kumasi. They were hospitably treated, but a ransom was required for them. In 1871 Britain purchased the Dutch Gold CoastDutch Gold Coast
The Dutch Gold Coast or Dutch Guinea, officially Dutch possessions on the Coast of Guinea was a portion of coastal West Africa that was gradually colonized by the Dutch, beginning in 1598...
from the Dutch, including Elmina which was claimed by the Ashanti. The Ashanti invaded the new British protectorate.
General Garnet Wolseley
Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley
Field Marshal Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley, KP, GCB, OM, GCMG, VD, PC was an Anglo-Irish officer in the British Army. He served in Burma, the Crimean War, the Indian Mutiny, China, Canada, and widely throughout Africa—including his Ashanti campaign and the Nile Expedition...
with 2,500 British troops and several thousand West Indian and African troops (including some Fante) was sent against the Ashanti, and subsequently became a household name in Britain. The war was covered by war correspondents, including Henry Morton Stanley
Henry Morton Stanley
Sir Henry Morton Stanley, GCB, born John Rowlands , was a Welsh journalist and explorer famous for his exploration of Africa and his search for David Livingstone. Upon finding Livingstone, Stanley allegedly uttered the now-famous greeting, "Dr...
and G. A. Henty
G. A. Henty
George Alfred Henty , was a prolific English novelist and a special correspondent. He is best known for his historical adventure stories that were popular in the late 19th century. His works include Out on the Pampas , The Young Buglers , With Clive in India and Wulf the Saxon .-Biography:G.A...
. Military and medical instructions were printed for the troops. The British government refused appeals to interfere with British armaments manufacturers who sold to both sides.
Wolseley went to the Gold Coast
Gold Coast (British colony)
The Gold Coast was a British colony on the Gulf of Guinea in west Africa that became the independent nation of Ghana in 1957.-Overview:The first Europeans to arrive at the coast were the Portuguese in 1471. They encountered a variety of African kingdoms, some of which controlled substantial...
in 1873, and made his plans before the arrival of his troops in January 1874. He fought the Battle of Amoaful on January 31 of that year, and, after five days' fighting, ended with the Battle of Ordahsu. The capital, Kumasi
Kumasi
Kumasi is a city in southern central Ghana's Ashanti region. It is located near Lake Bosomtwe, in the Rain Forest Region about northwest of Accra. Kumasi is approximately north of the Equator and north of the Gulf of Guinea...
, was abandoned by the Ashanti and was briefly occupied by the British and burned. The British were impressed by the size of the palace and the scope of its contents, including "rows of books in many languages." The Asantahene, the ruler of the Ashanti signed a harsh British treaty, the Treaty of Fomena in July 1874, to end the war. Among articles of the treaty between H.M. Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and H.M. Kofi Karikari, King of Ashanti were that "The King of Ashanti promises to pay the sum of 50,000 ounces of approved gold as indemnity for the expenses he has occasioned to Her Majesty the Queen of England by the late war..." The treaty also stated that "There shall be freedom of trade between Ashanti and Her Majesty's forts on the [Gold] Coast, all persons being at liberty to carry their merchandise from the Coast to Kumasi, or from that place to any of Her Majesty's possessions on the Coast." Furthermore, the treaty stated that "The King of Ashanti guarantees that the road from Kumasi to the River Pra shall always be kept open..." Wolseley completed the campaign in two months, and re-embarked them for home before the unhealthy season began. There were 300 British casualties.
Some British accounts pay tribute to the hard fighting of the Ashanti at Amoaful, particularly the tactical insight of their commander, Amanquatia: "The great Chief Amanquatia was among the killed. Admirable skill was shown in the position selected by Amanquatia, and the determination and generalship he displayed in the defence fully bore out his great reputation as an able tactician and gallant soldier."
Fourth Anglo-Ashanti War
Sir Francis Scott left Cape Coast with the main expedition force of British and West Indian troops in December 1895, and arrived in Kumasi in January 1896. The Asantehene directed the Ashanti to not resist. Soon, Governor William Maxwell arrived in Kumasi as well. Robert Baden-Powell
Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell
Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, Bt, OM, GCMG, GCVO, KCB , also known as B-P or Lord Baden-Powell, was a lieutenant-general in the British Army, writer, and founder of the Scout Movement....
led a native levy of several local tribes in the campaign. Asantehene Agyeman Prempeh was arrested and deposed. He was forced to sign a treaty of protection, and with other Ashanti leaders was sent into exile in the Seychelles
Seychelles
Seychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an island country spanning an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar....
.
War of the Golden Stool
In the War of the Golden StoolWar of the Golden Stool
The War of the Golden Stool, also known as the Yaa Asantewaa War, the Third Ashanti Expedition, the Ashanti Uprising, or variations thereof, was the final war in a series of conflicts between the British Imperial government of the Gold Coast and the Empire of Ashanti, a powerful, semi-autonomous...
(1900), the remaining Ashanti court not exiled to the Seychelles mounted an offensive against the British and Fanti troops resident at the Kumasi Fort, but were defeated. Yaa Asantewaa
Yaa Asantewaa
Yaa Asantewaa was appointed queen mother of Ejisu of the Ashanti Empire—now part of modern-day Ghana—by her brother Nana Akwasi Afrane Okpese, the Ejisuhene "ruler of Ejisu"...
, the Queen-Mother of Ejisu and other Ashanti leaders were also sent to the Seychelles. The Ashanti territories became part of the Gold Coast
Gold Coast (British colony)
The Gold Coast was a British colony on the Gulf of Guinea in west Africa that became the independent nation of Ghana in 1957.-Overview:The first Europeans to arrive at the coast were the Portuguese in 1471. They encountered a variety of African kingdoms, some of which controlled substantial...
colony on 1 January 1902.
See also
- Ashanti EmpireAshanti EmpireThe Ashanti Empire , also Asanteman was a West Africa state of the Ashanti people, the Akan people of the Ashanti Region, now in Ghana. The Ashanti or Asante are a major ethnic group in Ghana, a powerful, militaristic and highly disciplined people of West Africa...
- List of rulers of Asante
- British EmpireBritish EmpireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
- History of GhanaHistory of GhanaThe Republic of Ghana is named after the medieval West African Ghana Empire, known to the dominant ethnic group the Soninke, as Wagadugu, which roughly translates to "Land of Herds." The Empire became known in Europe and Arabia as the Ghana Empire by the title of its emperor, the Ghana. The Empire...
- Gold Coast (British colony)Gold Coast (British colony)The Gold Coast was a British colony on the Gulf of Guinea in west Africa that became the independent nation of Ghana in 1957.-Overview:The first Europeans to arrive at the coast were the Portuguese in 1471. They encountered a variety of African kingdoms, some of which controlled substantial...
- African military systems after 1800African military systems after 1800African military systems refers to the evolution of military systems on the African continent after 1800, with emphasis on the role of indigenous states and peoples within the African continent. Only major military systems or innovations and their development after 1800 are covered here. For...