War of the Golden Stool
Encyclopedia
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
(later Ghana
) and the Empire of Ashanti, a powerful, semi-autonomous African state that fractiously co-existed with the British and its vassal coastal tribes.
When the Ashanti began rebelling against British rule, the British attempted to put down the unrest. Furthermore, the British governor, Sir Frederick Mitchell Hodgson
, demanded that the Asante turn over to the British the Golden Stool, i.e. the throne and a symbol of Asante sovereignty.
The war ended with the Ashanti maintaining its de facto independence. Even though the Ashanti were annexed into the British Empire, they ruled themselves with little reference to the colonial power. However, when the British colony of the Gold Coast became the first independent, sub-Saharan African country in 1957, Ashanti was subsumed into the newly created Ghana. This war was the last conflict in Africa in which one of the sides was commanded by a woman.
with a small force of British soldiers and local levies, arriving on the 25 March 1900. Hodgson, as representative of a powerful nation himself, was accorded traditional honours upon entering the city and after ascending a platform, he made a speech to the assembled Ashanti leaders. The speech, or the closest surviving account that comes through an African translator, reportedly read:
Not understanding the significance of the stool, Hodgson clearly had no inkling of the storm his words would produce; the suggestion that he, a foreigner, should sit on the Golden Stool, the very embodiment of The Ashanti state, and very symbol of the Ashanti peoples, living, dead, and yet to be born, was far too disrespectful for the crowd. Almost immediately, the queen mother of the Ejisu
dominion within the Ashanti kingdom, Yaa Asantewaa
, was collecting men to form a force with which to attack the British and retrieve their exiled king. The enraged populace produced a large number of volunteers and as Hodgson's deputy, Captain Cecil Armitage, searched for the stool in nearby brush his force was surrounded and ambushed, only a sudden rainstorm allowing the survivors to retreat to the British offices in Kumasi
. The offices were then fortified into a small stockade that housed 18 Europeans, dozens of mixed race colonial administrators and 500 Nigerian Hausas
with six small field guns and four Maxim gun
s. The Ashanti, aware that they were unprepared for storming the fort settled into a long siege, only making one assault on the position on 29 April that was unsuccessful. The Ashanti then continued to snipe at the defenders, cut the telegraph wires, blockaded food supplies, and attack relief columns.
As supplies ran low and disease took its toll on the defenders, another rescue party of 700 arrived in June. Recognising that it was necessary to escape from the trap and to preserve the remaining food for the wounded and sick, some of the healthier men were evacuated along with Hodgson, his wife and over a hundred of the Hausas. 12,000 Ashanti abrade (Warriors) were summoned to attack the escapees, who gained a lead on the long road back to the Crown Colony and avoided the main body of the Abrade. Days later the few survivors of the Abrade attack, took a ship for Accra, receiving all available medical attention.
had set out from Accra
. On the march Willcocks's men had been repulsed from several well-defended forts belonging to groups allied with the Ashanti, most notably the stockade at Kokofu
where they had suffered heavy casualties. During the march Willcocks was faced with constant trials of skirmishing with an enemy in his own element and maintaining his supply route in the face of effective guerilla opposition. In early July, his force arrived at Beckwai and prepared for the final assault on Kumasi
, which began on the morning of 14 July 1900. Using a force led by Yoroba
warriors from Nigeria
serving in the Frontier Force, Willcocks drove in four heavily guarded stockades, finally relieving the fort on the evening of the fifteenth, when the inhabitants were just two days from surrender.
In September, after spending the summer recuperating and tending to the sick and wounded in captured Kumasi
, Willcocks sent out flying columns to the neighbouring regions that had supported the uprising. His troops defeated an Ashanti force in a skirmish at Obassa on the 30 September and also succeeded in destroying the fort and town at Kokofu where he had been previously repulsed, using Nigerian levies to hunt Ashanti fugitives into the forests once the defenders fled after a stiff engagement. Following the storming of the town, Captain Charles John Melliss
was awarded the Victoria Cross
for his bravery in the attack, the only such award of the campaign although a number of other officers received the Distinguished Service Order
.
was the queen mother of Ejisu in what is now modern day Ghana
. At that time, the Gold Coast, as it was then known, was a British protectorate. The British supported their campaigns against the Ashanti using taxes they levied upon the local population. Additionally, they also took over the state-owned gold mines thus removing considerable revenue from the Ashanti State government. As missionaries established schools and began interfering in local affairs, the Ashanti began to deeply resent the British.
In a speech, Yaa Asantewaa rallied resistance to the colonialists:
Extract from the Gold Coast Leader newspaper, 27 Dec 1924.
was supposedly annexed into the British empire, the Ashanti still largely governed themselves. The Ashanti goal of protecting the Golden Stool from the British was successful. However, the following year numerous chiefs including the Queen Mother of Ejisu, Yaa Asantewaa
were arrested and exiled to the Seychelles, not being allowed to return for twenty five years by which time many, including Yaa Asantewaa
, had died. Kumasi
City still retains a war memorial and several large colonial residences, although it, with the rest of the former Gold Coast, eventually became part of Ghana
.
The British never did capture the Golden Stool; it was hidden deep in the forests for the duration of the war, although efforts by the British to find it lasted until 1920. Shortly after this it was accidentally uncovered by some labourers who took the golden ornaments that adorned the stool, rendering it powerless in the eyes of the Ashanti people. The labourers were sentenced to death by an Ashanti court, but the British
intervened, and the accused were exiled instead. The war cost the British and their allies 1,007 fatal casualties in total. Ashanti casualties are estimated to be around 2,000.
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...
(later 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 Empire of Ashanti, a powerful, semi-autonomous African state that fractiously co-existed with the British and its vassal coastal tribes.
When the Ashanti began rebelling against British rule, the British attempted to put down the unrest. Furthermore, the British governor, Sir Frederick Mitchell Hodgson
Frederick Mitchell Hodgson
Sir Frederick Mitchell Hodgson was a British colonial administrator who was Governor of the Gold Coast , Barbados and British Guiana .-Early years:...
, demanded that the Asante turn over to the British the Golden Stool, i.e. the throne and a symbol of Asante sovereignty.
The war ended with the Ashanti maintaining its de facto independence. Even though the Ashanti were annexed into the British Empire, they ruled themselves with little reference to the colonial power. However, when the British colony of the Gold Coast became the first independent, sub-Saharan African country in 1957, Ashanti was subsumed into the newly created Ghana. This war was the last conflict in Africa in which one of the sides was commanded by a woman.
The Golden Stool speech
Thus Hodgson advanced toward KumasiKumasi
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...
with a small force of British soldiers and local levies, arriving on the 25 March 1900. Hodgson, as representative of a powerful nation himself, was accorded traditional honours upon entering the city and after ascending a platform, he made a speech to the assembled Ashanti leaders. The speech, or the closest surviving account that comes through an African translator, reportedly read:
Not understanding the significance of the stool, Hodgson clearly had no inkling of the storm his words would produce; the suggestion that he, a foreigner, should sit on the Golden Stool, the very embodiment of The Ashanti state, and very symbol of the Ashanti peoples, living, dead, and yet to be born, was far too disrespectful for the crowd. Almost immediately, the queen mother of the Ejisu
Ejisu
Ejisu is a town and seat of Ejisu-Juaben Municipal District in Ghana....
dominion within the Ashanti kingdom, 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"...
, was collecting men to form a force with which to attack the British and retrieve their exiled king. The enraged populace produced a large number of volunteers and as Hodgson's deputy, Captain Cecil Armitage, searched for the stool in nearby brush his force was surrounded and ambushed, only a sudden rainstorm allowing the survivors to retreat to the British offices in 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...
. The offices were then fortified into a small stockade that housed 18 Europeans, dozens of mixed race colonial administrators and 500 Nigerian Hausas
Hausa people
The Hausa are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. They are a Sahelian people chiefly located in northern Nigeria and southeastern Niger, but having significant numbers living in regions of Cameroon, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Chad and Sudan...
with six small field guns and four Maxim gun
Maxim gun
The Maxim gun was the first self-powered machine gun, invented by the American-born British inventor Sir Hiram Maxim in 1884. It has been called "the weapon most associated with [British] imperial conquest".-Functionality:...
s. The Ashanti, aware that they were unprepared for storming the fort settled into a long siege, only making one assault on the position on 29 April that was unsuccessful. The Ashanti then continued to snipe at the defenders, cut the telegraph wires, blockaded food supplies, and attack relief columns.
As supplies ran low and disease took its toll on the defenders, another rescue party of 700 arrived in June. Recognising that it was necessary to escape from the trap and to preserve the remaining food for the wounded and sick, some of the healthier men were evacuated along with Hodgson, his wife and over a hundred of the Hausas. 12,000 Ashanti abrade (Warriors) were summoned to attack the escapees, who gained a lead on the long road back to the Crown Colony and avoided the main body of the Abrade. Days later the few survivors of the Abrade attack, took a ship for Accra, receiving all available medical attention.
The rescue column
As Hodgson arrived at the coast, a rescue force of 1,000 men assembled from various British units and police forces stationed across West Africa and under the command of Major James WillcocksJames Willcocks
General Sir James Willcocks GCB GCMG KCSI DSO was a British Army officer who held high command during World War I....
had set out from Accra
Accra
Accra is the capital and largest city of Ghana, with an urban population of 1,658,937 according to the 2000 census. Accra is also the capital of the Greater Accra Region and of the Accra Metropolitan District, with which it is coterminous...
. On the march Willcocks's men had been repulsed from several well-defended forts belonging to groups allied with the Ashanti, most notably the stockade at Kokofu
Kokofu
Kokofu is a town in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The town is known for the Oppong Memorial Secondary School. The school is a second cycle institution....
where they had suffered heavy casualties. During the march Willcocks was faced with constant trials of skirmishing with an enemy in his own element and maintaining his supply route in the face of effective guerilla opposition. In early July, his force arrived at Beckwai and prepared for the final assault on 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...
, which began on the morning of 14 July 1900. Using a force led by Yoroba
Yoruba people
The Yoruba people are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. The majority of the Yoruba speak the Yoruba language...
warriors from Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
serving in the Frontier Force, Willcocks drove in four heavily guarded stockades, finally relieving the fort on the evening of the fifteenth, when the inhabitants were just two days from surrender.
In September, after spending the summer recuperating and tending to the sick and wounded in captured 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...
, Willcocks sent out flying columns to the neighbouring regions that had supported the uprising. His troops defeated an Ashanti force in a skirmish at Obassa on the 30 September and also succeeded in destroying the fort and town at Kokofu where he had been previously repulsed, using Nigerian levies to hunt Ashanti fugitives into the forests once the defenders fled after a stiff engagement. Following the storming of the town, Captain Charles John Melliss
Charles John Melliss
Major General Sir Charles John Melliss VC, CB, CMG was a British military officer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Melliss was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth...
was awarded the Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
for his bravery in the attack, the only such award of the campaign although a number of other officers received the Distinguished Service Order
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
.
Yaa Asantewaa
Yaa AsantewaaYaa 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"...
was the queen mother of Ejisu in what is now modern day 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...
. At that time, the Gold Coast, as it was then known, was a British protectorate. The British supported their campaigns against the Ashanti using taxes they levied upon the local population. Additionally, they also took over the state-owned gold mines thus removing considerable revenue from the Ashanti State government. As missionaries established schools and began interfering in local affairs, the Ashanti began to deeply resent the British.
In a speech, Yaa Asantewaa rallied resistance to the colonialists:
Now I have seen that some of you fear to go forward to fight for our king. If it were in the brave days, the days of Osei Tutu, Okomfo AnokyeOkomfo AnokyeOkomfo Anokye was an Ashanti priest, statesman and lawgiver. He occupies a Merlin-like position in Ashanti history. A co-founder of the Empire of Ashanti in West Africa, he helped establish its constitution, laws, and customs....
, and Opoku Ware, chiefs would not sit down to see their king taken away without firing a shot. No white man could have dared to speak to a chief of the Ashanti in the way the Governor spoke to you chiefs this morning. Is it true that the bravery of the Ashanti is no more? I cannot believe it. It cannot be! I must say this, if you, the men of Ashanti, will not go forward, then we will. We, the women, will. I shall call upon my fellow women.
We will fight the white men. We will fight till the last of us falls in the battlefields.
Return of the King Prempeh I to Ashanti
"Thousands of people, white and black, flocked down to the beach to welcome him. They were sorely disappointed when the news flashed through that Nana Prempeh was not to be seen by anyone, and that he was to land at 5:30 pm and proceed straight away to Kumasi by a special train. Twenty minutes after the arrival of the train, a beautiful car brought Nana Prempeh into the midst of the assembly. It was difficult for us to realise even yet that he had arrived. A charming aristocratic-looking person in a black long suit with a fashionable black hat held up his hand to the cheers of the crowd. That noble figure was Nana Prempeh."Extract from the Gold Coast Leader newspaper, 27 Dec 1924.
Aftermath
Even though, KumasiKumasi
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 supposedly annexed into the British empire, the Ashanti still largely governed themselves. The Ashanti goal of protecting the Golden Stool from the British was successful. However, the following year numerous chiefs including the Queen Mother of Ejisu, 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"...
were arrested and exiled to the Seychelles, not being allowed to return for twenty five years by which time many, including 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"...
, had died. 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...
City still retains a war memorial and several large colonial residences, although it, with the rest of the former Gold Coast, eventually became part of 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...
.
The British never did capture the Golden Stool; it was hidden deep in the forests for the duration of the war, although efforts by the British to find it lasted until 1920. Shortly after this it was accidentally uncovered by some labourers who took the golden ornaments that adorned the stool, rendering it powerless in the eyes of the Ashanti people. The labourers were sentenced to death by an Ashanti court, but the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
intervened, and the accused were exiled instead. The war cost the British and their allies 1,007 fatal casualties in total. Ashanti casualties are estimated to be around 2,000.