Through Three Campaigns: A Story of Chitral, Tirah and Ashanti

Convoys went up and down along the entire route, bringing up supplies of all sorts; but those going north of Fumsu still required strong escorts. Large parties went out foraging, almost daily, to villages and farms for miles round. These bodies were compact fighting forces, and took out considerable numbers of unladen carriers.

When a village was found the troops surrounded it, while the carriers searched it for hidden stores. Then they would march away to other villages, until every carrier had a load; when the force would return, and store the results of the raid.

The remnants of the reconcentrating Ashanti army were reported to be somewhere in the bush, east of Dompoasi. It was necessary to clear them out before the Adansi country could be subdued, and the line of communication be at all safe. Consequently a flying column–of four hundred of the West African Field Force, one large and one small gun of the West Indian Rifles, to be joined by the Kwisa company–was despatched, under the command of Major Beddoes, against the enemy. They had to strike out into the bush by almost unknown roads, and great difficulties were encountered. Fortunately, however, they captured a prisoner, who consented to lead them to the enemy's camp, on condition that his life would be spared.

Three days later, an advance was made on the camp. The column had hardly started when they were attacked. The enemy held a strong series of fortified positions; but these were captured, one after another.

A couple of miles farther, they again met with opposition. The enemy, this time, occupied the bank of a stream. The Maxims at once opened fire on them, and did such great execution that the Ashantis rapidly became demoralized, and fled. Close to the rear of this spot was found a newly-constructed stockade, some three hundred yards in length; but the fugitives continued their flight without stopping to man it.

When they advanced a little farther, the force was severely attacked on all sides. The enemy pushed up to within a few yards of our men. Once they even attempted to rush the seven pounder; but were repulsed by the heavy volleys of the West Indian Rifles, who were serving it. Lieutenant Phillips and Lieutenant Swabey were severely wounded, and two other officers slightly so. The Adansis made another desperate attempt to cover their camp, and they were not finally driven back until nearly dusk.

It was found that the rebels had discovered the advance of Major Cramer's levies while they were still a day's journey away. They were, therefore, not only anxious to repulse our force, so that they could fall upon the other one; but were fighting a splendid rear action, so as to cover the retreat of their women, children, and property, which had been gathered there under the belief that the existence of the camp was unknown to us.

Meanwhile, at Bekwai, the list of sick and invalids steadily increased; and every convoy that went down to the coast was accompanied by a number of white and black victims to the climate. The kits of the men who died realized enormous prices. A box that contained three cakes of soap fetched 27 shillings, and a box of twenty-five cheroots 2 pounds, 2 shillings.

On the 31st of July a runner arrived, from Pekki, stating that the town was going to be attacked in force, the next evening, as a punishment for the assistance it had rendered the white men. Major Melliss was accordingly ordered to proceed thither the following morning with two guns, a Hausa company with a Maxim, and a column of carriers. They were to remain there a day, and put the place in a state of defence; and then they would be joined by a force under Colonel Burroughs, which was to complete the relief of Coomassie, by doubling its garrison and supply of stores.

The little party started, and tramped along the intervening fifteen miles much more comfortably than usual; as the rains had temporarily ceased, and the track had been greatly improved by the kings of Bekwai and Pekki. There was great difficulty in crossing the bridge over the Ordah river, but the guns were at last taken over safely, and they arrived at Pekki at half-past four in the afternoon.

They were received with delight by the villagers, who had been in a state of terrible fear. The war chief put his house at the disposal of the officers. Fortunately, no attack was made by the Ashantis. Hasty fortifications were erected, and a rough bamboo barracks built for the force. Here, for the first time since the beginning of the campaign, the Hausas received a small issue of meat, and their delight was unbounded.

Some scouts, who had been sent out in the neighbourhood of the town, brought in a wounded Hausa who had been left behind in the governor's retreat and, for six weeks, had managed to hide himself in the bush, and live upon roots that he found at night.

On the afternoon of the 4th of August, Colonel Burroughs and his force arrived; bringing with him a fresh half battalion of the Central African Regiment, with two large guns and two seven-pounders. This raised the total strength to seven hundred and fifty. It was decided that it would be necessary to proceed without delay to Coomassie; for no signals had been received from the fort, for two successive Sundays, and there was a rumour that the Ashantis had again attacked it. The column therefore moved forward, next day.

The garrison, when they arrived, was to be brought up to three hundred soldiers and ten white men; the stockades round Coomassie were to be destroyed; and then the relief column were to fight their way down the main road, which had been hitherto closed for all traffic.

At first the column met with no opposition but, when they reached Treda, the people of that place fired heavily upon them. After driving these off the force proceeded, but were soon met by an Ashanti force. They attacked only the transport and hospital, and their tactics were clever. They had formed a series of ambushes, connected by a broad path. The head of the column was allowed to pass, unattacked; then the carriers were fired into heavily and, when the tail of the column passed, they ran along the path to the next ambush and renewed their tactics.

Their plan, however, was soon discovered and, in order to checkmate it, a gun was placed in the path, crammed with case shot, the infantry were got ready to fire in volleys, and a Maxim ranged for rapid fire. Presently the enemy were seen, hurrying along to occupy the next ambush; and the big gun poured its contents into their midst, while the troops fired well-directed volleys at them and, when they fled in confusion down the path, the Maxim swept numbers of them away. The attacks immediately ceased, and the column proceeded on its way; rejoicing that, for once, they had beaten the Ashantis at their own game.

They arrived at the fort at six o'clock in the evening; and found that, although the garrison had been harassed by sniping, no serious attack had been made upon them. It was known that there were still four stockades occupied by the Ashantis; and it was decided that two columns, each three hundred strong, should sally out the next morning, and each carry two of the fortifications. The companies under Lisle and Hallett formed part of the force under Major Melliss, which was to destroy the stockade on the Bantama road; while the other, under Major Cobbe, was to attack that near the Kimtampo road. After this had been done, arrangements were to be made for the attack on the other two stockades.

The start was made at ten o'clock. At first everything went well. The Basel Mission House was passed and, as they marched on without seeing any signs of life, it was believed that no opposition would be met with. They advanced, however, with great caution. Suddenly, news was sent back from the advance guard that the village of Bantama had been sighted, just ahead; and that the enemy were running out from it. The force advanced, and found the fires in the village still burning. At the other end the track through it divided; but the defiance signal, a large vulture lying spread-eagle fashion, showed the line the fugitives had pursued. This was followed and, in a short time, a stockade was seen at the foot of a slope, some eighty yards away.

How far it extended into the bush on either side, there was no means of knowing; nor could it be ascertained whether it was defended, for no signs of life were visible. The carriers were ordered to bring up the Maxim but, before they could get the parts of the gun off their heads, a deafening volley flashed out from the stockade. Several of the carriers fell, wounded by the slugs, and the rest fled.

The little weapon, however, was soon put together, and opened fire. But rifle bullets were useless against a six-foot tree trunk. The enemy, moreover, were firing on our flank, and it was thought that they might be working round to attack the rear. An effort was therefore made to cut a path through the bush, under the impression that it was not so thick inside. The jungle grass, however, prevented this from being carried out, and the heavy gun was therefore ordered up.

When it began to play upon the fort, as far as could be determined, the enemy's fire grew momentarily heavier. Then it was seen that a number of men were firing from a high tree, in the rear of the stockade. Colour Sergeant Foster turned a Maxim upon it. He was severely wounded on the left shoulder, but he said nothing about it, and poured such a shower of lead into the tree that it was, at once, deserted by the enemy.

The din was deafening. Every white man belonging to the leading company had been hit, and the ground near the gun and Maxim was strewn with the dead and dying.

Major Melliss gave the word:

"Mass the buglers, form up left company, and both charge!"

The buglers stood up, waiting for the word to blow. One of them was instantly wounded but, though the blood was streaming down his face, he stuck to his work. The word "Sound the way!" was given, and the Hausas sprang wildly forward and dashed down the slope, Major Melliss at their head.

Contrary to custom, the Ashantis were not terrified at the sight of the bayonets and, through their loopholes, kept up a heavy fire. The assailants, however, soon reached the stockade. Two white men scrambled up the timbers, which were slippery with blood; and jumped down, eight feet, on the other side, where they were soon joined by numbers of their men. The enemy, however, stood their ground bravely, and there was a fierce hand-to-hand fight. But the bayonet did its work; and the enemy, who were getting more and more outnumbered, at last turned and fled, hotly pursued by the victors.

A turn in the path revealed the war camp. It was an enormous one, but already the last of its garrison were disappearing in the forest, taking any path that afforded a chance of safety. The assembly sounded, and the pursuit was abandoned; as another company came forward, at a steady double, with orders to proceed up the road to the next village. This they were to burn, and then return to the war camp.

The work of destroying the war camp at once began. The troops lined its outskirts, while the carriers cut down and burnt the huts. Then a party set to work to pull down the stockades, which turned out to be nearly three hundred yards long, and crescent shaped–a fact that explained why we had suffered so severely from crossfire.

At last, sheets of flame showed that the work was accomplished, and the company that had gone on in advance returned, and reported the destruction of the village behind. The little force then gathered, and proceeded to Bantama, a sacred village at which human sacrifices had been perpetrated, for centuries. This place was razed to the ground.

On the left, the sound of continuous firing told that Major Cobbe was still heavily engaged. There was, however, no means of moving through the bush to his assistance. The force therefore returned to the fort.

It was late before the firing ceased, and Major Cobbe's column came in, with the wounded on hammocks and stretchers. The first two signal shots had slightly wounded Major Cobbe and a white colour sergeant. After a prolonged fight, the former had finally turned the right of the enemy's position, with two companies of the Central African Regiment; but lost heavily, owing to the thick grass and slow progress.

Meanwhile the West African company had engaged a stockade similar to the one we had rushed, but horseshoe in form. Thus our men had been almost completely surrounded by a circle of fire. When, however, the flanking movement had at last been completed, the enemy were charged simultaneously from the front and flank, whereupon they broke and fled. The large war camp behind had been looted and burnt, and the stockade pulled down. The guns had failed to penetrate this, and the defenders were only driven out at the point of the bayonet, after a fight of two hours' duration.

The loss had been heavy. Half a dozen white officers were wounded, and seventeen Sikhs had been killed or wounded, out of a total of fifty who had gone into action. The total casualties mounted up to seventy.

Chapter 18: A Night Surprise

With the exception of replenishing the supplies of ammunition, cleaning rifles, and burying the dead, nothing further was done that afternoon. In the evening a consultation was held, in the fort, among the principal officers. The situation was a difficult one. An immense amount of ammunition had been expended, and it was decided that it was out of the question to draw upon the supplies that had been sent up for the garrison. There were still two strongly-entrenched positions, and strong opposition was anticipated to the clearing of the main road. Every round would, therefore, be required for this work. This seemed to preclude the idea of taking the other two stockades.

The choice therefore remained of making the assault upon these, and then returning through Pekki; or of leaving them and going back by the main road, the route laid down in their instructions. Neither of these plans was satisfactory, for each left half the programme undone.

It was suggested that a night attack might be attempted. In that case, not a shot must be fired, and the attack must be made by the bayonet alone. The moon rose early, and it was almost high at eight o'clock.

Of course, it was extremely risky to venture upon such a plan, with superstitious black troops. The object of assault, however, could be located the next day, and the danger of losing their way would thereby be reduced to a minimum. Further, it was decided that no dependence, whatever, be placed on any native guide. Finally, it would be eminently undesirable to leave Coomassie again in a state of siege.

It was clear that only one of the stockades could be carried in this manner, as the other would be placed on its guard. It was therefore decided that the one on the Accra-Coomassie road was the most suitable; first because it joined the main road to Cape Coast, and secondly because the capture of the stockade would isolate the remaining one on the Ejesu road, which the Ashantis would probably abandon, as both the adjacent camps had fallen into our hands.

As the result of this decision Captain Loch was sent out, at twelve o'clock on the following day, to reconnoitre the position. His men, by creeping through the tall grass and clambering among the tall trees, succeeded in reaching a large cotton tree within seventy yards of the enemy's entrenchment. Climbing this, they obtained a good view of the enemy's stockade and camp behind it.

At that moment a roar of voices was heard, and hostile scouts poured out from the camp. The object of the expedition, however, had been attained; and the soldiers retired rapidly, without casualties.

At five in the afternoon the officers assembled at Colonel Burroughs's quarters. Here the details of the work were explained to them. They were to fall in at eight o'clock, and deliver the attack between nine and ten. The Maxims were to follow in rear of the infantry, and no other guns were to be taken.

Only five hundred men were selected to go. Captain Loch's company were to take the lead, as a reward for the scouting they had done in the morning. Major Melliss' company was to follow. The companies in the rear were to move to the flanks, when the stockade had been taken, so as to guard against an attack from the other war camp.

An early meal was taken, and then the officers sallied out for a last inspection of the company; which was, by this time, assembling outside the fort gate. Silently the troops fell into their allotted position. Then the word was passed down the line that all was ready. The officers gave their final orders to the men–no smoking, no talking, no noise, no firing, bayonet only. As if nothing unusual was occurring, the bugle from the fort sounded the last post.

At the start the pace was for some time good but, after passing Prempeh's palace, the road became a tortuous track and, at every yard, the tall grass became thicker and, here and there, a fallen tree lay across the path. The dead silence that prevailed rendered every one nervous. At last they came in sight of the great cotton tree. Here all halted, and crouched down.

Two leading companies formed up and were awaiting orders when, suddenly, two signal guns were fired and, instantly, the line of timbers was lit up by a glare of fire, and a crashing volley of slugs was poured in. Lieutenant Greer, who was in front of the column, fell, seriously wounded. Then, with a shout of rage that almost drowned the order, "Charge!" they leapt to their feet and dashed forward.

Nothing could stop the impetuous charge and, when they reached the stockade, they scaled it and poured headlong over it. In front of them was the war camp, through which ran a road, now crowded with the panic-stricken defenders. As the enemy ran from their huts, they were cut down in numbers with swords and bayonets. The din was tremendous; yells, shouts, and groans rent the air. The path was strewn with corpses.

The headlong race continued. Three villages had been passed, but there was a fort behind. This also was carried. Then there was a halt, on account of the exhaustion caused by the speed with which all had run. There was no fear that the panic-stricken foe would rally; but there was the possibility of a counter attack, by the Ashantis from the war camp to the left; for it was not known that the panic had spread to these, also, and that they too had fled in disorder, never to return.

The four camps were burnt, one after another; the stockades pulled down; and the force, still half mad with the excitement of the fight, marched back to the fort. The number of casualties was very small. Hardly one, indeed, had taken place, except those caused by the first volley of the enemy.

In one of the houses they entered, a child was found asleep. It had been left behind, and had not been aroused by the noise. Terrified as it awoke, it clung to a white man for protection, and was taken by him to a place of safety.

The force reached camp at eleven o'clock, having accomplished their work with a success altogether beyond expectation. At eight o'clock next morning, the column paraded for its march down. All the wounded who were unfit for duty were left in the fort.

Not long after the start, the scouts sighted another stockade. The troops formed up for the attack; but they found, to their surprise, that it was deserted. Both the stockade and the war camp behind were destroyed, without opposition.

Pressing forward they passed entrenchment after entrenchment, but all were deserted. River after river was forded, breast high, but no enemy was met with; although some of the entrenchments were exceedingly formidable, and could not have been carried without very heavy loss.

The scouts captured a young girl, from whom valuable information was obtained. She had been sent out, like many of the other women, to get supplies for the army at Ejesu, where the queen mother was. It appeared that the queen had been greatly upset by the night attack, and the capture of all the entrenchments; and had collected all her chiefs to decide what had best be done, now that the siege of Coomassie had been raised. Then it was understood why the advance had not been opposed. But for this council, we should have found every stockade occupied in force.

The expedition pushed on, and arrived at Bekwai without having to fire a shot. The garrison there was formed up to receive and cheer them and, what was still more appreciated, a ration of fresh meat and another round of medical comforts were served out.

"Well, Bullen," Hallett said, the next morning, "here we are again. I wonder how long we shall get to rest our wearied bodies."

"For my part," said Lisle, "I sha'n't be sorry when we are afoot again. It has been hard work, and there has been some tough fighting; but anything is better than being stuck in one of these dreary towns. Fortunately we have both escaped bullets, and have merely had a slight peppering of slugs and, as we have both been put down in the reports as slightly wounded, on three occasions, we may feel grateful, as it always does a fellow good to be mentioned in the casualty list; and it should help you to attain that position we spoke of, the other day, of commander-in-chief."

"I renounce that dream utterly, and aspire to nothing higher than colonel. It must really be an awful bore to be commander-in-chief. Fancy having to go down to your office every morning, and go into all sorts of questions, and settle all sorts of business. No, I think that, when I get to be a colonel, my aspirations will be satisfied."

"I don't know that I should care even about being a colonel, Hallett. Long before I get to that rank, I am sure that I should have had quite enough of fighting to last for a lifetime, and would be quite content to settle down in some little place at home."

"And marry, of course. A fellow like you would be sure to be able to pick up a wife with money. My thoughts don't incline that way. I look forward to the Rag as the conclusion of my career. There you meet fellows you know, lie against each other about past campaigns, eat capital dinners, and have your rub of whist, regularly, of an evening."

"But, my dear Hallett, think how you would fatten out under such a regime!"

"Oh, hang the fat, Bullen; it would not matter one way or another, when you haven't got to do yourself up in uniform, and make tremendous marches, and so on. I should not want to walk, at all; I should have chambers somewhere close to the club, and could always charter a hansom, when I wanted to go anywhere. Besides, fat is eminently respectable, in an elderly man."

Lisle laughed merrily.

"My dear Hallett, it is useless to look forward so far into the future. Let us content ourselves with the evils of today. In spite of your grumbling, you know that you like the life and, if the bullets do but spare you, I have no doubt that you will be just as energetic a soldier as you have shown yourself in this campaign; although I must admit that you have sometimes taken it out in grumbling."

"Well, it is very difficult to be energetic in this country. I think I could be enthusiastic, in anything like a decent climate, but this takes all the spirit out of one.

"I think I could have struggled over the snow in the Tirah, as you did. I can conceive myself wearing the D.S.O. in European war. But how can a man keep his pecker up when he is wet through all day, continually fording rivers, and exposed all the time to a pelting rain and, worse than all, seeing his friends going down one after another with this beastly fever, and feeling sure that his own turn will come next?

"I should not mind so much if we always had a dry hut to sleep in, but as often as not we have to sleep on the drenched ground in the open and, consequently, get up in the morning more tired than when we lie down. I have no doubt that, after all this is over, I shall become a cripple from rheumatism, or be laid up with some other disorder."

"I don't suppose you will do anything of the sort, Hallett. Of course this fever is very trying but, although men are being constantly sent down to the coast, the number who die from it is not great. Only some six or seven have succumbed. I expect myself that we shall both return to our regiments in the pink of condition, with our medals on our breasts, and proud of the fact that we have gone through one of the most perilous expeditions ever achieved by British troops; and the more wonderful that, except for a handful of English officers and non-commissioned officers, it has been carried through successfully by a purely native army.