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THE ASHANTEE WAR.

[Continued.] {From the Ttlegraph'aSpecial Correspondent.) Now let me give you what little fighting news there is .to report. There was a small affair at Sepondee on the 21st of September, of which you may have heard, but of which I can now give you the details, and they are eminently characteristic of our position here, as well as of the kind of campaign on which we are entering. Secondee has two sets of inhabitants, or rather bad —the place is now demolished—one British and Ipyal, the other Dutch and disloyal. The loyal inhabit the few bouses that remain standing j the disloyal are denizens of the bush, whence they harass the others continually. On the 21st ult. the fort was garrisoned by about forty of the armed police, under the command of Captain Patterson. On that day the place was yisited by Lieutenant-commander Day, captain of the gupbpaf Merlin, accompanied by the head of .the Anped Pplioc, onatonr of inspectipn and recruiting. Whilst the party were at luncheon some armed natives were observed, stealing round a point of the cliff, about two miles off, The telescope was brought to bear on them, and the surrounding bush was discovered to be alive with armed men creeping stealthily along. Presently %y were seen to assemble behind a grassy ipoond A 2Qpoqndsr Armstrong was brought tp bear upon this ambush, loaded with percussion shell, and sighted at 1,700 yards. Captain Day acted as No I of tbegan, and firedjt, the telpeoope being carefully watphed. Tlje shell drooped debt into the thick of the ambush.' much surprised to run away, the natives fell book and then collected again.-- “ Bang’' went the gun again, apd tbs shell dropped ip thf

midst of themance msr«A ! This tim« five men were seen through .the ,telescope to fall. The. loyal' Seconders then rushed out, and sfeinnishing in perfect order all the Way, reached the position just vacated by the enemy, saw three bodies dragged off the ground, and came tip in time to cut the heads off the remaining two. The King of Secondee took possession of these bloody trophies, and, carrying them in his own bands,' laid them before Captain Day, who immediately made them over to the dusky monarch. The rejoicings in consequence were terrific. Placing the heads on the ground, the proud warriors - the dust of battle (you will observe they had done absolutely nothing but the skirmith) fanned off their cheeks by their proud spou-es—-danced, round them, singing a magnificent native psean of victory. I say magnificent advisedly, for the singing was really tine, ft may sound strange, even droll, to say so, and yet it is true that this song reminded the writer of a chorale in the “ Messiah.” The unison was perfect, and the intonation admirable. Take my word for it, if the Secondees cannot fight they can sing—especially their own praises. This little success has done more to insure the safety of the fort than a strong reinforcement of troops would have done. Confidence is everything with these natives, and every fort along the Windward Coast is in . precisely the same circumstances as that of Secondee—surrounded by enemies seeking whom they may, literally, devour. Dix Cove is, perhaps, the safest, as the inhabitants, being old British subjects, are truly loyal, and fight well. Axim.has no residents; and were it not for onrgood friend King Blay, who loves the Queen and fighting too, it would have been untenable. As it is, you dare not go half a m P e away from the fort, and are almost sure to'be potted at like a wild beast if you go out at all. News has been brought here that King Blay has been successfully attacked at Apollonia by the Ashantees • and Her Majesty’s ship Decoy has been sent to his assistance. It will bo a thousand pities if true, for our staunch ally has stood Out manfully against the invaders, and a gunboat sent in time would certainly have ■aved him. One hag the consolation to think that most likely the news is not true. The report here are invariably wrong. About the the latest’ news is that they meditate a retreat beyond the Prah, and it is said they have already broken up the camp at Mampon. For this two reasons are assigned—first, that they are starving, and second, that they have beard of the arrival of Sir Garnet Wolseley. Both are probably true.. Although masters of the country, their supplies of com and ammunition. from Cbainah and f'lmina are not regular. It is certain that the courage of the warriors basg : ven way, and that they want to get home. When the rumor reached them that the “great warrior” had arrived from England, there was terribl. perturbation of spirit. . Some were for in stantly returning to Coomassie, others for going to Apollonia to join their comrades there in attacking King Blay, and all foi getting away. The Mampon camp is twelve miles from here, and it is mnch to be regretted that it should bo broken up without being molested. But the fact is that the de paiture of the Houssas leaves us with no bush-fighting men, and we are condemned tr inactivity. What the Ashantees will do U not quite clear. Certain it is, however,'that the young men decline to have any more fighting with the English, and that the chiefs are afraid to go back to Cootnassie withorn some pretence of victory, since that will cost them all their heads. It has been clearly ascertained that there are no forces of the enemy east of the Coomassie road, and the policy ascribed to them is to make a series of attacks on Axim and Dix Cove, and then retreat by bush parties to Coo mosaic. They cannot retire Ihrough Wassaw becaiise the Wassaws are unfriendly, and for a large army the bash is amost impassable. It was a pity we could not attack the Mampon camp, say when Agrapou, one of, their chiefs, was there with all bis force. These miserable shanties, more booths of sticks and palm leaves, contained the flower of the Ashantee army, and if we could have cat off the retreat of this force, we should have struck the severest possible blow at Ashantee power, and the road to Cocmassie would have been open at once. But, as I hav« said r we bad no troops that could have done the bush-fighting. While awaiting the arrival of Ajprapoo, the Ashantees were “making custom” every day—that is. mourning their dead by firing off their guns, and so using up their dearly-bought gunp.wder. Our latest news from Captain Glover, at •Adura, is that the /'ccoombas have shown themselves nnfriendly. He will have his difijcnltiiea, although he is backed by the best troops on the coast, the Houssas, whose absence from Gape Coast Castle deprives ns of our heat auxiliaries. 'They are the only men who will go cheerfully into the bush. t . I have just heard of a scandalous breach of the blockade. The Bryn-y-Mor was boarded near Assume on the 20th September, having landed 500 kegs gunpowder at Grand Bassam. The ship belongs, it is said, to a Welsh firm, and her officers had been warned of the existence of the blockade, both by a British and a French man-of-war. By this time the powder must all be in Ashantee pouches. Colonel Harley, C.8., goes home by the ipail steadier whjch takes this letter. Those who hays served under him here ean honestly say that they are losing by his departure a staunch and pleasant friend, an npiight and energetic superior, always thoughtful for the interests of those Under his command. He may rightly feel that he has deseryed well, for he has worked upon this coast hard and bravely ; and everyone here who knows anything is aware that Colonel Harley, without either men or money in sufficiency, kept the enemy from our threshold in these parts for six long months. He has one thing to be thankful for ; he has been supported throughout by the : Home Government against the mean mercenary traders whom he has discountenanced. Spite of anxiety of mind and failing health, he will hand over to Sir Garnet ■ft olseley an organised Government such as was never known on the coast before. P. B.—l reopen my letter to say that King Blay is again safe; the gunboat arrived in the nick of time to help him. The Ashantee arpiy* or at least its main body, remains still at Mampon. Three hundred men, including the Marines and the 2nd West India Begiment, are ordered to Dunquah, and they may yet succeed in cutting off the enemy’s retreat.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ESD18740103.2.19

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Evening Star, Issue 3391, 3 January 1874, Page 2

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,456

THE ASHANTEE WAR. Evening Star, Issue 3391, 3 January 1874, Page 2

THE ASHANTEE WAR. Evening Star, Issue 3391, 3 January 1874, Page 2

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