BOMBARDMENT OF ELMINA.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIII, Issue 1623, 17 October 1873, Page 2

BOMBARDMENT OF ELMINA.

In an .article on the "Little War in West' Africa," the Spectator gives the .following. , account. o£ the bombardment of Elmina :— " ,/ ; ~ ,^^ : :^ r ',,.,,. Wz^ h . !r - ' "The accounts from the Gold-Coast are in one way cheering. It is quite evident that the superiority; of 'the civilised the ■ uncivilised warrioc sttil/ex&tsvUand that we have .officers^ and men, as in the days of Olive, who do not count numb^lb or fearrresponsibilities,'? or/i whine-' about defisierici^s in greeh ; peaSi J!; -OolonerFtestingy to begiji 1 with, is' 'evidently atfpfficei^ ■ who,' be's.ide& being a i daring;)nicl;alert ritan, can take' a Wry' heayy res^ ohsibililrjpwhen necessary. After a dashing night, march from Cape Coast Castle to Elmina, whither he-arrived on' Thursdayp;h©~l2th~tfune, he found 3000, Ashafitees besieging Elmina .Castle, and supported by the inhabitants )oi the ;' King's .Quarter \T of ElminOtrho have always since the cession been more or less, dis^aflfe^ted;^ They -were ordered to surrender their arras, under a regular decree fromuthe Adminis'tratori Bu&their chiefs after « ' ■ personal interviewj c with Colonel Fesjing..^stinc^y.refusedpijand after repeated warnings .to the inhabitants orders werVu'suedforihy of ' all operatidciiij -the destruction of '^•^ritish -town by bombardment. . ; In< aiqiiarter of an hour the town n was .destroyedjj.jand Colonel Festing agreed with Captain Freraantle to meet the Ashanteea where Asiatics and Africans should always be mfet, ittxthe .open, andCwith 404 marines, and the 250 men, :of, the Barracouta and . other vessels, supported by an .unknown police fdrce 'of ' Hbussas, under Mr Logic, Inspector of Police^ armed with the Snider, they , .attacked, the,,, enemy. The A shantees, after a stout^esutance, finding the Snider ' too po^ and A; the yaffair , was. supposed to be 'over, when^thie JAshantee v ß,j ; \?h(i), appear, to r have - been- -much— better— ied than usual,. jattacked^E.ffo^o, a suburb of Elmina, ln'full fbrce, thinking apparently, ' ,as Colonel Festing £ad no guns^toj creep towards him "under cover. Theßrio^, boweyer,^though;terribly- weaiy—fdr all thi3 ooc|irred junder an. •African sun in June— immediatety : ladvanced again, but being outflanked by;the.. Ashahteea, fxitdd scarcely; moyey: when the kind of iriiri who makes his .appearance ainu. these scttmmagess .suddenly 1 ' turned up}"- iThe fßarra^buta's i men came up 'on «ur rignt [ and Lieutenant 1 WeUa '^w 6ur%p*pn3nW I who were too' busily engaged with us to observe his : apptbabH.° "He 1 extended his men in skirmishing order, and quickly

drove their skirmishers out of a large garden, where they were establishing themselves, and advanced to the shelter of a wall about four feet high, from which he poured a heavy fire into their retreating skirmishers and their main body, which was then massed on the plain. ' The enemy were outflanked and Staggered by this unexpected attack, , when Colonel Festing ordered a general advance, and a running fight ensued across the, salt plain (the, enemy attempting to make a stand occasionally), past a village called Ahimum, v till they were completely defeated and, driven into the bush, leaving the plain strewed with their dead.' ; The Ashantees were commanded by distinguished chiefs, and fought with unusual gallantry, reformiDg three times ; but they could not stand either the Snider or the sailors, ; most of whom we hope are our new A.B.s, once ragged schisolboys, who have now for the first time shown ; their steadiness under fire. It was a most .gallant piece of work, and deserves all the more, credit because Colonel Festing; had not received any pieces of artillery, and mourns openly over two steel field pieces still on the sea, which would have tripled the slaughter, which equalled, as it was, the - number of Europeans employed. AH this is most satisfactory, and entirely in accordance with English precedent. The, regular thing with the British Go{ vernment is to take possession, of a new, ' colony,, or province, or island, and leave, it without sufficient, armed, force, where--.tipon the colony; or .province toeing .attacked by. Natives,' a few Europeaii omcers!.and men are scraped together^ r. disaffection^ is stamped out by some trejmendous. deed, the right men turn upj and by 'reckless contempit of A eyery thing but ihe nepessity of abolishing, anybody who is firing on the^ flag— dashiiig np, as Captaii Freemantle did, within' pistplr "shbtiri order to encourage the , men— pul^ the Government but of its scrape by the hair of the headj and then subside into the mass, apparently forgotten, but strictly remembered when the: next hour of ■ danger, f arrives. . The skirmish of Effotoo! was like one of our early Indian exploits; the actual victory 'being due to one Lieuti Lewis'F. Wells, who, not having had the -originalfire quite taken 'but of him by red ■tapej on his own judgment arid without orders flung his 275 mcii upon some 20PQ 'iAshantees, exactly at the moment and in the 'style required, taking advantage, even while charging, of any; shelter open for_ d > men. . , would have done it just- as' if_tt'e. v Ashantees ( had been, like A Cliye's ppybnents, iOO, OOO strong. , I