upon our gallant countrymen and
allies before they surrendered their spirits to their Creator on that
fatal day.

Two officers only escaped--Brigade-Major Ricketts and Lieut. Erskine.
Almost all the principal Europeans were slaughtered, and only one, Mr.
Williams, is known to have survived: he was sent to the court of
Ashantee. The most melancholy feature in this affair is, that the
officer who had charge of the ammunition, neglected to keep the troops
properly provided with powder, for had the supply been sufficiently
prompt, it is believed that the Ashantees never could have succeeded
in their advance movement, or, indeed, that they never would have
attempted it, so great was our superiority over them in loading and
firing. It is to be feared, that great blame is attached to the
management in this part of the arrangement for the necessities of the
battle, for when Major Ricketts opened the three last kegs supplied to
the troops for ammunition, he found, to his consternation, that they
were filled with macaroni! although, when the Ashantees plundered our
camp the day after the battle, they discovered ten kegs of
ball-cartridges, amongst a great quantity of valuable booty. But,
however lamentable this negligence was, it should be suffered to pass
into oblivion. The officer upon whom it is charged, perished with his
brave companions; and, like them, he is placed for judgment before a
higher tribunal: it is, therefore, unnecessary, as it would be cruel,
to pain his friends and relatives by registering his name, to mark a
military error, which might have been caused by the unexampled
confusion of the scene in which he was called upon to act so
responsible a part.

Shortly after this disastrous event, the late King of Ashantee, Osay
Tootoo Quamina, died. He just lived long enough to receive the
intelligence of a triumph which inspired the Ashantees with the most
extravagant hopes, and led them to prosecute the war with sanguinary
violence. Osay Aquatoo (the Orange[21]), the brother of the deceased
king, had no sooner succeeded to the vacant throne, than he resolved to
follow up the advantages of the war with vigour. He believed that the
death of an officer of such estimation as Sir Charles McCarthy, must
have thrown the ranks of the British soldiers into confusion and
despair, and, taking it for granted, that a military demonstration, on
his part, would be sufficient to complete the successes which had opened
so success