FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153  
154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   178   >>   >|  
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
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153  
154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   178   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
Ashantees
 

officer

 

believed

 
troops
 

ammunition

 

confusion

 

military

 

succeeded

 

battle

 

opened


Ricketts

 
Ashantee
 

responsible

 
called
 
granted
 

Shortly

 

Tootoo

 

taking

 

despair

 

soldiers


unexampled

 

British

 

disastrous

 

success

 

successes

 
unnecessary
 

judgment

 

higher

 

tribunal

 

friends


relatives

 

sufficient

 
demonstration
 

Quamina

 

complete

 

registering

 

caused

 

vigour

 

Orange

 

advantages


Aquatoo
 
sanguinary
 

violence

 

brother

 

sooner

 
vacant
 

throne

 
resolved
 
deceased
 

follow