wolseley and the black watch in ashanti

(1873-1874)

the campbells are comin’, o ho, o ho!

the campbells are comin’, o ho!

the campbells are comin’ to bonnie lochleven,

the campbells are comin’, o ho, o ho!

regimental march.

after the mutiny we say farewell, as it were, to the old guard of the crimea and india, and hear a great deal about the younger men, wolseley, roberts, and white, all of whom had been through the mutiny, two of them being destined to attain to the highest distinction that the british army can bestow.

garnet wolseley was born in dublin on june 4, 1833. he lost the use of one eye in the crimea, served in india during the mutiny, and in the chinese war of 1860. in 1861 he crossed to canada, and in 1870 conquered louis riel, the half-breed. in 1873 he led an expedition to ashanti. there have been many places of horror and oppression in the histories of savage peoples, but it is doubtful whether there was ever a town so foul and brutal as coomassie, the capital of ashanti. the shedding of blood was the daily delight and pastime of the king, while murder upon a prodigal scale was to him and to his people a kind of rite. his subjects, instead of rebelling against these practices, delighted in such spectacles, and encouraged koffi calcalli, the king, to further outrages and orgies. it was, as some one has called it, ‘a metropolis of murder.’ so far, however, britain had not seen her way to interfere, and had she done so, simply on the ground of common humanity, it is probable that other nations would have suspected her of conspiring to take over the country. at last king koffi, craving for something new, decided that he would attack the english at cape coast castle. fortunately he was not able to achieve very much, but on the other hand the english were not strong enough to retaliate. this position was rendered all the more dangerous by the policy of toleration, which from the year 1824, when the ashantis defeated sir charles m’carthy, to the year 1863, when a west indian regiment failed most signally, had given the natives a poor opinion of the english arms. it was therefore necessary for the safety of the english settlers that an expeditionary force should leave for ashanti. it sailed under the command of sir garnet wolseley, with whom were the black watch under sir john macleod.

it was no ‘picnic,’ to quote from a popular expression of to-day; and to give some idea of the country through which the black watch marched, i shall quote a paragraph from sir henry stanley’s coomassie and magdala.

“coomassie,” he says, “was a town insulated by a deadly swamp. a thick jungly forest—so dense that the sun seldom pierced the foliage, so sickly that the strongest fell victims to the malarias it cherished—surrounded it to a depth of one hundred and forty miles seaward, many hundred miles east, as many more west, and a hundred miles north. through this forest and swamp, unrelieved by any novelty or a single pretty landscape, the british army had to march one hundred and forty miles, leaving numbers behind sick of fever and dysentery.”

to force their way through this fastness of almost impenetrable jungle called for both patience and courage. wolseley received some assistance from the fantees, who were enemies of the ashantis. these natives cut a passage through the forests for the british troops. by the time the black watch landed at cape coast castle in january 1874 this preparatory work had been completed.

the highlanders presented an unfamiliar appearance, being clothed in norfolk grey, which for several excellent reasons was considered a safer form of dress for the troops than the kilt. associated with the expedition were officers whose names were soon to become familiar to the whole of the english-speaking race. there were evelyn wood, archibald alison—future commander of the highland brigade—redvers buller, all men of sterling quality, while wolseley, whose long life closed in 1913, was a leader possessed of infinite perseverance and with a genius for organisation.

for a time the fantees gave their assistance as carriers, and without delay the expedition started into the interior, and, having crossed the prah river, came in contact with the enemy, who were now only too anxious, were it possible, to come to conciliatory terms with the british. these negotiations failed, and a large number of presumably friendly natives having disappeared, the british expedition were faced by a jungle of ninety miles to their front, at the end of which was the stronghold of king koffi.

stanley, who was with the expedition, has related that when they came in touch with the enemy for the first time he turned out to see the black watch march past to the attack. “we had but barely finished our breakfasts,” he relates, “and buckled our belts on, when our servants informed us that the white troops were close by. hastening to the square or plaza of the village, we were in time to witness the famous ‘black watch’ come up, all primed and ready for action. this was our first view of the fighting 42nd highlanders, and i must say i improved the occasion to get a good look at them, as if i had never seen a british regiment in my life. their march past was done with an earnest determined stride that promised well for their behaviour, whatever might lie at the front.”

the black watch was under the command of major macpherson of cluny, to whom reference has already been made in a former chapter. he was a descendant of that cluny macpherson who, little more than a hundred years before, had been in arms for prince charlie.

the forest confronting the highlanders was intersected by narrow paths, and, in order to advance, and keep in touch with one another, the 42nd availed themselves of these lanes, thus throwing themselves open to a flank attack by the enemy from the dense bush upon either side. they advanced in skirmishing order, firing as they went, unable to see their foe, but knowing very well of his near presence by the hail of slugs that whistled about their heads. for a brief space of time the whole proximity of forest would appear perfectly lifeless, and then, with spurts of fire from every side, a deafening cannonade would be opened. undaunted, the highlanders pressed on, firing as they could and when they could, while over their heads the shells of the naval brigade whined and crashed into the trees.

the ashantis, who so far had reposed the utmost trust in their fetishes, grew at last discouraged with the steady advance of the british. the roadway, over which they had rushed in their headlong retreat, was now bespattered with human blood, while here and there lay the unhappy victims of their sacrifices. perceiving these significant signs of weakening, the advance of the black watch was quickened. sir archibald alison, realising that the turning-point had come, ordered the pipes to strike up, and with the ‘campbells are comin’’ the highlanders charged swiftly after the enemy, who, confronted with lines of cold steel, and deafened by the booming thunder of the great naval guns, made headlong for coomassie. one who took part in the conflict has well written: “never was battle fought admitting of less distinction. it is impossible, indeed, to give a picturesque account of an affair in which there was nothing picturesque; in which scarcely a man saw an enemy from the commencement to the end of the fight; in which there was no man?uvring, no brilliant charges, no general concentration of troops; but which consisted simply of lying down, of creeping through the bush, of gaining ground foot by foot, and pouring a ceaseless fire into every bush in front which might contain an invisible foe. nothing could have been better than sir garnet wolseley’s plan of battle or more admirably adapted for the foe with whom he had to deal. where he attacked us he found himself opposed by a continuous front of men, who kept his flank attacks at bay, while the 42nd pushed steadily and irresistibly forward. to that regiment belong, of course, the chief honours of the day, but all did exceedingly well.”

after this opening engagement wolseley halted for the night, and on the following day his advance was continued, the river ordah being reached. here king koffi determined to resist the encroachment upon his country and the menace to his capital. it was necessary to throw a bridge across the river, and when this was completed the rifle brigade crossed and came into touch with the enemy. for a long time their resistance was so warmly sustained that the british could make no advance, but after seven hours’ fighting wolseley did what in stanley’s opinion he should have done long before, he ordered up the black watch. colonel macleod, who was in command, gave the order, “the 42nd will fire volleys by companies according to order. forward!” immediately there commenced the final advance on coomassie, throughout which the highlanders were met by a resistance more determined than ever before.

the arrival of the 42nd turned the scales at once. their tactics—the front rank firing to the right and the rear rank firing to the left—enabled them to advance without exposing their flanks to the volleys of an invisible foe. wherever the ashantis were observed to be huddled together, either in the lanes or in confusion in the bush, the highlanders charged them with the bayonet, driving them away helter-skelter. nothing stopped the onward march, and the whole heart went out of the enemy when they realised that it was impossible to distract or confuse the highlanders by ambuscades on their flanks. to make a stand for their capital—that was the only thing left. all around the british sounded the cow-horns of the enemy giving the signal for retreat.

the result of this swift approach of the 42nd was that all the villages before coomassie were speedily captured, and sir archibald alison despatched the news to wolseley, saying that if he were reinforced he could enter coomassie that night. as stanley has remarked: “mere laudation is not enough for the gallantry which distinguished this regiment when in action.... they proceeded along the well-ambushed road as if on parade, by twos. vomiting out two score of bullets to the right and two score to the left the companies volleyed and thundered as they marched past the ambuscades, cheers rising from the throats of the lusty scots, until the forest rang again with the discordant medley of musketry, bagpipe, and vocal sounds.... very many were borne back frightfully disfigured and seriously wounded, but the regiment never halted nor wavered; on it went until the ashantis, perceiving it useless to fight against men who would advance heedless of ambuscades, rose from their coverts and fled panic-stricken towards coomassie, being perforated by balls whenever they showed themselves to the hawk-eyed scots.”

so swift had been their oncoming and so profound the impression they had made upon the ashantis, that when coomassie was reached the highlanders marched into it without opposition, and later in the evening wolseley himself passed between the lines of the victorious 42nd, who greeted him with cheer upon cheer.

the destruction of the horrible town took place, and without further delay wolseley led his troops back to cape coast castle.

on march 23 the regiment landed at portsmouth, where they were the centre of a tremendous enthusiasm. thus was concluded one of our smaller campaigns, in which the historic black watch conducted itself with that resourceful determination and dogged bravery that has ever distinguished it.