Ghanaian Wars Flashcards
First Anglo Ashanti War- Battle of Nsamankow(1823-1831)
The First Anglo-Ashanti War began when the Ashanti claimed territory disputed with the Fante, a client state of Great Britain. In 1823, Sir Charles MacCarthy, British governor of the Fante region, rejected the Ashanti claims and led a British army of 2,500 against the 10,000-man Ashanti army. On January 22, 1824, in the Battle of Nsamankow, the Ashanti defeated the British forces and killed MacCarthy. The Ashanti defeated the British and their African allies, the Fante and the Denkyirans, again in the Battle of Efutu later that year. The British were forced to withdraw to their colony atSierra Leonein 1828. The war officially ended in 1831, after the Ashanti accepted the Pra River as the boundary between the British-controlled Fante coastal region and the Ashanti Empire.
Second Anglo Ashanti War
The Second Anglo-Asante War was from 1863 to 1864. With the exception of a few minor Asante skirmishes across the Pra in 1853 and 1854, the peace between Asanteman and the British had remained unbroken for over 30 years. Then, in 1863, a large Asante delegation crossed the river pursuing a fugitive, Kwesi Gyana. There was fighting, with casualties on both sides, but the governor’s request for troops from England was declined and sickness ( cholera) forced the withdrawal of his West Indian troops, with both sides losing more men to sickness than any other factor, and in 1864 the war ended in a stalemate.
Third Anglo Asante war
The Third Anglo-Asante War lasted from 1873 to 1874. In 1871 Britain purchased the Dutch Gold Coast from the Dutch, including Elmina which was claimed by the Asante. Concerned that they would no longer have access to the sea except through British ports, the Asante invaded the new British protectorate taking European missionaries as hostages.in 1874 the treaty of formena was signed.In it the ashantis had to pay 50 000 ounces of gold to the british
When did the battle of amoaful happen
31st Jan 1874
The battle of ordahsu
It ended on 5th February 1874
Fourth Anglo Ashanti War
The Fourth Anglo-Asante War was a brief war, from 1894. The Asante turned down an unofficial offer to become a British protectorate in 1891, extending to 1894. Wanting to keep French and German forces out of Asante territory (and its gold), the British were anxious to conquer Asanteman once and for all. The war started on the pretext of failure to pay the fines levied on the Asante monarch by the Treaty of Fomena after the 1874 war.they only paid 4 000 oz of gold.Sir Francis Scott left Cape Coast with the main expedition force of British and West Indian troops in December 1895, and arrived in Kumasi in January 1896. The Asantehene directed the Asante not to resist. Soon Governor William Maxwell arrived in Kumasi as well. Robert Baden-Powell led a native levy of several local tribes in the campaign. Asantehene Agyeman Prempeh was arrested and deposed. He was forced to sign a treaty of protection and, with other Asante leaders, was sent into exile in the Seychelles
War of the Golden Stool
In the War of the Golden Stool (1900), the remaining Asante court not exiled to the Seychelles mounted an offensive against the British Resident at the Kumasi Fort, but were defeated. Yaa Asantewaa (1840-1921), the Queen-Mother of Ejisu and other Asante leaders were also sent to the Seychelles. The revolt was provoked by the demand of the Governor of the Gold Coast, Sir Frederick Hodgson, to sit on the Golden Stool. The Asante believed that soul of the nation resided in this stool and no one, not even the king, was allowed to sit on it. Hodgson was ignorant of the sacredness of the stool, but he also wanted to humiliate the Asante. A British captain who had previously been commissioned to find the location of the Golden Stool and beat women and children to compel them to reveal its whereabouts - they didn’t co-operate. The Asante remained silent after Hodgson’s speech and when the assembly ended, they went home and prepared for war. Although they were finally conquered by the British, the Asante claimed victory because they fought only to preserve the Golden Stool.
