War Office, November 18, 1873.
The Secretary of State for War has received  a Despatch and its Enclosures, of which the
following are copies, from Major-General Sir Garnet Joseph Wolseley, C.B., K.C.M.G., Commanding
the Troops on the Gold Coast:—

 

Cape Coast Castle, 15th October, 1873.

SIR, 
      I have the honour to inform you that a column, strength as per margin, ^N marched yesterday from Elmina, under command of Lieutenant-
Colonel Wood, V.C., and destroyed the disaffected villages of Essaman, Amquana, Akimfoo, and Ampenee.
     I accompanied the column in order to make it plain to the natives that I am sent here, not only to administer the Government, but as a General Officer to command Her Majesty's troops, and that I intend personally to take part in all military operations.
     I had resolved to destroy these villages, because I had for some time known that they were occupied by detachments of the Ashantee forces, and that their inhabitants were in league with the enemy. Our officers could not go to any distance from Elmina without being insulted and threatened with attack; and I had the best authority for knowing that the large force of Ashantees in camp at Mampon drew their supplies through these villages. I had summoned their Chiefs to present themselves at Elmina. They, however, had not only refused to come, but sent insulting answers, to which they were prompted by the Ashantees at Mampon, who told them that the Ashantees were more courageous than the English; that the English would not dare to march into the bush to attack the villages ; and that even should they do so, the Ashantees would come to the help of the Chiefs.
   In order to surprise the villages, and prevent any reinforcements arriving from Mampon, I carefully spread false intelligence that I was about to move with a force in another direction on the night of the 13th, and I gave nearly two days for this news to reach the enemy. The ruse was entirely successful. There is every reason to believe the enemy were completely surprised, and  the distance from Mampon to Essaman made it impossible for the Ashantees to reinforce Essaman in time without previous warning.
   As soon as I had decided on my plan, I invited the co-operation of the Senior Naval Officer, who held in readiness the Royal Marines and Bluejackets above specified, and landed an officer and 40 Blue-jackets at Cape Coast, and an officer and 20 Blue-jackets at Elmina, to garrison those places during the temporary absence of the troops.
   The detachment 2nd West India Regiment embarked on board Her Majesty's ship " Decoy" on the evening of the 13th, and I embarked with some of my Staff on board Her Majesty's ship " Barracouta," at 9 P.M. The Houssas were already at Elmina.
  About 1 A.M., 14th, the "Barracouta" and " Decoy " steamed for Elmina Roads; and about 3 A.M." the disembarcation of the troops commenced. Owing, however, to the state of the tide and the heavy surf, the last of the Royal Marines were not landed till 5 A.M.
   About 4.30 A.M. the advanced guard of Houssas had marched off; and the main body moved at a few minutes past 5.
   About a quarter past 7 o'clock, after a march along a track which at times led us through swamp knee deep, and at times through high bush, we encountered the enemy in a dense bush at a short distance from the village of Essaman; and after a short action drove him in, employing shells and rockets to dislodge him from the village, which fell into our hands at 7.50 A.M. I caused the village to be destroyed.
    A large quantity of powder was found, together with many guns, and some Ashantee war drums, indicating the presence of Ashantee Chiefs, and proving that our attack was a surprise.
    A few dead bodies wore found; but the nature of the bush renders all estimate either of the enemy's numbers or losses so conjectural that I prefer to make no attempt to define them.
   Our own losses were small;  but I deeply regret that our list of wounded includes my Chief Staff Officer, Colonel McNeill, V.C., C.M.G.,
whose temporary absence from the duties for which he is so efficient is a serious loss to the service at this time; and also Captain Fremantle, R.N., the Senior Naval Officer on the station, who was shot through the arm while superintending the artillery.
   After a short halt we again marched at 9.45, and arrived at Amquana at 12.20. This village was deserted, and I caused it to be destroyed. We here halted on the beach, and at about 2 o'clock, after I had dispatched the wounded with an escort of native troops to Elmina, I left the greater part of the Royal Marines, whom I was anxious to spare undue fatigue, halted at Amquana, where they kept up my communications with Elmina, and moved with the remainder of the native troops, and a few volunteers from the Royal Marines under command of Captain Crease, westward along the beach. After being joined by all the available Marines and Bluejackets who could be landed from Her Majesty's ships "Argus" and "Decoy," we proceeded to Akimfoo, found this village deserted, and destroyed it.
    We then continued the march to Ampenee. This village was also deserted, and we destroyed it.
    The two last named villages had been shelled by Her Majesty's ships " Argus" and " Decoy," for some hours previously. After this last village was in flames, our troops were fired upon by a body of the enemy from the bush to westward; and some of the bluejackets became engaged. By their fire and the use of a few rockets, we drove off the enemy.
    After I had myself embarked on board Her Majesty's ship " Decoy," some firing took place from the bush, on the eastward side of the town, and was replied to by the 2nd West India Regiment, who drove the enemy away. The 2nd West India Regiment, and the Marines who were bound for Elmina, remained until the men belonging to the "Argus" and "Decoy" had embarked, and then marched off leisurely, without further molestation. On the road home they were joined by the detachment left at Amquana, and arrived well and safe at Elmina, the Marines re-embarking on board Her Majesty's ship " Barracouta" immediately.
   The detachment 2nd West India Regiment arrived here this morning, by road march.
    There were no women and children in Essaman, when I attacked it, nor in any of the villages when I destroyed them. I have to add that Lieutenant-Colonel Wood, V.C., whose despatch I enclose, carried out the operations entrusted to him to my entire satisfaction, and that I received the most valuable assistance from Captain Fremantle, R.N., who took personal command of the detachment of blue-jackets with the artillery. I enclose a copy of a letter which I have addressed to Captain Fremantle, expressing my sense of the services of himself and of the officers and men under his command. Nothing could have been better than the behaviour both of the sailors and of the Royal Marines.
    The medical arrangements, personally superintended by Deputy-Surgeon General Home, V.C., C.B., and the Control arrangements, were all that I could desire. I hope that I have taught the Ashantees a great lesson, showing to them that even in the bush they are not secure against attack and defeat by English troops, and I anticipate that the result of this action will exert a most beneficial effect
over the Fantee tribes, inspiring them with new hope, and so with new vigour.
    But no less important is the lesson I have myself learnt from this affair.- 'I have been shown how little reliance can be placed on even the best native troops in this bush fighting, where it is impossible to keep them under the immediate control of European officers, The Houssas showed undeniable courage and spirit; but their uncontrollable wildness, the way in which they fired volley after volley in the air, or at imaginary foes in the bush, expending all their ammunition, shows how little use they are for the work we have in hand. I do not doubt they will improve, under the teaching of the officers of my force, and I hope shortly to have them more under my control; but I cannot expect ever to make of them a thoroughly disciplined body.

I have, &c., G. J. WOLSELEY, Major-General.

To the Right Honourable The Secretary of State for War, &c., &c., &c.

Enclosure No. 1.
RETURN of Casualties amongst the Troops, Marines, and Seamen from Her Majesty's
Ships in action at Essaman, 14th October, 1873.

General Staff.
Colonel McNeill, V.C., C.M.G. (Colonel on the Staff), gunshot wound left forearm; very severe.

2nd West India Regiment.
Captain Forbes, wounded by slug, right hand; slight.

Royal Navy.
Captain Fremantle, gunshot wound, right upper arm; severe.

Non-commissioned Officers and Men.

Royal Marines, Company 44, Private Thomas Walsh, gunshot wound, left forearm ; severe.
Royal Marines, Company 70, Private W. Broderick, wound by plug, thigh; severe.

Royal Navy.
Tom Porter (Krooman), gunshot wound, right side of neck; severe.
Henry Howard (Krooman), gunshot wound, left forearm; slight.

Houssa Levy.
James Peters (Interpreter), slug wound, right thigh; slight.
Private Lukera, slug wound, right arm and hand; slight.
Private Mahomet Maro, slug wound, left thigh; slight.
Private Mourn, slug wound, right thigh; slight;
Private Abudu Sheki Sheki, slug wounds penetrating abdomen and right thigh; dangerously ; since dead.
Corporal Bramia, slug wound, neck; slight.
Private Naubaba, slug wounds penetrating abdomen; dangerously.
Private Grey, slug wound, right forearm; slight.
Private Ali Seriki, slug wound, left temple; slight.
Private Osuman Guntu, slug wound, right leg; slight.
Private Labran, slug wounds, left foot; slight.
Private Manna Maradi, slug wounds, scalp; slight.
Private Alafi Afo, slug wound, neck; slight.
Private Musa Bakarin, slug wound, left leg; slight.
Private Musa Afo, slug wound, left foot; slight.
Private Moru Dama, slug wound, right foot

Coolies.
Three ammunition carriers slightly wounded.

Recapitulation:
Officers, 3 wounded.
Non-commissioned officers and men, 2 wounded,  Royal Marines.
Non-commissioned officers and men, 2 wounded, Royal Navy.
Houssa levy, 16 wounded (1 since dead).
Coolies, 3 wounded.
(Signed) A. C. HOME,
Deputy Surgeon General,
P. M. Officer.

***********

Enclosure No. 2

    SIR, I have the honour to report for the information of His Excellency the Governor and Commander-in- Chief on the Gold Coast, that in obedience to his orders a column, composed and formed as under, marched yesterday on Essaman, a village occupied by Ashantees, distant about 5 miles in a north-westerly direction.

ORDER OF MARCH.

126 Houssas, under Lieutenant Richmond (special service).
162nd West India Regiment, under Lieutenant Eyre.
29 blue jackets, under Captain Fremantle, R.N.
A 7-pounder gun, carried at first by Kroomen, and later in the day by labourers.
A rocket-tube and ammunition.
10 armed Police.
30 labourers with axes, under Captain Buller, D.A.Q.M.G.
20 Royal Marine Artillery, under Lieutenant Allen, R.M.A.
129 Royal Marine Light Infantry, under Captain Crease, R.M.
60 labourers, carrying reserve ammunition and hammocks.
 

Chiefs, Esserve, and Andoor, and 20 Elminas accompanied us as guides.

     2. His Excellency intended we should march at 4 A.M., but the night was dark; it was within two hours of low water, and this rendered the
crossing of the bar so tedious, that it was five o'clock before the column moved off.
     3. Our march for the first hour was over a flat marshy plain, with occasionally high bush. It was necessary to wade through a marsh knee deep for 250 yards. Further to the westward the bush became denser. The track had been cleared to an average width of 2' 6", although the path, clear of stubs, was only 8 to 10 inches wide, and this passed at times through defiles covered with bush.
     4. At 7.15 A.M. the column was fired on by invisible enemies, generally close at hand; indeed a Houssa shot through the body must have been
almost touched by the gun which caused his death. The advance was continued, and the enemy was driven from Essaman, which was burnt down. No property had been removed, as the Ashantees were confident we could never reach the village. The destruction of the various villages during the day was greatly accelerated by the number of small stores of gunpowder in the houses. While the Ashantees were being driven back, Lieutenant Woodgate and some Houssas destroyed the village of Patrie, about one mile on the right of our line of advance.
    5. Having rested for half-an-hour on a small field surrounded by thick bush 20 feet high, we resumed our march, and after being fired on by some few Ashantees, who were driven off at once, we halted at the ruined village of Inkrapoor, burnt in the native war of 1868. From thence to Amquana our path lay through tall trees shutting out the sky, with undergrowth, through which, however, we were generally able to see 20 or 30
yards on either side.
    6. At 12.30 P.M., Amquana, a village on the coast about 4 miles west of Elmina, was reached, and burnt. I had myself seen the inhabitants
sending supplies to the Ashantees.
    7. The soldiers suffered so much from the heat and exhaustion, that it appeared undesirable to move on further with the whole force.
    8. At 2.15 P.M., having sent to 'Elmina the wounded, sick, and those officers and men who were most exhausted, we moved westward with the undermentioned troops who volunteered to go on.

150 2nd West India Regiment, Captain Brett.
20 Marines, Captain Crease.
About 12 blue jackets, with rocket tube, under Lieutenant Maxwell, R.N.
100 Houssas, under Lieutenant Richmond.

    9. At 3 P.M. Captain Hext, Her Majesty's ship "Decoy," landed with some water for us, and Captain Luxmoore landed some Marines and small-arm men from the " Argus " and " Decoy," and with Captain Hext put himself under my orders.
    10. We destroyed Akimfoo (Bran Akinnum), and were burning Ampenee, which is 800 yards further to the westward, when some Ashantees fired on us and wounded a Houssa. As we were returning a number of them moving through the bush got to the eastward of us and opened fire; the men from Her Majesty's ships " Argus " and " Decoy " returned the fire, and doing great execution drove them back; and a little later the 2nd West India Regiment extended on the edge of the bush, covering the reembarkation of the naval forces, were enabled to fire heavily into a large body of Ashantees lying in the bush about 150 yards distant.
    11. We moved off at 5.20 P.M., and picking up the Europeans we left at Amquana, reached Elmina about 8 P.M. The men, though much exhausted, came back in regular formation, and not a murmur was heard, though some were certainly 6 hours without moistening their lips.
The distances traversed are estimated at—
 

Elmina to Essaman.	5 miles
Essaman to Amquana	4 miles
Amquana to Ampenee	4 miles
Ampenee to Elmina	8 miles
Total	21 miles

    The Marines and the sailors who garrisoned the forts for the day re-embarked last night.
    12. The result of yesterday's operations cannot fail to have a very good effect. Last week the Chiefs, whose villages were destroyed yesterday, were summoned to attend and explain their conduct. They have harboured the Ashantees, and harried the few loyal subjects in this district, the body of one of whom we saw exposed, mutilated and decapitated at Ampenee. The Chiefs declined to come, and relied on the Ashantees promise of aid, and our supposed inability to reach them. It was universally said, " white man never dare come in bush as far as Essaman."
    13. From the dead bodies we counted at Essaman, the blood on the paths, and the fact of our being enabled at Ampenee to fire into a mass, it
is believed the enemy's loss is considerable. Our own losses are:—
Colonel McNeill, V.C., C.M.Q., wounded very severely.
Captain Fremantle, R.N., wounded slightly.
Captain Forbes, 2nd West India Regiment, wounded slightly.
Two Royal Marines wounded severely.
17 Houssas;10 slightly. 5 severely; 2 since dead.
Two Marines who suffered severely from sunstroke are progressing favourably.
    14. Although the men of the 2nd West India Regiment are not strong, they did not yesterday suffer in health, mainly owing to the attention of Surgeon-Major Moss, to whom I am much indebted, not only for his care of the men, but for the assistance which he hourly renders me in my intercourse with the natives. I have to add that all the weakly men (24 in number) were left behind, and that every man on parade was given a dose of quinine before marching off.
   15. His Excellency's plan was kept well secret; but this involved the making of no arrangements till 9.30 P.M., when the 300 labourers being collected in the Castle, the drawbridge was raised. This necessitated considerable labour all night, which was given most willingly by Lieutenant Allen, R.M.A., Deputy Commissary, G. Coates, and Assistant Commissary Beardmore.
    16. All the Commanding Officers rendered me every assistance, and the Special Service Officers Lieutenants Richmond, Woodgate, and Graves ably led the Houssas.
    The most fatiguing and dangerous work done by anyone, except the Houssas, was well carried out by Lieutenant Eyre, Special Service, and 16 men, 2nd West India Regiment with company Sergeant-Major Foster. Fearing the Houssas, who had been drilled only 2½ days, might leave the track, I directed Lieutenant Eyre to support them, and if necessary to form our advanced guard. This became necessary at one time, but when the necessity ceased, he and his party begged to be allowed to act as flankers, and they continued to move through dense bush till Lieutenant Eyre dropped from exhaustion.
    17. His Excellency, though present throughout the day, generously allowed me to command; but I must venture respectfully to mention how much I am indebted to him and all his Staff for their assistance. I do not particularize their names, for all aided in the somewhat difficult position in which we were placed when fired into from both sides. I deeply regret Colonel McNeill, V.C., having been wounded when gallantly pushing to
the front with some Houssas.
    18. In conclusion, I wish to give a curious proof of our difficulties in acquiring information of the enemy, and in hiding our own movements.
On the 12th, the Dutch Vice-Consul, Mr. Hamil, pointed out to me some Ashantee foragers about one and a-half miles off, who had driven Elminas from their gardens. I sent out parties to surround them. When the order reached the police station, a man sitting there ran off through the bush, and was seen by the police warning the Ashantees to retire, his superior local knowledge enabling him to outstrip the police. Yesterday
he was shot dead when fighting in the Ashantee ranks.
 

I have, &c., EVELYN WOOD, Lieut.-Colonel Commanding Troops at Elmina.

To the Assistant Adjutant General.

Enclosure No. 3.
 

Cape Coast Castle, 15th October, 1873.

SIR,
     I have the greatest pleasure in offering you my best thanks for the services rendered by yourself, and by the detachment of Royal Marines and of Blue-jackets from the squadron under your command, in the operations undertaken yesterday against Essaman and Ampenee, the success of which was largely due to the valuable assistance I received from yourself and the officers and men whom you placed at my disposal.
    I shall be much obliged if you will convey to those officers and men my great satisfaction with their conduct during a long and fatiguing march, and in the presence of the enemy.
    I sincerely trust that you may soon recover from the wound which you received while superintending the artillery employed against the village of Essaman, and that it may not in any way interfere with that valuable personal cooperation which you have always so freely afforded me.
 

I have, &c., G. WOLSELEY, Major-General and Administrator.

To Captain Fremantle, R.N. Senior Naval Officer, West African Station.