The History of the First West India Regiment

In the same year, two companies of the regiment, under the command of Captain Robeson, proceeded from Demerara to Jamaica, disembarking there on June 1st. This was the first occasion on which any portion of the corps was stationed in that island.

On the 25th of February, 1845, the head-quarters, with the Grenadier and No. 8 Companies, embarked at Demerara in the Princess Royal transport, and sailed for Jamaica, to relieve the head-quarters of the 2nd West India Regiment ordered to Nassau, disembarking at Port Royal on March 6th. The distribution of the regiment was then as follows: The Grenadier, No. 1, No. 8, and the Light Company in Jamaica,[54 - The companies in Jamaica were detached thus: No. 1, No. 8, and Grenadier Company at Up Park Camp. The Light Company between Port Antonio and Montego Bay.] No. 5 at Demerara, No. 2 at Trinidad, No. 3 at Dominica, No. 6 at Grenada, No. 4 at Sierra Leone, and No. 7 at Cape Coast Castle. During the last six months of this year (1845) over 300 recruits joined the head-quarters from West Africa.

In 1846, No. 5 Company was removed from Demerara to Tobago, and the detachments at Dominica and Grenada rejoined head-quarters in Jamaica, where No. 2 and No. 5 Companies also rejoined on the 16th of December, 1847.[55 - The distribution in Jamaica then was:]

In the beginning of the year 1848, the King of Appollonia, a state on the western frontier of the Gold Coast Colony, closed the roads leading to Cape Coast Castle, stopped all trade, and maltreated several British subjects. Messengers were sent to him by the Lieutenant-Governor demanding explanation and redress, with no other result than the detention and imprisonment of the messengers; and matters were at last brought to a crisis by the murder of the French Commandant of Assinee and his boat's crew, the pillaging of Dutch canoes at Axim, and the capture of some Dutch subjects.

The only force Mr. Winniett, the Lieutenant-Governor of the Gold Coast, had at his disposal was No. 7 Company of the 1st West India Regiment, then commanded by Lieutenant E.H. Bingham; but, with the assistance of some influential merchants, he succeeded in raising an expeditionary force of from 4000 to 5000 natives. On the 24th of March, 1848, the Lieutenant-Governor marched, with half the native levies and the company of the 1st West India Regiment, from Cape Coast Castle to the then Dutch settlement of Axim, 120 miles distant from Cape Coast and about twenty miles from Atemboo, or Attaambu, the King of Appollonia's chief town and residence. By the 3rd of April the whole force was concentrated at Axim, and on the 6th, at 5 a.m., it moved onwards towards Appollonia.

The country consisting of impenetrable forest, the force had to march from Axim to Appollonia along the sandy beach; and there were the mouths of two considerable rivers to be crossed. The first river, the Ancobra, was reached at 6 a.m.; and, although a very heavy sea was breaking on the bar, the passage of the stream was commenced in canoes, which had been brought from Axim for that purpose. The first detachment consisted of the native allies, and, as soon as the canoes gained mid-stream, several hundred armed Appollonians appeared on the further bank, and opened fire on them as they came within range. Several natives were struck, and three of the canoes being upset the remainder returned to the bank they had just left.

It being found impracticable to induce the native auxiliaries to make a further attempt to force the passage, this duty devolved upon the company of the 1st West India Regiment, which the Lieutenant-Governor had originally intended holding in reserve; and, under cover of a fire from two rocket-troughs, it crossed the river in the canoes, driving the Appollonians, in spite of a smart resistance, into the bush. The remainder of the force then passed over, several natives being drowned in the surf during the passage; and at 10 a.m. they pushed on, reaching the Appollonian village of Asantah about 1 p.m. This place was found to be deserted, and here the force encamped for the night.

Next morning at daybreak a further advance was made, and about 6 a.m. the Abmoussa River – or, rather, Lagoon – was reached. A very heavy and dangerous surf was breaking on the bar, and the dense bush on the further bank, which grew close down to the water's edge, was observed to be full of armed men.

The company of the 1st West India Regiment was again called upon to lead the way, and the men, embarking in the canoes, paddled out into the breakers. A continued and furious fusillade was at once opened by the concealed enemy upon the men, who were unable to reply, as their attention was entirely occupied in keeping the canoes from capsizing. Fortunately, the Appollonians fired wildly, and their powder was of bad quality; for, although almost every man of the detachment was struck by slugs or fragments of iron, only eleven were wounded, and those slightly. A canoe was, however, unhappily upset, and two men beaten against the rocks and drowned. The company formed up on landing, and advanced steadily through the bush against the enemy, who offered but a feeble resistance and soon retired altogether. One man was shot dead while stepping ashore, an ambushed native firing at him at the distance of a few feet only. The native allies now passed over, and the march was continued. Parties of the enemy were observed hovering round the flanks, but no attack was made, and at 3 p.m. a halt was ordered at the village of Barcoo.

The force was here divided into two parts, of which one, consisting entirely of natives, was to move through the bush and prevent the king escaping inland; while the other, consisting of the company of the 1st West India Regiment with the remainder of the native allies, was to march along the beach and attack the town in front. This movement would probably have been successful, had the division of natives performed the duty allotted to them; but, being fired upon by some ambushed Appollonians, they refused to proceed further, and when the company of the 1st West India Regiment reached Atemboo, they found it entirely deserted.

The success which had so far attended the expedition, however, produced such an effect upon the native mind that, on March 9th, the principal chiefs of Appollonia came in to Atemboo to make submission; and, as it was reported that the king was in hiding in the immediate neighbourhood, parties were sent out in search of him. On the 18th his wives and family were captured to the westward, near the old fort, and the day following, a party of the 1st West India Regiment brought in a body of 121 men, all heavily manacled with irons weighing from fifty to ninety pounds, and who had been intended to be sacrificed at an approaching "custom." Two of these men thus unexpectedly saved from a horrible death volunteered to point out where the king was concealed, and some men of the regiment being sent out under their guidance, succeeded in capturing him in his hiding-place, in the midst of a mangrove swamp.

The object of the expedition being accomplished by the capture of the king, the force moved back to Axim, on the 21st of March, and, on the evening of the same day, the Lieutenant-Governor, with the captive king and the company of the 1st West India Regiment, embarked on board the merchant brig Governor, arriving at Cape Coast Castle on the 24th.

Lieutenant-Governor Winniett in his despatch says: "I cannot speak too highly of the detachment of the 1st West India Regiment. During its march of more than 120 miles, sometimes through very bad roads, and under the powerful rays of the sun, the crossing of five rivers, and other circumstances of disadvantage, no complaints were heard, neither was a man seen in a state of intoxication during the campaign. Mr. Bingham, the officer commanding the detachment, was most active in executing all orders entrusted to his care, and I have great pleasure in bringing him under your Lordship's notice.

CHAPTER XIX.

INDIAN DISTURBANCES IN HONDURAS, 1848-9 – THE ESCORT TO COOMASSIE, 1848 – THE SHERBRO EXPEDITION, 1849 – ESCORT TO RIO NUNEZ, 1850

While No. 7 Company had thus been engaged on the Gold Coast, the quinquennial relief for the West African garrisons had sailed from the West Indies, No. 2 and No. 5 Companies, 1st West India Regiment, having embarked at Jamaica on February 21st, 1848. They arrived at Sierra Leone in April, and No. 5 Company being there landed to relieve No. 4, No. 2 proceeded to Cape Coast Castle to relieve No. 7. The two relieved companies rejoined the head-quarters at Jamaica on July 2nd, 1848. No. 8 Company having been sent to Nassau in February, and the light company in July, while No. 1 had been despatched to Honduras in May, the distribution of the regiment in August, 1848, was as follows: 2 companies in West Africa, 2 at Nassau, 1 in Honduras, and 5 in Jamaica.

No. 1 Company had been sent to Honduras in reply to an urgent appeal for a reinforcement from the Honduras Government, that colony being threatened with the horrors of an Indian war. In 1847 a war broke out between the Yucatecans and the Indians, and caused much anxiety to the British colony, whose strict neutrality satisfied neither of the contending parties. The Yucatecans, being driven out of the southern portion of Yucatan, took refuge in our territory, and raids and reprisals were frequent between them and the Santa Cruz Indians. In 1848 the town of Bacalar, situated on the shores of a lake, about twenty miles from the northern frontier of British Honduras, was captured by the Indians, and the fugitives, streaming into the colony, spread alarm amongst the colonists. It was at this time that reinforcements were applied for, and No. 1 Company, under Major Luke Smyth O'Connor, despatched from Jamaica.

On arriving at Belize the company was at once moved up to the Hondo, and towards the end of May a portion of it proceeded on escort duty with a British commissioner to Bacalar to endeavour to arrange a peace. That town had been the scene of the most frightful atrocities, and the streets were found strewn with the dead bodies of men, women, and children. Negotiations failing, the escort returned to the Hondo.

Collisions now became frequent between the Yucatecans and the Indians, and our northern border became a rallying point for both sides. The small British force was continually harassed by alarms and forced marches taken to prevent violation of British territory, until towards the close of 1848, it being rumoured that the Indians intended to cross the Hondo and sack Belize, it was withdrawn from the north for the protection of that town. Additional reinforcements were now asked for, and on March 29th, 1849, No. 4 Company, under Captain Meehan, embarked at Jamaica for Honduras.

In January, 1849, No. 1 Company had again advanced to the Hondo, and were within a few miles of Chac Creek on that river, when the sanguinary struggle between the Yucatecans and Indians took place. Hearing the sound of firing the troops marched to the spot, and finding the Indians employed in roasting the dead bodies of the defeated Yucatecans, were only with the utmost difficulty restrained from attacking them. But the most strict orders had been given for the preservation of British neutrality, and nothing could be done. Indeed, the Indians were themselves well aware of the advantages which they derived from our neutrality, and were exceedingly careful not to come into contact with the British; even going so far as on one occasion to shoot a chief and flog six men, who had been accused of committing an outrage across the Hondo.

In March, 1849, Major O'Connor visited Bacalar to endeavour to make peace, but without success; and the two companies of the regiment remained stationed on the Hondo, amid the same scenes of horror, until February, 1852, when they rejoined head-quarters at Jamaica.

To return to the companies in West Africa. In September, 1848, Mr. Winniett, the Lieutenant-Governor of the Gold Coast, received instructions from the Secretary of State for the Colonies to proceed on a mission to Coomassie, the capital of the Ashanti kingdom, for the purpose of establishing friendly relations between Great Britain and that power. Captain Powell, 1st West India Regiment, was then in command of No. 2 Company, stationed at Cape Coast Castle, and he, with forty-eight men of the regiment, accompanied the Lieutenant-Governor as an escort.

The mission left Cape Coast Castle on the 28th of September, 1848, crossed the River Prah on October 4th, and on the 8th reached the village of Karsi, about two miles from Coomassie. There the party halted to prepare for the entry into the capital, and, at noon, the King's messengers having informed them that everything was in readiness for their reception, they proceeded towards Coomassie.

Captain Powell says: "At a distance of about a mile from the town, a party of messengers with gold-handled swords of office, arrived with the king's compliments. After halting for a short time, we proceeded to the entrance of the first street, and then formed in order of procession, the escort leading. Presently a party of the king's linguists, with four large state umbrellas, ensigns of chieftainship, came up to request us to halt for a few minutes under the shade of a large banyan tree in the street, to give the king a little more time to prepare to receive us. After a brief delay of about twenty minutes, during which a large party of the king's soldiers fired a salute about a hundred yards distant from us, we moved on to the market-place, where the king and his chiefs were seated under their large umbrellas, according to the custom of the country on the reception of strangers of distinction. They, with their numerous captains and attendants occupied three sides of a large square, and formed a continuous line about 600 yards in length, and about ten yards in depth. After we had passed along about three-fourths of the line, we found the king surrounded by about twenty officers of his household, and a large number of messengers with their gold-handled swords and canes of office. Several very large umbrellas, consisting of silk velvet of different colours, shaded him and his suite from the sun. These umbrellas were surmounted by rude images, representing birds and beasts, overlaid with gold; the king's chair was richly decorated with gold; and the display of golden ornaments about his own person and those of his suite was most magnificent. The lumps of gold adorning the wrists of the King's attendants, and many of the principal chiefs, were so large that they must have been quite fatiguing to the wearers. We occupied about an hour in moving in procession from the banyan tree, where we had rested on entering the town, to the end of the line prepared for our reception; after which we proceeded to an open space at some distance from the market-place, and there took our seats. At 3.15 p.m. the chiefs commenced moving in procession before us, and this lasted until 6 p.m. Those whom we had first saluted in the market-place passed us first. Each chief was preceded by his band of rude music, consisting chiefly of drums and horns, followed by a body of soldiers under arms, and shaded by a large umbrella. The king was preceded by many of the officers of his household, and his messengers with the gold-handled swords, etc. etc. When he came opposite the governor, and received our military salute, he stopped, and approaching him took him cordially by the hand. After the king, other chiefs, and a large body of troops, passed in due order; and at 6 p.m. the ceremony closed."

At 9.30 a.m. on October 26th, 1848, the mission left Coomassie on its return journey to the coast, and arrived at Cape Coast Castle on November 4th. This was the first occasion on which a British Governor, or a body of regular troops, had ever visited Coomassie.

In March, 1849, a further change took place in the distribution of the regiment in the West Indies, No. 7 Company, under Captain R. Hughes, proceeding to Nassau from Jamaica. There were thus the head-quarters and 3 companies in Jamaica, 3 in Nassau, 2 in Honduras, and 2 in West Africa.

In June, 1849; the Acting Governor of Sierra Leone found that the state of affairs in Sherbro, a low-lying tract of country some seventy-five miles to the southward of Sierra Leone, imperatively called upon the British to take steps for putting an end to the war which for a long time had been carried on between the rival chiefs of the Caulker family, and had utterly paralysed trade. H.M.S. Alert and Adelaide were to be employed, but as a military force was required to proceed with the naval one, the under-mentioned force embarked in the Colonial steamer Pluto on the 18th of June: Captain Grange, Lieutenant Jones, and 45 men of the 1st West India Regiment, and 44 men of the 3rd West India Regiment. The expedition arrived at Yawrey Bay, at the mouth of the Cockboro River, on the 19th of June, when a stockaded fort was shelled and destroyed by the Adelaide. The expedition then proceeded to Bendoo, and after some delay, owing to the difficulty in inducing the chiefs to come in, returned to Yawrey Bay on the 29th, where negotiations were held and a treaty of peace between the Government and rival chiefs signed. The detachments rejoined at Freetown, Sierra Leone, on July 7th.

On the 29th of November, 1849, Lieutenant Tunstall and 34 men of No. 2 Company of the 1st West India Regiment, left Cape Coast Castle and proceeded to Appollonia in canoes, in aid of the civil power. After an absence of three weeks, during which they endured great hardships from exposure and fatigue, they rejoined their detachment at Cape Coast.

In the beginning of the year 1850, the Rio Nunez was in such a disturbed state as to necessitate the Governor of Sierra Leone taking steps for the protection of British subjects there. Some influential chiefs of the river having also besought the intervention of the Government to restore peace, commissioners were appointed, and as war was actually being carried on at the time, a military force was detailed to accompany them. This force consisted of Lieutenant Searle and 33 men of the 1st West India Regiment and Captain Prendergast and 34 men of the 3rd West India Regiment, and it embarked in H.M.S. Teazer on the 22nd of February, 1850. The Teazer arrived at the Rio Nunez on the 24th, and proceeded up the river to Ropass, a town some distance up the stream, where the commissioners landed with the escort. A "palaver" was held at this place on March 1st, the rival chieftains being attended by large bodies of armed men, but no satisfactory arrangement was arrived at, and next day the commissioners and troops proceeded to Walkariah, a town higher up the river. Here matters were finally amicably settled, and the party returned to Sierra Leone on March 9th.

In the West Indies there had been little change since 1849, except that on the 13th of February, 1851, the head-quarters and two companies were removed from Up Park Camp to Spanish Town; and a detachment consisting of half a company, under Ensign Cave, was sent to Turk's Island in December, 1851. This latter rejoined head-quarters in Jamaica in January, 1852; and in February, No. 1 and No. 4 Companies, under Captain Robeson, rejoined from Honduras. In the same year, however, they again went on detachment: No. 1, under Captain Grange, to St. Christopher's, and No. 4, under Lieutenant Imes, to Barbados. The distribution of the regiment in September, 1852, was thus: the Grenadier, No. 3 and No. 6 Companies, at Jamaica; the Light, No. 7 and No. 8 Companies, at Nassau, No. 4 at St. Christopher's, No. 1 at Barbados, No. 5 at Sierra Leone, and No. 2 at Cape Coast Castle.

In February, 1852, Major L. Smyth O'Connor, 1st West India Regiment, had arrived at Sierra Leone and assumed command of the troops in West Africa, and finding in May that the company on the Gold Coast was reduced by deaths to only 50 rank and file, he recommended that it should be recalled to Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast Corps, then almost completed, being quite sufficient for the garrison of the Gold Coast.

In September, 1852, Major O'Connor was appointed Governor of the Gambia, and as by Horse Guards letter of September 20th, 1852, "it was considered expedient that he should continue invested with the command of the troops on the West Coast of Africa, and move the head-quarters to the Gambia," this was done in October, 1852.

The War Office having approved of Major O'Connor's recommendation, No. 2 Company, 50 strong, arrived at Sierra Leone from Cape Coast Castle on March 20th, 1853.

CHAPTER XX.

THE STORMING OF SABBAJEE, 1853 – THE RELIEF OF CHRISTIANSBORG, 1854

On March 23rd, 1853, No. 3 and No. 6 Companies, under Captain A.W. Murray and Lieutenant Upton, embarked at Port Royal, Jamaica, in the troopship Resistance, for the relief of the West African garrisons. On May 17th, the Resistance arrived at the Gambia with four out of the six companies forming the relief for the detachments of the three West India regiments, and reinforcements being urgently required for the suppression of a hostile movement amongst the Mohammedans at Sabbajee, they were landed.

On the 25th of May, Lieutenant-Colonel O'Connor prepared to take the field with a force of 603 men, consisting of 463 of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd West India Regiments, 35 pensioners, and 105 of the Gambia Militia. A field battery, consisting of 2 six-pounder field-guns and 2 howitzers, was also organised. On the 30th May, the brigade marched from Bathurst to Josswung, a distance of eight miles, where a camp was formed; and on June 1st, the force advanced to the attack of Sabbajee.[56 - See map.]

Sabbajee was one of the oldest Marabout towns in Combo, and boasted the possession of the largest mosque in that portion of Africa. The town, more than a mile in circumference, was surrounded by a strong stockade, double ditches, and outward abattis; and the inhabitants, who could muster 3000 fighting men, were, from their predatory and warlike habits, the dread of the surrounding country.

On approaching the town, a strong body of the enemy was observed stationed round the mosque, while the stockade was lined with men. A portion of the stockade presented the appearance of having been removed, but had in reality only been laid lengthwise, so as to form a very formidable obstacle; while a deep trench dug in rear was crowded with men, who, in perfect security, could fire upon the advancing British, should they fall into the trap which had been laid for them, and attempt to carry the town at this point.

The force was drawn up in three divisions: the 1st West India Regiment, under Captain A.W. Murray, forming the centre division; the 2nd West India Regiment, under Captain Anderson, the right; and the 3rd West India Regiment, under Captain Brabazon, the left. At about four hundred yards from the stockade the field battery opened fire, and with such precision that after a few rounds the roof of the mosque and those of the adjacent houses were in flames. Observing the disorder caused amongst the enemy by the burning of their sacred building, Lieutenant-Colonel O'Connor determined to seize the opportunity, and storm.

The right and left divisions extended in skirmishing order, the centre remaining in column, and the whole advanced to the assault. The enemy kept up a heavy fire from the loop-holes of their stockade, over which the green flag was flying; but at the same moment the three divisions, which had in advancing formed a crescent, rushed at the stockade at three different points, and, clambering over, got at the enemy with the bayonet. This was more than they could stand, and abandoning their stockade, they fled down the streets and escaped through sally-ports in the rear of the town.

A strong body of fanatics, however, still held the mosque, the fire in the roof of which they had succeeded in extinguishing, and, amid the beating of war-drums and cries of "Allah" from the priests, kept up a smart fire upon the troops as they entered the large central square in which the mosque stood. To have stormed the building would have involved great sacrifice of life; the men, therefore, were directed to occupy the houses enclosing the square, and open fire, until the rockets could be brought into play.

The second rocket fired whizzed through the roof of the mosque, the defenders of which, however, only increased their drumming and shouts of defiance, for they were secure in their belief of the local tradition, which said that the mosque was impregnable and indestructible. In a very few minutes flames began to appear on the roof, and, though the enemy worked hard to extinguish it, it rapidly increased, until the mosque was untenable. Dozens of the fanatics blew out their brains rather than surrender, while others threw themselves out of the windows and passages, and rushed sword in hand, in a state of frenzy, upon the British. The coolness and steadiness of the troops was, however, more than a match for the mad rage of the Mandingoes, who were shot down one after another, until the whole of the defenders of the mosque were killed or made prisoners. The remainder of the enemy, who fled at the storming of the stockade, had taken refuge in the neighbouring woods, and, the object of the engagement being accomplished by the capture of the town, they were not pursued.

The stockade and mosque being destroyed, the force left Sabbajee on June 4th, and returned to Josswung, where, by an arrangement with the King of Combo, a portion of that kingdom, including the town of Sabbajee, was ceded to the British.

The mosque was a singularly strong building, and for a day and a half resisted every effort to pull it down, being eventually reduced to ruins by blasting the walls with bags of gunpowder. It consisted of a large central hall, with walls made of baked clay, three feet in thickness, and an external corridor running round the whole circumference of the inner apartment. The roof, conical in shape, was supported by six masonry pillars.

As the Gambia was still in an unsettled state, Lieutenant-Colonel O'Connor deemed it prudent to increase its garrison at the expense of that of Sierra Leone. No. 6 Company of the 1st West India Regiment was therefore detained at Bathurst, and on June 8th, No. 3 Company, under Captain Murray, proceeded in the Resistance to Sierra Leone. On arriving at that station, on June 17th, Captain Murray assumed the command of the troops.

No. 2 Company embarked at Sierra Leone for Jamaica on June 22nd, arriving at Kingston on August 5th. On October 18th the Resistance returned from the West Indies with the remaining companies destined for the quinquennial relief, and No. 5 Company, embarking in her on October 22nd, reached Jamaica on November 25th. The West African garrisons were now as follows: At the Gambia, one company of the 1st West India Regiment, two of the 2nd, and one of the 3rd; at Sierra Leone, one of the 1st West India Regiment, and one of the 3rd.

In the West Indies the following changes had taken place: Nos. 7 and 8 Companies had been moved in August from Nassau to Barbados and Dominica respectively, and, in July, the light company had proceeded from Nassau to Jamaica. In December, 1853, the distribution of the regiment was then as follows: 4 companies at Jamaica, 2 at Barbados, 1 at Dominica, 1 at St. Christopher's, 1 at Sierra Leone, and 1 at the Gambia.[57 - This year, 1853, appears to have been particularly unhealthy in the West Indies, to judge from the following inscription, taken from an intramural monument in Kingston Cathedral Church:TO THE MEMORY OF THE FOLLOWING:Capt. Robt. Mostyn, 3rd W.I.R., died of yellow fever, at Nassau, Bahamas, 23rd July, 1853, æt. 27.Ensign John Alex. Gordon Pringle, 3rd W.I.R., died of yellow fever at Kingston, Jamaica, 31st July, 1853, æt. 21.Assist. – Surg. Walter William Harris, 1st W.I.R., attached to 3rd W.I.R., died at Up Park Camp, of yellow fever, 4th Aug., 1853, æt. 24.Lieut. John Maryon Wilson, 3rd W.I.R., died at Up Park Camp, of yellow fever, 13th Aug., 1853, æt. 22.Eliza Chancellor Wilson, wife of the above, died at Up Park Camp, of yellow fever, 5th Sept., 1853, æt. 22.Cath. Elizabeth, wife of Lieut. Wm. Hen. Wilson Hawtayne, 3rd W.I.R., died of yellow fever at Nassau, Bahamas, 9th Aug., 1853, æt. 23.Asst. – Surg. Gideon Jas. Wm. Griffith, 3rd W.I.R., died of yellow fever at Lucia, 26th Aug., 1853, æt. 23.Also, Selina Maria, wife of Capt. C.S.H. Hingston, 3rd W.I.R., died at Up Park Camp, 11th April, 1854, æt. 23.Erected by the officers of the 1st and 3rd W.I. Regts.]

In September, 1854, the inhabitants of Christiansborg, a Danish settlement on the Gold Coast four miles from Accra, which had been recently purchased by the British, rose in rebellion against the Colonial authorities. The only armed force then on the Gold Coast consisted of the Gold Coast Artillery, recruited from amongst the Fanti tribes, and this body the rebels blockaded in the Castle of Christiansborg. On the outbreak of the rebellion, the Lieutenant-Governor of the Gold Coast at once sent to Sierra Leone for assistance; and, on the 12th of October, the following detachments embarked at Sierra Leone in H.M.S. Britomart and Ferret: Lieutenant Strachan and 33 men of the 1st West India Regiment, Captain Rookes and 46 men of the 2nd West India Regiment, Lieutenant Haneahan and 31 men of the 3rd West India Regiment. From the Gambia were also despatched in the Colonial steamer Dover, on the 24th of October: Ensign Anderson and 25 men of the 1st, Captain Mockler and 70 men of the 2nd, and Lieutenant Hill and 23 men of the 3rd West India Regiment.

The troops from Sierra Leone and the Gambia arrived at Christiansborg on the 27th of October and the 7th of November respectively. Several small skirmishes had taken place between the Gold Coast artillery and the rebels without either side gaining any material advantage; but, on the arrival of the reinforcement from Sierra Leone, the siege was raised, and the natives retired inland to some villages on the plain behind Christiansborg. There, like all undisciplined bodies, they gradually melted away; the chiefs, finding their followers abandoning them, were compelled to ask for terms; and directly negotiations were opened, the detachments of the three West India regiments re-embarked to return to Sierra Leone, sailing from Christiansborg on the 12th of November.