Captain Fletcher, Lieutenant Wylie, Lieutenant Strachan, and Lieutenant Vincent, with some thirty men, endeavoured to make a last stand upon a small islet of mud and sand, near the left bank of the creek; but Lieutenant Wylie was shot dead almost at once, and Lieutenant Vincent, being shot through the body, jumped into the water, to endeavour to swim to the ship. In a few seconds seventeen men had fallen out of this devoted band, and the survivors, plunging into the creek, swam down towards the river. The natives lined the banks in crowds, keeping up a heavy fire upon the men in the water; and Captain Fletcher and Lieutenant Strachan, who were the last to leave the shore, only reached the _Teazer_ by a miracle, they having to swim more than half a mile to reach her.
As the last of the survivors gained the vessel, the natives, between two and three thousand in number, lined the banks of the river, brandishing their weapons and uttering shouts of defiance; and the heads of several of the killed, horribly mutilated, were held out towards the ship on spears, amidst cries of exultation. All the ammunition for the _Teazer's_ guns having already been expended in shelling the town and clearing the bush, it was impossible to reply to the enemy, and the vessel proceeded slowly down the river, returning to Sierra Leone next day.
The casualties of this day were as follows: The 1st West India Regiment, out of 62 men who landed, lost 38 killed and 3 wounded. The 3rd West India Regiment, out of 73 men who landed, lost 46 killed and 8 wounded. Total, 95 killed and wounded, out of a force of 135 men.
The casualties amongst the officers were nearly equally heavy. Out of the ten Europeans who were under fire, three, namely Lieutenant Wylie, 1st West India Regiment, D.A.C.G. Frith and C.S.M. Scanlan were killed; and three, Lieutenant Vincent, 2nd West India Regiment, Lieutenant-Commander Nicolas, and Mr. Dillet, severely wounded.
It was learned afterwards that the reason so large a force was assembled at Malageah was that it was the time for the annual gathering of the river tribes, to hear the laws read by the Alimani. This circumstance ought of course to have been known to the Acting Governor, who was well acquainted with the customs of the people. The Imperial Government held him responsible for this defeat, and, in November, 1855, he was relieved of his post, and charged "with having, when Acting Governor, on the 21st of May, 1855, without authority, and upon insufficient grounds, sent an expedition against the Moriah chiefs in the Mellicourie River, beyond the Colony, with orders to burn or destroy the town of Malageah, planned without foresight or judgment, disastrous in its termination, and disgraceful to the British power," and was suspended from his office of Queen's Advocate and from his seat at the Council Board.