The Anglo-Ashanti wars were a series of five conflicts that took place between 1824 and 1900 between the Ashanti Empire—in the Akan interior of the Gold Coast—and the British Empire and its African allies. The wars were mainly due to Ashanti attempts to maintain and enforce their imperial control over the coastal areas of present-day Ghana, where peoples such as the Fante and the Ga had come under the protection of the British. Although the Ashanti emerged victorious in some of these conflicts, the British ultimately prevailed in the fourth and fifth conflicts, resulting in the complete annexation of the Ashanti Empire by 1900.
Earlier wars
The British fought three earlier wars in the Gold Coast:
In the Ashanti-Fante War of 1806–07, the British refused to hand over two rebels pursued by the Ashanti, but eventually handed one over (the other escaped).
In the Ga-Fante War of 1811, the Ashanti sought to aid their Ga allies in a war against the Fante and their British allies. The Ashanti army won the initial battles but was forced back by guerilla fighting from the Fante. The Ashanti captured a British fort at Tantamkweri.
In the Ashanti-Akim-Akwapim War of 1814–16 the Ashanti defeated the Akim-Akwapim alliance. Local British, Dutch, Polish, and Danish authorities all had to come to terms with the Ashanti. By 1817, the Ashanti were expanding with an army of about 20,000, so the (British) African Company of Merchants signed a treaty of friendship that recognized Ashanti claims to sovereignty over much of the coast. The African Company of Merchants was dissolved in 1821 and the British government assumed control of the trading forts on the Gold Coast from the merchants.
First Anglo-Ashanti War, 1823–1831
By the 1820s, the British had decided to support the Fante against Ashanti raids from inland. Economic and social friction played their part in the causes for the outbreak of violence.
The immediate cause of the war happened when a group of Ashanti kidnapped and murdered an African serviceman of the Royal African Corps on 1 February 1823. Freeman writes that there is no evidence the King of Ashanti was responsible for the attack as it was caused by a dispute between the Sergent and the Ashanti perpetuators. Historian Wilks adds that the attack was carried out under the commands of the War Party and not Asantehene Osei Bonsu as they executed the Sergent for insulting the Asantehene. A small British group was led into a trap which resulted in 10 killed, 39 wounded and a British retreat. The Ashanti tried to negotiate but the British governor, Sir Charles MacCarthy, rejected Ashanti claims to Fanti areas of the coast and resisted overtures by the Ashanti to negotiate.
MacCarthy led an invading force from the Cape Coast in two columns. 10,000 Ashanti armed with "Long Dane" muskets confronted MacCarthy's force. The Ashanti troops were well-disciplined: American anthropologist Robert B. Edgerton noted that the Ashanti "marched in perfect order, their guns carried at exactly the same angle, before they turned toward the enemy and fired volleys on command, the only African army that was known to do so." The Ashanti generally did have not bullets for their muskets and used nails as instead, which proved to be an effective substitute. Upon hearing that the Ashanti army was on the march, MacCarthy unwisely divided his forces. He did not realize that he was facing was the main Ashanti army, not an advance guard. The governor was in the first group of 500, which lost contact with the second column when they encountered the Ashanti army of around 10,000 on 22 January 1824, in the battle of Nsamankow. the British ran out of ammunition, suffered losses, and were overrun. Almost all the British force were killed immediately; only 20 escaped.
MacCarthy, Ensign Wetherell, and his secretary Williams attempted to fall back. MacCarthy was wounded by gunfire, however, and killed by a second shot shortly thereafter. Ensign Wetherell was killed while defending MacCarthy's body. Williams was taken prisoner. He was spared death when an Ashanti sub-chief recognised him due to a favour Williams had shown him previously. Williams was held prisoner for several months in a hut which also held the severed heads of MacCarthy and Wetherell.