Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1824-06-15

ana IN cur alliance. l sincerely hope this re-
port may be confirmed, bat for my part nucl,
doc bt it,"
DEFEAT CT TIE BRITISH TROOPS AT
ACCRA.
Whatever hopes may be entertained AS To- the per-
sonai safety Of Sir c. Mccarthy, Their. ca,, NO lon
ger be any reasonable doubts felt as to the certain,
~ OF battle having taken place, and of its disas
trors result tn ourselves. We give below letter.
dated British Accra, Jan. 81, which fully cor,obo
rates those facts. We also subjon an extract OF a
letter written at sea, by the Captain of the Eliza
beth, who carried the tdngs,to Barbados, and who
states variety ct circumstances equally corrobo-
rative OF the action having been fought.
British .3ccra, Jan. 81, l3lt.-It is unncccssa-
y ior me to communicate to- YOU The seizure of Que
OF our serjcants by order of the Ashantcc i,,,n,t
and o'her causes that have led TO q war between
."e Dti'ish ana tat nation, aS you have alre adv
peen put IN possession of these circumstances by my
Hieho ----. Suffice II TO say, that your pretlic-
ton (uncss speedy aud cffectual aid was sem or,
England things would go hard will, us) has bees,
to soon verified. The As,,an,ees have long threat
encd us with an attack; and the 9th, of las,
month"; intelligence WAS brought to Sir Charles NJ
Carthy mat they were approaching the Coast, but
contrary To- what is usual their forces were Inv rc
port diminished as to their real numbers the conse
qucnce was that Sir Charles divided his forces in
iour diHisions, and marched into the interior The
enemy, instead of dividing theirs, collected a force
OF 10000 men, and attacked the division command
cd by Sir Charles himself, (who did muster 1000
inuskcts,) and regret to say totally defeated and
dispersed ii! The whole of the whites are either
Killed or missing, but Major Ricketts, and Ensign
Erskinc, who, after many hurdships, have succeeded
IN getting to Cape Coast. Among the killed and
missing, are Sir Charles himself Mcssrs. Buckle and
Wethcrh from Sierra Leone; also Robertson
DIR. Tedle, Jones, Brandon, J. p. Williams. and u,
die of Cape Coast, all of whom you have seen. and
seFeral Others with whom you are not acupain tcd.
1t and were in the Accra division, commando
cd by Captain Blenkarne, ard at least $50 miles to
the eastward of Sir Charles when this afflictinp IN
tcllgence was brought 10 and by the same mes
senger we ordered to fall back on Accra and
put the town and fort in the best state Of defence
1t Will now be that the Ashantees are a peou,c
not to be utterly dcspiscd! In Short has CONC To
'n's--h government do not INSTANTLY send out two
or three thousand troops to put duwn this mower
they must withdraw the British Hag from, the cons,
and leave the Held to the cunning Duchmcn To reap
Tie harvest Of their intrigue The moment the is
sue OF the battle was known, the people Of Elnina
commenced selzing our people ; and those of Sha-
nah (anOther Dutch settlemrmt had the tcmerity tn
fire on one of the boats of the Owen Glcudo,yer
But here they suffered for their rashness nv the to-
tai obstruction OF the town. 1t is most fort,,-
nate Circumstance that the figae was in the vicini-
~ oil Cape Coast at this moment, or know not how
much more dreadful the result would have been-
The divisions commanded by Majors Chisholm and
LainS have returned to Cape Coast 81 Anpamaboe ::
they can get no tidings of either Sir Charles or the
Asliantees and it is supposed the latter ha We fallen
oack snort distance 10 communicate their great
success TO their King before they renew the contest
SIR Charles orderly, who escaped from the field af-
firms, that Sir Charles was wounded in Two pIaccs
early i'll the action.
cit is but justice to say the Danish Governor
Richheu has acted the part of man of honor to-
wards ms. He has spared neither expense nor uer-
sonal eXertion to assist us i'll putting down the a.
shantees ai.l if the Dutch had acted The same
part matters would this have been settled in GU
favor. To secure the favor and trade of the Asian
tees, the Dutch has been mean as to ins.iI into
the minds of these people that object is to bring
tieir nation under our yoke, and that if re tri-
ven from the Coast, they (tIe Ashamtecs) will again
have opportunities OF disposing Of their slaves to
the Portuguese and Spanish vessels.
T. :. report hus just reached US that Sir
Charles is among the Dinquerns, country stu
ate nbou. sixty-vc miles nortl-west Of Cape Coast
and i'll our alliance. sincerely hope this r,po,,
may be confirmed, but for my part much doubt
it,"
The following is the extract from the letter of
Captain Bunney, of the Elizabeth, dated at sea,
March i -
g sailed from Cape Coast Castle on the a,b of
Feb AS you will have heard perhaps, that Sir c.
Nj Mccarthy, and all the white merchants with the
Cost Castle natives, had marched into the Bush, to
light the Ashantees, the 21st Jan. The Asian
tees came down ten thousand strong. Sir Charles
with the merchants and natives, amount in number
to about 6oOO men, who completely routed
after hard battle, and all the merchants with Sir
Charles, either killed taken prisoners or at least
they had not been heard of when sailed which
was fourteen days after the enga CEMENT which took
place about 20 miles from Cape Coast. Indeed ma
NY OF the merchants lying dead by the
natives of Cape Coast Castle who capcd. with
their arms severed from their bodies. Their heads
were no doubt sentin triumphto the King of Asian
tee. They arc in great fright at Cape Coast Cas-
te Sir Charles went out into the Bush on the 23,l,
December, and he divided his force into three parts
Major Chisholm had all the soldiers. Sir Charles
force consisted principally of merchants and rnfab-
tans OF Cape Coast Castle nd a captain in the
my commanded the remainder. The Asha,tees
knowing that Sir Charles stie weakest. attacked
him, although Major Chisholm was not more than
ID miles from bin; but Inc knew nothing of the en-
sagenenf till IT was over wten he returned TO defe,,d
ne Caste There was another force of ma tives ro-
ing out in day or two after sailed under Cant.
'Laing, and some more merchants and officers"
Upon diligent inquiry we find that the latest LEFT
tcrs by the vessel which arrived from Sierra Leone
one of which is of the 18th March bring no iuteli
gcnce OF positive nature relative to the affair bc
tween Sir Charles Mccarthy and the Asbautecs.-
We have indeed seen a letter from Mr. H.
respectable merchant Of Plymouth in which he says
Inc has received accounts from Sierra Leone of the
18th of March, at which time it was reDortcd thai
Sir Charles had had two actions with ;hc A.
shantees, in both Of which he had defeated them, g.
that it supposed he had continued his ,narc! to
Coomassc. This letter would certainly give yrouic
for hope, If il were not for the supposed; as it can
hardly be imagined that, in the event of SUCCESS; the
march Of Sir Charles would have been LEFT tloubiC,i
The question, fear, is put rest bv the rcc,in,
of despa tches by Earl Bathurst, from Mai Chisholm
dated February ,. If any thing satisfactory or e.
ven coiisoiaiory, had reached his Lordship he Ger
80.