Anglo - Ashanti wars The Anglo - Ashanti Wars were four conflicts between the Ashanti Empire , in the Akan interior of the Gold Coast , now Ghana , and the British Empire in the 19th century between 1824 and 1901 . The ruler of the Ashanti ( or Asante ) was the Asantehene . The wars were mainly over the Ashanti establishing strong control over the coastal areas of what is now Ghana . Coastal peoples , such as the Fante and the inhabitants of Accra , who were chiefly Ga , came to rely on British protection against Ashanti incursions . The Ashanti impressively withstood the British in some of these wars but , in the end , the Ashanti Empire became a British protectorate . Earlier wars . The British were drawn into three earlier wars : 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 Akwapim captured a British fort at Tantamkweri and a Dutch fort at Apam . In the Ashanti - Akim - Akwapim War of 1814 – 16 the Ashanti defeated the Akim - Akwapim alliance . Local British , Dutch , and Danish authorities all had to come to terms with the Ashanti . In 1817 , the ( British ) African Company of Merchants signed a treaty of friendship that recognized Ashanti claims to sovereignty over much of the coast . First Anglo - Ashanti War . The First Anglo - Ashanti War was from 1823 to 1831 . In 1823 , Sir Charles MacCarthy , rejecting Ashanti claims to Fanti areas of the coast and resisting overtures by the Ashanti to negotiate , led an invading force from the Cape Coast . He was defeated and killed by the Ashanti , and the heads of MacCarthy and Ensign Wetherall were kept as trophies . At the Battle of Nsamankow , MacCarthy ' s troops ( who had not joined up with the other columns ) were overrun . Major Alexander Gordon Laing returned to Britain with news of their fate . The Ashanti swept down to the coast , but disease forced them back . The Ashanti were so successful in subsequent fighting that in 1826 , they again moved on the coast . At first they fought very impressively in an open battle against superior numbers of British allied forces , including Denkyira s . However , the novelty of British Congreve rockets caused the Ashanti army to withdraw . In 1831 , the Pra River was accepted as the border in a treaty , and there were thirty years of peace . Second Anglo - Ashanti War . The Second Anglo - Ashanti War was from 1863 to 1864 . With the exception of a few minor Ashanti skirmishes across the Pra in 1853 and 1854 , the peace between the Ashanti and the British Empire had remained unbroken for over 30 years . Then , in 1863 , a large Ashanti delegation crossed the river pursuing a fugitive , Kwesi Gyana . There was fighting , with casualties on both sides , but the governor ' s request for troops from England was declined and sickness forced the withdrawal of his troops . Third Anglo - Ashanti War . The Third Anglo - Ashanti War lasted from 1873 to 1874 . In 1869 , a German missionary family and a Swiss missionary had been taken to Kumasi . They were hospitably treated , but a ransom was required for them . In 1871 , Britain purchased the Dutch Gold Coast from the Dutch , including Elmina which was claimed by the Ashanti . The Ashanti invaded the new British protectorate . General Garnet Wolseley with 2 , 500 British troops and several thousand West Indian and African troops ( including some Fante ) was sent against the Ashanti , and subsequently became a household name in Britain . The war was covered by war correspondents , including Henry Morton Stanley and G . A . Henty . Military and medical instructions were printed for the troops . The British government refused appeals to interfere with British armaments manufacturers who sold to both sides . Wolseley went to the Gold Coast in 1873 and made his plans before the arrival of his troops in January 1874 . He fought the Battle of Amoaful on January 31 of that year , and , after five days ' fighting , ended with the Battle of Ordashu . The capital , Kumasi , was abandoned by the Ashanti and was briefly occupied by the British and burned . The British were impressed by the size of the palace and the scope of its contents , including " rows of books in many languages . " The Asantahene , the ruler of the Ashanti signed a harsh British treaty , the Treaty of Fomena in July 1874 , to end the war . Among articles of the treaty between H . M . Victoria , Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and H . M . Kofi Karikari , King of Ashanti were that " The King of Ashanti promises to pay the sum of 50 , 000 ounces of approved gold as indemnity for the expenses he has occasioned to Her Majesty the Queen of England by the late war . . . " The treaty also stated that " There shall be freedom of trade between Ashanti and Her Majesty ' s forts on the [ Gold ] Coast , all persons being at liberty to carry their merchandise from the Coast to Kumasi , or from that place to any of Her Majesty ' s possessions on the Coast . " Furthermore , the treaty stated that " The King of Ashanti guarantees that the road from Kumasi to the River Pra shall always be kept open . . . " Wolseley completed the campaign in two months , and re - embarked then for home before the unhealthy season began . There were 300 British casualties . Some British accounts pay tribute to the hard fighting of the Ashanti at Amoaful , particularly the tactical insight of their commander , Amanquatia : " The great Chief Amanquatia was among the killed [ . . . ] Admirable skill was shown in the position selected by Amanquatia , and the determination and generalship he displayed in the defence fully bore out his great reputation as an able tactician and gallant soldier . " The campaign is also notable for the first recorded instance of a traction engine being employed on active service . Steam sapper number 8 ( made by Aveling and Porter ) was shipped out and assembled at Cape Coast Castle . As a traction engine it had limited success but gave good service when employed as a stationary engine driving a large circular saw . Fourth Anglo - Ashanti War . The Fourth Anglo - Ashanti War was brief , lasting only from December 1895 to February 1896 . The Ashanti turned down an unofficial offer to become a British protectorate in 1891 , extending to 1894 . Wanting to keep French and German forces out of Ashanti territory ( and its gold ) , the British were anxious to conquer the Ashanti once and for all . The war started on the pretext of failure to pay the fines levied on the Ashanti monarch by the Treaty of Fomena after the 1874 war . Sir Francis Scott left Cape Coast with the main expeditionary force of British and West Indian troops in December 1895 , and arrived in Kumasi in January 1896 . The Asantehene directed the Ashanti not to resist , but casualties from sickness among the British troops were high . Among the dead was Queen Victoria ' s son - in - law , Prince Henry of Battenberg . Robert Baden - Powell led a native levy of several local tribes in the campaign . Soon , Governor William Maxwell arrived in Kumasi as well . Asantehene Agyeman Prempeh was arrested and deposed . He was forced to sign a treaty of protection , and with other Ashanti leaders was sent into exile in the Seychelles . War of the Golden Stool . In the War of the Golden Stool ( 1900 ) , the remaining Ashanti court not exiled to the Seychelles mounted an offensive against the British and Fanti troops resident at the Kumasi Fort , but were defeated . Yaa Asantewaa , the Queen - Mother of Ejisu and other Ashanti leaders were also sent to the Seychelles . The Ashanti territories became part of the Gold Coast colony on 1 January 1902 .