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.