in Coomassie,[22] that all the white men had been killed in the late action, and demanding to be informed, what he, the Commander, and all his young men were about, that they had not taken the Castle.—­“Stop!”—­was the naive reply of the General to the messenger—­“Stop till Friday, when the white men are going to attack us:  then you can carry back to the King the news of what you see, and of what the young men have to do.”  Friday came in due course, and the army of the Ashantees went forward to redeem the pledge of their exulting General.  This was the battle of Affatoo, which took place on the 21st of May, 1824.  The result was disastrous to the cause of the King.  The natives were completely routed and driven from the scene of action, without the loss of a single officer on our side, and with but one wounded (Capt.  Hutchison), who commanded the Annamaboe militia, and who was shot through both arms, while he was leading his men to the charge.

The Anglo-Fantee army, immediately after the battle of Affatoo, fell back on Cape Coast Castle, as had been previously arranged by Colonel Sutherland, who had arrived from Sierra Leone just before the battle.  This movement of that portion of our troops, enabled Major Chisholm, who possessed the entire confidence of all the soldiers, to take the command in the field.  The King of Ashantee, now joined the army, which he headed in person, and concentrating all his forces, he advanced towards Cape Coast Castle with the intention of blockading the town.  On the 10th of June, 1824, he pitched his gorgeous pavilion,[23] sparkling with its rich colours and costly embroidery in the effulgent sunlight, on a height to the northward of the town; in the valley between which and the back of the town lay the ground where the important issue was to be contested.

For a whole month the belligerent parties lay in sight of each other, mutually watching their opportunities to attempt a decisive movement.  Several skirmishes took place from day to day, but without making much impression on either side; and during this interval of suspense, in which our troops were exposed to the rays of a vertical sun, and in continual expectation of a hidden and treacherous attack from a barbarous horde, greatly superior in numbers, and with whom “revenge is virtue,” ascending volumes of smoke wreathing up into the air, and blackening the bright expanse of heaven, marked the terrific conflagrations that were constantly taking place in the surrounding country.

At length the eventful day arrived on the 11th of July, 1824.  In order to understand the peculiar perils which our army had to encounter, it is necessary to observe that Cape Coast Castle stands near the sea, and that the town is built on the west side of it, at a short distance from the beach.  Upon three conical hills that arise close to the back of the town, and run nearly parallel with the coast, our troops were stationed.  The right hill was occupied by