Battle of Nsamankow: Ashanti defeat British forces under MacCarthy

Background. Tensions escalated after the 1817 treaty, where Ashanti claims to sovereignty over the coast remained disputed. The immediate spark was the kidnapping and beheading of Sergeant Kujo Otetfo in February 1823. MacCarthy, resisting negotiations, declared war in late 1823 following disagreements between Fante and Ashanti groups, leading to an expedition from Cape Coast.

The Battle. MacCarthy led two columns from Cape Coast. The first column, containing RACC troops, militiamen, and Fante warriors, lost contact with the second before encountering the main Ashanti army on 22 January 1824. The British force was defeated, and MacCarthy was killed. Ashanti forces took his head as a trophy and swept toward the coast, though disease later forced them back.

Aftermath. The Ashanti victory was significant, with MacCarthy's skull kept as a gold-rimmed drinking cup. Ashanti forces moved on the coast again in 1826, and in subsequent fighting they faced superior numbers of British allied forces, including Denkyirans, until the novelty of British rockets caused the Ashanti army to flee. The supplied passages do not state that this flight ended the First Anglo-Ashanti War, and a legacy row's 7 August 1824 Kumasi date for the war's end is unsupported.