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ABSTRACT
This paper examines the portrayal and reception of novel military technology as constructed spectacle in the popular coverage of the British Abyssinian (1868) and Ashanti (1873–74) expeditions. A series of cases are explored in which commanders attempted to frighten and subdue African allies and enemies through the mere presentation of technology, as are the interpretations and subsequent representations of African reactions which were made by British officers and journalists.
Acknowledgements
I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to Professor Jeremy Black and Dr Richard Noakes for their direction and enthusiasm.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. Callwell, Small Wars, 21.
2. Ibid., 150.
3. ‘The Ashantee War’, Lancet, 27 Sept. 1873, 458.
4. Henty, March to Coomassie, 428.
5. Stanley, Coomassie and Magdala.
6. Porch, Wars of Empire, 108; Curtin, Disease and Empire, 29.
7. Anon., Application of Photography, 236–37.
8. Kiernan, From Conquest to Collapse, 154; see also Kiernan, Colonial Empires and Armies 0.
9. Markham, A History of the Abyssinian Expedition, 315.
10. ‘End of the Abyssinian Expedition.’ Illustrated London News, 27 June1868, 622.
11. Ryan, Picturing Empire, 30.
12. Bowdich, Mission from Cape Coast Castle, 44, 97–98, 455–57; Adas, Machines as the Measure of Men, 160–61.
13. Ibid., 162.
14. Letter from Dr. Beke to Earl Russell, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, 19 May 1865, in Beke, British Captives in Abyssinia, 323.
15. Baker, The Albert N’yanza, 202; Cairns, Prelude to Imperialism, 46–47.
16. Baker, Journey to Abyssinia, 237–41.; Baker, Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia; Baker, Experience in Savage Warfare, 904–21.
17. ‘Correspondence relative to the cession by the Netherlands government to the British government of the Dutch settlements of the West Coast of Africa’, No. 3: Colonial Office to the Admiralty, 8 March 1871, CO 879/3, 163, The National Archives, Kew (hereafter TNA).
18. ‘Preparations for the Ashantee War’, The Times, 6 Oct. 1873, 7.
19. ‘The Secretary’ [Smythe], Moral or Morale?, 366.
20. Ibid.
21. Shepherd, The Campaign in Abyssinia, 110.
22. ‘A Staff-Officer’ [Tweedie], Letters from a Staff-Officer, 728.
23. ‘Durbar’ was an Anglo-Indian term denoting a meeting with a local leader or ‘native chief’. It implied fairly formal diplomatic negotiations with at least nominally friendly leaders. The Abyssinian equivalent could be translated as ‘conventicle’ or ‘convention’. It was natural for Anglo-Indians to use this term.
24. ‘A Staff Officer’ [Scott], Letters from Abyssinia, 30.
25. Ibid., 40.
26. Henty, The March to Magdala, 89.
27. Ibid., 233.
28. Markham, A History of the Abyssinian Expedition, 228.
29. Shepherd, The Campaign in Abyssinia, 109.
30. Henty, The March to Magdala, 258.
31. Markham, A History of the Abyssinian Expedition, 263.
32. Stanley, Coomassie and Magdala, 328.
33. Holland and Hozier, The Expedition to Abyssinia, 392.
34. Ibid., 415–16.
35. ‘A Staff Officer’ [Scott], Letters from Abyssinia, 53.
36. Henty, The March to Magdala, 148–49; Markham, A History of the Abyssinian Expedition, 153; Simpson, Diary of a Journey to Abyssinia, 133–35; ‘The Ashantee War’, Lancet, 6 Sept. 1873, 344.
37. Stanley, Coomassie and Magdala, 331.
38. Ibid., 331.
39. Blanc, A Narrative of Captivity, 396.
40. Holland and Hozier, The Expedition to Abyssinia, vol. 2, 45.
41. Acton, The Abyssinian Expedition, 68.
42. Shepherd, The Campaign in Abyssinia, 308–09.
43. Caulk, Firearms and Princely Power, 614; Headrick, Power over Peoples, 290.
44. Napier, Field-Marshal Lord Napier of Magdala, 200, 251.
45. ‘The Abyssinian Expedition’, Illustrated London News, 11 July 1868, 28.
46. ‘The Abyssinian Expedition: The Naval Rocket Brigade Firing Rockets at Senafe’, Illustrated London News, 11 July 1874; reprinted as, ‘Kassai Seeing the Practice of the Naval Rocket Brigade at Senafe’, in Acton, The Abyssinian Expedition, 72–73.
47. Markham, A History of the Abyssinian Expedition, 381.
48. Stanley, Coomassie and Magdala, 331.
49. Henty, The March to Magdala, 267–68.
50. Stanley, Coomassie and Magdala, 331.
51. ‘The Abyssinian Expedition’, Illustrated London News, 11 July 1868, 28; Simpson, Diary of a Journey to Abyssinia, 132.
52. Nowers, Steam Traction in the Royal Engineers, 8.
53. ‘The Ashantee War’, Lancet, 6 Sept. 1873, 344.
54. Buckle, Captain, ‘Journal of the Engineer Operations on the Gold Coast during the recent Expedition’, 31 Oct. 1873, WO 147/27, 14, TNA.
55. Wolseley to Louisa Wolseley, [3–]5 Nov. 1873, Govt. House C.C. Castle, Hove, Wolseley W/P 3/10. In Beckett, Wolseley and Ashanti, 203.
56. Henty, The March to Coomassie, 165.
57. Reade, Ashantee Campaign, 194.
58. Boyle, Through Fanteeland to Coomassie, 51.
59. Wolseley to Louisa Wolseley, [3–]5 Nov. 1873, Govt. House C.C. Castle, Hove, Wolseley W/P 3/10. In Beckett, Wolseley and Ashanti, 203.
60. Brackenbury, The Ashanti War, vol. 2, 39.
61. Buckle, Captain, ‘Journal of the Engineer Operations on the Gold Coast during the recent Expedition’, 1 Nov. 1873, WO 147/27, 15, TNA.
62. Butler, Akim-Foo, 79–80.
63. Henty, The March to Coomassie, 167.
64. Reade, Ashantee Campaign, 194.
65. Butler, Akim-Foo, 99.
66. Ibid., 156.
67. ‘Second Report of the Special Committee on Mitrailleurs, November, 1871’, War Office, 1872, WO 33/24, TNA.
68. ‘Précis of the Ashanti Expedition’, Intelligence Department, Horse Guards, War Office, 13 April 1874, WO 147/27, 6, TNA.
69. Rogers, The Gatling Gun, 20.
70. Ibid, 25–26.
71. Beckett, Wolseley and Ashanti, 303.
72. Boyle, Fanteeland to Coomassie, 99.
73. Rogers, Campaigning in Western Africa, 157.
74. Wolseley Journal, 4 Jan. 1874, WO 147/3, TNA. In Beckett, Wolseley and Ashanti, 325.
75. Wolseley, Story of a Soldier’s Life, vol. 2, 320.
76. Stanley, Coomassie and Magdala, 127–28.
77. Dooner, Jottings en Route, 40.
78. Luxmore, Ashantee, 521–22.
79. Henty, The March to Coomassie, 321.
80. Henty, By Sheer Pluck, 134.
81. Reade, Ashantee Campaign, 289.
82. ‘Daily News’ Special Correspondent’ [Maurice], The Ashantee War, 266; Brackenbury, The Ashanti War, vol. 2, 56.
83. The Spectator, 21 Feb. 1874, 9.
84. Stanley, Coomassie and Magdala, 148.
85. Army and Navy Journal, 7 March 1874.
86. ‘The Ashantee War’, Illustrated London News, 28 Feb. 1874, 194.
87. Wolseley Journal, 5 Jan. 1874, WO 147/3, TNA. In Beckett, Wolseley and Ashanti, 326.
88. Wolseley, Soldier's Life, vol. 2, 320.
89. Luxmore, Ashantee, 522.
90. Gilham, ‘With Wolseley in Ashanti’, 80.
91. ‘The March through the Bush’, The Times, 21 Feb. 1874, 10.
92. ‘A Blue Jacket's Campaign in Ashantee’, Daily News, 25 March 1874, 3.
93. Dooner, Jottings en Route, 40.
94. Low, Memoir of Lieutenant-General Sir Garnet J. Wolseley, vol. 2, 143.
95. Brackenbury, The Ashanti War, A Narrative, vol. 2, 44–45.
96. ‘The Artillery In Ashantee’, The Times, 13 March 1874, 5.
97. ‘The Ashantee War (From our own Correspondent)’, Lancet, 217.
98. ‘The Ashantee War’, Illustrated London News, 7 Feb. 1874, 119.
99. ‘The Ashantee War’, Illustrated London News, 14 Feb. 1874, 143.
100. Reade, Ashantee Campaign, 283.
101. Boyle, Through Fanteeland to Coomassie, 248–50.
102. Ibid., 274.
103. Ramseyer and Kuhne, Four Years in Ashantee, 262.
104. Stanley, Coomassie and Magdala, 147.
105. ‘Daily News’ Special Correspondent’ [Maurice], The Ashantee War, 248.
106. Henty, The March to Coomassie, 321–22.
107. ‘Papers Relating to the Ashanti Invasion (Gold Coast) &c’, Intelligence Department, Horse Guards, War Office, 8th January 1874, WO 147/27, 122, TNA.