ASHMUN—NECESSITY OF DEFENCE—FORTIFICATIONS—ASSAULTS—ARRIVAL OF MAJOR LAING—CONDITION OF THE COLONISTS—SLOOPS-OF-WAR “CYANE” AND “JOHN ADAMS”—KING BOATSWAIN AS A SLAVER—MISCONDUCT OF THE EMIGRANTS—DISINTERESTEDNESS OF ASHMUN—U. S. SCHOONER “PORPOISE”—CAPTAIN SKINNER—REV. R. R. GURLEY—PURCHASE OF TERRITORY ON THE ST. PAUL’S RIVER—ATTACK ON TRADE-TOWN—PIRACIES—U. S. SCHOONER “SHARK”—SLOOP-OF-WAR “ONTARIO”—DEATH OF ASHMUN—CHARACTER BY REV. DR. BACON.
The acting agent of the colony judiciously managed its affairs until the arrival of Mr. Ashmun and his wife, with thirty-seven emigrants, part of whom were recaptured slaves, who had been delivered over to the Colonization Society by the Marshal of Georgia, under the Act of Congress already noticed. Mr. Ashmun held the appointments of government and society’s agent. He took a comprehensive view of the colony. The entire population did not exceed one hundred and thirty, of whom thirty only were capable of bearing arms. The settlement had no adequate means of defence. He found no documents defining the limits of the purchased territory—explaining the state of the negotiations with the natives, or throwing light on the duties of the agency.
It was now perceived that means, as well as an organized system of defence were to be originated, while the materials and artificers for such purposes were wanting. One brass field-piece, five indifferent iron guns and a number of muskets, ill-supplied with ammunition, comprised all the means for defence. These were brought from the island and mounted, and such fortifications as the ability and resources of the agent could construct were erected. Public stores and more comfortable houses were also raised. The settlement, except on the side towards the river, was closely environed with the heavy forest. This gave an enemy an important advantage. The land around was, consequently, cleared up with all possible dispatch.
Mr. Ashmun experienced an attack of fever. On the following day his wife was seized, and soon afterwards died: she thus closed a life of exemplary faith and devotedness.
It has been observed, that the dread of provoking King Boatswain’s resentment, led the hostile kings to assume a show of friendship; but the disguise could not conceal their intentions. The chiefs attributed the departure of the agents to a want of spirit, and dread of their power. The arrival of Mr. Ashmun had delayed the execution of their purpose, of a general attack on the colony; but when the vessel sailed, early in October, which had brought out the agent and emigrants, a council of kings determined upon instant hostilities. King George had abandoned his town early in September, leaving the Cape in possession of the colonists. This had been regarded by the natives as the first step of colonial encroachments; if left alone for a few years, they would master the whole country. The natives refused, throughout the consultation, to receive any pacific proposals from the colony.
On the 7th of November, Mr. Ashmun, although still suffering from the effects of fever, examined and strengthened the defences. Picket guards were posted during the night, and every preparation made for a vigorous defence. On the 11th the attack was commenced by a force of eight hundred warriors. The picket, contrary to orders, had left their station in advance of the weakest point of defence; the native force, already in motion, followed close in the rear of the picket, and as soon as the latter had joined the detachment of ten men stationed at the gun, the enemy, presenting a front, opened their fire, and rushed forward to seize the post; several fell, and off went the others, leaving the gun undischarged. This threw the small reserve in the centre into confusion, and had the enemy followed up their advantage, victory was certain; but such was their avidity for plunder, that they fell upon the booty in the outskirts of the town. This disordered the main body. Mr. Ashmun, who was too ill to move at any distance, was thus enabled, by the assistance of one of the colonists, Rev. Lot Carey, to rally the broken forces of the settlers. The brass field-piece was now brought to bear, and being well served, did good execution. A few men, commanded by Elijah Johnson, passed round on the enemy’s flank, which increased their consternation, and soon after the front of the enemy began to recoil. The colonists now regained the post which had at first been seized, and instantly brought the long-nine to bear upon the mass of the enemy; eight hundred men were in a solid body, and every shot literally spent itself among them. A savage yell was raised by the enemy, and the colonists were victors.
In this assault the colonists (who numbered thirty-five) had fifteen killed and wounded. It is impossible to estimate the loss of the natives, which must have been very great. An earnest but ineffectual effort was made by the agent to form with the kings a treaty of peace.
Notwithstanding this disastrous result, the natives determined upon another attack. They collected auxiliaries from all the neighboring tribes who could be induced to join them. The colonists, on the other hand, under Ashmun, the agent, were busily engaged in fortifying themselves for the decisive battle, upon which the fate of the settlement was suspended. On the 2d of December the enemy attacked simultaneously the three sides of the fortifications. The colonists received them with that bravery and determination which the danger of total destruction in case of defeat was calculated to inspire. The main body of the enemy being exposed to a galling fire from the battery, both in front and flank, and the assault on the opposite side of the town having been repulsed, a general retreat immediately followed, and the colonists were again victorious.
Mr. Ashmun received three musket-balls through his clothes; three of the men stationed at one of the guns were dangerously wounded; and not three rounds of ammunition remained after the action. Had a third attack been made, the colony must have been conquered; or had the first attack occurred before the arrival of Mr. Ashmun, it would have been extirpated. But its foundations were now secured by a firm and lasting peace.
The British colonial schooner Prince Regent, with a prize crew in charge of Midshipman Gordon, R. N., opportunely arrived, with Major Laing, the African traveller, on board, by whose influence the kings, being tired of the war, signed a truce, agreeing to submit all their differences with the colony to the Governor of Sierra Leone. Midshipman Gordon and his crew volunteered to assist the colonists, and see that the truce was preserved inviolate. The Prince Regent furnished a liberal supply of ammunition. Four weeks after sailing, Midshipman Gordon and eight of his men had fallen victims to the malaria of this climate, so inimical to the constitution of white men.
At this period, 1823, the colonists were in a sad condition: their provisions were nearly consumed, trade exhausted, lands untilled, houses but partially covered; the rainy season was approaching, and the people, in many instances, had become indolent and improvident. Captain Spence, of the Cyane, arrived at the Cape, and proceeded to adopt efficient measures for the benefit of the colony. He fitted out the schooner Augusta, under the command of Lieutenant Dashiell, with orders to cruise near the settlement and render it aid. Dr. Dix, the surgeon of the Cyane, died of the fever. Upon her leaving the coast, Richard Seaton, the captain’s clerk, volunteered to remain as an assistant to Mr. Ashmun. In the course of two or three months he fell a victim to the fever, and his death was soon followed by that of Lieutenant Dashiell, of the Augusta. On the homeward-bound passage of the Cyane forty of the crew died from the effects of the African climate, superadded to those of the climate of the West Indies, where she had been cruising previously to proceeding to the African coast.
The slave-trade had received no effectual check. King Boatswain, although one of the best friends of the colony, partook in no degree of the views for which it had been established, and at this time committed an act of great atrocity, in making an attack at night upon an inoffensive tribe, murdering all the adults and infants, and seizing upon the boys and girls, in order to fulfil his engagements with a French slaver.
In the month of May, Dr. Ayres brought a reinforcement of sixty emigrants. He announced his appointment as the government and colonial agent. Mr. Ashmun was at the same time informed that a bill drawn by him to defray expenses for the necessities of the colony had been dishonored, and that the board of directors of the society had withdrawn from him all authority except as sub-agent. Very soon after this, Dr. Ayres was obliged on account of ill health again to leave for the United States. Had Mr. Ashmun acted under the impressions of indignation naturally flowing from such treatment, the colony would have been utterly extinguished. But he was of nobler spirit than to yield to any such motive, and therefore resolved to remain in this helpless and disorganized community, sending home at the same time to the board a proposal that he should receive from them less than one-third the sum which a man of ordinary diligence might in his position gain by traffic. This proposal he had made from the most honorable sense of duty, in order in fact that the people for whom he had done and suffered so much should not utterly perish. And yet he had the mortification to learn afterwards that the directors, influenced by slanderous reports to the detriment of his character, had refused to sanction this proposal.
At this period a number even of the principal colonists became disaffected, in consequence of the regulations of the board, requiring that any emigrant who received rations from the public store, should contribute two days’ labor in a week on the public works. About twelve of the colonists not only refused work and threw off all restraint, but exerted their influence to induce others to follow their example. Soon after this occurrence Mr. Ashmun published the following notice:
“There are in the colony more than a dozen healthy persons who will receive no more provisions out of the public store until they earn them.” On the 19th of December he directed the rations of the offending party to be stopped. This led to a riotous assembly at the agent’s house, which endeavored by denunciations to drive him from his purpose; but finding him inflexible, they then proceeded to the public store, where the commissary was issuing rations to the colonists, and each one seized a portion of the provisions and hastened to their homes.
The same day Mr. Ashmun directed a circular to the people, in which he strongly appealed to their patriotism and conscience. This measure induced the disaffected to return to their duty. The leader of the sedition acknowledged his error, and by his subsequent good conduct fully redeemed his character.
A faithful history of the colony would furnish, at intervals, a dark shady as well as a sunny side. The friends of the cause are prone to exaggerate its success, while its enemies regard the colored race, judging them in their condition when in contact with the whites, to be incapable of developing the mind and character, which, under their own independent government, is now manifested.
Early in February, 1824, a vessel arrived, after a short passage, with one hundred and five emigrants in good condition.
Mr. Ashmun had heard nothing from the board for some time after the departure of Dr. Ayres; and finding his health beginning to fail, and that his services had been received with calumny instead of approbation, he applied to be relieved from the service of the board. After making this application, he appointed Elijah Johnson to act as agent during his absence, and proceeded to the Cape Verde Islands in the hope of recruiting his health, and finding some government vessel at that place.
The navy department, on application by the society, ordered the U. S. schooner Porpoise, Lieutenant Commandant Skinner, with the Rev. R. R. Gurley, to proceed to the coast of Africa. These gentlemen were appointed by the government and society to examine into the affairs of the colony, and into the reports in circulation prejudicial to the agent. The Porpoise reached the Cape Verde Islands soon after Mr. Ashmun’s arrival there; and he returned with the commissioners to the colony. As the result of communications received by the board from the commissioners, Messrs. Skinner and Gurley, a resolution was passed, completely exonerating Mr. Ashmun from the calumnious charges which had been made against him, and expressing their cordial approbation of his conduct.
The commissioners, on the conclusion of their investigation, deeply impressed with the zeal and ability of Mr. Ashmun, left him in charge of the colony as formerly. But previously to the reception of the report of the commissioners, and of the resolution above noticed, that body had appointed Dr. John W. Peaco, already selected as the agent of the government, to be their agent also. On the 25th of April, after their acquittal of Mr. Ashmun, they modified this resolution by reappointing him colonial agent, requesting and authorizing Dr. Peaco to give assistance and support to Mr. Ashmun in the fulfilment of his duties, and to assume the charge of those duties, in case of “the absence, inability, or death of Mr. Ashmun.”
At the suggestion of the commissioners, a greater share in the government of the colony was conferred on the people. The general consequence of these proceedings was, that comparative tranquillity and energy prevailed.
Mr. Ashmun had made the important acquisition of the rich tract of land, afterwards the location of the settlement on the St. Paul’s River, extending twenty miles into the interior, and of unequalled fertility. The colony now seemed to be emerging from the difficulties which often had threatened its very existence. Four day-schools, in addition to the Sunday-schools, were in operation; two churches had been erected; a religious influence more generally pervaded the community; the acclimating fever was becoming less fatal; many of the colonists preferred the climate to that of the United States; they were living in comparative comfort. In addition to the rich tract of country lying on St. Paul’s River, the right of occupancy was obtained at Young Cesters and Grand Bassa. The adjoining tribes regarded the colonists so favorably as to desire to come partially under their jurisdiction; and sixty of their children were adopted as children of the colony. A Spanish slave-factory, near Monrovia, was destroyed, and the slaves recaptured and freed by the colonists.
At Tradetown, there were three slave-factories, guarded by two armed vessels, with crews of thirty men each, besides twenty men, mostly Spaniards, well armed, on shore. On the 9th of April, the Columbian man-of-war schooner “San Jacinto,” Captain Chase, arrived at Monrovia, and offered to co-operate with Mr. Ashmun and Dr. Peaco for the purpose of breaking up this slave establishment. The offer was accepted; and Mr. Ashmun, accompanied by Captain Cochran, of the “Indian Chief,” who gallantly volunteered his services, with two companies of the colonial militia, embarked in the San Jacinto for Tradetown. There they fortunately found the Columbian man-of-war-brig “El Vincendor,” Captain Cottrell, mounting twelve guns; which vessel had, the same afternoon, captured one of the slave-vessels, the brigantine Teresa. Captain Cottrell united his forces with the others.
On the following morning, while the vessels covered the landing, they pulled for the shore, through a passage of not more than five or six fathoms wide, lined on both sides with rocks, and across which, at times, the surf broke furiously, endangering the boats and the lives of the assailants. The boat in which were Mr. Ashmun and Captain Cottrell was capsized in the surf, and a number of men were thrown upon the rocks. Nothing daunted, although Mr. Ashmun was badly injured, they made a dash upon the enemy, which was met by a galling fire from the Spanish slavers. The colonists and their allies rapidly advanced upon the town, demolished their slight palisades, and before the enemy had time to rally behind their defences, forced them to retreat, in great confusion, into the jungle.
As soon as the colonists found themselves in quiet possession of the town, Mr. Ashmun demanded from King West the delivery of all the slaves belonging to the factories. The king was told that if this was not complied with, not a vestige of Tradetown should be left. On the same day the Kroomen of King West brought in thirty or forty slaves, evidently the refuse of those which they held.
The natives, notwithstanding, collected, and, in conjunction with the Spaniards, continued to rush out occasionally from the jungle and direct their fire upon the invaders. The surgeon of the San Jacinto was badly wounded, and several of the colonists slightly. A peaceable settlement was now impossible. On the 12th, after the recaptured slaves had been sent on board, the town was fired, and at three o’clock all were embarked. The explosion of two hundred kegs of powder consummated the destruction of Tradetown.
The annihilation of Tradetown and of the slave-factories was a severe blow to the traffic, which was felt as far south as the Bight of Benin. It convinced the slave-traders that their commerce was insecure, inasmuch as a powerful enemy to their crimes had gained a permanent establishment on the coast.
Here is developed an influence for the suppression of the most atrocious commerce which has ever existed. The writer, however, by no means concurs in opinion with the zealous friends of colonization, that the slave-trade can be suppressed on the entire coast of Africa by Liberia alone. Yet it is an established fact that within her jurisdiction of six hundred miles of sea-coast and thirty miles inland, it has been effectually extirpated.
At this period many piratical vessels, well armed, were hovering about the coast. A brig from Portland, and a schooner from Baltimore, were robbed of a large amount of specie, by a vessel mounting twelve guns, manned principally by Spaniards. Scarcely an American merchant vessel had, for a year or more, been on the coast as low down as 6° North, without suffering either insult or plunder from these vessels. Mr. Ashmun then erected a battery for the protection of vessels at anchor, while he represented to the Secretary of the Navy the necessity of the constant presence of a man-of-war on the African coast for the protection of legal commerce.
Five of the most important stations from Cape Mount to Tradetown, one hundred and fifty miles, now belonged to the colony by purchase or perpetual lease, and all Europeans were excluded, or attempted to be, from possessions within their limits. On the 18th of August, Dr. Peaco was compelled from ill health to return to the United States.
The native chiefs not unfrequently proposed to the colonists to aid them in their wars, promising as an inducement the whole of the enemy’s country. This was of course declined, on the ground that the colony was established for the benefit, and not for the destruction of their neighbors; and that their military means were sacred to the purpose of self-defence. The kings were now favorable to the colony, and began to appreciate the benefits of legal trade.
The U. S. schooner Shark, and the U. S. sloop-of-war Ontario, arrived on the coast during the year 1827, and besides affording aid to the colony, rendered good service towards the suppression of the slave-trade.
A reinforcement of emigrants was received; the school system reorganized and put in comparatively efficient condition, under the superintendence of the Rev. G. M’Gill, a colored teacher. The schools were all taught by colored people: the number of scholars amounted to two hundred and twenty-seven, of whom forty-five were natives. The native children belonged to the principal men in the adjoining country.
The Chief of Cape Mount, fifty-two miles N. E. from Cape Mesurado, entered into stipulations with the colonial government to establish a large factory for legal trade between it and the interior. The land north of the St. John’s River, about sixty miles southeast of Cape Mesurado, was ceded to the colonists. In this extent of territory there were eight eligible sites, upon which comfortable settlements have been founded. Four schooners were built. The colony was mainly supported by its own industry. The life of this industry was, however, rather in trade and commerce than in agriculture, the fact being overlooked that men ought to seek in the latter the sources of their prosperity. Liberia has suffered from the want of steady agricultural effort. Industry like that of our Puritan fathers in New England, would, with the Liberian soil and climate, have prevented the recurrence of difficulty, and produced uninterrupted abundance.
On leaving Liberia, the commander of the “Ontario” permitted eight of his crew, colored men, to remain, furnishing them with a valuable collection of seeds, obtained in the Mediterranean and up the Archipelago. On his arrival in the United States, the captain bore testimony to the encouraging prospects of the colony, and its salutary influence over the native tribes.
Mr. Ashmun’s health failing from excessive labors in the administration of the government, he was seized in July, 1828, with a violent fever, and having been advised by his surgeon that a return to the United States afforded the only hope of his recovery, he left Africa on the twenty-fifth of March, 1828, and reached New Haven, where he died on the twenty-fifth of August. Of Ashmun it may be said, that he united the qualities of a hero and statesman. He found the colony on the brink of extinction: he left it in peace and prosperity. He trained a people who were unorganized and disunited, to habits of discipline and self-reliance; and to crown his character, when death approached, he met it with that unshaken hope of a blissful immortality, which the true Christian alone can experience.
The remains of this honored martyr to the cause of African colonization repose in the cemetery at New Haven. At his funeral the Rev. Dr. Bacon, preaching a sermon from the text, “To what purpose is this waste,” said:
“Who asks to what purpose is this waste? He is not dead to usefulness. His works still live. The light which he has kindled shall yet cheer nations unborn. His influence shall never die. What parent would exchange the memory of such a departed son, for the embrace of any living one! I would that we could stand together on the promontory of Cape Mesurado, and see what has been accomplished by those toils and exposures, which have cost this man his life. Years and ages hence, when the African mother shall be able to sit with her children under the shade of her native palm, without trembling in fear of the man-stealer and murderer, she will speak his name with thankfulness to God.”