The unique Ashanti 1896 C.M.G., Dawkita 1897 D.S.O. group of six awarded to Commander F. B....

The unique Ashanti 1896 C.M.G., Dawkita 1897 D.S.O. group of six awarded to Commander F. B. Henderson, Royal Navy - the remarkable defence of Dawkita, over four days and nights, with 40-odd men pitched against an army of Sofas 7000 strong, stands out as one of the great epics of Empire, so too Henderson’s extraordinary bravery in giving himself up to the enemy to parley for the freedom of his men; he refused to kneel before the Samory and his elders, even having been shown the head of his most trusted officer The Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, C.M.G., neck badge, silver-gilt and enamels; Distinguished Service Order, V.R., silver-gilt and enamels, with integral top riband bar; East and West Africa 1887-1900, 2 clasps, Dawkita 1897, 1897-98 (Lieut. F. B. Henderson. R.N.) second clasp loose on ribbon; Ashanti Star 1896; British War Medal 1914-20 (Commr. F. B. Henderson. R.N.); Coronation 1911, enamel work slightly chipped in places, generally very fine and better (6) £30,000-£40,000 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- Provenance: Richard Magor Collection, Dix Noonan Webb, July 2003. C.M.G. London Gazette 26 June 1902. D.S.O. London Gazette 8 March 1898: ‘In recognition of services in conducting operations against the Sofas in 1897.’ Francis Barkley Henderson was born in Ely, Cambridgeshire on 8 July 1859, fourth son of the Rev. J. H. Henderson and Anne, daughter of Rear-Admiral H. G. Morris, R.N. Educated at Britannia, he was appointed a Midshipman in October 1874 and, four years later, on promotion to Sub. Lieutenant, he joined H.M.S. Bacchante, sailing in her during her world cruise with the Dukes of York and Clarence as fellow Midshipmen. And on passing for Lieutenant in June 1882, he was awarded the Goodenough Medal for the best examination in gunnery. But in July 1884, his promising career seemingly came to a halt, when he was invalided from the active list. In the following year, however, he took up appointment as Private Secretary and A.D.C. to Sir W. E. Maxwell, K.C.M.G., Governor of the Gold Coast Colony, and accompanied him to Kumassi during the Ashanti Expedition of 1896, experience that no doubt assisted him in gaining appointment as a Travelling Commissioner in the Colony for the next six years. And it was during the course of this appointment that he commanded the small force allocated to the Defence of Dawkita in 1897. Not enough, perhaps, has been written of this gallant little affair, but in his Africa General Service Medals, Richard Magor provides a full and entertaining account of proceedings. As the author successfully illustrates, Henderson’s feat is wholly worthy of comparison to other 19th century epics, Rorke’s Drift among them. For reasons discussed at length by Magor, including aggressive behaviour towards Europeans and friendly tribesmen, Henderson raised the Union Flag at Dawkita in the full knowledge that his actions might be met with severe local opposition. Apart from anything else, the Sofas were said to be starving and his occupation of Dawkita effectively blocked their way to forage for food. He also took the trouble to warn the appropriate Chiefs that if they continued to molest his people, their actions would be considered as hostile ones This, of course, was like a red rag to a bull, and within a short period of time, the Sofas were on the warpath to Henderson’s little three-compound settlement. Henderson takes up the story in his subsequent despatch: ‘The Sofa army appeared over the hill in front of the town, massed in a huge square, numbering, as far as we could estimate, about 7000 men. Their mounted men, of whom they had about 400, tried to pass to the rear of the town on our left, but were driven back by some Lobis, and then, passing along the river bank, occupied the water-hole distant about 350 yards from our front. The Bonas, who were to have held this, made no resistance. I felt very much the want of this water-hole, want of water being one of the chief causes of my having, eventually, to retire. At 4.30 p.m. their riflemen (numbering over 1000) opened a heavy fire on us from the cover of the bush. They showed some skill in skirmishing and their fire was well directed, though high. I had been informed on good authority that they were very short of ammunition, but this want had evidently been supplied from some source, as they were able to keep up an almost un-intermittent fire through that night, the next day and the best part of the next night, and at intervals heavily for the rest of the four days. At night I only replied to their fire by an occasional volley, when they came to the edge of their cover.’ Such were the odds faced by the gallant defenders of Dawkita, a tiny force of arms comprising an African surveyor, Mr. George E. Ferguson, a native Police Officer and 41 Constables of the Gold Coast Constabulary, all of whom, under their gallant commander, found themselves pitched against the full might of several thousand Sofas, an army which they engaged and held off for four days and nights. Amazingly, given that they were outnumbered by 160-1, the defenders suffered just two men killed and eight wounded, while the Sofas are believed to have lost at least 400 warriors. It had been at dusk on the fourth day of the defence that Henderson had decided to evacuate Dawkita and retire to Wa, where reinforcements were expected, and after marching through the night, he duly met up with Captain Cramer, who had 50 men, two guns and some rocket launchers. Henderson later reported in his despatch that he regretted having to leave the Government’s tent behind, which had been used as an awning in the defence and was ‘riddled with bullets’, but was pleased to report that the Union Flag, which ‘had been flying since my occupation of the place’, was saved. He also made light of what had clearly been a terrifying 40-mile dash for Wa. Inevitably, however, this bid for freedom proved in vain, for the agitated Sofas hot-footed it to Wa, encircled Henderson’s barely increased force and recommenced hostilities. Painfully aware that their position was now hopeless, and in a desperate attempt to save his men, Henderson put his life on the line by suggesting he parley with the enemy Prince, whom he knew to be both ‘treacherous and cruel.’ His despatch continues: ‘I then laid this proposition before the other officers, who at first opposed the plan on the grounds of the risk I should incur, Ferguson especially saying that I should be uselessly courting death in some unpleasant form. In the end they concurred and a letter was written to the Prince stating that we had not come here to fight his people and could not understand why he had followed me here ... ’ Of subsequent developments, Magor states: ‘The next morning a Chief came to the British to enter into further discussion, and for reasons unknown, other than Henderson’s extreme gallantry, it was decided that he would indeed have to accompany the Chief back to his Prince for a face to face encounter of the terrifying kind. Given the near suicidal nature of this undertaking, it was decided that if Henderson was detained by the Prince, his men were to evacuate Wa as soon as possible. Henderson found the Prince surrounded by all his Chiefs and young courtiers and behind them about 1000 riflemen. The palaver commenced and after the usual preliminaries Henderson said he had not come to fight the Sofas but to prevent the French from occupying the country. He confirmed that he wished to march to Daboya en route for Kumassi. Just a...