Charles MacCarthy (British Army officer)
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KCMG | |
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Personal details | |
Born | 15 February 1764 Cork, Kingdom of Ireland |
Died | 21 January 1824 Gold Coast | (aged 59)
Cause of death | Killed by Ashanti forces |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Rank | Governor |
Sir Charles MacCarthy,
MacCarthy was appointed in 1812 by the British as military governor of former French territories Senegal and Gorée, after Napoleon was defeated in Russia and retreated with high losses. When the Napoleonic Wars ended, the United Kingdom returned these colonies to France in the Treaty of Paris in 1814, and MacCarthy was appointed governor of Sierra Leone. He was killed by Ashanti forces in the battle of Nsamankow, with his skull used as a trophy of war.
Early and personal life
Charles Guérault was born in 1764 in
In 1812, MacCarthy at the age of 48 married Antoinette Carpot, a French woman, the year he was appointed as governor of two former French territories in Africa. They had one son, Charles. After the senior MacCarthy's death, his namesake son Charles was adopted by his uncle , the Comte de Mervé. The younger Charles MacCarthy succeeded to that title as a naturalised French citizen on his uncle's death.[1]
Military career
At the age of 21, in 1785, MacCarthy joined the
MacCarthy subsequently saw service in the Duc de Castries's Regiment of the émigré army, and when the Irish Brigade was reorganised in British pay in late 1794, he was appointed an ensign in the Regiment of Le Comte de Conway (the 6th Regiment of the Brigade). He served in the West Indies with the Regiment of Le Comte de Walsh-Serrant (the 2nd Regiment) from 1796 to 1798. Returning from Honduras on the transport HMS Calypso in June 1798 with the grenadier company of that regiment, MacCarthy was wounded whilst in a day-long action fighting off a French privateer. The Irish Brigade was disbanded as a whole in late 1798.
He received his first British commission on 17 October 1799, when he was appointed to command a company of the
West African governor
In 1812 MacCarthy was appointed the Governor of
As governor, MacCarthy took a strong interest in the welfare of the colony, actively encouraging the building of housing and schools for the settlers. He was a correspondent of
In 1818, MacCarthy signed a treaty with Mangé Demba, according to which the Îles de Los (off the coast of Guinea) were ceded to the British in exchange for an annual rent.[3]
MacCarthy was knighted on 21 November 1820, and on 19 July 1821 was promoted to the rank of
After the African Company of Merchants was abolished in 1821, for its failure to suppress the slave trade efficiently, Great Britain took on the Gold Coast as a crown colony. It was placed under the government of Sierra Leone, and MacCarthy became the governor of both. MacCarthy Island in the Gambia was named in his honour whilst governor.
Death during the Battle of Nsamankow
In late 1823, following the disagreements between the
On the night of the 20th, still without having joined forces with the other three groups, his force camped by a tributary of the Pra River. The next day, at around 2pm, they encountered a large enemy force of around 10,000 men; in the belief that the Ashanti army contained several disaffected groups whose chiefs were willing to defect, MacCarthy instructed the band to play the British National Anthem loudly. The Ashanti responded by approaching closer, beating war drums, and his beliefs were swiftly dispelled.
Fighting started shortly thereafter; the two sides were separated by a 60-foot-wide (18 m) stream, which the Ashanti made no major attempt to ford, both sides held their lines and kept up a continual musket fire. However, the British forces were lightly supplied; the bearers bringing the supplies up in the rear, which included most of the gunpowder and ammunition, mostly fled after hearing the firing in the distance and encountering deserters straggling back. Only one additional barrel of powder and one of shot were brought up, and ammunition ran out around 4pm; the Ashanti made a determined attempt to cross the river, and quickly broke into the camp.
Almost all the British force were killed immediately; only around 20 managed to escape. MacCarthy, along with the ensign and his secretary, attempted to fall back but was wounded by gunfire and killed by a second shot shortly thereafter. Ensign Wetherell was killed whilst trying to defend MacCarthy's body and Williams taken prisoner. On his return, he related that he had survived only by being recognised by an Ashanti chief for whom he had done a small favour, and was spared. Williams was held prisoner for several months, locked in a hut which he shared with the severed heads of MacCarthy and Wetherell, kept as trophies of war. McCarthy's gold-rimmed skull was later used as a drinking-cup by the Ashanti rulers. MacCarthy was succeeded as governor by military officer Charles Turner.[4]
See also
References
- ^ a b c O'Connell, Mary Ann Bianconi (1892). The Last Colonel of the Irish Brigade: Count O'Connell, and Old Irish Life at Home and Abroad, 1745–1833, Volume 2. London: K. Paul, Trench, Trübner & Company, Ltd. pp. 104, 129–132.
- JSTOR 44227812.
- ^ McLachlan, Peter (1821). Travels into the Baga and Soosoo Countries in 1821. Freetown, Sierra leone: J. Mitton and co.
- ^ Chichester, Henry Manners (1893). . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 34. London: Smith, Elder & Co.