The March to Coomassie

The March to Coomassie is an account of G. A. Henty’s personal experiences and recordings of the Ashanti Campaign in Ghana, Africa, in 1873 and 1874. During the campaign, he served as Special Correspondent to the Standard newspaper, traveling with the British expedition under Sir Garnet Wolseley. His reports begin abroad the Ambriz, sailing from England to Cape Coast with the officers. He details the coastal landing, camp life, the native cultures and terrain, the hazards the military faced and the push to the Ashanti’s city stronghold of Coomassie. He concludes with an intriguing analysis and evaluation of the actions and decisions made during the war. Henty states that his “object has been less to give a scientific account of the expedition than to bring the scenes which we witnessed and the country we passed through as vividly before my readers as it was in my power to do.” This account provides great detail, but moves with enough action and storyline to easily keep readers engaged; and admirers of Henty’s fictional books will enjoy reading from his personal memoirs.