A Small Series of Medals for the Ashantee Campaign (1873-74)

Six: Colonel A. M. Harington, Egyptian Army and Gendarmerie, late Rifle Brigade, who fought with distinction at the capture of Ordahsu in February 1874 and who captured an Ashantee Prince at Coomassie who was carrying a bag of gold dust valued at £500

Ashantee 1873-74, 1 clasp, Coomassie (Lt., 2nd Bn. Rifle Bde., 1873-4); Egypt and Sudan 1882-89, undated reverse, 1 clasp, Suakin 1884 (Lt. Col., Egyptn. Army); Turkish Order of Osmanieh, 3rd class neck badge, silver, silver-gilt and enamel; Turkish Order of the Medjidie, 3rd class neck badge, silver, gold and enamel centre; Khedive’s Star 1884; French Colonial Medal of Honour for Port Said Rescue Services, 1887, bronze anchor design with circular centre, the obverse of the latter bearing a central gilt scarab on blue enamel, and the reverse a central gilt inscription on blue enamel, ‘Pompiers, Hospitaliers, Sauveteurs de Port Said’, and ‘Tout Pour L’Honneur, 1887’ on white enamel around, crescent suspension enamel work slightly chipped in places, contact marks and edge bruising, generally very fine or better (6) £800-1200

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Small Series of Medals for the Ashantee Campaign (1873-74).

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Arthur Montgomery Harrington, who entered the Rifle Brigade as an Ensign by purchase in February 1867, had risen to the rank of Lieutenant by the time of his participation in the second phase of the Ashantee War in 1874. As a young officer in the 2nd Battalion he fought at Amoaful, Ordahsu and Coomassie, although it was as escort to an artillery piece at Ordahsu that he particularly distinguished himself, an incident recalled in detail by one regimental source:

‘On the road [before Ordahsu], Lieutenant Harington, with a section of Lieutenant Scott’s company, remained in charge of the gun. It was fired frequently up the road, and then swept the bush on the right and left front. The riflemen lay down by it. The Houssas behaved splendidly, advancing the gun on their shoulders, and bringing it forward into action, as the advance was gained, in a magnificent manner.

It was about this time that Lieutenant Eyre, when standing up conversing with Lieutenant Harington, received his mortal wound, a whole charge of slugs entering his side. The shot was fired very near. Lieutenant Harington, seizing a rifle, fired several times into the bushes from which the shot came. A Houssa was soon after shot. Of the ten Houssas with the gun, seven were hit ...’

The same source continues:

‘The clearing in which stood the village [Ordahsu] now opened to view, and Major Stephens and Lieutenant Scott rushed forward towards it, closely followed by Colour-Sergeant Carroll, Staff-Sergeant Heynau, and the section. Lieutenant Harington, with the three other sections, swept round the outskirts of the village, and having thus outflanked the Ashantees in the village, rushed in, he repeatedly firing his revolver into the enemy in front of him. There were some fifty or sixty Ashantees in the village, including several chiefs, of whom many bravely met their death there. They made a bold stand, some chiefs coolly placing their umbrellas towards the direction from which bullets were coming ... The enemy made a determined resistance, and even some signs of an inclination to advance. Never since their defeat at Elmina did they show such courage in the open. Lieutenant Sackville, in the course of the melee, caught a rifle from one of Lieutenant Harington’s men, and with it shot one of the Ashantees, who at length gave ground, Lieutenant Harington’s men advancing, whilst Lieutenant Sackville with his worked round, and entirely cleared out the right flank of the village. The gun was now brought up through the village in the road near Major Stephens, and the section with him, and a heavy fire with rockets and shell was kept up against the enemy, who availed themselves of the strong natural positions offered by the forest ... a terrific discharge of shells, rockets and bullets was kept up at them, the soft wood roots being rent and pierced in several places, and many of the gallant little garrison of this natural fortlet were slain ...’

At length Ordashu was secured, and the forward companies of the the Rifle Brigade next moved rapidly against Coomassie itself, Sir Garnet Wolesley at their head. In the event, the capital fell without much resistance, but Harington’s work was not yet complete, for on 5 February 1874, he found himself placed in charge of the guard allocated to the palace, where, that afternoon, ‘an important capture of a chief trying to bear away a bag of gold nuggets and jewels was made’. Harington’s prisoner, who was also on the hunt for guns and powder, actually transpired to be a prince with attitude, or certainly according to Frederick Poole’s Fanteeland to Coomassie:

‘At leaving Agimmanu, three prisoners were released, gently but literally kicked back towards the capital. Three more, of greater importance, the Navals carry with them. One of them is a prince, whom we call Bosomnogo, the most courteous and charming of savages. Tied to him is a captain, Cocoforo, with the “c” strongly aspirated. Both of them were captured [by Harington] in the act of removing guns and powder from the palace, after bringing to the General a message from the King. The prince has an excellent face, very good-looking and intelligent. There is something quite high-bred about his manner, but the Ashantees especially pride themselves upon their courtesy. When taken, he wore a bracelet of strung nuggets, sandals heavily plated with gold, and in his hand a bag of dust worth nearly £500; so at least, he complained to Monsieur Bonnat. Both he and the captain were dressed in clothes of native manufacture, strikingly clean, and arranged like an ancient toga. They were white, handsomely marked with a blue pattern. The prince showed himself particularly indignant at the manner in which he was carried down. “Here am I,” said he to Monsieur Bonnat, “a prince of the Ashantee, tied like a slave to one of my captains. That third man is only a warrior! It is infamous!” Monsieur Bonnat reminded him that the Ashantees had kept their prisoners, whites and one a woman, seven weeks in irons, without any cause at all. But an Ashantee prince could see no parallel ...’

Amazingly, Harington’s significant contribution to the success of the campaign, whether on the battlefield or in securing important enemy personages, remained unrecognized, the Company Commanders of the Rifles being the ones who attracted a ‘mention’ or promotion. For his own part, Harington was not advanced to Captain until February 1879, and he retired with a gratuity two years later.

In 1882, however, he gained an appointment in the Egyptian Service, and by 1884 he was serving as a Colonel in the Egyptian Gendarmerie. In the same year he was attached to Sir Gerald Graham’s expedition to the Sudan, and participated in the Suakin operations. Harington, who remained on the Reserve of Officers until 1892, died in December 1909.

Sold with a rebound copy of Frederick Poole’s Fanteeland to Coomassie (London, 1874), the title page inscribed in ink ‘Arthur Harington, Rifle Brigade’, and the content in places annotated in pencil in his own hand, sometimes with contentious statements - among them, Harington writes on the capture of Coomassie, ‘The road had been cleared by the Rifle Bde. but Colonel M’Leod’s jealousy prevented them having the honour of their doings & the 42nd were sent in instead. Col. McLeod explained this by a deliberate lie to Sir Garnet’; also included is a portrait photograph of Harington taken from an old magazine.