May 9, 1863: Asante defeat the British at the Battle of Bobikuma

After the British government resumed responsibility for the administration of the coastal forts in 1843, relations with the Asante gradually deteriorated. In addition to assaults on Asante traders, the asantehen Kwaku Dua I believed that the British and their Fante allies no longer treated him with respect. When British Governor Richard Pine refused to return an Asante chief Kwaku Gyanin who had flouted Asante law by failing to surrender a gold nugget above a specified size to the king, fled south of the Pra with a few followers and a runaway slave. The asantehen, prepared for war. In April 1863 they invaded the coast and burned thirty villages. Pine responded by deploying six companies along the Pra River, the border between states allied with the British and the Asante. The deployed force built a network of stockades and a bridge, but it returned home without engaging the enemy after an early retreat which was utilized by the Asante General Owusu Koko who routed the British led forces at Bobikuma. He inexplicably retired to Akim Swedru. It is thought he did so because of the impending rains and the possibility of disease overwhelming his army. Had he proceeded to the coast, history would have taken a different twist.