Lieutenant Wauchope's share in this expedition was highly creditable to his bravery and military skill. Accompanying Sir Garnet Wolseley at an early stage of the struggle, as one of the staff, he resigned his adjutantship of the Black Watch, and was afterwards fortunate in obtaining special employment as a commander of one of the native regiments formed at Cape Coast Castle, namely, Russell's regiment of Haussas, the Winnebah Company. To form such crude material into a well-disciplined body of soldiers seemed at first a well-nigh hopeless undertaking. Their fear made cowards of them all. The very sight of a gun terrified them, and for long they held their arms in such superstitious dread, that they would hang them up in the trees and actually worship them. But Wauchope's admirable drilling qualifications stood him in good stead. He took, we are told, a great pride in the training of his 'black boys,' as he called them, and infused into them much of his own daring spirit. This appointment separated him for a time from his own regiment, but on {42} the Black Watch arriving afterwards at the Gold Coast, he had frequent opportunities of fighting by their side. In the advanced guard, the 42d Regiment and Russell's Haussas, under Colonel M'Leod, having crossed the Adansi hills, reached Prah-su on the 30th January, and occupied a position about two miles from the Ashanti main position at Amoaful. Surmounting innumerable difficulties, and carrying all before them, the Highlanders by their dash and intrepidity were a splendid example to those led by Wauchope, who sometimes had difficulty in inspiring his men with courage enough to face their much-dreaded enemy. In scouting and clearing the ground his men were, however, invaluable, and if we consider the dense undergrowth that covered the country traversed, this was a work of great importance. By one traveller we are told 'the country hereabout (at Amoaful) is one dense mass of brush, penetrated by a few narrow lanes, where the ground, hollowed by rains, is so uneven and steep at the sides as to give scanty footing. A passenger between the two walls of foliage may wander for hours before he finds that he has mistaken the path. To cross the country from one narrow clearing to another, axes and knives must be used at every step. There is no looking over the hedge in this oppressive and bewildering maze.' It was in such a position as this that the battle of Amoaful was fought. The enemy's army was never seen in open order, but its numbers are reported by Ashantis to have been from fifteen to twenty thousand. After a stubborn day's fight in the entanglement of the forest, the Ashantis were finally defeated with great loss. [Sidenote: Attack on Kumasi]