Charles MacCarthy (British Army officer)

Sir Charles MacCarthy
Born	Charles Guérault Template:Birth date County Cork, Ireland
Died	January 21, 1824(1824-01-21) (aged 59) Near the Pra River, Gold Coast (present-day Ghana)
Other names	Charles Guérault
Occupation(s)	Military officer, colonial governor
Years active	1785–1824
Known for	Governor of Senegal, Gorée, Sierra Leone, and the Gold Coast; killed at the Battle of Nsamankow

Sir Charles MacCarthy, KCMG (originally named Charles Guérault; 15 February 1764 – 21 January 1824), was an Irish military officer of mixed French and Irish heritage who served as British military governor in West African territories, including Sierra Leone. His family sustained connections with France through the Irish Brigade. MacCarthy's military service spanned royal French forces under émigré leadership, as well as both Dutch and British armies.

In 1812, following Napoleon’s failed Russian campaign, the British appointed him governor of former French colonies Senegal and Gorée. After the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars, these colonies were returned to France under the terms of the Treaty of Paris, and MacCarthy was subsequently assigned as governor of Sierra Leone. He died in combat against Ashanti warriors during the battle of Nsamankow, with his skull taken as a symbol of victory.

Early and personal life

Born in 1764 in County Cork, Ireland, Charles Guérault was the son of Jean Gabriel Guérault, a French émigré and former Procureur de Roi, and Yvette Parra (MacCarthy), his Irish mother. Early in life, Charles adopted his mother’s surname, MacCarthy, following advice from his uncle Thaddeus MacCarthy, a colonel serving in the Life Guards of Louis XV. This name change served to distance him from his émigré father amid the turmoil of the French Revolution. Thaddeus later held a captaincy in the 9th Regiment of Foot.

At age 48 in 1812, coinciding with his appointment as governor over two ex-French African territories, MacCarthy married Antoinette Carpot, a French national. The couple had one son named Charles. After Sir Charles MacCarthy’s death, his son was taken in by his uncle, the Comte de Mervé, eventually inheriting that title and becoming a naturalised French citizen upon his uncle’s demise.

Military career

MacCarthy began his military career at 21 years old in 1785 by joining the French army’s Irish Brigade as a sub-lieutenant within the Régiment de Berwick. By 1791, he had risen to captain while serving with émigré royalist forces under Louis Joseph de Bourbon, prince de Condé in Germany. Between 1793 and 1794, he volunteered with the Dutch Republic’s army in the Damas' Regiment, where he sustained a leg injury near Louvain.

Subsequently, he served with the émigré army's Duc de Castries's Regiment. When the Irish Brigade was reorganized under British sponsorship in late 1794, he was commissioned as ensign in the Regiment of Le Comte de Conway. From 1796 until 1798, he was deployed to the West Indies with the Regiment of Le Comte de Walsh-Serrant. Returning from Honduras in June 1798 aboard , MacCarthy received wounds while repelling an attack by a French privateer. The Irish Brigade was disbanded later that same year.

His initial British military commission was granted on 17 October 1799 as a company commander within the 11th West India Regiment, followed by promotion to captain in the 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot on 15 March 1800. Elevated to major on 14 April 1804 in the New Brunswick Fencible Infantry (later known as the 104th Foot), he served there until 1811 before receiving a lieutenant-colonelcy in the Royal African Corps.

Governor in West Africa

In 1812, MacCarthy received the appointment as Governor of Senegal and Gorée, territories that the British had taken control of following Napoleon's failed Russian campaign. When these lands were restored to France under the Treaty of Paris, MacCarthy was reassigned as Governor of Sierra Leone in 1814. This West African colony was established by Britain to resettle Black Loyalists from North America and London after the American Revolutionary War, along with Jamaican maroons and freed slaves rescued from illegal slave ships.

During his governorship, MacCarthy focused heavily on the colony’s advancement, advocating for improved housing and educational facilities for settlers. In correspondence with William Wilberforce, he established communities for freed slaves and promoted schooling for indigenous children who had been captured by slave traders, with education often provided by institutions affiliated with the Church Missionary Society. He was a fervent advocate for the total eradication of the slave trade. Although Britain and the United States had abolished it, nations like Portugal and Spain persisted in supporting the trade through vessels registered under flags of countries that had not yet outlawed slavery.

In 1818, MacCarthy concluded a treaty with Mangé Demba that transferred control of the Îles de Los (off the coast of Guinea) to the British in exchange for an annual payment.

MacCarthy was honored with a knighthood on 21 November 1820 and elevated to colonel with a temporary brigadier-general rank in West Africa on 19 July 1821.

After the dissolution of the African Company of Merchants in 1821 due to its ineffectiveness in ending the slave trade, Britain designated the Gold Coast as a crown colony governed under Sierra Leone’s jurisdiction, appointing MacCarthy as governor over both territories. The island named MacCarthy Island in the Gambia commemorates his legacy.

Fatality at the Battle of Nsamankow

Toward the end of 1823, amidst hostilities between the Fante and the Ashanti, MacCarthy declared war against the Ashanti monarch. After fortifying defenses at Cape Coast, he led a contingent made up of roughly 80 soldiers from the Royal African Colonial Corps (RACC), 170 Cape Coast Militia members, and 240 Fanti warriors. Additional forces comprised three separate units totaling thousands of regular troops, militia, and local levies planned to converge to deliver overwhelming strength.

On 20 January, prior to linking up with these reinforcements, MacCarthy’s column encamped near a tributary of the Pra River. The following day they faced an estimated force of about 10,000 Ashanti warriors. Misinterpreting their intentions, MacCarthy instructed his men to loudly perform the British National Anthem; however, this was met with Ashanti war drums, quashing any hopes that some might defect.

Combat ensued across a stream where both sides exchanged musket volleys. British supply carriers fled upon hearing battle noises, resulting in dwindling ammunition that ran out around 4 pm. This allowed Ashanti forces to cross and overwhelm the camp.

Nearly all British soldiers were killed; only around twenty managed to escape. MacCarthy sustained injuries and was killed shortly afterward while attempting to withdraw. Ensign Wetherell died defending MacCarthy’s body; colonial secretary J. T. Williams was captured and held prisoner for several months alongside severed heads kept as trophies. It is said that Ashanti leaders used MacCarthy’s gold-rimmed skull as a drinking vessel. His successor as governor was military officer Charles Turner.

See also

• British West Africa
• British Empire
• Scramble for Africa