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equipped with overwhelming fire power engaged Kosoko in a battle lasting three days. Kosoko put up a stiff resistance, but the Royal Navy's superior firepower won the day. Kosoko and his leading chiefs fled Lagos for Epe on
December 28, 1851. According to Samuel Davies, a Saro and younger brother of
363:
Oba Kosoko ousted Oba
Akitoye from the throne of Lagos in 1845 and forced him into exile. Akitoye recognized the need for British military alliance (and the requirement to give up the slave trade) as a necessary condition for taking back the throne. In December 1850, Akitoye appealed for British aid
372:
British missionaries sought the outright abolition of the slave trade and its replacement by legitimate commerce, and they wanted to carry out their evangelical work without risk or hindrance. Similarly many of the liberated Saros (many of whom were
Christians) by this time present in Lagos and
294:
The treaty required the native ruling elite of Lagos to abolish the
Atlantic slave trade, liberate enslaved Africans, expel European slave traders residing in Lagos, and to allow British subjects to have trade access to Lagos. However, illegal slave-trading activities persisted until the
404:
On
November 20, 1851, a British party consisting of Consul Beecroft, Commander Wilmot, Commander Gardner, and Lieutenant Patey arrived at the Oba Kosoko's palace in an attempt to seek a British/Lagos friendship dependent on Kosoko's renunciation of the slave trade. Kosoko, through
409:, rejected the friendship offer and the British delegation departed the Oba's palace. Beecroft then wrote to the senior officer of the Bights division, Commander Forbes, that it was time for the British Royal Navy to expel Kosoko and install Akitoye, the "rightful heir".
267:
with the impetus for military action against Kosoko. These interests included
British desires to replace the slave trade with an alternative "legitimate" trade, British missionary interest in spreading Christianity, and fears that some Lagos residents, known as the
396:. Bishop Crowther argued that if Lagos were placed under Akitoye and allied with Britain, British commercial interests would be guaranteed and the slave trade could be suppressed. The Admiralty and Palmerston commissioned Beecroft to make an assessment.
425:
The first attack on
November 25, 1851, was hastily organized and led by Commander Forbes, who underestimated Kosoko's defenses of about 5,000 men armed with muskets. Forbes' attack party consisted of 306 officers, men, marines and sailors aboard HMS
494:
Akitoye was taken ashore on
December 29 to assess the bombarded town. He accepted the loyalty of the chiefs and was installed as Oba of Lagos. On December 30, the Royal Navy dismantled all of Kosoko's batteries and dumped 46 of his war guns at sea.
507:
was signed on
January 1, 1852. The Treaty abolished the slave trade and human sacrifice, commencing the Consular period in Lagos history. This set the stage for Britain's annexation of Lagos a decade later in
434:
sustained heavy cannon fire from the shore, a landing party went ashore but met stiff resistance. By nightfall, the
British had sustained two dead and ten injuries; Commander Forbes ordered a retreat.
347:
Consul of the Bights of Benin and Biafra, a position he held (along with his governorship of Fernando Po) until his death in 1854. Lagos was a key slave trading port, in the western part of this area.
486:
504:
288:
98:
450:
The battle of December 26, 1851 was termed by Lagosians Ogun Ahoyaya/Ogun Agidingbi (translated, "The Boiling Battle"). Captain Jones led the attack party consisting HMS
442:
44:
388:, (who had been liberated by the British Navy, resettled in Sierra Leone, and was now a missionary himself) to argue the case for British intervention in Lagos before
283:, who previously lost his throne to Kosoko and asked the British to help him return to power. In return, Akitoye promised to end the slave trade. In 1852, Akitoye and
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reminding the British about a similar plea he had made back in 1846, promising to embrace legitimate trade if assistance were provided to put him back on the throne.
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183:
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128:
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381:
565:
Howard Temperley, ‘Beecroft, John (1790–1854)’, rev. Elizabeth Baigent, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
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Abeokuta were in a precarious situation, being persecuted and even returned to slavery. They presented arguments for British intervention to
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coastal chiefs with so much doggedness that they created a strong presence along the West African coast from Sierra Leone all the way to the
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479:. However, he relied solely on static defenses which were overwhelmed. On the British side 15 men died and 75 were wounded. A young
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or Preventative Squadron as it was also known, continued to pursue Portuguese, American, French, and Cuban
475:, Kosoko would have inflicted great losses on the Royal Navy if he had deployed his war canoes with their
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in August 1861, which would later be declared a British colony in 1862, and then incorporated into the
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There were actually two naval actions; one in November 1851 and the second in December 1851.
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Newspaper illustration from 1852, showing the reduction of Lagos by British forces.
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A preface to modern Nigeria: the "Sierra Leonians" in Yoruba, 1830-1890
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A preface to modern Nigeria: the "Sierra Leonians" in Yoruba, 1830-1890
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Treaty between Great Britain and Lagos, suppression of the slave trade
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The Life of James Pinson Labulo Davies: A Colossus of Victorian Lagos
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Appeals for intervention by British missionaries and Saro people
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game to memorialize this event in Lagos and Nigerian history.
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was a British naval operation in late 1851 that involved the
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The British eventually deposed Kosoko and replaced him with
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In 2021, Nigerian artist Oludamola Adebowale created the
582:. Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 16
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384:
executed a powerful public relations coup by deploying
620:. University of Wisconsin Press, 1965. pp. 77–78.
605:. University of Wisconsin Press, 1965. pp. 73–74.
316:
Royal Navy's early 19th century anti-slavery measures
668:. University of California Press. pp. 26–31.
638:. University of California Press. pp. 24–25.
320:In Britain's early 19th century fight against the
97:Atlantic slave trade abolished in Lagos with the
471:who participated on the British side aboard HMS
446:British Men o' War Attacked by the King of Lagos
29:
545:. University of California Press. p. 2.
351:was appointed Vice Consul and was located at
340:(today's Nigeria) and as far south as Congo.
248:) under the justification of suppressing the
8:
43:
26:
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332:and to impose anti-slavery treaties with
263:Many intersecting interests provided the
693:. Kachifo Limited/Prestige. p. 9.
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276:, would be persecuted and re-enslaved.
260:, for refusing to end the slave trade.
505:Treaty between Lagos and Great Britain
289:Treaty Between Great Britain and Lagos
99:Treaty Between Great Britain and Lagos
7:
748:Naval bombing operations and battles
503:With Akitoye installed as Oba a new
49:"British Men o' War Attacked by the
25:
783:Nigeria–United Kingdom relations
716:"1851 Agidingbi Game for launch"
458:, a flotilla of boats including
272:people, who were liberated from
265:Government of the United Kingdom
195:
182:
169:
154:
127:
664:Smith, Robert (January 1979).
634:Smith, Robert (January 1979).
541:Smith, Robert (January 1979).
430:along with 21 boats. Although
359:Rival Obas, Akitoye vs. Kosoko
37:Suppression of the Slave Trade
1:
666:The Lagos Consulate 1851-1861
636:The Lagos Consulate 1851-1861
543:The Lagos Consulate 1851-1861
305:Southern Nigeria Protectorate
616:Kopytoff, Jean Herskovits.
601:Kopytoff, Jean Herskovits.
438:Battle of December 26, 1851
421:Battle of November 25, 1851
392:, Lord Palmerston, and the
343:In 1849, Britain appointed
804:
778:1852 in the British Empire
768:1851 in the British Empire
576:"Duncan, John (1805-1849)"
481:James Pinson Labulo Davies
753:Military history of Lagos
689:Elebute, Adeyemo (2013).
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120:
61:
42:
34:
252:and deposing the King (
483:was among the wounded.
722:. The Nation (Nigeria)
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447:
394:Lords of the Admiralty
145:Commanders and leaders
788:Explosions in Nigeria
758:19th century in Lagos
714:Okoroafor, Chinyere.
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445:
400:Last minute diplomacy
386:Samuel Ajayi Crowther
720:The Nation (Nigeria)
522:1851 Chess Agidingbi
413:British naval action
326:West Africa Squadron
322:Atlantic slave trade
301:British protectorate
274:Atlantic slave trade
250:Atlantic slave trade
234:Bombardment of Lagos
18:Bombardment of Lagos
299:annexed Lagos as a
516:In popular culture
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448:
230:Reduction of Lagos
55:James George Philp
30:Reduction of Lagos
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16:(Redirected from
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244:(in present-day
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106:reinsistated as
93:British victory
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51:King of Lagos
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724:. Retrieved
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584:. Retrieved
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460:The Victoria
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334:West African
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256:) of Lagos,
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121:Belligerents
108:Oba of Lagos
35:Part of the
586:23 December
510:August 1861
477:swivel guns
407:Oshodi Tapa
349:John Duncan
338:Niger Delta
330:slave ships
287:signed the
240:bombarding
218:Oshodi Tapa
742:Categories
726:5 December
580:Wikisource
528:References
473:Bloodhound
469:JPL Davies
452:Bloodhound
432:Bloodhound
428:Bloodhound
382:Henry Venn
311:Background
238:Royal Navy
307:in 1906.
202:Commander
189:Commander
176:Commander
69:1851-1852
74:Location
281:Akitoye
246:Nigeria
204:Gardner
104:Akitoye
83:Nigeria
57:, 1851)
697:
672:
642:
549:
456:Teaser
454:, HMS
353:Whydah
324:, its
258:Kosoko
213:Kosoko
191:Forbes
178:Wilmot
90:Result
242:Lagos
139:Lagos
79:Lagos
728:2021
695:ISBN
670:ISBN
640:ISBN
588:2016
547:ISBN
462:and
270:Saro
228:The
66:Date
254:Oba
232:or
53:" (
744::
718:.
654:^
626:^
578:.
512:.
377:,
355:.
291:.
730:.
703:.
678:.
648:.
590:.
555:.
20:)
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