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West Indian Troops and the Defence of British West Africa in the Nineteenth Century

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2014

S. C. Ukpabi
S. C. Ukpabi*
Affiliation:
Department of History and Archaeology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka
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Extract

In the nineteenth century one can distinguish between three different stages in the development of British military policy in West Africa. Up to 1840 British military policy relied heavily on eighteenth-century precedent and revolved round the triple pillars of the West Africa Squadron, the forts, and the military personnel, made up mainly of Europeans who were brought from Great Britain or raised among European volunteers at the coast in times of emergency. Between 1840 and 1870 the British relied rather heavily on the West Indian troops, whom they used in a strategic role to deal with military problems in her West African possessions. During this period attempts were made to raise small but local paramilitary units to supplement the efforts of the West India Regiments. From the 1870's onwards the limitations in the use of the West Indian troops and the need to cut down military expenditure led to the emphasis placed on the raising of comparatively large African and local forces which later took over the duties previously undertaken by the West India Regiments. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, when the need arose, these local forces were amalgamated into what came to be known as the “West African Frontier Force,” which eventually became the instrument used by the British government not only to ward off European trespassers in those areas which it claimed but also to consolidate its authority in West Africa in subsequent years.

Type
Research Article
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 17 , Issue 1 , April 1974 , pp. 133 - 150
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1974

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References

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