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Auction: 24003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 103

The campaign pair awarded to Inspector-General A. L. M. Mitchell, Lagos Hausa Force, late York & Lancaster Regiment, who was 'mentioned' for the Ashanti 1896 campaign and the first Officer to be presented to King Prempeh at Beckwai by Robert Baden-Powell

East and West Africa 1887-1900, 1 clasp, 1897-98 (Inspcr. Gen. A. L. M. Mitchell. Lagos Hausa Force.); Ashanti Star 1896, unnamed as issued, mounted as worn in this order, polished, nearly very fine (2)

Provenance:
Hamiltons, 1980.

Arthur Livingstone Milburn Mitchell was born at Chambly, Quebec, Canada on 6 July 1862, the son of an army officer, Lieutenant-Colonel A. B. Mitchell, onetime of the Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment. Having initially obtained a commission in the Militia - in the 4th Royal Dublin Fusiliers - he was appointed a Lieutenant in the York & Lancaster Regiment in May 1885.

Ashanti 1896: honourable 'mention'

By the time of the Ashanti campaign in the following year, Mitchell was an Inspector of the Sierra Leone Hausas and was the Officer in Command. He is noted as having crossed the Prah on 30 December 1895 at Prahsu; he thence entered Beckwai with Baden-Powell on 5 January 1896, after forming the Advanced Guard of the Flying Column which was able to enter unopposed (Downfall of Prempeh, refers).

Baden-Powell conversed with the King and thence presented various officers, it being noteworthy that Mitchell is the first to be mentioned.

He next entered Kumassi at the end of the campaign and earned a mention in despatches for his troubles (London Gazettes 31 March & 10 April 1896, refer). The expedition was another great territorial gain, with the Ashanti becoming a British protectorate and without a shot being fired. Nonetheless, the conditions had cost the lives of 18 Europeans - including Prince Henry of Battenberg, Queen Victoria's son-in-law - and seen over 50% of the troops placed on the sick list.

Mitchell remained in Africa and became Inspector-General of the Lagos Hausas, with whom he served in the operations in the Lagos Hinterland and in Birgu, from September 1897 to June 1898 (Medal and clasp).

Court of Enquiry: conduct unbecoming

Just prior to his departure to the Hinterland, Mitchell had the misfortune to face a Court of Enquiry at Kintampo, an extended enquiry that lasted from 23 August until 6 September 1897, and which was presided over by Major S. C. Jenkinson, Deputy Inspector of the Gold Coast Constabulary; see Lot xxx.

The complainant, Captain C. E. Johnston, an Assistant Inspector in the Lagos Constabulary, accused Mitchell of numerous misdemeanours, including 'tyrannical conduct' and 'discourteous treatment and personal antipathy', in addition to the mistreatment of his men, some of it in the wake of the Ashanti operations in 1896.

Aside from demeaning his own officers - apparently Mitchell called them 'damned useless' and threatened to 'break' Captain Johnston - it was his treatment of his native policemen that caused particular upset. Witness statements included the case of one of them being dragged out of the ranks for the theft of a fowl and flogged with three dozen lashes. When afterwards he stood up and saluted Mitchell, the latter ordered him to receive a further dozen lashes, stripped him of his uniform and had him dismissed the force. He also refused to release a native woman who had been pressed into bearer duties in spite of her young child being left behind without proper care. On this occasion it took much persuasion from one of his officers to order her release. Mitchell, it was claimed, also had a habit of deserting sick men, leaving them without food or funds. And, it was alleged, he referred to prisoners as 'a dirty lot of f-----s' on more than one occasion.

A copy of the enquiries proceedings reveals not a few supporting voices in respect of the complainant's accusations, so much so, and following due consideration, that the court's president, Major S.C. Jenkinson, seems to have returned a guilty verdict. It must be assumed that verdict was announced following Mitchell's - and indeed Jenkinson's - active employment in the Lagos Hinterland.

Either way, Mitchell disappears from view. Prior to his services in Africa, he had lived with his parents in Edith Grove, Chelsea, London, after marrying August Adamson at Westoe in Co. Durham in July 1889. He also had connections to Cullercoats in Northumberland; sold with copied research, including a transcript of the Court of Enquiry proceedings.


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Estimate
£800 to £1,200

Starting price
£700