three in the
morning
At six in the morning a messenger ran in with the news that two of the English war steamers from Cape Coast were lying off Elmina , and that a number of troops had been landed in boats . The Ashanti general was furious , and poured out threats against his spies in Cape Coast for not having warned him of the movement , but in fact these were not to blame . So quietly had the arrangements been made that , until late in the previous afternoon , no one , with the exception of three or four of the principal officers , knew that an expedition was intended . Even then it was given out that the expedition was going down the coast , and it was not until the ships anchored off Elmina at three in the morning that the officers and troops were aware of their destination . All the West Indian troops at Cape Coast had been taken , Captain Peel of the Simoon landing fifty sailors to hold the fort in case the Ashantis should attack it in their absence . The expedition consisted of the Houssas , two hundred men of the 2d West India regiment , fifty sailors , and two companies of marines and marine artillery , each fifty strong , and a large number of natives carrying a small Armstrong gun , two rocket tubes , rockets , spare ammunition , and hammocks for wounded . The few Ashantis in the village next to Elmina retired at once when the column was seen marching from the castle .