about half past one
The movement was admirably executed . The Bonny men of Wood 's regiment , who had fought silently and steadily all the time that they had been on the defensive , now raised their shrill war cry , and slinging their rifles and drawing their swords -- their favorite weapons -- dashed forward like so many panthers let loose . By their side , skirmishing as quietly and steadily as if on parade , the men of the Rifle Brigade searched every bush with their bullets , and in five minutes from the commencement of the advance the Ashantis were in full and final retreat . The battle ended at about half past one , having lasted five hours and a half . The Ashantis were supposed to have had from fifteen to twenty thousand men in the field . What their loss was could not accurately be calculated , as they carry off their dead as fast as they fall ; but where rushes were made by our troops , as they had not time to do this , they lay everywhere thick on the ground . By the most moderate computation they must have lost over two thousand .