Ashanti Women Went on a Very Effective Strike to Encourage their Men to Fight
That night, after her fiery speech, Nana Yaa Asantewaa and the gathered chiefs “drank the gods” – libations poured out as offerings – and pledged to rid themselves of the British yoke. She was also appointed Ashanti war leader and commander of the forces – a role to which no woman had been appointed before. Within days, thousands flocked to join her. Many more who had initially been reluctant to join, were shamed into doing so after Asantewaa enlisted Ashanti women to carry out a highly effective public relations campaign. Women were organized into groups to march around their villages, and engaged in martial rituals to demonstrate their support and solidarity. The masculinity of laggard men was publicly challenged, and Asantewaa even got Ashanti women to withhold physical relations from their husbands if they did not join the resistance.
Governor Hodgson hastily retreated into Kumasi’s fort, along with his wife and military escort. They were soon surrounded by thousands of warriors, deep in Ashanti territory and hundreds of miles away from the coast and British military rescue. The fort’s machine guns and modern artillery held the besiegers at bay. So the Ashanti, who lacked artillery to breach its walls, settled down to a siege. They cut off the defenders from supplies, and hoped to starve them into surrender. Asantewaa continued to display her badass chops. She had her men erect massive barricades along the routes to Kumasi. Made of stone, logs and dirt, they proved highly resistant to British artillery. Between the barricades, ambushes, and other Ashanti tactics, the pace of a British relief expedition sent to rescue Hodgson was reduced to a crawl.