THE MAROONS OF JAMAICA

The original Maroons were freed or runaway Spanish Negro Slaves who had retired to the thickly
wooded and hilly interior of Jamaica at the time of the arrival of the English in 1655. The name
‘Maroon’ probably comes from ‘cimarron’, meaning wild or untamed.

At first the Maroons agreed to help the Spanish harass the English invaders until one band, led by
a Maroon chief, Juan de Bolas went over to the English side and helped in the final defeat of the
Spanish. He and his followers were rewarded with grants of land and formed into a black regiment
of militia. But other Maroons disapproved of de Bolas’ action and he was eventually ambushed
and killed by his own people. Most of the Maroon bands continued to live free in the woods,
hunting wild pigs and growing plantain, corn and yams.

As the English settlement of Jamaica developed and plantations spread further inland, the Maroons
frequently raided the plantations, setting fire to the fields and stealing livestock and provisions.
Runaway slaves from the plantations swelled their numbers and soon the Maroons posed a major
threat to the European settlers.

Except for de Bolas, no other Maroon groups had accepted the offer of land and service in a black
militia. The result was a period of irregular warfare between the Maroons and the English rulers
of Jamaica.

First Maroon War

In 1690, a large number of slaves in Clarendon had a successful rebellion and escaped into the
woods. Popularly known as the Coromantees (which was the name of the port from which they
were shipped), these people had a reputation for being brave and warlike. They were probably
Akan speaking people from Asante and Dahomey. These escaped slaves soon joined forces with
the Maroons. Their leaders were Cudjoe and his two brothers Accompong and Johnny, assisted by
sub-chiefs Quao and Cuffy.

Operating from their settlements in the Blue Mountains, the Maroons skilfully carried out a
successful campaign of guerrilla warfare with lightning attacks, ambush, and sporadic raids. With
the use of the abeng, camouflage, knowledge of forest tracks and hiding places, they scored easy
victories against the regular forces sent to suppress them.

The English built a series of barracks, forts and connecting roads closer to Maroon settlement and
with the use of dogs and Mosquito Coast Indians for tracking, achieved their first success against
the Maroons in 1734, when Captain Stoddart led an attack on Nanny Town, which was totally
destroyed.

Finding his position less secure, Cudjoe moved to the Cockpit area of Trelawny while other
Maroons moved further inland or higher up into the Blue Mountains. Raids on English settlements
and plantations continued. The authorities feared that the continued success of the Maroons would
encourage the slaves, now outnumbering the white colonists 14 to 1, to rise up in a mass revolt.

The assembly was anxious to solve the problem of the Maroons. It financed a large-scale campaign
against the Maroons. Companies of Mosquito Coast Indians, free Negroes and mulattoes aided a
white militia and regular British soldiers to hunt the Maroons and destroy their provision grounds.
Pressed on all sides and faced with possible starvation, the Maroons were on the point of surrender
when the government itself, eager to bring the fighting to an end, commissioned Colonel Guthrie
to negotiate peace terms with Cudjoe.

In 1738 a peace treaty was signed between Guthrie and Cudjoe, bringing the war to an end. The
treaty included the following provisions:
1. Maroons were guaranteed full freedom and liberty.
2. They were given 1500 acres of land in the Cockpit area near Trelawny Town.
3. They had the right to hunt wild pigs anywhere except within a three-mile limit of towns
and plantations.
4. Cudjoe was appointed chief commander, with his brothers named as successors. He was
responsible for the administration of justice for crimes committed by his people, except

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 those requiring a death sentence. Such cases were to be handed over to a justice of the
peace.
5. Two white men were to live permanently with the Maroons to maintain contact with the
government.
6. The Maroons were to receive no more runways, but to help recapture them for a reward.
They were to establish a force which would help to put down any slave rebellions or repel
any foreign invasions.

A similar treaty was made with Quao and those Maroons who remained in the Blue Mountains.

For the next fifty years peace was observed between the Maroons and the English. The Maroons
helped in suppressing Tacky’s Rebellion in 1760, when a Maroon by the name of Davy shot and
killed Tacky.

Most of the Maroons came from among the people known as Koromantee. Almost every slave
rebellion was led by or made by slaves from this part of Africa. There was always the fear that the
Maroons would join them. In 1765 there was a serious revolt in St. Mary, where it was later
discovered that an important part of the revolt was for the Maroons to come in on the side of the
slaves, and with victory to have shared the country with them, but this might not have been so.

A Scott’s Hall Maroon named Quashie was responsible for the capture and death of Jack Mansong
(Three-Fingered Jack), who during the early 1770s terrorized the country with his daring robberies
and murders. He was feared even by the slaves as an obeahman.

For the most part the Maroons observed the terms of their treaty with the English, though
sometimes they were a cause for concern. For instance, in 1775 there was near mutiny in their
ranks when they were asked to surrender one of their comrades who was accused of a double
murder in Old Harbour.

Second Maroon War (1795)

Contemporary rumours suggested that the Maroons were stirred up by French Revolutionary
agents who entered Jamaica along with refugees fleeing the revolution in Haiti. This was unlikely,
although there were many fears that the slaves of Jamaica would follow the example of those in
St. Domingue and would be supported by the Maroons.

It was only the Trelawny Town Maroons who were involved in the Second Maroon War, the
neighbouring people of Accompong refusing to join them and later helping to fight against them.

The cause of the war was the flogging in Montego Bay of two Trelawny Town Maroons for pig
stealing, their discontent with the original grant of land and their dislike of the new white
Superintendent, Captain Craskell.

The flogging of the two Maroons was not in itself objected to by the Trelawny Town Maroons,
but the fact that they were whipped by a work-house driver and that most of the prisoners who
were allowed to look on and mock, were runaway slaves whom the Maroons had previously caught
and handed over to the Authorities. This was an unbearable insult which had to be avenged. Threats
were made against the people of Montego Bay and Captain Craskell was ordered to leave the
settlement.

Alarmed by the threats the local magistrates called for reinforcement to the existing militia of 400
men. As the first wave of anger subsided the Maroons agreed to discuss the matter with the
authorities. The Custos and other prominent persons visited Trelawny Town and agreed to
recommend the return of their former Superintendent, Captain James and provision of extra land,
to the new Governor, the Earl of Balcarres.

But the Governor was suspicious of the Maroons’ motives and strongly believed they were
influenced by revolutionary agents from St. Domingue. He believed the rumours that the Maroons
were trying to make the slaves join with them in a general uprising. He therefore declared martial
law. Troops already on their way to fight in St. Domingue were ordered instead to sail directly to

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Montego Bay. Balcarres himself took command of the forces left in Jamaica and set out for
Montego Bay.

At Llandovery, St. Ann, he met six Maroons who were on their way to meet him with a petition.
Instead of dealing with them he ordered their arrest and imprisonment. From his headquarters,
Balcarres sent a message to the Maroons telling them that they were surrounded by thousands of
troops and giving them four days in which to surrender or face an attack and destruction. Thirty-
eight of the older Maroons, led by their aged Chief Montague, surrendered. Balcarres ordered them
arrested, tied up and sent to prison.

He believed his harsh action would frighten the other Maroons into surrender. Instead, angered by
the Governor’s actions, the Maroons of Trelawny Town immediately set fire to their town and
withdrew into the hills. A detachment of soldiers sent by Balcarres found the settlements of the
Maroons deserted and destroyed with the inhabitants nowhere in sight. However, as they withdrew,
they were caught in an ambush and in the skirmish that followed the Colonel in charge and several
officers and men were killed, while many others were wounded.

This skirmish started the Second Maroon War which lasted for more than five months. 300
Maroons successfully held out against a force of 1500 regular troops, over 3000 local militia and
the Accompong Maroons, who decided to help the government. In the wild and impenetrable
Cockpits where most of the fighting took place, the government forces were regularly drawn into
ambush and slaughtered. All attempts to drive the Maroons from their hiding places proved
useless. Thousands of slaves were employed to clear forests and then guns were used to shell the
area. The Maroons merely withdrew to higher ground. The Maroons got bolder with every success.
They began raiding plantations, killing the owners and their families and freeing the slaves. The
whole life of the island was disrupted by the war… as one writer put it, “Jamaica was more like a
garrison than a country of commerce and agriculture.”

At this stage General George Walpole was put in command of the forces. He built a series of armed
posts along the mountains closer to maroon haunts and trained the troops in the fighting methods
of the Maroons. As a result, the Maroons were kept on the move and slowly pushed from their
sources of foods and water. However, Walpole did not underestimate the fighting ability of the
Maroons and the impossibility of finding them and their hideouts … he said that only a Maroon
could find another Maroon.

The Governor and Council then decided on the use of bloodhounds to track down the Maroons. A
militia Colonel named Quarrel was sent to Cuba where these animals were used to track down
runaway slaves and criminals. By December, 100 dogs and 40 handlers, known as chasseurs were
landed in Jamaica. General Walpole was against the use of the bloodhounds. News of their arrival
had caused consternation among the Maroons. Walpole gave the Maroons a chance to surrender
on the understanding that they would not be executed or transported from Jamaica.

The Maroons were required to surrender by January 1, 1796. However, because of an outbreak of
measles among the children and the distances to be travelled, many were not able to give
themselves up within the time. The Assembly and Council used this failure as a reason for
transporting the entire Trelawny Town Maroons to Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada. General
Walpole protested and returned to England to seek justice for the Maroons. In Canada they suffered
from the cold and refused to work. Finally in 1800 they were removed to Sierra Leone in West
Africa.