http://www.jamaicans.com/info/maroons.htmBefore departing, the Spanish also freed their slaves and left them behind in the mountains to harry the English until they could amass a force for reconquest of Jamaica. These freed slaves, later to become famous as the Maroons, were organized into a fighting force by Christoval Arnaldo de Ysasi before he too escaped to Cuba. These first Maroons settled mainly in the St. John district of St. Catherine still called Juan de Bolas after one of their chiefs whose real name was Juan Lubolo, on Vera-mahollis Savanna (Los Vermejales) and on the Rio Juana (exact location uncertain). The name “Maroon” probably derived from the Spanish “cimarron” meaning wild, untamed. The Maroons whose number kept swelling from the addition of more runaway slaves continued to raid the English plantations and become a thorn in England’s plan to colonize Jamaica but it was tolerated until 1663 when an offer was made for land and full freedom to any Maroon who surrendered. The Maroons ignored the offer. This failure to come to terms was to result in 76 years of irregular warfare; expenditure of nearly 250,000 English Pounds and passing of some 44 Acts of the Assembly.
CUDJOE AND THE FIRST MAROON WAR:
In 1690 a large group of slaves in Clarendon, consisting mainly of Coromantees an extremely brave and warlike people from Africa’s Gold Coast, rebelled and escaped into the dense woods. Soon they would join forces with the Spanish-freed Maroons under the able leadership of one of their number named Cudjoe. We are told he was a thick necked, short, extremely squat man with a large lump of flesh upon his back. They say he was “bear-like” in appearance and often acted in a strange wild manner. Cudjoe, with the help of his two brothers Accompong and Johnny (in the West or Leeward side), and two sub-chiefs Quao and Cuffee (in the East or Windward side), began a campaign of murder and robbery known to history as the First Maroon War. Disguised from head to foot with leaves and cunningly concealed, the Maroons chose to attack from ambush. This form of warfare along with their skill in woodcraft and familiarity with the untracked forests along with their legendary skill as marksman baffled and confounded those sent to fight them. Keen-eyed lookouts would spot an approaching force long before their arrival and spread the warning through the abeng horn, a kind of bugle made from a cow’s horn. Especially skilled horn blowers could use particular calls to summon each member of their party from long distances as if they were face-to-face. The English forces suffered huge losses both from the sharp shooting Maroons and the tropical diseases that were very common at that time.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
