page_title: Fédon's rebellion
section_title: May 1795
hierarchical_section_title: Fédon's rebellion / Course of the rebellion / Murder of the hostages / May 1795
context_page_description: Fédon's rebellion was an uprising against British rule in Grenada. Although a significant number of slaves were involved, they fought on both sides. Predominantly led by free mixed-race French-speakers, the stated purpose was to create a black republic as had already occurred in neighbouring Haiti rather than to free slaves, so it is not properly called a slave rebellion, although freedom of the slaves would have been a consequence of its success. Under the leadership of Julien Fédon, owner of a plantation in the mountainous interior of the island, and encouraged by French Revolutionary leaders on Guadeloupe, the rebels seized control of most of the island, but were eventually crushed by a military expedition led by General Ralph Abercromby.
  Planning for the rebellion began in March 1793, when Fedon started converting his Belvidere coffee and cocoa plantation into a fortified headquarters and planting crops for his army. In early June 1795, two of his colleagues travelled to neighbouring Guadeloupe, then under the control of French revolutionary commissioners to receive arms, training and commissions, one of which made Fédon General-in-chief of the Grenadian rebel army.
context_section_description: In May 1795, the British launched a surprise night-attack on Fédon's Belvidere base. Due to Lindsay's suicide, the command had fallen to his inexperienced subordinate, Colonel Schaw. The British troops, in particular, were weakened by sickness, and this lost them the element of surprise they had relied on for victory.
  As the Belvidere Estate was situated on elevated ground, the British were at a severe tactical disadvantage. It was divided into three sections; the lowest as the estate proper, the next was his personal camp, and above that Mount Qua Qua. Further, the rebels had spent the preceding weeks fortifying it with a number of levels of defence. The layers were named. The lowest—known as Fraternité—held the majority of the rebel army, including artillery—which due to a lack of cannonballs, were loaded with sugar wedges wrapped in sacking—behind a complex of earthworks. These consisted of defiles intended to lure the British into ambush. Above that was Liberté, which contained the estate buildings itself and the rebel headquarters. The third and last camp—Morte—was by way of being a redoubt at the last line of defence. Fédon moved the hostages to the upper camp, while demanding that Governor Home force McKenzie to make a peace: "Ah, tyrant Home; you are now my prisoner. You must cause the [British] forts to be delivered up". By now though, suggests Brizan, Home had become lethargic as to his fate, replying "I am a prisoner and have no longer any power in the colony. I am resigned to my fate whatever you may make it".
  In torrential rain, the British attacked from several directions simultaneously, supported by both cannon and cavalry. After intense hand-to-hand combat, the British army got to the gates of Morte redoubt. Dr Hay was responsible for the rebels' medical station in Liberté. Fédon's brother, Jean-Pierre, was killed in the intense fighting. and Fédon later suggested that no quarter was given the rebels. The attack, however, had dissipated by morning. The failure was the result, says Candlin, of "poor coordination, coupled with bad weather and mere bad luck"; Jacobs describes the operation as "bungled". The British lost 27 men dead and 57 wounded.
caption: Sir Ralph Abercromby by John Hoppner, c. 1798.
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