Why was the Durham Regiment of Foot sent to St Vincent and St Lucia in the late 1700's?
Why was the Durham Regiment of Foot sent to St Vincent and St Lucia in the late 1700's?
St Vincent in the Southwest Indies shows us an example of how the Indigenous peoples and the enslaved rebelled against European colonisation, which caused a new regiment that had been formed in Durham to become involved in putting down the rebellions in the late 1700s.
Michael Craton in Empire, Enslavement and Freedom in the Caribbean states there were many similarities in the way the Indigenous resisted colonisation and how enslaved Africans resisted enslavement. There are times when these two people’s cultures meshed together over generations as enslaved people would run away to areas controlled by Indigenous people, such as the Maroons of Jamaica. He points to the ‘Black Caribs’ of St. Vincent as a prime example of this. Indigenous people harboured a group of escaped Africans on St Vincent in 1690. These unwitting migrants over time became part of the community and became a ‘warrior community that fearsomely combined African and Amerindian weapons and tactics of resistance.’[1]
The Haitian Revolution (LINK TO HAITIAN REV) sent not only shock waves throughout the West Indies, but inspiration to other communities to rebel.
In the 1790’s groups of runaway enslaved people, along with Caribs and French forces wanting to disrupt British forces attacked the British.[2] The anti-British coalition wore cockades, a nod to the inspiration of the Haitian and French Revolutions.[3]
The Black Caribs were ‘well organised into two divisions and well-armed by the French. They resisted against three British regiments who used a scorched earth policy to put down the rebellion.[4]
In 1758 the Durham Regiment of Foot, which formed in Leicester but in its early days recruited from County Durham. (later in the 19th century it recruited from Sunderland[5]) was one regiment amongst others to be sent to the area to quell the resistance. This regiment had been stationed in various places under British control including Ireland and Gibraltar. They had been sent to St Vincent to fight Caribs between 1769- 1773.[6]
It is not known how involved the Durham Regiment of Foot were in the final putting down of the Caribs. In 1797 the Black Caribs were sent to Roatan in Honduras. Their deportation under terrible conditions ‘created little stir in Britain.’[7]
Notes
This shows how intermingled the communities were between runaway people and Indigenous. It also shows the consequences of the Haitian revolution (and the Fedon rebellion [Insert link to Trevelyan and Fedon]) This could also be brought in when teaching about conflict between France and Britain, it was not always just in Europe but far away in their young empires.
https://www.lightinfantry.org.uk/regiments/dli/durham_68thfoottl.htm - is an interesting timeline of the regiment. Students can see the unfolding of the British Empire through the movements of this regiment. Deployed on numerous occasions to put down rebellions in the West Indies and later in India.
[1] Ed. Knight, F.W. (2007) Michael Craton, General history of the Caribbean. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. P237.
[2] Burns, A. (1954) History of the British West Indies. London: Allen & Unwin. P.572.
[3] Heuman, G. (2019) The Caribbean a brief history. London: Bloomsbury Academic. P86.
[4] Craton, M. (2000) Empire, enslavement, and freedom in the Caribbean. Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener. P131
[5] (No date) British Light Infantry Regiments. Available at: https://www.lightinfantry.org.uk/regiments/dli/durham_68thfoottl.htm (Accessed: 14 September 2023).
[6] 68th (Durham) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) (no date) National Army Museum. Available at: https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/68th-durham-regiment-foot-light-infantry (Accessed: 21 May 2023).
[7] Craton, M. (2000) Empire, enslavement, and freedom in the Caribbean. Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener. P131