The Second Maroon War (1795-1796)
In 1795, a new Governor arrived in Jamaica: the Earl of Balcarres. A man of ambition and military arrogance, he viewed the Maroons not as treaty partners but as a "dangerous imperium in imperio"—an empire within an empire.
He was looking for a reason to crush them. In early July, he found it.
Two Maroon men were accused of stealing hogs from a plantation. Instead of being tried by their own leaders (as the Treaty mandated), they were tried in Montego Bay. Their punishment was not just harsh; it was designed to humiliate.
This was the ultimate insult for free men. When they returned to Trelawny Town, the outrage was explosive. The Maroons demanded justice. Balcarres answered with martial law.
In August 1795, Balcarres ordered his troops to march on Trelawny Town. The Maroons, knowing they could not defend the town against cannon fire, burned their own homes and retreated into the virtually impenetrable Cockpit Country.
There, they turned the tables. Colonel Sandford, leading the elite 20th Light Dragoons, marched into a narrow defile expecting an easy victory. Instead, he met a wall of hidden fire. Sandford was killed instantly, along with many of his officers. The British retreated in panic.
For months, the Maroons held out against thousands of British troops. Colonels fell. Regiments were humiliated. The "Invisible Army" seemed invincible.
Desperate, Balcarres resorted to terror. In December 1795, he imported 100 ferocious bloodhounds and their handlers from Cuba. The threat of these dogs attacking Maroon families forced a painful decision: they agreed to negotiate a surrender, but only on the condition they would not be deported.
General Walpole promised them they could stay in Jamaica. The Maroons laid down their arms. But Balcarres, furious at being humiliated, broke Walpole's word. Using a trivial deadline technicality, he arrested the Maroons and ordered their immediate deportation to Nova Scotia.