Fédon's rebellion
An uprising against British rule in Grenada led by Julien Fédon.
Fédon's rebellion, also called the Brigands' War or Fédon's Revolution, was a revolt against British rule in Grenada that lasted from 2 March 1795 to 19 June 1796. The uprising was led mainly by free mixed-race French speakers. Its goal was to establish a black republic like the one in Haiti, not to free slaves—though emancipation would have followed if the rebellion had succeeded. Julien Fédon, who owned a plantation in Grenada's mountainous interior, commanded the rebels. French Revolutionary authorities on Guadeloupe encouraged the revolt. The rebels took control of most of the island, and even briefly captured the capital, St. George's, in April 1795. General Ralph Abercromby led a military expedition that eventually defeated them.
Planning began in March 1793, when Fédon turned his Belvidere coffee and cocoa plantation into a fortified base and grew food for his army. In early June 1795, two of his associates went to Guadeloupe, then under French revolutionary commissioners, to get weapons, training, and military commissions. One commission made Fédon General-in-chief of the Grenadian rebel army. On the night of 2 March, the rebels attacked Gouyave and Grenville at the same time. The attack on Gouyave was relatively calm, but in Grenville the white population was killed. Many hostages were taken. The British tried several times to storm Belvidere, but it sat near the top of a steep, nearly unreachable mountain. After one failed assault, Fédon ordered the execution of about 40 white hostages.
The rebel army looted, pillaged, and burned plantations across the island while skirmishing with British forces. Both sides captured and recaptured headlands and outposts with mixed success. The Royal Navy kept an increasingly tight blockade around Grenada, cutting off Fédon’s army from reinforcements and supplies. Because the rebels had destroyed so many crops the previous year, a food shortage set in. The British, meanwhile, kept receiving large reinforcements. In June 1796, they launched another successful attack on Belvidere. Fédon’s army was crushed. His fate is unknown; it was thought he drowned trying to escape to Trinidad, but sightings of him were reported well into the next century. The rebellion ended French influence in Grenada for good. Many rebels were executed, some—especially slaves—without trial.
Quick Facts
- Conflict
- Fédon's rebellion
- Date
- 2 March 1795 – 19 June 1796
- Location
- Grenada
- Result
- British victory
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Planning for the rebellion began in March 1793, when Fédon 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. On the night of 2 March, this force simultaneously attacked Gouyave and Grenville; the former was relatively peaceful, but in the latter the white population was killed. Many hostages were taken. The British made a number of unsuccessful attempts at assaulting Belvidere; the estate was near the top of a very steep mountain, and almost inaccessible. After the failure of one such attack, Fédon ordered the deaths of around 40 white hostages.
Reader's Guide
Fédon's rebellion is significant as an anti-discriminatory rebellion for social, political and religious rights by the French against British colonial government. Although a significant number of slaves were involved, they fought on both sides, and the rebellion is not properly called a slave rebellion. The rebellion devastated Grenada's economy, causing around £2,500,000 of damage, and eradicated French influence on the island. There was a dearth in scholarship regarding the rebellion until the 1960s, but since then it has been the focus of increased study, particularly regarding the extent to which it was either a slave rebellion or part of the broader French Revolution. Fédon himself has remained an important figure in Grenadian political culture, and his rebellion is considered to have influenced not only the emancipation of slaves in the Caribbean of the next century, but a revolutionary tradition that came to a head in 1979 with the Grenadian Revolution under Maurice Bishop. Fédon is now seen as important for leading the rebellion and for being at the intersection of a multiplicity of historiographical thought, such as race, revolution, Empire and slavery.
Did You Know?
- Fédon's rebellion is also known as the Brigands' War or Fédon's Revolution.
- The rebels seized control of most of Grenada, but the capital, St. George's, was never taken.
- Fédon's fate remains a mystery; it was assumed he drowned trying to escape to Trinidad, but there were reported sightings of him into the next century.
- The rebellion caused around £2,500,000 of damage to the island's economy.
More in Rebellions against the British Empire 1-24
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