Battles Remembered and Forgotten
Why do we forget some things and remember others?
Why do we give premium value to some things and ignore or discard others valuable to us?
by Deirdre Williams
Take this tale of two Saint Lucian battles: one remembered with pride, the other forgotten. The forgotten battle happened first, in April 1795, when Major General Stewart led a 1,000-man contingent of the British Army, comprising Black and white soldiers, to clear the troublesome Brigands from Saint Lucia.
Stewart’s plan was to capture Vieux Fort and then work his way north to Soufriere. At first, the plan worked. But when the troops reached Rabot, just south of Soufriere, they ran into an ambush. Thanks to the superior tactics and excellent planning of the Brigands, the British were forced to retreat, first to Choiseul and then back to Fort Charlotte (Morne Fortune or The Morne).
The British now realised their vulnerability and on 18th June evacuated to Martinique, quietly in the night, leaving 100 women and wounded soldiers behind at Fort Charlotte. On June 19th, Goyrand, the commander of the Brigands, hoisted the tricolour on The Morne and announced “Vive la Republique!” But the Brigands were not French. Most of the soldiers were enslaved Africans, brought to Saint Lucia, who had freed themselves from slavery to fight for emancipation for all.
It’s unknown whether they would have described themselves as ‘Saint Lucians’, but what’s definitely known is that at the Battle of Rabot they had won. That battle effectively erased the institution of slavery from Saint Lucia. And during the next three months they sent parties south to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as Grenada, to help with the struggle in those islands.
The battle we remember came in April 1796, when the British Army returned in force with probably 12,000 men, again both black and white soldiers. But it took them a whole month to force the capitulation of the 2,000-man garrison of mainly Black soldiers that were the Brigands on The Morne.
The garrison at The Morne had been weakened by the arrival of the terrified citizens of Castries, who’d gone there to take refuge from the fire-bombing of their town by the British navy.
This 1796 victory reimposed slavery in Saint Lucia.
In 1932, a memorial was erected on The Morne to commemorate the courage of the Irish soldiers of the Inniskillin Regiment who forced the Brigands to capitulate. This is a familiar sight for the entire population of the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, including many of our young people. This is a place we show-off with pride to tourists.
This is the battle we remember, but we lost. We lost with great courage, but still we were beaten.
Should we not remember the Battle of Rabot which we won and which removed slavery in Saint Lucia at least for a year?
Should there not be a memorial for those who fought on the winning side at the Battle of Rabot?
And should we not remember the true story of what happened on The Morne in May 1796 and the true story of those who fought there – who were not “French soldiers”, but Saint Lucians?
On June 19th (Juneteenth) Black Americans remember an emancipation that was given to them nearly 100 years later, in 1865. Many Saint Lucians will follow those Juneteenth events, but how many will remember an emancipation battle won for Saint Lucia by Saint Lucians, in 1795?
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