Juan de Serras

Juan de Serras was one of the first

Jamaican Maroon chiefs in the
seventeenth century. His community was
based primarily around Los Vermajales,
and as a result the English called his group
of Maroons the Karmahaly Maroons.

Fighting for the Spanish

When the English captured Jamaica from
the Spanish in 1655 Invasion of Jamaica,
the latter freed their slaves, who then
escaped into the forested mountains of
the interior, and established independent
free black communities. These groups
fought on the side of the Spanish in their
attempts to recapture Jamaica from the
English. When one group, led by Juan de
Bolas, switched sides and joined the
English, the Spanish gave up on their
attempts to recapture the island.[1]

In contrast to de Bolas, de Serras and his

men stayed loyal to the Spanish, and
refused to come to terms with the English.
Based in the mountains of central
Jamaica, de Serras and his men mounted
a number of attacks on English
settlements, burning plantations and
houses, as well as killing English soldiers
and settlers. The English used de Bolas
and his men to attack de Serras and his
Maroon community. In 1664, Maroons
belonging to de Serras ambushed and
killed de Bolas. Eventually, the black militia
belonging to de Bolas faded from
historical records, while the Maroons of de
Serras continued to trouble the English.[2]

Guerrilla war against the

English
After 1664, de Serras and his Maroons
continued to mount attacks on English
settlements, such as the capital, Spanish
Town, where they burnt houses, captured
food and livestock, and freed slaves. The
community of de Serras acted as a
magnet for slaves seeking to run away
from English owners.[3]

The first English governor of the Colony of

Jamaica, Edward D'Oyley, was unable to
defeat de Serras, and the job of taking on
the Karmahaly Maroons fell to Thomas
Modyford, who became governor in 1664.
The following year, Modyford declared war
on the Karmahaly Maroons, and offered
rewards for capturing and killing members
of de Serras' group.[4]

In the mid-1660s, de Serras sent one of his

Maroon warriors, Domingo, to discuss
peace overtures. Modyford accepted
Domingo, because he believed that while
the English could not defeat the Maroons,
he felt they could absorb them into society
the way D'Oyley did with de Bolas.
However, de Serras used the lull in the
fighting to relocate to a more secure
environment, probably the Blue Mountains
in eastern Jamaica, from which they soon
resumed attacks on the English colonial
authorities.[5]
In the 1670s, the former buccaneer Henry
Morgan, who later became lieutenant-
governor of Jamaica, and owner of a slave
plantation in Guanaboa Vale, led a
campaign against de Serras and the
Karmahaly Maroons. Morgan was unable
to rout the Maroons, but following that
encounter the colonial authorities no
longer filed reports about de Serras and
the Karmahaly Maroons.[6]

Legacy
It is possible that de Serras and the
Karmahaly Maroons withdrew further into
the Blue Mountains, which were
inaccessible to the English colonial
authorities, where they lived off the land
and avoided further contact with white
planters.[7]

The Karmahaly Maroons may have been

the ancestors of the 18th century
Windward Maroons of Moore Town and
Crawford's Town.

References
1. Mavis Campbell, The Maroons of
Jamaica 1655-1796: a History of
Resistance, Collaboration & Betrayal
(Massachusetts: Bergin & Garvey,
1988), pp. 14-17.
2. Campbell, The Maroons of Jamaica,
pp. 17-25.
3. Campbell, The Maroons of Jamaica,
pp. 20-27.
4. Campbell, The Maroons of Jamaica,
pp. 25-27.
5. Campbell, The Maroons of Jamaica,
pp. 28-32.
6. Campbell, The Maroons of Jamaica,
pp. 32-35.
7. Campbell, The Maroons of Jamaica,
pp. 32-35.
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Last edited 3 months ago by Mikesiva

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