The St. Joseph Mutiny was a mutiny which occurred on 17 June 1837 among the 1st West India Regiment of the British Army. It began at the unit's barracks in St. Joseph, Trinidad, then part of the British West Indies.
| St. Joseph Mutiny | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 British Empire | Mutineers | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Samuel Ford Whittingham George Hill |
Daaga (Donald Stewart) Mawee (Maurice Ogston) | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
|
89th Regiment of Foot 1st West India Regiment Trinidad Militia | Mutineers from the 1st West India Regiment | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 60–100 mutineers[1] | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
1 killed[1] 1 wounded[2] |
12 killed[2] 8+ wounded[2] 6 committed suicide[2] 3 executed[2] | ||||||
It was led by recently arrived Africans who had been liberated from illegal slave ships by the Royal Navy and subsequently conscripted into the West India Regiments. Between 60 and 100 soldiers in the regiment participated in the mutiny, seizing arms and ammunition, killing one enlisted soldier and setting fire to the officers' quarters.[1] The Army and Trinidad Militia quickly suppressed the mutiny, killing twelve mutineers; six others committed suicide to avoid capture. Three ringleaders of the mutiny were subsequently executed, while two others were sentenced to death but had their sentences commutated to penal transportation to Australia.[2]
One of the leaders of the mutiny, Daaga, became a folk hero in Trinidad and was an inspiration for the leaders of the Black Power Revolution in the 1960s.[3]
Citations edit
- ^ a b c August 1991, p. 74.
- ^ a b c d e f August 1991, p. 75.
- ^ Saillant 2019, p. 169.
Bibliography edit
- August, Thomas (1991). "Rebels with a cause: The St. Joseph Mutiny of 1837". Slavery & Abolition. 12 (2): 73–91. doi:10.1080/01440399108575034.
- Saillant, John (2019). "Dâaga the Rebel on Land and at Sea: An 1837 Mutiny in the First West India Regiment in Caribbean and Atlantic Contexts". The CLR James Journal. 25 (1/2): 165–194. doi:10.5840/clrjames20202767. S2CID 213407808.