Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
raids on their ships, while the Baymen fostered a spirit of defiance in the face of
Spanish reprisals, leading to the realization that British rule was preferable - as long as
they could choose which of its institutions to accept. Their tenure was nonetheless still
very uncertain: in 1779 Spain (allied with France in the American War of
Independence) sent a fleet and captured all the inhabitants of St George's Caye - the
capital of the Baymen - imprisoning them in Mérida and Havana. The
Versailles Peace
Treaty
(1783) did little to resolve matters, but a convention signed three years later
allowed timber to be cut as far south as the Sibun River - also stipulating that no
system of government could be established without approval from Madrid. True to
their “turbulent and unsettled disposition”, the Baymen ignored it, cutting wood where
they pleased, and after 1791, the British governor of Jamaica also failed to add
authority to the settlement.
The Battle of St George's Caye
The final showdown between the waning Spanish Empire and the Bay settlers
(supported this time by a British warship and troops), the
Battle of St George's Caye
,
came as a result of the outbreak of war between Britain and Spain in 1796. Field
Marshal
Arthur O'Neil
, an Irishman and the captain general of Yucatán (named
Don
Arturo
by the Spanish), assembled ships and troops, determined to drive out the British
settlers and this time to occupy Belize. Lord Balcarres, the governor of Jamaica,
despatched
Lieutenant-Colonel Barrow
to command the settlers in the event of
hostilities. At a vital Public Meeting held on June 1, 1797, the Baymen decided by
65 votes to 51 to defend the settlement rather than evacuate. A few companies of
troops were sent from Jamaica, and slaves were released and armed. The sloop
HMS
Merlin
, under the command of Captain John Moss, was stationed in the Bay, local
vessels were armed, gun rafts were built and an attack was expected at any time.
Throughout the next year the mood of the defenders vacillated between aggression and
despair, preparing for war with scant resources under the martial law supervision of
Colonel Barrow.
he
Spanish fleet
, reported to consist of 32 vessels, including sixteen heavily armed
men-of-war and two thousand troops, arrived just north of St George's Caye in early
September 1798. On September 3 and 4 several of the Spanish warships attempted to
force a passage over Montego Caye Shoals, between Long Caye and St George's Caye,
but were repulsed by the Baymen's sloops. Stakes put down by the Spanish to mark the
channels were removed by the defenders, who knew these waters well. Barrow and
Moss correctly guessed that the Spanish would then try to seize St George's Caye. The
Merlin
and part of the Baymen's tiny fleet sailed there on the evening of September 5,
securing it just as twelve Spanish warships were attempting to do the same.
The next few days passed anxiously: the Spanish with their massive firepower severely
restricted by the shallow water; and the Baymen with their small but highly
manoeuvrable fleet awaiting attack - and slaves apparently at least as eager to fight the
Spanish as their masters were. On the morning of
September 10, 1798
, fourteen large
Spanish ships sailed to within 1.5 miles of St George's Caye, keeping to the deep water
to the east, and began firing. Captain Moss held his fire - the Spanish broadsides were
falling short. At 1.30pm he gave the order to attack. Guns blazing, the
Merlin
and the
Baymen's fleet swept forward, wreaking havoc among the heavy and crowded Spanish
1786
1798
1832
In London, the Convention of
Loggers is drawn up, which permits
settlers to cut mahogany, though
Spain still claims sovereignty
Battle of St George's Caye,
between British-backed Baymen
and Spanish troops; the scrappy
Baymen are victors
The Garifuna from
Honduras settle in
southern Belize, in what
is today Dangriga
