Cimarrons: A Warrior Society of Runaway Slaves

     While the 17th Century robbers-at-sea were an interesting bunch, equally fascinating and perhaps more laudable to the modern reader were residents of the Caribbean known as the Cimarrons. The name came from a Spanish word that meant 'wild cattle that roam the woods'.  Cimarrons were colonies of runaway black slaves that had organized into small communities in the jungles of the new world.  The largest settlements conglomerated at the Isthmus of Panama, which was then called Darien, and because of the brutal treatment by their Spanish masters the Cimarrons became sworn enemies of Spain and all that it stood for.  Because of this, they frequently banded together with enemies of Spain and it wasn't uncommon to see a Cimarron or two amid the crew of the Buccaneers.  Their religion was derived mostly from African traditions.  In battle, they were known to wear minmal clothing and the amulets they made and wore around their wrists, necks, and waists were expected to foster good luck and to keep them from being struck by bullets and swords.  Eventually there came to be many Cimarron colonies populating the mountains of the Caribbean.  Their numbers were in the thousands.

      The Cimarrons first came to historical prominence when the adventurer Francis Drake arrived at a little hole of pestilence in 1573, called Nombre de Dios, on the Caribbean side of Panama.  Drake hoped to surprise and ambush the fabled Spanish Mule Train which arrived there, loaded with gold from Panama City.  (The gold shipments were brought in from Peru, and assembled on the Pacific side at the fabled city of Panama, then brought over the mountains to Nombre de Dios, where it awaited shipment home.)

     Drake had no idea exactly when or where it would happen, however.  Luck was with the adventurer though, for he came upon a village of Cimarrons in the jungle outside Nombre de Dios.  Drake and his men were impressed at the sight of the Cimarron stronghold, and one of his men proclaimed it, 'so clean and sweet that not only the houses but the very streets were pleasant to behold.'  In an age where sewage flowed in the streets back home in Europe, this would be considered a high compliment.  Drake was also impressed with their structure of laws.  'Cowardice in their battles with the Spanish was punished with death, such was their hatred of their previous lords'.  The Cimarrons must have equally impressed with the Englishman's desire to ambush the Spanish mule train, given that they were enthusiastic about helping Drake with his quest.  They knew the trail and the time the Spanish would arrive over the mountains and they readily joined him, for a portion of the bounty.

     When the Mule Train came, 35 English and French, and 20 Maroons came storming out of the jungle, firing muskets and swinging swords.  After a brief fight, the stunned Spanish broke and ran, leaving Drake and his allies with 119 mules, all laden with gold and silver, a year's supply from the mines of Peru (100,000 pieces of eight, enough to build 30 warships for Queen Elizabeth and still make Drake and his men rich for life)  And that was just the gold. The silver was way too much for him to carry away quickly, for Drake feared the Spanish would return with reinforcements.  Before carrying off the gold he and the Cimarrons scurried around, hiding the silver in the woods near the site of the raid.  Then, Drake paid off his allies with anything they wanted.  The black warriors had no use for gold or silver, but they desired ironworks, brass fittings, sewing needles, nails, cloth, and other such practical things.  Drake gave them everything they wanted, then bid the Maroons farewell and sailed back to England and into history as the man who deflected the Spanish Armada in the English channel.  For Francis Drake, the sacking of the Spanish Mule Train full of gold and silver was his first, big success.  The Cimarrons, however, would not enjoy such good fortune. 

     The Cimarrons were soon to catch hell by the reorganized Spanish who returned with a much bigger force.  They raided the settlement and forced them to retrieve the silver that was left, after which they subjected them to terrible retribution as an example.  The Spanish were said to have raped the Cimarron girls, murdered the older women, and castrated the leaders before roasting them to death over fires.  The boys were then subjected to a terrible fate as well: they were returned to slavery.

     With treatment such as this, its needless to say that Cimarrons throughout the Caribbean were keen on remaining a constant thorn in the side of Spain.  There were a few that lived among the ranks of the Buccaneers, but their association with all Europeans could be tenuous, since a black man could at any time, merely because of a few obvious physical differences, be taken into slavery again.  Never the less, there were Cimarron Buccaneers, and Cimarron slaves who were forced to fight the Spanish, or die in the process.

For much more on the subject, you can also read my historical novel, The Brethren Prince, available as an e-book at the Amazon Kindle store, Apple iBooks, Barnes and Noble, and other major e-book retailers.