Military Campaigns in Tropical Karst

Topography, restricted surface water supply, and cave use for refuge and ambush afford strategic offensive and defensive advantages to native combatants familiar with the surface and underground terrain, and pose tactical problems for unfamiliar foreign forces. The Maroon Wars of 1690- 1796 pitted numerically superior British forces against organized bands of escapee slaves and others in the classic tropical karst of Jamaica’s Cockpit Country. In this complex landscape of rugged conical hills surrounding deep sinkholes, British efforts to engage and subdue their antagonists were largely unsuccessful, while they suffered mounting casualties from guerrilla attacks. Ultimately, the British adopted a strategy of attrition and containment, selected deforestation, and bombardment, forcing Maroon withdrawal. The British established a road cordon around the Cockpit Country and limited Maroon access to water supplies. In 1796, weakened by measles, the Maroons agreed to duplicitous peace terms. Vestiges of the conflicts remain, particularly in Cockpit Country place names.