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Biography
Julien Fedon was born on the island of Martinique. [1] Julien Fedon was the son of Pierre Fedon, a French jeweler who traveled from Bordeaux, France, in 1749 to the island of Martinique. His mother, meanwhile, was a free black slave of Martinica. The family moved to Grenada in the 1750s, when the island was still under French rule. [3] However, according to historian Edward Cox, noted researcher of Julien Fédon, Fédon seem not to have lived on the island in 1772 and probably he would have migrated to it later. [1] Already in Grenada, he was the owner of the farm in the Belvedere Estate, in Saint John Parish. [1] He was appointed commanding general of the French republican forces in Guadaloupe island.[3][4]
Fedon began the revolt on the night of March 2, 1795 to abolish slavery, converting slaves into citizens, and eliminate British colonial rule, returning it to the French people. [1][3]To do this, he fought against the landlords and white British bourgeois, with the help of several troops formed by around 100 freed slaves and mulattos. [3] The attacks went so coordinate, against the cities of Grenville and Gouyave. [2] The rebels looted and burned houses and dragged into the streets to British settlers, after which they were executed. After returning to the mountains of Belvedere, the rebels joined a large group of slaves who had abandoned the plantations where they worked. In the mountains, Fedon established several fortifications to face the British attacks.[3] Thus Rebellion allowed them to control the whole island except the St. George Parish, the place where stood the seat of government. [2] During those months, about 14,000 of the 28,000 slaves on Granada at the time were allied to the revolutionary forces, with many French people who had seen that their land, Grenada, was ceded to the British in 1763, and that of French Catholics in the island, excluded from civil and political rights because of their religion, and that wanted oust the British from the island. [2] In the war against the whites, killed some 7,000 of these slaves. [2]
The April 8, 1796, a brother of Fédon died because to a British attack in its field. To avenge the death of his brother, Fédon ordered the execution of 48 prisoners (of the 53 that he had[5]%29 who were with him on the mountain, including Governor Ninian Home. Fédon´s attack failed when run against St. George. The historians considered that the failure of this attack was the source of his defeat. Also, on many occasions, Fedon allowed the regrouping and strengthening of the British, without launching any attack on them. Thus, the British were able to defeat the troops of Fédon. [3]
The forces of Fédon were defeated the next day on the steep hills and ridges near Mt Qua Qua. The few surviving rebels flung themselves down the mountain. Fedon was never captured and his whereabouts is unknown after the revolution. It is believed, however, that he may have tried to flee the island by canoe, which could have sunk when it was already at a distance from the island. [1]