Colonial expedition destroys a Maroon stronghold

The government assembles an expedition of Europeans and Indigenous allies. Its plan is to destroy villages and food stores and kill residents, forcing the resistance to surrender or leave. This is...

Several soldiers are killed and others wounded during an attack on Fort Oranje. The surviving occupiers abandon the post and return to Paramaribo with the wounded. The attack shows that fortified...

A land and river expedition destroys villages and, according to the report, captures 82 Indigenous people and five Maroons. The source says most of the Indigenous captives were hanged. Women and...

Indigenous fighters set fire to a house in Paramaribo and a building on an abandoned plantation, then escape. The colonial authorities suspect Maroon assistance. The action brings the war to the...

The Sapaijers, who had earlier fought the Dutch, now side with the occupier and attack Carib fighters, according to the colonial report. This shift shows that Indigenous peoples did not form a...

After taking office, Governor Van Sommelsdijck declares that fighters must be hunted down and killed, settlements destroyed and food supplies removed. The aim is to bring Indigenous communities...

An expedition of about 284 men moves into the interior during the rainy season. After ten weeks, the colonial report records deaths, captives and burned villages, but no elimination of the resistance....

A military unit sets out on an expedition together with Indigenous allies. The surviving account gives little information about the outcome. The archive thus shows how colonial military plans are...

Van Sommelsdijck writes that earlier expeditions had mixed results and that he wants to make Indigenous groups friends and conclude a lasting peace. The turn toward negotiation follows years in...

The attached PDF describes 1686 as a turning point and reports that a peace treaty was concluded. The treaty itself was not found among the archival documents discussed; its exact date, terms and...