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{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict   = Battle of Orange Walk
| partof     = the [[Caste War of Yucatán]]
| image      = West India Regiment, 1874.jpg
| image_size = 180px
| caption    = Soldiers of the British West India Regiment.
| date       = 1 September 1872
| place      = [[Orange Walk Town]], British Honduras
|coordinates = 
| result     = British victory
| combatant1 = {{Flagcountry|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}
*{{flagicon image|Flag of British Honduras (1870–1919).svg}} [[British Honduras]]
| combatant2 = [[Icaiche Maya]] people
| commander1 = Lieutenant Joseph Graham Smith{{WIA}}<br />Assistant Surgeon [[John Dallas Edge]]
| commander2 = [[Marcus Canul]]{{KIA}}
| strength1  = 39 men of the [[West India Regiment]]
| strength2 = 150–180 men
| casualties1 = reportedly 2 killed, 14 severely wounded
| casualties2 = reportedly 30–50 killed
}}
The '''Battle of Orange Walk''' took place on 1 September 1872 when a force of [[Maya people|Icaiche Maya]] led by [[Marcus Canul]] attacked the town of [[Orange Walk Town|Orange Walk]] in [[Belize]].  Canul had previously been involved in conflict with the British authorities over infringements of his people's land rights and non-payment of rent and one motive for the raid may have been to seize the district magistrate for ransom.  Canul and his men crossed the border from Mexico the day before the battle and were able to reach the town undetected by the British.  They launched a surprise attack that caught the small garrison unaware – the British commanders were in the bath at the time the battle started.  The British forces – a small detachment of the [[West India Regiment]] – successfully defended their barracks building for a number of hours, inflicting heavy casualties on the Maya and fatally wounding Canul. The Maya then withdrew into Mexico.

== Background ==
[[Marcus Canul]] was a chief of the [[Maya people|Icaiche Maya]].  The Icaiche were on friendly terms with the government of neighbouring Mexico but had a history of conflict with the colony of [[British Honduras]]; Mexico itself had a disputed claim over land in the colony.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Adamson |first1=David |title=The Ruins of Time: Four and a Half Centuries of Conquest and Discovery Among the Maya |date=1975 |publisher=Allen and Unwin |page=172 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0oe86VF4qswC |accessdate=27 February 2019 |language=en}}</ref>  Canul had fought the British in 1866, capturing for ransom a number of woodcutters working for the [[British Honduras Company]] in the [[Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area|Rio Bravo region]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Robinson |first1=St John |title=Peopling Belize: chapters in migration |date=2006 |publisher=National Institute of Culture and History |page=59 |isbn=9789769513174 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1wA7AQAAIAAJ |accessdate=27 February 2019 |language=en |archive-date=2 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240602224451/https://books.google.com/books?id=1wA7AQAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> Canul and his men routed a detachment of British troops on December 21, 1866, at the [[Battle of San Pedro Yalbac]]. In 1867 the British mounted a counter-offensive, equipped with newly-arrived [[Congreve rockets]].<ref name="Church">{{cite book |last1=Church |first1=Minette C. |last2=Yaeger |first2=Jason |last3=Kray |first3=Christine A. |editor1-last=Orser |editor1-first=Charles E. Jr. |title=Archaeologies of the British in Latin America |series=Contributions To Global Historical Archaeology |date=2019 |publisher=Springer |location=Cham, Switzerland |isbn=9783319954257 |page=92 |chapter=Re-Centering the Narrative: British Colonial Memory and the San Pedro Maya}}</ref> This counter-offensive burned down the villages of San Pedro, Santa Teresa, San José, Naranjal, Cerro, Santa Cruz, and Chunbalche.<ref name="Jones78">{{cite book |last=Bolland |first=O. Nigel |editor1-last=Jones |editor1-first=Grant D. |title=Anthropology and History in Yucatán |date=1977 |chapter=The Maya and the Colonization of Belize in the Nineteenth Century |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=0292703147 |page=78}}</ref> A small force of Icaiche Maya advanced into British Honduras again in 1868 and made demands for rent on land over which they claimed ownership; however Canul disavowed the actions of this force.<ref>{{cite book |title=Accounts and Papers of the House of Commons |date=1870 |page=35 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uStcAAAAQAAJ |accessdate=27 February 2019 |language=en |archive-date=2 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240602224358/https://books.google.com/books?id=uStcAAAAQAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Orange Walk Town]] located around {{convert|10|miles|km}} from the Mexican border in northern British Honduras had its origin as a [[logging camp]] on the [[New River (Belize)|New River]].  In 1872 the town had a population of around 1,200 – largely mixed race Native American or mixed race European-Native American workers and a small British garrison.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sutherland |first1=Anne |title=The Making of Belize: Globalization in the Margins |date=1998 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=9780897895798 |page=25 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=50aL41XGlQAC |accessdate=27 February 2019 |language=en |archive-date=2 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240602224453/https://books.google.com/books?id=50aL41XGlQAC |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ellis |first1=Alfred Burdon |title=History of the first West India regiment |date=1885 |publisher=London : Chapman |page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924030726859/page/n346 303] |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924030726859}}</ref>

== Battle ==
On 31 August or early 1 September 1872 Canul led a force of the Maya across the [[Hondo River (Belize)|Rio Hondo]] from Mexico; this has been described as being 150–180 strong with around 100 non-combatant [[camp follower]]s.<ref name=ellis306>{{cite book |last1=Ellis |first1=Alfred Burdon |title=History of the first West India regiment |date=1885 |publisher=London : Chapman |page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924030726859/page/n351 306] |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924030726859}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Emond |first1=Charles John |title=A History of Orange Walk Town, Belize |date=1977 |publisher=BISRA |page=20 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V2hqAAAAMAAJ |accessdate=27 February 2019 |language=en}}</ref>  On 1 September he launched an attack on Orange Walk, to further his aim of collecting rent payments and returning lands he claimed were seized from his people.<ref name=duran>{{cite journal |last1=Durán |first1=Victor Manuel |title=Cultural Connections in Belize |journal=Americas |date=July–August 2008 |volume=60 |issue=4 |page=50 |url=https://search.proquest.com/openview/c67dc2c7237cfb64438ad6237a651614/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=42177 |accessdate=27 February 2019 |language=en |archive-date=2 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240602225358/https://www.proquest.com/openview/c67dc2c7237cfb64438ad6237a651614/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=42177 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Journal of Belizean affairs |date=1973 |page=19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vWNqAAAAMAAJ |accessdate=27 February 2019 |language=en |archive-date=2 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240602225533/https://books.google.com/books?id=vWNqAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>  A British press report of the time stated that Canul had intended to seize the town's magistrate with the intention of collecting a ransom.<ref name=spectator>{{cite book |title=The Spectator |date=1872 |publisher=F.C. Westley |page=1318 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dc4hAQAAMAAJ |accessdate=27 February 2019 |language=en |archive-date=2 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240602225955/https://books.google.com/books?id=Dc4hAQAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

British forces comprised Lieutenant Joseph Graham Smith and 37 men of the [[West India Regiment]], together with the unit's Assistant Surgeon [[John Dallas Edge]].<ref name=spectator/>  At around 8 am Canul led about 180 armed Maya against the garrison's barracks, a {{convert|30|ft|m|abbr=|adj=on}} wide and {{convert|60|ft|m|abbr=|adj=on}} long structure built from 3" wooden stakes and roofed in palm leaves, that was situated midway between the town and the river.<ref name=ellis305>{{cite book |last1=Ellis |first1=Alfred Burdon |title=History of the first West India regiment |date=1885 |publisher=London : Chapman |page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924030726859/page/n350 305] |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924030726859}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Metzgen |first1=Humphrey |last2=Graham |first2=John |title=Caribbean Wars Untold: A Salute to the British West Indies |date=2007 |publisher=University of West Indies Press |isbn=9789766402037 |page=78 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pch7AAAAMAAJ |accessdate=27 February 2019 |language=en |archive-date=2 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240602230001/https://books.google.com/books?id=pch7AAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>  The Maya forces were able to approach the town undetected, a fact which led the British to suspect they had sympathisers in the local population.<ref name=ellis305/>  Canul split his force into three equal portions: one that attacked and looted the town and two that converged upon the barracks.<ref name=ellis306/>  Edge and Smith were out of the barracks bathing at the time of the attack and upon hearing the first shots had to make a desperate rush over the {{convert|60|yd|m}} from their bath tubs to the building.<ref name=spectator/><ref name=ellis307>{{cite book |last1=Ellis |first1=Alfred Burdon |title=History of the first West India regiment |date=1885 |publisher=London : Chapman |page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924030726859/page/n352 307] |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924030726859}}</ref>  Edge was completely naked and Smith clothed only in his drawers.<ref name=spectator/>

Details of the subsequent battle are recorded in the West India regimental history published in 1885, an 1872 report in the ''Spectator'' and also in the personal correspondence of Edge; there are differences in some details.<ref name=edge/>  According to the ''Spectator'', Smith was shot in the back during the run from his bath.  The bullet is said to have struck near to both his heart and spinal column and both he and Edge thought the wound to be fatal.<ref name=spectator/><ref name=edge/>  Edge states that Smith was incapacitated and that he subsequently took over command of the garrison.<ref name=edge/>  The regimental history records instead that Smith and Sergeant Belizario made a dash back to his quarters, braving the Maya cross fire to retrieve the key for the garrison magazine.  Belizario then retrieved the portable magazine from an adjoining room and passed the contents through the wall to the garrison, all the while under heavy fire.  Smith is then said to have taken up a position in the door of the barracks and returned fire against the Maya when he was struck by a bullet.<ref name=ellis308>{{cite book |last1=Ellis |first1=Alfred Burdon |title=History of the first West India regiment |date=1885 |publisher=London : Chapman |page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924030726859/page/n353 308] |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924030726859}}</ref>  By Edge's account he ordered the defenders to reinforce the walls of the barracks with their mattresses – which apparently were sufficient to stop bullets; in the regimental history this action is attributed to Smith.<ref name=edge/>

One of the garrison, Private Bidwell, had been on detachment at a commissariat store in the town when the attack occurred.  He took position in a compound overlooking the barracks and fired off his ten rounds of ammunition at the Maya.  He then ran for the barracks to rejoin his comrades but was mortally wounded in doing so.<ref name=ellis309>{{cite book |last1=Ellis |first1=Alfred Burdon |title=History of the first West India regiment |date=1885 |publisher=London : Chapman |page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924030726859/page/n354 309] |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924030726859}}</ref>

The garrison kept up a defence of the structure for some four to six hours, during which time the Maya set fire to the town.<ref name=spectator/><ref name=ellis310>{{cite book |last1=Ellis |first1=Alfred Burdon |title=History of the first West India regiment |date=1885 |publisher=London : Chapman |page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924030726859/page/n355 310] |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924030726859}}</ref>  At one point two American settlers – Price and Brudrow – joined the battle.  Arriving from an outlying ranch they found themselves to the rear of the Maya; by opening fire they were able to cause enough confusion to ride over to the barracks.<ref name=ellis310/>  The Americans advocated a retreat over the river.  Edge disagreed, stating that the act would kill Smith and endanger the men – though he would permit the Americans to try on their own.  Both Price and Brudrow decided to remain in the barracks.  A number of civilian refugees from the town also joined Edge and his men.<ref name=edge/>  Many of the others including all the European women and children escaped from the town by boat to nearby [[San Estevan, Belize|San Estevan]].<ref name=ellis312>{{cite book |last1=Ellis |first1=Alfred Burdon |title=History of the first West India regiment |date=1885 |publisher=London : Chapman |page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924030726859/page/n357 312] |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924030726859}}</ref>

Eventually Canul was mortally wounded and the Maya defeated, reportedly suffering some 30 to 50 men killed and an unknown number of wounded.<ref name=duran/><ref name=spectator/><ref name=ellis311>{{cite book |last1=Ellis |first1=Alfred Burdon |title=History of the first West India regiment |date=1885 |publisher=London : Chapman |page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924030726859/page/n356 311] |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924030726859}}</ref>  The survivors escaped into Mexico.<ref name=spectator/>  British losses were reportedly two men killed and 14 severely wounded.<ref name=edge/>  More than 300 bullet holes were recorded in the walls of the barracks.<ref name=ellis312/>

The morning after the attack a rumour spread that another force of Maya was forming to resume the assault.  A British patrol was sent out which found only a scattered few in the bush.<ref name=ellis312/>  Edge claims to have spent the next three days in leading patrols to secure the town and extracting more than 26 bullets from the defenders.<ref name=edge/>  A 20-man British relief force arrived on the third day with a more substantial reinforcement arriving on the fourth day.<ref name=ellis312/>

== Aftermath ==
The battle was the last conflict involving the Maya in [[British Honduras]] and also the last serious attack on the colony.<ref name=duran/><ref name=bolland>{{cite book |last1=Bolland |first1=O. Nigel |title=The Formation of a Colonial Society: Belize, from Conquest to Crown Colony |date=1977 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=9780801818875 |page=[https://archive.org/details/formationofcolon0000boll/page/130 130] |url=https://archive.org/details/formationofcolon0000boll |url-access=registration |accessdate=27 February 2019 |language=en}}</ref>  The Icaiche Maya thereafter maintained an uneasy peace with the British authorities.<ref name=bolland/>  The garrison was reinforced by a further 50 men of the West India Regiment from Jamaica on 25 September as a direct result of the attack.<ref name=ellis315/>  In 1874 the British colonial government constructed a fort on the site on the battle.<ref>{{cite book |title=Belizean Studies |date=1983 |publisher=Belize Institute of Social Research and Action |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7v0iAQAAIAAJ |accessdate=27 February 2019 |language=en |archive-date=2 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240602230002/https://books.google.com/books?id=7v0iAQAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Lieutenant Smith recovered from his wound and was promoted to command a company of the 97th Regiment.<ref name=ellis315>{{cite book |last1=Ellis |first1=Alfred Burdon |title=History of the first West India regiment |date=1885 |publisher=London : Chapman |page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924030726859/page/n360 315] |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924030726859}}</ref>  Assistant Surgeon Edge was promoted to Staff Surgeon on 3 December 1872 for his role in the battle and later became a major-general in the [[Royal Army Medical Corps]].<ref name=edge>{{cite web |title=Biographical notes re Major General John Dallas Edge, RAMC, with correspondence, 1929–1930, including Edge's own account of his leadership in the defence of Orange Walk, Honduras |url=https://wellcomelibrary.org/item/b18687611#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=15&z=0.2067%2C0.4908%2C0.6216%2C0.75&r=0 |website=Wellcome Library |accessdate=27 February 2019 |language=en |archive-date=1 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190301140333/https://wellcomelibrary.org/item/b18687611#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=15&z=0.2067%2C0.4908%2C0.6216%2C0.75&r=0 |url-status=live }}</ref>  Belizario was awarded the [[Distinguished Conduct Medal]].<ref name=ellis315/>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Conflicts in 1872]]
[[Category:History of British Honduras]]
[[Category:Wars involving the Indigenous peoples of North America]]
[[Category:History of the Yucatán Peninsula]]
[[Category:Maya history]]