Louis of Mauritius

Louis of Mauritius, a freedom fighter, led the first slave rebellion in South Africa in October 1808. Louis was joined by two Irishmen, James Hooper and Michael Kelly, and four other slaves: Jephta of Batavia, Abraham, Adonis and an Indian slave. The rebellion had been plotted at a tavern in Strand Street and launched from a Swartland farm called Volgelgezang (Birdsong). The plan was to march from the rural districts all the way to Cape Town, gathering slaves on the way, where they aimed to take over the Amsterdam Battery and turn the guns on the Castle. Then they would negotiate a peace which would involve the establishment of a free state and freedom for all slaves. Dressed in a military style uniform, he led a march of over 300 from the Vogelgezang farm to Salt River where, confronted by the might of the colonial detachments, they surrendered. He was hanged together with the other leaders of the uprising.