Spain recruited self-liberated slave fighters as hard-to-control auxiliaries

Evidence

Although there was a long tradition of arming slaves in the Spanish Americas, this decision was a “daring experiment.” Rather than inviting the enslaved to serve for liberty, the Spanish were calling on “people who had effectively already freed themselves.” These were experienced and independent bands of fighters, and they would prove difficult to control and dominate once they had been recruited. — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 528