| Siege of Port-au-Prince | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Haitian Revolution | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 France |  Haitian Rebels | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Jean-Pierre Marie Lavalette du Verdier | Jean-Jacques Dessalines | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 1,000 men | 22,000 men | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
The siege of Port-au-Prince was an engagement that took place during the Haitian Revolution. [1]
In October, the rebel army commanded by General Dessalines, a force of 22,000 men, laid siege to the city of Port-au-Prince. After a month of siege and several attacks, [2] the French troops commanded by Lavalette evacuate the place and retreat to the Cap-Français. [3]
François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture also known as Toussaint L'Ouverture or Toussaint Bréda, was a Haitian general and the most prominent leader of the Haitian Revolution. During his life, Louverture first fought and allied with Spanish forces against Saint-Domingue Royalists, then joined with Republican France, becoming Governor-General-for-life of Saint-Domingue, and lastly fought against Bonaparte's republican troops. As a revolutionary leader, Louverture displayed military and political acumen that helped transform the fledgling slave rebellion into a revolutionary movement. Along with Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Louverture is now known as one of the "Fathers of Haiti".
Jean-Jacques Dessalines was the first Haitian Emperor, leader of the Haitian Revolution, and the first ruler of an independent Haiti under the 1805 constitution. Initially regarded as governor-general, Dessalines was later named Emperor of Haiti as Jacques I (1804–1806) by generals of the Haitian Revolutionary army and ruled in that capacity until being assassinated in 1806. He spearheaded the resistance against French rule of Saint-Domingue, and eventually became the architect of the 1804 massacre of the remaining French residents of newly independent Haiti, including some supporters of the revolution. Alongside Toussaint Louverture, he has been referred to as one of the fathers of the nation of Haiti. Dessalines was directly responsible for the country, and, under his rule, Haiti became the first country in the Americas to permanently abolish slavery.
Alexandre Sabès Pétion was the first president of the Republic of Haiti from 1807 until his death in 1818. One of Haiti's founding fathers, Pétion belonged to the revolutionary quartet that also includes Toussaint Louverture, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, and his later rival Henri Christophe. Regarded as an excellent artilleryman in his early adulthood, Pétion would distinguish himself as an esteemed military commander with experience leading both French and Haitian troops. The 1802 coalition formed by him and Dessalines against French forces led by Charles Leclerc would prove to be a watershed moment in the decade-long conflict, eventually culminating in the decisive Haitian victory at the Battle of Vertières in 1803.
The Haitian Revolution was a successful insurrection by self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolution was the only known slave uprising in human history that led to the founding of a state which was both free from slavery and ruled by non-whites and former captives.
Prince Jean-Louis Michel Paul Pierrot, Baron of Haïti was a career officer general in the Haitian Army who also served as President of Haiti from 16 April 1845 to 1 March 1846.
The Battle of Crête-à-Pierrot was a major battle of the Haitian Revolution that took place from 4 March until 24 March 1802.
The Battle of Ravine-à-Couleuvres, fought on 23 February 1802, was a major battle of the Saint-Domingue expedition during the Haitian Revolution.
The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution is a 1938 book by Trinidadian historian C. L. R. James, and is a history of the Haitian Revolution of 1791–1804.
Joseph Saint-Rémy was a Haitian historian. He is best known for his biography La Vie de Toussaint Louverture about the Haitian Revolution leader Toussaint L'Ouverture, and for his work Pétion et Haïti, about another Revolutionary figure, Alexandre Pétion. Born in Guadeloupe, Saint-Rémy emigrated to Haiti as a young child and grew up in Les Cayes before leaving for school in France.
The War of Knives, also known as the War of the South, was a civil war from June 1799 to July 1800 between the Haitian revolutionary Toussaint Louverture, a black ex-slave who controlled the north of Saint-Domingue, and his adversary André Rigaud, a mixed-race free person of color who controlled the south. Louverture and Rigaud fought over de facto control of the French colony of Saint-Domingue during the war. Their conflict followed the withdrawal of British forces from the colony earlier during the Haitian Revolution. The war resulted in Toussaint taking control of the entirety of Saint-Domingue, and Rigaud fleeing into exile.
Lamour Desrances was a Haitian revolutionary leader. A former maroon, he was born in Africa and brought to Saint-Domingue as a slave. During the revolution, when local figures often gained power in control of small armed forces, Desrances became a local military leader in the mountains surrounding Port-au-Prince and Saint-Marc.
The Indigenous Army, also known as the Army of Saint-Domingue was the name bestowed to the coalition of anti-slavery men and women who fought in the Haitian Revolution in Saint-Domingue. Encompassing both black slaves, maroons, and affranchis, the rebels were not officially titled the Armée indigène until January 1803, under the leadership of then-general Jean-Jacques Dessalines. Predated by insurrectionists such as François Mackandal, Vincent Ogé and Dutty Boukman, Toussaint Louverture, succeeded by Dessalines, led, organized, and consolidated the rebellion. The now full-fledged fighting force utilized its manpower advantage and strategic capacity to overwhelm French troops, ensuring the Haitian Revolution was the most successful of its kind.
The siege of Port-au-Prince took place during the Haitian Revolution.
The Battle of Croix-des-Bouquets took place during the Haitian Revolution.
The Battle of Saint-Raphaël took place during the Haitian Revolution.
The Battle of Gonaïves took place during the Haitian Revolution.
The Battle of Cap-Français took place from 20 to 22 June 1793 during the Haitian Revolution. It was originally a conflict between commissioners sent by the French Republican government, who were supported by rebellious slaves and free people of color, against the colony's elite and white royalist slave owners, who sparked an uprising against the commissioners in the city, led to a military conflict between whites and coloreds within the city, to eventually lead to an attack by slaves throughout the city.
Étienne Maynaud de Bizefranc de Laveaux was a French general who was Governor of Saint-Domingue from 1793 to 1796 during the French Revolution. He ensured that the law that freed the slaves was enforced, and supported the black leader Toussaint Louverture, who later established the independent republic of Haiti. After the Bourbon Restoration he was Deputy for Saône-et-Loire from 1820 to 1823.
Toussaint Louverture: The Story of the Only Successful Slave Revolt in History is a three-act play about Toussaint L'Ouverture, the leader of the Haitian Revolution, written by C. L. R. James in 1934.
Moyse Hyacinthe L'Ouverture was a military leader in Saint-Domingue during the Haitian Revolution. Originally allied with Toussaint L'Ouverture, Moyse grew disillusioned with the minimal labor reform and land distribution for black former slaves under the L'Ouverture administration and lead a rebellion against Toussaint in 1801. Though executed, the insurrection he directed highlighted the failure of the Haitian Revolution in creating real revolutionary labor change and ignited the movement that drove L’Ouverture from office.