The Battle of Crête-à-Pierrot was a major battle of the

Haitian Revolution The Haitian Revolution (french: révolution haïtienne ; ht, revolisyon ayisyen) was a successful insurrection by self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolt began on ...

that took place from 4 March until 24 March 1802. The battle took place at the Crête-à-Pierrot fort (in

Haitian Creole Haitian Creole (; ht, kreyòl ayisyen, links=no, ; french: créole haïtien, links=no, ), commonly referred to as simply ''Creole'', or ''Kreyòl'' in the Creole language, is a French-based creole language spoken by 10–12million people wor ...

''Lakrèt-a-Pyewo''), east of

Saint-Marc Saint-Marc ( ht, Sen Mak) is a commune in western Haiti in Artibonite departement. Its geographic coordinates are . At the 2003 Census the commune had 160,181 inhabitants. It is one of the biggest cities, second to Gonaïves, between Port-au-P ...

on the valley of the

Artibonite River The Artibonite River ( Spanish: '' Río Artibonito''; Haitian Creole: ''Latibonit'') is the longest river in Haiti, and the longest on the island of Hispaniola. It is also the second-longest river in the Caribbean, behind the Cauto River in Cuba. ...

. The French colonial army, consisting of 2,000 men led by General

Charles Leclerc Charles Marc Hervé Perceval Leclerc (; born 16 October 1997) is a Monégasque racing driver, currently racing in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari. He won the GP3 Series championship in 2016 and the FIA Formula 2 Championship in . Leclerc ...

, blockaded the fort, which was defended by

Jean-Jacques Dessalines Jean-Jacques Dessalines ( Haitian Creole: ''Jan-Jak Desalin''; ; 20 September 1758 – 17 October 1806) was a leader of the Haitian Revolution and the first ruler of an independent Haiti under the 1805 constitution. Under Dessalines, Haiti be ...

's Haitian rebels. The fort was strategically important as it controlled access to the Cahos Mountains. With their food and munitions supplies depleted, Dessalines's rebels forced the French blockade and escaped to the mountains. Here, Dessalines's forces massacred many French civilians, and then regained control of the Crête-à-Pierrot fort on 11 March. On 12 March, the French forces attempted to gain control of the fort, but failed;

Jean Boudet Jean Boudet (9 February 1769, in Bordeaux – 14 September 1809, in Moravské Budějovice, now in the Czech Republic) was a French général de division of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. The campaigns in which he was invo ...

's French forces suffered losses of 480, and Dessalines's forces suffered losses of 200-300. Another attempt on 22 March led to 300 French deaths. On 24 March, Dessalines's forces abandoned the fort in the night due to their heavy losses and the French gained control. The French had suffered major losses, including the death of General

Charles Dugua Charles François Joseph Dugua (1740, in Toulouse or, 1774, in Valenciennes – October 16, 1802 in Crête-à-Pierrot), was a general of the French Revolution, present in the French Campaign in Egypt and Syria. Military career Dugua was in ...

Alexandre Pétion Alexandre Sabès Pétion (; April 2, 1770 – March 29, 1818) was the first president of the Republic of Haiti from 1807 until his death in 1818. He is acknowledged as one of Haiti's founding fathers; a member of the revolutionary quartet tha ...

, a mixed-race Haitian general, had played an important role when he deployed his cannon on a hill overlooking the fort. Following the battle, Dessalines temporarily swore allegiance to France and joined his forces with Leclerc's, leading

Toussaint Louverture François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture (; also known as Toussaint L'Ouverture or Toussaint Bréda; 20 May 1743 – 7 April 1803) was a Haitian general and the most prominent leader of the Haitian Revolution. During his life, Louverture ...

, the Haitian leader, to agree to surrender. Though a defeat for the Haitians, the battle demonstrated their fighting qualities and showed that they could cause significant casualties to regular European forces. When disease disabled much of the French army, Dessalines once again returned to the field, now as the leader of the Haitian forces after the arrest and death of Louverture, and the story of the stubborn resistance of the Haitians at La Crête à Pierrot helped give his troops confidence.

References

External links

The Battle of Crête-à-Pierrot
The Louverture Project. {{DEFAULTSORT:Crete-a-Pierrot, Battle of Conflicts in 1802 Battles involving France Haitian Revolution 1802 in France 1802 in the Caribbean March 1802 events