![The Slaves Who Defeated Napoléon The Slaves Who Defeated Napoléon](/assets/5eb1ce44/9780817317324-359505-510x590.jpg)
The Slaves Who Defeated Napoléon
Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian War of Independence, 1801–1804
Among the many rebellions against European colonial empires, the Haitian Revolution against France is among the most dramatic and complex. Having begun in 1791 as France was in the throes of its own young revolution, the conflict reached its dramatic climax when Napoleon dispatched a heavily armed expeditionary force led by his brother-in-law Charles Leclerc to re-establish slavery and the sugar economy that had so enriched France. Philippe Girard’s Slaves Who Defeated Napoleon is a deeply researched and engrossing account of this invasion and its spectacular defeat.
For this ambitious account, Philippe Girard has studied not only primary records in Haiti itself but also rare documents from nineteen public and private archives and research libraries in French, U.S., British, and Spanish collections. His more inclusive approach provides a fuller, more accurate and detailed narrative. He reveals not only key military movements, but also less-known aspects like the activities of U.S. merchants, in-fighting within Napoleon’s government, and communication between both sides and other European powers. Girard fills the work with unforgettable stories of those who led or were caught up in the war, people like poorly armed Black soldiers who ambushed Bonaparte’s columns, French child drummers, Jewish bankers in Kingston, weapon smugglers from Quaker Philadelphia, Polish artillerists, and mixed-raced people struggling to preserve their freedom against both Black and white opponents.
Transcending pat ideological and racial categories, the book brings into focus an Atlantic society at the crossroads of African and European influences, where Haitian rebels fought France while embracing its ideals.
'This fast-paced narrative is an excellent modern treatment that offers a welcome micro-examination of the day-to-day events that turned Toussaint Louverture from a loyal French governor into a formidable independence leader. Essential.' —CHOICE
‘It is readable and lively, and details an important and little-studied episode that had important implications for the long-term success of Napoleon and on the territorial expansion of the United States.’ —Stewart R. King, author of Blue Coal or Powdered Wig: Free People of Color in PreRevolutionary Saint Domingue and editor of Encyclopedia of Free Blacks and People of Color in the Americas
‘This is an well-researched and important contribution to the study of the Haitian Revolution. Girard has drawn together a wide range of archival materials, as well as thoroughly mining printed primary sources, to present a richly detailed account of the war of independence.’ —Laurent R. Dubois, author Avengers of the New World: The Story of the Haitian Revolution
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Black Napoléon: Louverture and the 1801 Constitution
2. The White Toussaint: Bonaparte's Decision to Invade Saint-Domingue
3. Eve of a Battle: Planning the Leclerc Expedition
4. King of the Tropics: The Atlantic Crossing and the Moyse Uprising
5. Parley: The French Landing
6. Supply and Demand: Leclerc's Diplomacy with the United States, Cuba, and Jamaica
7. Ash and Iron: The Spring Campaign
8. Lull: Love, Loot, Labor, and Louverture's Exile
9. Mal de Siam: The Yellow Fever Epidemic
10. Faux Pas: The Maroon Uprising
11. Revolt: The Defection of the Colonial Army
12. Reprieve: Rochambeau and the French Counteroffensive
13. Unity Is Strength: Dessalines and the Unification of the Rebel Army
14. Echoes of Saint-Domingue: Louverture's Captivity and the Louisiana Purchase
15. New Enemy, New Partner: The British Navy at War 00
16. Sodom and Gomorrah: Life in Besieged French Towns
17. Resolution: The Rebel Victory
18. Liberty and Death: Haitian Independence
19. The Long Way Home: French Refugees and the Fall of Santo Domingo
Conclusion
Notes
Glossary of French and Kreyol Terms
Bibliographic Essay
Index