Today in Haitian History - November 18, 1803 – Battle of Vertière
Although what we regard today as the Haitian Revolution largely begun as a clash between competing interests in Saint-Domingue in the 1789-1791 period, by 1803, it had evolved into a large-scale Revolution headed by Jean-Jacques Dessalines. Unlike his predecessor, Toussaint Louverture, who attempted to negotiate a place for an autonomous Saint-Domingue within the boundaries of the French Empire, Dessalines could not come to such compromise. The Battle of Vertière on November 18, 1803 marks the last decisive battle of the Haitian Revolution before complete French capitulation with French expeditionary leader Rochambeau’s surrender to Dessalines.
Image Courtesy of: Wikimedia Commons.
