Historical Organization
French expeditionary army
French expeditionary army
Details
Organization Timeline
Leclerc expedition arrives as France moves to reassert control
📅 29 January 1802A French expedition commanded by Charles Leclerc reached Cap-Français to reassert metropolitan authority over Saint-Domingue and displace Louverture’s autonomous government. Napoleon’s government...
Cap-Français is burned as French forces land
📅 5 February 1802In early February, a large French expedition under Charles Leclerc arrived to reassert French authority. Henri Christophe refused to surrender Cap-Français; revolutionary forces set much of the city...
Revolutionary defenders hold CrĂŞte-Ă -Pierrot under siege
đź“… 4 March 1802French forces began a sustained assault on the fortified position at CrĂŞte-Ă -Pierrot, where Dessalines and revolutionary soldiers resisted for weeks. The defenders eventually broke out on 24 March...
Toussaint Louverture accepts terms after months of resistance
📅 6 May 1802After months of fighting and defections, Toussaint Louverture entered Cap-Français and accepted Leclerc’s authority in exchange for amnesty and guarantees, then retired to his estate. This was a...
French forces capture Toussaint Louverture and deport him from Saint-Domingue
đź“… 7 June 1802After negotiations and military reversals, French forces arrested Louverture and sent him to France, where he was imprisoned at Fort de Joux. His removal did not end resistance. Reports of French...
French forces seize and deport Toussaint Louverture
đź“… 7 June 1802Leclerc had Toussaint Louverture arrested after inviting him to a meeting, despite the recent settlement and assurances of safety. Toussaint and members of his family were sent to France and...
Charles BĂ©lair raises a renewed revolt
đź“… 5 August 1802As French repression intensified and fears of restored slavery spread, General Charles BĂ©lair raised the standard of revolt. This renewed uprising drew on rural networks and the laboring population...
Charles and Sanité Bélair are executed
📅 5 October 1802French authorities tried Charles and Sanité Bélair by military commission and executed them at Cap-Français. Sanité, a Black woman revolutionary and officer, demanded to be shot as a soldier rather...
PĂ©tion and Clervaux join the renewed insurgency
đź“… 13 October 1802Alexandre PĂ©tion and Clervaux deserted the French side and joined the insurgency, followed by troops under their command. Their choice reflected mounting fear that French rule would strip Black and...
Leclerc dies during the yellow-fever crisis
📅 2 November 1802Charles Leclerc died at Cap-Français during the epidemic that devastated the French expeditionary force. Disease, resistance, and logistical strain undermined France’s effort to reimpose colonial...
Haitian forces defeat the French expedition at Vertières
📅 18 November 1803Jean-Jacques Dessalines’s forces defeated the French army at Vertières, the last major battle of the expedition. The victory made restoration of French colonial authority and slavery militarily...
Victory at Vertières breaks French military resistance
📅 18 November 1803The Indigenous Army under Jean-Jacques Dessalines and François Capois defeated Rochambeau’s forces at Vertières near Cap-Français. The victory followed years of resistance, epidemic disease, and...