The Legacy of Haitian Revolution

Over two centuries ago an untrained army of self-liberated slaves and their unlikely allies shook up the world. Never before had slaves with no military training taken on and defeated the three military superpowers of the time.

But their victory galled historians. Ten years before General Winter aided the great Russian commander General Mikhail Kutuzov to defeat Napoléon Bonaparte’s Grand Army, the Haitian Revolutionaries did it twice. The first significant defeat Napoléon suffered was not the Russian Campaign of 1812, it was Haiti almost a decade earlier.

And this was no insignificant campaign, it was so vital to Bonaparte, he made peace with Britain to have it conducted. Haiti (then known as Saint-Dominigue) had been the jewel in France’s colonial crown. It was vital to France’s economic future. Napoléon wanted it back. It was an essential part of his strategy.