Wars and ConflictsΒ permalink
When Haiti defeated the British....
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Message 1.Β
Posted by shivfan (U2435266) on Thursday, 21st January 2010
The British allowed them to be sucked into the Haitian Revolution to their detriment, and it all came about as a result of greed....
St Domingue was the richest sugar producing colony in the Caribbean, and when France underwent the French Revolution, the British saw St Domingue as easy pickings. In addition, planters from St Domingue who were allied to the ancien regime, indicated that they wanted to switch their allegiance to the British from as early as 1791. They didn't like the trend the French Revolution was taking, especially with the way the Jacobins were siding with the free mulattoes, whose rights were being suppressed in St Domingue.
In 1792, the Legislative Assembly in Parish had granted equal rights for all free blacks and mulattoes in the French colonies. The British thought the white planters would embrace them, and that the mulatto and black rebels would be so disorganised that they would collapse before their small force of just nine hundred men. Boy, did they get a wakeup call!
When the British landed in 1793, and they were welcomed by both the whites and mulattoes, who saw the British as defenders of slavery. In 1794, the French National Convention had taken the revolutionary step of outlawing slavery in all French colonies and granting the rights of citizenship to all men regardless of colour. This meant that the army of ex-slaves led by Toussaint L'Ouverture would always fight to keep the colony French, and would resist the British at every step of the way....
At the first, the British won some early victories. Then, mulatto general Rigaud, who'd switched to join the French, defeated the British at Tiburon, and when the much-needed reinforcements arrived, they were struck down by yellow fever.
The British made some coastal gains, but couldn't penetrate the interior, which was held by Toussaint, who conducted a guerrilla campaign. Toussaint held the north, while the British held the south and thw est. And in the territories conquered by the British, slave rebellions started to rise up against the British, and forced them on the defensive.
By 1796, Toussaint gained the upper hand, and in an alliance with Rigaud, they re-conquered most of St Domingue. In all, the British lost between 25,000 and 50,000 soldiers, depending on whose estimates you read. Eventually, in 1798, General Maitland negotiated with Toussaint for the total evacuation of the British from St Domingue.
The invasion of Haiti had ended in an expensive failure.... -
Message 2
Posted by stalti (U14278018) on Thursday, 21st January 2010
shivfan
wow - another one of those bits of british history i had never even heard of
surely the loss of 50000 troops would merit a mention in a history book
or maybe not - bit like the final battles in the 100 yrs war
st -
Message 3
Posted by Grumpyfred (U2228930) on Friday, 22nd January 2010
One has to question those figures and ask. How many were British and how many locals serving under the British flag? How many died of illness? The fever isles saw off more soldiers than died in combat.
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Message 4
Posted by shivfan (U2435266) on Friday, 22nd January 2010
Exactly, stalti....
It's really quite amazing that history students don't learn more about this historical campaign. For example, Fortescue in his History of the British Army claims that Britain's failed campaign in Haiti was a key factor in their inability to respond to Napoleon's threat in the early days of the Napoleonic War. That's a mighty big claim to make, and surely one that deserves some investigation....
Because Jamaican troops were involved in this British army, students of Caribbean history learn a bit more about this aspect of Haiti/British history. That's where I first learnt about this invasion. -
Message 5
Posted by shivfan (U2435266) on Friday, 22nd January 2010
Fred, in the early stage of the invasion, a lot of Jamaican troops were involved, which is probably why there were very few incidents of yellow fever claiming victims, since Jamaicans were already used to the climate, etc. But the problem arose when reinforcements were called in....
Now, there is a dispute about the actual figures about the deaths of soliders to yellow fever. Fortescue, in his 'History of the British Army', Vol IV (p565), claims that 50,000 troops died, and the majority from yellow fever. But some say that Fortescue had an agenda, and that he wanted to show that this pointless war in 'Santo Domingo' diverted much-needed troops from other conflicts (p325). However, Geggus refutes Fortescue's claims in his 'Slavery, War and Revolution: the British Occupation of St Domingue 1793-8', saying that the death toll was closer to 25,000 (p362). Of course, both historians say that the majority of deaths were as a result of yellow fever.... -
Message 6
Posted by TimTrack (U1730472) on Friday, 22nd January 2010
The reason that this campaign is barely mentioned in main history books is that, frankly, it was a side show.
It was part of the Anglo-French wars arising out of the French revolution.
Also, it did not end up actually changing anything, it being a failed invasion. -
Message 7
Posted by Grumpyfred (U2228930) on Friday, 22nd January 2010
I would think the loss of what amounts to between 40 to 100 battalions depending on which figures you take would rate more than a foot note. Over what time period did this great loss of life happen?
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Message 8
Posted by shivfan (U2435266) on Friday, 22nd January 2010
The invasion began in 1793, but Fortescue claimed that the force that went there was woefully short of the numbers needed (Bryan Edwards, 'An historical survey of the French colony of St Domingo, 1797, pp145-6). Edwards, a Jamaican planter who was a part of the British invasion force, says reinforcements came in 1794, and those new troops from England starting to collapse like flies to the dreaded yellow fever (p164).
One regiment was completely wiped out by the disease in a matter of days Hector McLean, 'An Enquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Great Mortality among the troops of St Domingo', 1797, p220). Thousands died on a regular basis, according to McLean (p3). Eventually, the death toll from disease became so high that historians like Geggus said that it was the main factor behind the failure of the expedition (DP Geggus, 'Slavery, War and Revolution: the British Occupation of St Domingue 1793-8', p289).
It seems to have been a big enough issue at the time, but seems to have been forgotten by history.... -
Message 9
Posted by Grumpyfred (U2228930) on Friday, 22nd January 2010
Thanks for that. I knew fever was a big factor out there,and surviving was the quickest way to get promoted.
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Message 10
Posted by stalti (U14278018) on Friday, 22nd January 2010
hi grumpyfred shivfan
there are many of these "footnotes" in our history which we know nothing about
all have meant deaths of british troops - nice to hear of them
st
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