The Battle of Léogane took place 232 years ago

A call from the town

Under British occupation, most of the men of color in Léogâne were hostile to the domination of the white colonists. They wrote to General Rigaud to invite him to attack, promising to rise up upon his arrival. Their envoys were received in Petit-Goâve by Pinchinat. General Beauvais dispatched 1,000 men from the Legion of the West from Jacmel toward Grand-Goâve, while Rigaud set out from Les Cayes with 2,000 men. Along the way, his troops occupied Saint-Louis and Aquin, and then joined the Legion of the West.

Near the town, the mulatto leaders of Léogâne informed Rigaud that the British had discovered the plot and arrested several republicans.

The assault

Rigaud maintained the attack. Lieutenant Colonel Faubert's battalion initially ran into a redoubt set up on the road. The cavalry led by Squadron Commander Marc Borneau then struck the right flank, while the Legion of the West fought in the trenches. After an hour, the republicans breached the walls and captured the stronghold. Pétion bombarded Fort Lapointe, which fell in turn; its cannons were turned against the British ships, which fled.

The aftermath

The republicans lost 12 men and had an equal number of wounded. The Anglo-royalists left behind 150 prisoners, including the entire German battalion of the Berwick regiment. A military commission sentenced several royalists to death, among them Labuissonière, who was accused of having surrendered the town to the English. Rigaud refused any clemency toward the black and mulatto prisoners who had gone over to the British side. The European prisoners, on the other hand, were led to Les Cayes without being stripped of their possessions.