General Charles Bélair was executed 224 years ago
224 years ago, on October 5, 1802, Brigadier General Charles Bélair was executed in Le Cap, along with his wife, Sanité Bélair. An officer born in Saint-Domingue and the nephew of Toussaint Louverture, he took up arms against General Leclerc, whose mission was to re-establish slavery.
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By NAGO News
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The Artibonite Uprising
In August 1802, urged on by his wife, he rose up in the mountains of Les Verrettes. He won the population of the Artibonite over to his cause, proclaimed himself commander-in-chief of the indigenous forces, and retreated into the mountains of Le Chaos. Jérôme, Destrade, and Larose joined the movement, which spread to the mountains of Arcahaie.
Capture and Trial
Leclerc tasked Dessalines with suppressing the insurrection, which the latter deemed premature. Defeated, Charles Bélair saw his wife fall into the hands of the French; he surrendered himself in the hope of saving her, but was taken to Le Cap in chains. A military commission presided over by Clervaux sentenced them both to hanging; due to his rank, he was ultimately executed by firing squad. Sanité Bélair died the same day, refusing a blindfold.
A Name That Remains in Arcahaie
After their deaths, his supporters regrouped in the mountains of Arcahaie, and the French general Pageot was forced to withdraw to Port-au-Prince. In 1986, the high school in Arcahaie was named the Lycée Charles-Bélair.
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