Saint-Domingue Campaign
Haitian War of Independence · Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti)
Summary
From December 1801 to December 1802, the Saint-Domingue expedition sent by Bonaparte under General Leclerc tried to restore slavery and French authority. After initial successes against Toussaint Louverture, yellow fever decimated French troops; Leclerc died in November 1802. Rochambeau pursued extermination war before final defeat at Vertières (1803).
Historical context
On 4 February 1801 Toussaint Louverture proclaimed Saint-Domingue's autonomy. Bonaparte, First Consul, sent 20,000 soldiers (then 30,000 reinforcements) to retake control of the richest Antilles colony. Leclerc, Napoleon's brother-in-law, received command with instructions to restore colonial order.
Tactics
Leclerc divided Black leaders (Dessalines, Christophe, Pétion) through promises and treaties, arrested Toussaint in June 1802. But resistance resumed; guerrilla warfare and yellow fever ('Napoleon's yellow fever') killed more soldiers than combat. By December 1802 half the expedition was dead.
Consequences
Saint-Domingue failure forced Napoleon to sell Louisiana (1803) and abandon the American colonial project. The Haitian Revolution led to independence (1804), first Black republic. The expedition remains one of France's costliest colonial catastrophes and a trauma in Caribbean memory.