Napoleon's Expedition and the War of Independence

In 1801–02 Napoleon sent a large army under his brother-in-law Charles Leclerc to restore French authority in Saint-Domingue. Leclerc arrived in early 1802 and, after hard fighting, arrested Toussaint Louverture by deception. When news spread that France had restored slavery in Guadeloupe, many Black officers who had joined Leclerc turned against him, and the war became a struggle for independence led by Jean-Jacques Dessalines.

Yellow fever devastated the French army, killing Leclerc himself in November 1802. Renewed war between France and Britain in 1803 cut French supply lines. The decisive Battle of Vertières in November 1803 forced the French to evacuate. Comparing this war with America's shows contrasts: Americans won with French help, whereas Haitians defeated Napoleon's army largely on their own, though disease and Britain's naval war also weakened France.