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preface
The French were defeated because of yellow fever, not because the Haitian rebels had any strategy or any action.
This claim is completely untrue, and although yellow fever caused a large number of French as well as Haitian casualties, there were other circumstances that had a significant impact on the situation.
These include the following:
1. Guerrilla warfare
While it is true that most African rebels in Haiti had little military training before the revolution, some captured Africans did. Since many of them were soldiers, warlords, or fighters from militant societies such as Dahomey, they may have had experience in guerrilla warfare.
Many Haitian rebel leaders, including Tucson and Dessalin, knew that the French were formidable adversaries in traditional European-style warfare and therefore employed unconventional tactics such as sabotage, supply raids, hiding in trees and ambushes from above, well-coordinated ambushes and surprise attacks. In addition to this, many of the Haitian rebels were fugitive slaves or Maronites who had fled to the island to escape their French masters, so after a few months in the wilderness, they quickly became familiar with the new environment, including geography, certain plants that could be used to make medicines and poisons, and locations where they could ambush their enemies.
2. Spying
To gain information and strategy from their French opponents, Haitian rebels used spies. Most of these spies were domestic helpers, dockers, errand boys, coachmen, prostitutes, artisans, shop assistants, laborers, and even plantation overseers. They would eavesdrop on conversations between French soldiers and officers, sailors, foreign tourists, merchants, colonial government officials, white townspeople, and white overseers and their masters, especially when it came to military matters, and send this information to their leaders.
They would even send a child to deliver a message, or whisper it to a peer spy, passing the message through word of mouth. There are also Haitian spies who carve symbols into trees or rocks in remote areas, where their comrades will find them and understand the information inside. Among them, especially those on the plantation, even came up with more creative ways to communicate with their comrades through singing, role-playing, and drumming.
These behaviors seem to their French masters as if they were playing games and relaxing, but in reality they were exchanging information and developing strategies. This strategy succeeded because the French underestimated their slaves and considered them ignorant, so they would often speak up in front of African slaves, not realizing that they were revealing sensitive information that slave rebels would use against them.
In the summer of 1802, for example, many of the island's African inhabitants learned that Napoleon had resumed slavery in Martinique and Guadeloupe, close to the French possessions, and that Saint-Doninge would soon follow suit. When the African citizens of Saint-Doninger protested after learning of their plot to restore slavery, Napoleon and Leclerc were surprised, because they had wanted to keep it secret.
3. Voodoo
Given that this is the only thing that brings together all Africans in St. Dominic, voodoo undoubtedly contributed significantly to the triumph of the Haitian Revolution. Haitian slaves came together under the guidance of voodoo priests and through rituals formed a community with the same belief: "Dead, your spirit is resurrected in Africa; Live and you will be liberated. ”
This desperation actually turns into a force that encourages them to fight with reckless courage.
4. Poisons and medical techniques
Before becoming slaves, many African slaves had medical knowledge. Slave owners thought it would be easier to replace slaves when they died of disease, so they were reluctant to spend money on medicine, so some African slaves used their knowledge of local herbs, botany, etc., to extract medicine from plants to help them survive the disease. They even know how to make poisons using poisonous plants and animals from the tropics and use them as weapons.
They used poison in two ways: one was to contaminate food and drink supplied to superiors, managers, family and friends, and water dispensers used by French soldiers; Another method is to apply it to basic farming tools and use it as a weapon.
5. Psychological warfare
The French at that time were very religious and believed that the gods worshipped by slaves were demons. Some Haitian rebels have taken advantage of this by singing eerie tunes in their mother tongue or carving symbols on rocks, trees or buildings they attack in order to scare the French.
It is also ironic that the Haitian rebels have used another psychological warfare tactic. Haitian defenders bravely sang the songs of the French Revolution, commemorating the right of all people to equality and freedom. During the Battle of the Fortress, the French attacked an English fort where Dessalin and his troops were located, but could not be defeated for a long time. Many soldiers who had served in the French Revolutionary Wars, as well as the Allies, soon became discouraged and began to ask questions to their comrades and even senior officers, such as, "Why should we fight to keep these blacks in slavery when all they have done is defend the freedom granted to them by the French Revolution?" Aren't we a little unfair to them? ”
6. Arson and weaponized yellow fever
Throughout the fighting, the rebels often turned to arson. Extend the logistics of the French army by destroying farms and other infrastructure, depriving them of the supplies they need. Toussaint once wrote in a letter: "Remember that we have no resources other than destruction and fire. ”
John later said in his recollections that "Haitians did nothing, only yellow fever". This argument is very similar to the thesis given by Napoleon and German fans when explaining why their heroes lost at the hands of Russia "Russia won only because of winter".
There are many misconceptions about this argument, first of all yellow fever undoubtedly contributed significantly to the defeat of the French army. In fact, this is a campaign launched by the rebels to destroy the earth, especially in the interior, destroying infrastructure and making it difficult for the French army to transport vital supplies such as medicines to the interior. Yellow fever does take a toll on French casualties at a time when the French are already suffering from conflict, but we should understand that it has also claimed the lives of many Haitians.
Therefore, it is quite incomplete to say that the French were simply defeated by yellow fever, since the French colonists on the island had become accustomed to the disease long before the war. But when Haitian rebels helped, the yellow fever pandemic among the French did give them a lot of trouble.
In addition, the rebels destroyed inland plantations and even towns, preventing the French army from obtaining food and medicine. This forced them to rely heavily on supplies from France and the few cities they controlled that were vulnerable to rebel attacks. Due to the lack of medicines, many people in the French army died of malaria in Haiti. In addition, many French people are forced to sleep outside, making them more vulnerable to mosquitoes that carry malaria.
7. Bonuses
In fact, the secret cooperation between the British and the Haitian revolutionaries also had a certain impact on the French army. As the proverb goes, "The enemy of the enemy is my friend." Since Britain and France were at war in Europe, the British chose to extend the conflict to one of the French colonies and completely blockade there. After the outbreak of war between France and Britain on May 18, 1803, it was difficult for Napoleon to transport large forces to the front. This is very helpful for Haitians.