Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint-Domingue

Originally, the regiment was to consist of 10 companies of light infantry organized into two battalions, each company consisting of 79 men. It was open to all gens de couleur, not just free blacks of mixed race, but also slaves who were promised their freedom on their return if they joined. On 21 April 1779, the regiment received authorization for an expansion. Each of the companies would now number 100 gens de couleur, plus three white officers. The enlisted men comprised 88 fusiliers, two drummers, eight corporals, four sergeants, and one "fourrier". The regimental officers, all white, consisted of a colonel, a lieutenant-colonel, a battalion commandant, a major, and an aide-major.[1]

The regiment accompanied the Comte d'Estaing as part of the expeditionary force for service in the American Revolutionary War. While the unit was plagued by desertions still some 545 men participated in the Siege of Savannah. The white counterpart to the Chasseurs, the Grenadiers-Volontiers, nominally a battalion-sized unit originally and even more plagued by desertions, provided 156 men.[2]

The expeditionary force under the command of d'Estaing and his lieutenant, Jean-Baptiste Bernard Vaublanc, left Cap-Français on 15 August 1779, and arrived on 8 September 1779, in Savannah, Georgia. After arriving they were tasked to help the American colonial rebels, who were intent on regaining control of the city which British forces under Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald Campbell had captured in 1778. An official list of the units participating in the siege mentioned both the Chasseurs-Volontaires and the Grenadier-Volontiers, but mentioned that they were only to be used to dig trenches.

The British Army sortied from their defenses on 24 September before dawn to engage their French and American besiegers. The Chasseurs fought back and lost one man while seven others were wounded, along with Conte D'Estaing.[3] The siege ended in failure on 9 October 1779.

Pierre L'Enfant, who eventually would design Washington, D.C., was also wounded in battle.

Twelve-year old slave-boy Henri Christophe, who served as a drummer, would later become the King of Haiti.

The French did not disband the Chasseurs, but instead continued to use the unit. Some men accompanied d'Estaing and Rouvray to Versailles; these Chasseurs did not return to Saint-Domingue until 1780. The majority of the regiment then served in Saint-Domingue as garrison troops.

A company of 62 men accompanied the casualties from Savannah to Charleston and then participated in the defense of Charleston in spring 1780.[3]

A third of the regiment, some 150-200 men, were stationed in Grenada. As late as mid-1782 about 100 were still there.[3]

In 2007, a memorial sculpture was dedicated to the Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint-Domingue in Savannah, Georgia.[4]

Notes

Citations

References

• Garrigus, J. (2006), Before Haiti: Race and Citizenship in French Saint-Domingue (Springer). ISBN 9781403984432
• Lespinasse, Beauvais (1882), Histoire des affranchis de Saint-Domingue: Tome premier (J. Kugelmann).

• The Historical Marker Database - Haitian Monument