Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse

Admiral Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse (May 29 1750 Auch, France - July 24 1812, Venice) was the commander the 12 ship Brest fleet with which the bulk General Leclerc's troops was dispatched to Saint-Domingue in 1801. The goal was the annihilation of blacks and the re-establishment of slavery.

Joyeuse lobbied against the emancipation of slaves in the French colonies. He was a participant of the French Revolution, but later had to go into exile due to his connections with royalists. In 1801 he was recalled into service by Napoléon Bonaparte who had begun to launch his offensive against Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian Revolution.

Villaret de Joyeuse and the events of 1791

In 1791 Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse, who had just been given the command of the frigate La Prudente, was sent on a mission to transport French troops to Saint-Domingue. Arriving shortly before the breakout of the Boukman Rebellion that launched the Haitian Revolution, he then helped governor Blanchelande to transport troops around the French colony.