Fort Liberté
Fort-Liberté (also Ville de Fort Liberté; Kreyòl: Fòlibète; the Taíno named it Bayaha, English: Fort Liberty) is the administrative centre of the Nord-Est Department of Haiti. The town is located on the Bay of Fort Liberté (19°67'N 71°83'W) It's former (French) colonial name is Fort-Dauphin (from 1731 to 1804).
The Spanish settlement there, under the Taíno name of Bayaha, was founded in 1578, making the town one of the oldest on the island of Kiskeya.
Henry Christophe, as King Henri I of Haiti (Henry 1er), renamed the city Fort-Royal and he took his royal title there on March 26, 1811. In 1820 after Christophe died the name was changed back to Fort Liberté.
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Fortifications around Fort-Liberté
Fort Dauphin is also the name of an important fort that was built om the bay, it is also sometimes called: Fort Saint Joseph (Patron Saint of the town Fprt Liberté) or Fort Liberté. Other fortifications in the area include: Fort Labouque, Batterie de l'Anse, Fort Saint Charles and Fort Saint Frédérique.
General Rochambeau's capture of the fort
In his memoir Toussaint Louverture writes: "... I received a letter from Gen. Rochambeau, announcing "that the column which he commanded had seized upon Fort Liberty, taken and put to the sword a part of the garrison, which had resisted; that he had not believed the garrison would steep its bayonets in the blood of Frenchmen; on the contrary, he had expected to find it disposed in his favor." I replied to this letter, and, manifesting my indignation to the general, asked to know, "Why he had ordered the massacre of those brave soldiers who had only followed the orders given them; who had, besides, contributed so much to the happiness of the colony and to the triumph of the Republic. Was this the recompense that the French Government had promised them?"
José Martî at Fort Liberté
In September of 1892 José Martí, a leader of the Cuban independence movement and a national thero, visits Fort Liberté, Gonaïves and Le Cap on his way to join the war for Cuban independence.
References
- Beard, J. R. (John Relly) (1863). Toussaint L'Ouverture: A Biography and Autobiography. Chapel Hill, NC: Academic Affairs Library, UNC-CH. Online Publication (p. 295 - 328)
External links
- Haïti Référence: Profil de la Ville du Fort Liberté - Information on Fort Liberté (French text).
