Chasseurs-Volontaires de couleur de Saint-Domingue was founded as a french Regiment for colored troops on March 12th 1779. Being that African slaves were promised freedom if they joined, there was a mad rush towards the unit. Freedom from Capitalistic Oppression is not Free. Just like in the USA, Slaves were not given the honor of being counted, 800 gens de couleur were reported as riflemen, but about 4,000 made the trip to America with high hopes of being freed when they returned. 60% of slaves in colonial Saint-Domingue (now the Republic of Haiti), were born in Africa. By the 21st century, Haitian research & books have identified 28 of our Independence Officers who were in these Battles. We participated in the American Revolutionary War in Savannah, Georgia, the Battle of Charleston, SC in 1780, The Battles of Pensacola and Sarasota, Fl in 1780, and the Battle of Yorktown in 1781. In all the above Battles, Haitians were also integrated into the augmented Agenais, Gatinois, Port Au Prince, and Cap Regiments.
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"Chasseurs et Grenadiers Volontaires de couleur de Saint-Domingue" was under the command of the Marquis Laurent François LeNoir de Rouvray, a Black Marquis who served the French war in Canada in 1768 where he was promoted to Colonel. Marquis De Rouvray went into U.S. exile with the french, and died in 1798 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania after many personal battles due to American disrespect for a Black French Marquis.
History
The expeditionary force, under the command of Comte d'Estaing and his lieutenant, Jean-Baptiste Bernard Vaublanc, left French Cape, August 15, 1779, and arrived September 8, 1779, in Savannah, Georgia, to help the American colonial rebels – who were intent on regaining control of the city, which has been captured in 1778 by British forces under Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald Campbell.
The British Army began their attack on 24 September in Savannah before dawn, besieged by the French and the Americans, to defend the trenches open at night. The Volunteers of Saint-Domingue, in conjunction with the Grenadier Volunteers, charged with their bayonets at the British column, but being too close to the English works, they suffered heavy losses. The siege ended with the failure of the attack on 9 October 1779. Conte D'estaing was wounded in Battle, along with Pierre L'enfant who eventually design the Capital City of Washington, DC.
Slave Henri Christophe could not have served as a boy drummer as he was 22 yeras old at the time. He would later become the King of Haiti.
Legacy
In Savannah in 2007, a memorial sculpture was dedicated to the Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint-Domingue.