Period 1808 – 1809 | Location Hispaniola | |
Results Santo Domingo victory, End of French rule | ||
The Siege of Santo Domingo of 1808, was the second and final major battle of the Spanish reconquest of Santo Domingo and was fought between November 7, 1808 and July 11, 1809 at Santo Domingo, Captaincy General of Santo Domingo. A force of Dominican and Puerto-Rican of 1850 troops led by Gen. Juan Sánchez Ramírez, with a naval blockaded by British Commander Hugh Lyle Carmichael, besieged and captured the city of Santo Domingo after an 8 months garrisoning of 2000 troops of the French Army led by General Dubarquier.
Background
Upon hearing the news of Napoleon's invasion of Spain in 1808, Juan Sánchez Ramírez launched a war against the French troops who were nominally controlling the island. After some initial defeats, the loyalists managed a key victory in November, in the Battle of Palo Hincado, where Sánchez Ramírez's 2,000 soldiers overwhelmed Gen. Louis Ferrand's 600. There, with his numbers diminished owing to the desertion of Dominicans, the French commander faced certain defeat.
Ferrand's pride was so wounded that he killed himself after the defeat. This would not stop the French, however, and General Dubarquier took over the fight. He resorted to enlisting Dominican slaves to fight against Sánchez Ramírez. Only with the help of the British Jamaicans could the loyalists expel the French, an event that would finally come to pass in 1809, the year in which British gunships fired into Santo Domingo, prompting Barquier to surrender the island.