Key Facts
- Dates
- 2 March – 24 March 1802
- French force size
- 2,000 men
- French casualties (12 March assault)
- 480
- French casualties (22 March assault)
- 300 killed
- Defender losses
- 200–300 (12 March assault)
- Prisoners executed by Rochambeau
- 600 wounded prisoners
Strategic Narrative Overview
Leclerc's 2,000-strong force blockaded the fort, held by General Jean-Jacques Dessalines. On 12 March the French under General Jean Boudet assaulted and were repulsed with 480 casualties; a second assault on 22 March cost 300 French dead. General Alexandre Pétion deployed cannon on a commanding hill. Supplies exhausted, Dessalines's troops broke out at night, raided the surrounding area, briefly retook the fort on 11 March, then abandoned it on 24 March under unsustainable losses.
01 / The Origins
In early 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte dispatched an expedition under General Charles Leclerc to reassert French control over Saint-Domingue, which had been effectively governed by Toussaint Louverture. The Crête-à-Pierrot fort, east of Saint-Marc in the Artibonite River valley, was a strategic chokepoint controlling access to the Cahos Mountains, making it a critical objective for both French forces seeking to suppress the Black army and defenders determined to hold the interior.
03 / The Outcome
The French secured the fort but at severe cost, including the death of General Charles Dugua, and Donatien de Rochambeau ordered 600 wounded prisoners executed. Dessalines subsequently defected to Leclerc, and further desertions compelled Louverture to surrender in May 1802. However, when yellow fever crippled the French army and fears of restored slavery grew, Dessalines and Pétion revolted in October, ultimately driving toward Haitian independence in 1804.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Charles Leclerc, Jean Boudet, Alexandre Pétion, Donatien de Rochambeau.
Side B
1 belligerent
Jean-Jacques Dessalines.
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.