War of Knives

War of Knives
Part of the Haitian Revolution
Unofficial political leader of the nation during the revolution, Toussaint Louverture is considered the father of Haiti.
Date June 1799 - July 1800 Location Saint-Domingue Result Decisive pro-Toussaint victory Toussaint assumes control of the entirety of Saint-Domingue Rigaud & mixed-race officers flee into exile Reprisals & massacres against Rigaud supporters
Belligerents
Pro-Toussaint Forces Naval support United States	Pro-Rigaud Forces
Commanders and leaders
Toussaint Louverture Henri Christophe Jean-Jacques Dessalines John Adams	André Rigaud Alexandre Pétion
Strength
45,000	15,000

Decisive pro-Toussaint victory

Pro-Toussaint Forces

Naval support

The War of Knives (French: Guerre des couteaux), also known as the War of the South, was a civil war from June 1799 to July 1800 between the Haitian revolutionary Toussaint Louverture, a black ex-slave who controlled the north of Saint-Domingue (modern-day Haiti), and his adversary André Rigaud, a free colored person of mixed race who controlled the south. Louverture and Rigaud fought over de facto control of the French colony of Saint-Domingue during the war, which took place after the two men had successfully expelled foreign forces from the colony as part of the Haitian Revolution. The war resulted in Toussaint taking control of the entirety of Saint-Domingue, and Rigaud fleeing into exile.

The Haitian Revolution had begun in 1791, when black slaves on the Caribbean colony of Saint-Domingue rose up against their French owners amidst the French Revolution. Toussaint came to prominence as a leader of rebel slaves in the north of Saint-Domingue, operating in territories surrounding the port of Le Cap. Simultaneously, Rigaud emerged as a rebel leader among the mixed-race gens de couleur, or free people of color, in the south of Saint-Domingue, where they had a significant presence around the port of Les Cayes.

In May 1792, Saint-Domingue's French Republican commissioners formed an alliance with Rigaud, allowing him to march his forces into the capital of Port-au-Prince and dissolve the city's restive government of white planters. In August 1793, the new commissioner Sonthonax proclaimed freedom for all slaves in Saint-Domingue, in an effort to counteract a counterrevolutionary white planters' revolt in Le Cap, a British invasion, and a Spanish invasion from neighboring Santo Domingo, as part of the War of the First Coalition. After they abolished slavery, Sonthonax and his fellow commissioner Polverel successfully convinced Toussaint to join the French Republican side of the conflict. Toussaint and Rigaud had become allies by 1794. In early 1795, the French National Convention promoted both men to the rank of brigadier general.

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