The women of the Haitian Revolution
The history of the Haitian Revolution is often told through its generals. But women were there at every step: at the first oath, on the battlefield, and at the making of the flag.
Cécile Fatiman
A mambo, she led the ceremony at Bois Caïman with Dutty Boukman on 14 August 1791, the night the uprising was sworn.
Sanité Bélair
She rose to lieutenant in Toussaint Louverture’s army. Captured in 1802, she refused a blindfold and faced the firing squad standing.
Marie-Jeanne Lamartinière
At the siege of Crête-à -Pierrot in 1802, she fought on the walls beside the soldiers, rifle in hand, and is remembered for steadying the defenders under fire.
Catherine Flon
On 18 May 1803 at Arcahaie, she sewed the blue and red bands together and made the first flag.
Marie-Claire Heureuse
The wife of Jean-Jacques Dessalines is remembered for caring for the wounded and the hungry on every side of the war, and for pleading for the lives of prisoners. Haitians call her a mother of the nation.
Their names appear far less often in the records than those of the men they fought beside. Remembering them is part of telling the whole story.
