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Translating Louis Delgrès from French Wikipedia
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Louis Delgrès (2 August 1766 – 28 May 1802) was a leader of the movement in Guadeloupe resisting reoccupation (and thus the reinstitution of slavery) by Napoleonic France in 1802.[1]
Biography
editDelgrès was mulatto, born free in Saint-Pierre, Martinique.[2] A military officer for Revolutionary France experienced in the wars with Great Britain, Delgrès took over the resistance movement from Magloire Pélage after it became evident that Pélage was loyal to Napoleon. Delgrès believed that the "tyrant" Napoleon had betrayed both the ideals of the Republic and the interests of France's colored citizens, and intended to fight to the death. The Jacobin government had granted the slaves their freedom, in Guadeloupe and other French colonies, but Napoleon attempted to reinstate slavery throughout the French Empire in 1802.[3]
Military career
editDelgrès begain his military career on November 10, 1783 in the colonial militia. He was quickly promoted to sergeant and stationed with the garrison on Martinique. The achievements of revolutionary movements in the American colonies confirmed him in his abolitionist opinions, though he continued to make his career in French military service.
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editThe French army, led by Richepanse, drove Delgrès into Fort Saint Charles, which was held by formerly enslaved Guadeloupians. After realizing that he could not prevail and refusing to surrender, Delgrès left with 400 men and some women. At the Battle of Matouba on 28 May 1802, Delgrès and his followers ignited their gunpowder stores, committing suicide in the process, in an attempt to kill as many of the French troops as possible.[4]
Legacy and honours
editIn April 1998, Delgrès was officially admitted to the French Panthéon, although the actual location of his remains is unknown.[1] Delgrès' memorial is opposite that of Toussaint Louverture, leader of the Haitian Revolution, the location of whose remains is also a mystery.
Located near the Fort Delgrès, in Petit-Bourg, Guadeloupe, a memorial bust of Delgrès was erected during the bicentennial of the rebellion, in 2002.[5]
The contemporary French Caribbean blues trio Delgres is named after Delgrès.[6]
See also
edit- La Mulâtresse Solitude
- History of Guadeloupe
- Colonialism
- Siege of Masada (a similar mass suicide)
References
edit- ^ a b Dubois, Laurent (2009). Daniel J. Walkowitz, Lisa Maya Knauer (ed.). "Haunting Delgrès". Contested histories in public space: memory, race, and nation. Duke University Press: 312. ISBN 0822391422.
- ^ "Louis Delgrès, le colonel anti-esclavagiste" [Louis Delgrès, the anti-slavery colonel]. L'histoire des Antilles et de l'Afrique (in French). Retrieved 28 May 2020.
- ^ C. L. R. James, The Black Jacobins: Toussaint Louverture and the San Domingo Revolution, 1st ed. New York: Vintage Books, 1963.
- ^ Moitt, Bernard (1996). David Barry Gaspar (ed.). "Slave women and Resistance in the French Caribbean". More than Chattel: Black Women and Slavery in the Americas. Indiana University Press: 243. ISBN 0-253-33017-3.
- ^ "Memorial in homage to Delgrès - Basse Terre - Cartographie des Mémoires de l'Esclavage". www.mmoe.llc.ed.ac.uk. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
- ^ "Delgres │Official Website │About". Delgres - Official Website - Home. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
External links
edit- Louis Delgrès Le souffle de la liberté (in French)
Category:1766 births
Category:1802 deaths
Category:19th century in Guadeloupe
Category:19th-century French politicians
Category:French abolitionists
Category:History of Guadeloupe