Boukman wasn't the revolutionary army's leader


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Author : Rodney Salnave
 Function : Dougan (Scribe)
 Date : June 16, 2017
(Updated : Oct. 25, 2019)


1- Was Boukman the 1st revolutionary?

The islamic revision of the Haitian Revolution is based on the mistaken idea that :
  • Boukman was the leader of the revolutionary army ; 
  •  that he was of muslim faith ; 
  • that the captives (slaves) of Saint Domingue (Haiti) were asleep until his 1791 accession ;
  • And that, thanks to his supposed muslim doctrine, as well as to his supposed mastery of writing, he would have given Saint Domingue stupefied black population an appetite for revolt.
Such an argument does not take into account the fact that violent resistance to the slave system dates back 112 years before Boukman, Bois Caïman (Bwa Kayiman) or the 1791 uprising. For the troubles began in 1679, the year which France landed its first cargo of captives in Saint Domingue :
  • (1679) First landing of Haitian ancestors in the island of Saint Domingue (Haiti)
  • (1679) Padrejean's rebellion - St-Louis du Nord, Port-Margot, Morne Tatare
  • (1691) Michel's rebellion - Plaine du Cul-de-Sac
  • (1691) Uprising of Jeannot Marin, Georges Dollot aka Pierrot - Port de Paix, Île de la Tortue
  • (1691) Plot of 200 Blacks - North
  • (1697) Captives' revolt - Quartier Morin
  • (1704) Conspiracy - Cap-Français
  • (1719) Michel Cacabois' attacks - Bahoruco Mountains (near Jacmel, in the Southeast)
  • (1723) Attacks by Colas Jambe Coupée (Colas Cut Leg) - Grande-Rivière-du-Nord, Limonade, Morne à Montègre
  • (1728) Plymouth's rebellion - Grande Anse, Nippes
  • (1730-1734) Polydor's rebellion - Trou du Nord
  • (1740) Pompée's rebellion - Mirebalais
  • (1740-1758) Poisoning by Macandal, Brigitte, Jean Tassereau, Médor and hundreds of other accomplices - North, North-East
  • (1742) Maroon incursions - Anses-à-Pitres
  • (1746) Maroon incursions - Jacmel
  • (1747) Orphée's rebellion - Léogane
  • (1758) Execution of Macandal, Brigitte, Jean Tassereau, Médor and other poisoners
  • (1758, nov.) attempt to poison the water source of a barracks - North (Cap-Français?)
  • (1761) Trap by maroons (the victorious leader takes the name of his opponent Belzunce)
  • (1770-1774) Petit Noel Prieur's rebellion - Fort Dauphin
  • (1770-1777) Rebellion of Télémaque Canga, Isaac, Candide - Fort Dauphin
  • (1776) Maroon incursions - Boucan-Patate, Anses-à-Pitres, Grand-Bois, Fonds-Parisien, Sale-Trou  
  • (1776 -1785) Attacks by Santiague, Philippe, Kebinda - Bahoruco
  • (1777) Jacques Corbières' rebellion - Plaine du Cul-de-Sac
  • (1777-1778) Maroon incursions -  Boucan-Gressin
  • (1779-1781) Maroon incursions - Southeast, Jacmel 
  • (1786-1787) Magic-based revolutionary conspiracy by Jérôme Poteau, Télémaque - Marmelade
  • (1787)  Gillot aka Yaya's rebellion - Trou du Nord, Terrier Rouge
  • (1791) Boukman and other leaders - Bois Caïman and the general insurrection
These dates show that for 112 years, from the beginning of Blacks' settlement in Saint Domingue (1679) to the Bois Caïman events (1791), the rebellion never ceased ; and islam has never been cited as a source of subversion in the colony. Based on this observation alone, we can say that the role of precursor of the Haitian revolution is falsely attributed to Boukman.

2- Was Boukman the rebels' supreme leader?

We must, at the outset, establish the facts. At no time was Boukman the rebels' supreme leader.  This wasn't even the case when he was a bandit before the revolution. This extract, dated September 5, 1790, and thus 1 year prior to Bois Caiman, reveals Boukman as an influential member of a band of outlaws composed of "many mulattoes", thus dismissing the hypothesis of ethnic gatherings of islamized Mandingoes. However, Boukman shared immediate leadership with Barthélemi (Barthélemy) Roquefort, a future colonel of the revolutionary army, while Yorch (Georges) Biassou, future revolutionary army Viceroy, reigned as King to this band :
"Extrait du journal des opérations du camp des Mornes, du 5 septembre 1790.
”Il fut pareillement amené quatre nègres, dont trois interrogés ont en résumé fait la déposition suivante, savoir :
Que c'était Barthélemi, nègre de M. Roquefort, de la Petite-Anse, qui y était le chef avec Boukman ; qu'il y a un roi nommé Yorch, nègre de M. Biassou.
Qu'il y a dans la bande beaucoup de mulâtres ; que c'est le colonel [Cambefort] du régiment du Cap qui les a portés à la révolte ; que Barthélemi, premier général, leur a parlé lui-même plusieurs fois au bord de la mer de l'Ouest ; qu'aujourd'hui, à midi, il s'est arrêté audit lieu une goëlette chargée de munitions et provisions qui se portent au camp de l'habitation la Plaigne, et qui leur sont fournies par ce colonel." (1)
Translation :
"Excerpt from the operations log of the Mornes camp, September 5, 1790.
"It was likewise brought in four negroes, three of whom were summoned to give the following deposition, namely :
That it was Barthélemi, a negro of M. Roquefort, of La Petite-Anse, who was the chief with Boukman ; that there is a king named Yorch, a negro of M. Biassou.
That there are many mulattoes in the band ; that it was the colonel [Cambefort] of Le Cap's Regiment who caused them to revolt ; that Barthélemi, the first general, spoke to them in person several times on the western shore ; that today, at noon, has stopped at the said place, a schooner loaded with ammunition and provisions, which are carried to the camp of the la Plaigne estate, and which are provided to them by this colonel."
That said, we cannot hide the undeniable fact that Boukman was a magnificent leader. All the actors involved in the conflict between the captives and their oppressors agree on this point. This letter from colonel Cambefort who led the eleven day campaign in Plaine de l'Acul leading to Boukman's death, gives us an idea :
"Je continuai à charger les révoltés sur le chemin et dans les cannes (...) nous en tuâmes là une trentaine, avec nos armes-à-feu et nos sabres : de ce nombre se trouva Bouckmann ; il était porteur d'un fusil à deux coups, qu'il déchargea sur moi et M. Dubuisson. C'est M. Michel, officier des mornets - d'une valeur rare - qui l'a tué d'un coup de pistolet. J'en tuai deux pour ma part. Le fusil que portait Bouckmann était celui de feu son maître, M. Clément qu'il avait assassiné. Il avait aussi une paire d'excellents pistolets.
 (...)
On ne peut trop apprécier l'avantage d'avoir détruit le chef Bouckmann. (...) Il est bien claire, que Bouckmann était le chef qui avait le plus de crédit sur l'esprit des nègres; et j'espère bien qu'il ne pourra être remplacé." (2)
Translation :
"I continued to charge the rebels on the road and in the sugarcanes (...) we killed about thirty, with our firearms and sabers : among these was Bouckmann ; he carried a two-shot rifle, which he unloaded on me and M. Dubuisson. It was Mr. Michel, officer from des mornets - of a rare valor - who killed him with a pistol shot. Personally, I killed two of them. The rifle that Bouckmann carried was that of his late master, Mr. Clement whom he had murdered. He also had a pair of excellent pistols.
(...)
 One cannot over appreciate the advantage of having destroyed that chief Bouckmann. (...) It is quite clear that Bouckmann was the chief who held the most credit on the minds of the negroes; And I hope he cannot be replaced."
Cambefort's representation of Boukman, made on November 7, 1791, very much matches modern vision of this hero's leadership. Moreover, colonist François-Alexandre Beau, who participated in the French campaign, sheds light on the catastrophic impact of Boukman's death on the l'Acul-du-Nord rebels who had massive hope in him :
“Les brigands furent fort affectés de la perte de leur général Bouqman ; après la mort de ce chef vraiment redoutable, ils couraient ça et là dans la plaine, en faisant retentir l’air de cette expression : « Bouqman tué, que ça nou vau! Bouqman tué, que ça nou vau! » [Bouqman n’est plus. Que valons-nous désormais?!]" (3)
Translation :
"The brigands were greatly affected by the loss of their general Bouqman ; After the death of this truly formidable leader, they ran about in the plain, making the air resound with this expression: "Bouqman tué, que ça nou vau! Bouqman tué, que ça nou vau!" [Bouqman is no more. What is our worth now?!]"
The same thing happened in Jeannot's camp at Grande-Rivière-du-Nord, when, a week later, news of Boukman's death came. The observation of Verneuil Gros, Jeannot's prisoner, testifies to this :
"Le 14 [novembre 1791], nous apprîmes la mort de Bouqueman ; il serait impossible de dire qu'elle fut l'impression que cette mort fit sur les nègres. Les chefs prirent le deuil (...) Pour nous, spectateurs, souffrant de tout ce qui se passait, nous étions désolés de cet accident." (4)
Translation :
"On the 14th of [November, 1791], we heard of Bouqueman's death, and it would be impossible to describe the impression this death made upon the negroes. The chiefs mourned (...) For us spectators, suffering from all that was happening, we were sorry for this accident."
Thus, unanimity is made regarding Boukman's inestimable value within the revolutionary army. He was the one, according to Hérard-Dumesle's publication, who organized the preparatory meeting of August 14, 1791 in Morne Rouge. In this meeting, commonly known as Bois Caïman, 2 delegates from each dwelling from the quarters of Plaine-du-Nord, Limbé, Quartier Morin, l'Acul-du-Nord, Limonade, Petit-Anse, etc., set the uprising date to August 25, 1791.
 Apart from being greatly valued, the question remains, was Boukman, hence, the revolutionary army's supreme leader?
 The answer is no. Despite his unparalleled motivation, Boukman was not the supreme leader chosen because he was much too fierce to carry the revolution. A tangible proof of this lies in the fact that he has jeopardized the revolution's success by confusing Wednesday, August 25, the agreed date to begin the insurrection, with Wednesday, August 17, the date on which he took part in the burning of a sugarcane peels storage on the Chabaud estate in Limbé :
"Il nous faut revenir à la paroisse du Limbé, ce jeudi [plutôt un mercredi] 17 août, où les secrets se dévoilent... (...) Un petit groupe avait déjà mis le feu à une case à bagasses ; ils se sont enfuis à l’arrivée du colon, qui en a blessé un qu’il a fait prisonnier. Celui-ci, nommé Jacques, un des commandeurs d’une habitation voisine, celle de Desgrieux, a fini par révéler la réunion du 14 août et la décision de lancer l’insurrection. Leur incendie aurait dû en être le signal (...) Leclerc se rend sur place, fait enregistrer les aveux de Jacques, lequel donne des noms que l’on retrouvera : Barthélemy, Paul, Boukman, quelques autres." (5)
Translation :
"We must return to the parish of Limbé on Thursday [rather on a Wednesday] August 17, where the secrets unveiled... (...) A small group had already set fire to a bagasse [sugarcane peels] hut ; they fled at the arrival of the colonist, who wounded one whom he made prisoner. The latter, named Jacques, one of the commanders of a neighboring house, that of Desgrieux, finally revealed the meeting of August 14 and the decision to launch the insurrection. Their fire should have been the signal... Leclerc went to the spot, recorded Jacques' confessions, whom gave names that would later be encountered : Barthélemy, Paul, Boukman, a few others."
This premature fire set by Boukman's band, resulted notably in the arrest of Jacques Cautant, commander at the Desgrieux estate, where the captives were most impatient, followed by the arrest of François (Dechaussée or Defeau),* a mulatto belonging to Chapotin. Through the interrogations that followed, the authorities came to learn the essence of the conspiracy in progress. That was a mistake which might have been fatal, had the settlers took the revealed threat seriously. Fortunately, it wasn't the case.

3- Contextualization of the political and religious issues

Without contextualization, the following texts could confuse the reader. For they display a quasi-symbiotic and little known relation existing between the Saint Domingue rebels, the French royalty, the French clergy and the Spaniards established in the eastern part of the island.
 The rapid contextualization of this relationship allows us to pinpoint the motivation of the main actors involved at the beginning of the Haitian revolution until the official abolition of slavery in 1794 and the advent of Toussaint Louverture.
 The Western (christian) revisionists label the said relationship and the decisions that emerge from it, the "political" aspect of the Haitian revolution. Being Eurocentric, even racist, these Western-christian revisionists, convinced that the revolutionaries' ancestral religion is incompatible with rationality, reject the idea that traditionalist practices can interact with victorious military and political strategies. That is the reason they prefer the "political" aspect that they oppose to the "religious" aspect which would be limited to the ineffective ancestral practices of the insurgents. Religion (associated with royalty) was at the heart of the interactions, declarations, decisions and strategies of the black insurgents and their white supporters. Yet Western revisionists dismiss traditionalist political and military decision-makers without ever daring to question the legitimacy of the catholic clergy, which nevertheless intervened in the military and political aspects of the Haitian revolution.**
The political and religious situation of the insurgents can be explained very easily and quickly :
  • On July 1651, Jesuit missionaries were allowed to settle in Saint Domingue, a French colony that was then clandestine. (6) These Jesuits settled in the North, the site of the revolution's break-out.
  • 1679 is Haitian ancestors' first arrival on the island of Saint Domingue (Haiti). (7)
  • On March 1680, Louis XIV published the Code Noir in which articles 2 and 3 require that all slaves "shall be baptized and instructed in the Catholic religion" within eight days of their arrival, and the prohibition of "all public religious service other than Catholic". (8) The word "instruction" becomes meaningful. For it will place the Jesuit clergy, strongly royalist, in very close proximity with the Northern captive population.
  • On November 29, 1753, this letter from Fr. Sacy, the Jesuit prosecutor, gives us an idea of the emphasis placed by the clerical hierarchy on the protective monarchy : "They will lean, Monsignor, more and more towards obeying in every opportunity, at the King's orders, that they will see, by the end of your letter, how much His Majesty regards making them feel His royal protection in all that relates to Religion and the exercise of their ministry." (9) Then, unlike in Brazil, where ethnic specific brotherhoods of captives will favor the emergence of parallel ancestral rites (10), in Saint Domingue (Haiti), the banning of such brotherhoods will facilitate the fusion of various Nanchon or Ethnic nations' rites into a single reinforced religion capable of overcoming domination-driven Christianity.
  • November 24, 1763, order for Jesuits expulsion because of their complicity in captives' rebellions. (11)
  • December 3, 1784, a royal decree was issued in favor of the captives, and against their ill treatment by prosecutors or plantation managers. (12) Although this decree was not been applied verbatim by the colonial authorities, it will nevertheless consolidate in the captives the notion that royalty cares for their fate and that the colonial administration is hostile to them. Such a speech was amply hammered to the Northern captives, from their arrival, by the missionaries (formerly expelled Jesuits, then by the Capuchins, the Jesuits' replacements).
  • December 23, 1785, a second royal decree confronted the prosecutors or plantation managers' "vicious administration", as well as their resistance to measures to improve the lot of the captives. (13)
  • In 1789, the French Revolution removed both royalty and clergy. This will be received by the captives as the loss of their only support which was royalty and its representatives, the Catholic priests. The whole of Europe remained royalist, and stood as an enemy to France, considered atheist, especially Spain (whose sovereign, Charles IV, would have been a close relative of Louis XVI, the French king). (14)
  • 1789, Declaration of the Rights of Man. It will solicit among free mulattos and blacks, a quest for political equality with the rest of the free white population. However, this declaration of the rights of free men did not concern the captive population that wanted the return of royal power that favors them.
  • 1790-1791, agitation, in the Northern part, of free mulattoes and blacks, strongly republicans, in quest of equality of rights. Execution of the leaders (Chavannes and Ogé). Hunt for fugitive sympathizers.
  • May 15, 1791, decree giving political equality to free blacks and mulattos born of two free parents. This decree caused the rage of a large portion of the grand blancs "big whites" royalist or independent owners, some of whom perceived the captive population as a source of manipulable armed arms.
  • 1791, circulation of a false royal decree announcing 3 days of leisure per week to the captives, and the abolition of the whip. This false decree was, they think, the conception of free blacks and mulattoes, although republicans and supporters of Chavannes and Ogé, recognizing the key to their success in the use of strongly royalist captives. (15)
  • On August 1791, a political-religious encounter on the 14th, in Morne Rouge, in which a half-breed (mulatto or 1 quarter-white) read the false decree to the 200 commanders, coachmen and plantation elites ; as well as some maroon leaders, including Jean-François Papillon, former coachman.
  • August 21, second political-religious encounter of plotters, not far from Morne Rouge.
  • 22nd of August the insurrection broke out by the insurgents who called themselves "Gens du Roi" or the "King's people".
  • At the end of 1791, in the burnt parishes (Limbé, Grande-Rivière, Dondon, Marmelade, etc.), several priests did not flee. On the contrary, they join the rebels, often residing in their camps. Similarly, the royalist and catholic Spaniards frequent the rebel camps to provide them with food and weapons, in exchange for coffee, mules and other plundered French property.
This is summarily the political-religious situation under way during the first years of the Haitian revolution. That situation is magnificently captured by the following excerpts from a letter from a Spaniard supplying the armed rebels in defense of the King. It also tells how the rebels march to the sound of "Long live the King and the Old Regime" :



Translation :
"The following letter, found on the Galiffet estate, furnishes proof of it : "I am mad that you did not warn me earlier that you lacked ammunition. If I had known, I would have sent you, And you will receive this aid uninterruptedly, as well as all that you will ask of me when you defend the king's interests.
"Signed DON ALONZO"

At the same time, a parliamentarian of the insurgents arrived at Port-Margot, preceded by a white flag, on which was written : Long live the King ! And on the other : the Old Regime. He had a written statement with the following content :
"That they had taken up arms for the king's defense, whom the whites held prisoner in Paris, because he wished to free the Blacks, his faithful subjects ;
That they therefore desire this emancipation and the restoration of the old regime;
By this means the whites would have their lives saved and could return quietly to their homes, but that they would be disarmed beforehand."" (16)
From this clarification, the rebel's discourses, interactions and behaviors will make complete sense to the reader.


4- Boukman under Jean-François Papillon's command

Months prior to the Morne Rouge meeting, on 14 August 1791, the rebel forces' supreme command was given, not to Boukman, but to Jean-François Papillon. The latter considered this high responsibility in these humble terms :
"Ce n'est pas moi qui me suis institué général des nègres. Ceux qui en avaient le pouvoir m'ont revêtu de ce titre..." (17)
Translation : 
"It wasn't I who instituted myself general of the negroes. Those who had the power gave me this title..."
Jean-François was a Creole, born around 1765, who escaped in 1787 from the Papillon estate in L'Acul. Unlike Boukman and the revolution's other leaders, he was a maroon 4 years prior to the 1791 general uprising :  
Translation :
"Jean-Francois, Creole, about 22 years old, about 5 feet 6 inches, thin, quite good-looking, having on the right side of the breast the stamp RB, above Sr M., and a long scar under the chin: those who are aware of him are asked to give notice to Mr. G. Papillon son, a merchant at Cap-Francais, to whom he belongs." (18)
This Jean-François Papillon or Jean-François Petekou (neck-breaker) was a leader of genius who implemented the success of his Haitian revolution by instituting a disciplined army, coordinated and communicating effectively in writing, from the first days. As King of the Revolution, he held the right of life and death over his soldiers, including Boukman (and Paul Bélin, killed by Jeannot Bullet). Because :
"On trouva dans la poche de Georges, l’un des chefs des révoltés qu’on avait tué, un billet conçu en ces termes : « Je donne pouvoir et j’ordonne à Georges, major général de ma cavalerie, de tuer les nommés Bouqman et Paul partout où ils se trouveront, signé J.-François Roi. » Quels pouvaient être les motifs qui avaient excité le chef suprême de l’armée noire à exhiber un ordre pareil? Je présume que c’est parce que Bouqman et Paul ne s’étaient point emparés du camp des Mornets en même temps que Jeannot avait enlevé celui du Dondon, et de plus parce que les chefs commandaient despotiquement dans leur arrondissement et ne voulaient point reconnaître Jean-François pour leur supérieur." (19)
Translation :
"In this case, it was found in George's pocket, one of the rebel leaders we had killed, a note in these words : "I appoint and I ordered Georges, Major General of my cavalry, to kill Bouqman and Paul wherever they are, signed J.-François King." What could be the motives that had excited the supreme head of the black army to exhibit such an order? I presume it is because Bouqman and Paul did not seized the Mornets camp while Jeannot had taken the one in Dondon, and more because the leaders commanded despotically in their district and did not want to recognize Jean-François as their superior."
Moreover, the following reasons enable us to affirm that Jean-François was not muslim :
  • His chiefdom and that of his wife Charlotte were formalized not by an imam or an "iman", but by Father Cachetan, parish priest of Petite Anse, who : "solemnly crowned the negro Jean-Francois and the negress Charlotte king and queen of the Africans, and leaders of the revolt." (20)
  • He was a Creole, born on the island and not exposed to islam, as would have been a captive born in the mother-continent. (21-22)
  • Moreover, a catholic priest, Father Vasquez, his great Spanish correspondent, celebrated his marriage with Charlotte : "Jean-François married his common-law-wife, Charlotte so that it could not be said that a Spanish general was living in sin. She received silk stockings from Governor Garcia as a wedding present, he received a stern lecture from Father Joseph Vasquez about marital fidelity." (23)
  • "He wore a general uniform covered with braid, laden with cords and crosses." (24) However, wearing the cross is forbidden to muslims, as it is considered idolatry.
  • Behavior contrary to islam, he liked the company of young ladies (unmarried), as Toussaint states in a letter to Biassou : "You may examine the precautions I have taken in this case, you can inform Bouqueman : as to Jean-François, he can always go by car with his demoiselles (damsels)..." (25)
  • "The parish priest of Dondon was Jean-François's chaplain." (26)
  • He solicited "the opinion of Abbot de la Haye, parish priest of Dondon, and that of Father Bien-Venu." (27)
  • He made an alliance with Spaniards, who are reputed as anti-muslim (according to the islamic revisionist Sylviane Diouf herself who demonstrated that 5 anti-islamic laws were passed during the first 50 years of Spain's settlement in America). (28)
  • He swore fidelity to Spain in a catholic church, in front of Father Vasquez. "As soon as he had given his consent, he was taken to the church, and in the midst of the mass celebrated there, Jean-Francois, a knee in the ground, a lighted candle in his hand, exclaimed in a loud voice: "I burn in hell, like this candle, if I ever renounce the cause of the King of Spain."" (29)
  • "On January 4, 1796, Jean-François left Fort-Dauphin for Havana, from where he went to Spain." (30) He was admitted to (anti-muslim) Spain, to Cadiz, where he died in 1805. (31)
  • In his September 4, 1791, letter to the French, he never raised islamic concerns. On the contrary, he mentions the king and the universe : "the king, the universe, have groaned over our fate, and have broken the chains we wore". He revealed his motto, which wasn't islamic. "God who fights for the innocent, is our guide, he will never abandon us, so this is our motto : To conquer or to die." He spoke of freedom or death and of his wishes : "we lack neither powder nor canon, so death or liberty, God wishes us to obtain it without shedding blood, all our wishes will be fulfilled." (32)
  • Decorated with the cross of Saint-Louis and other royalist symbols, as his troops watches, he knelt before commissary Mirbek, as a sign of respect for the Royalty that the latter represents : "More than fifteen hundred people were able to see, like me, their first leader, Jean-François, the white cockade in his hat, the cross of Saint-Louis and the red cord on his chest, kneel on the Saint-Michel estate, two hundred paces from his bands, before civil commissary Mirbek speaking to him in the name of the king, This fact alone, and a hundred others of the same nature, which I could quote, would prove the empire that royalty always had on their spirit." (33)
The sum of these raised points removes all doubt. Jean-François was not a muslim. And Boukman, who fought under his command, wasn't either.

5- Boukman under Georges Biassou's command

As we have seen in the September 5, 1790, extract, even before the 1791 general insurrection, Boukman operated under the command of Georges Biassou. And this hierarchical order will be maintained. Georges Biassou became the Viceroy of the Revolutionary Army, second only to Jean-François Papillon, the King, while Boukman was not among the first three leaders.
 And regarding Biassou's religious adhesion, these following points unequivocally demonstrate that he was traditionalist and not a muslim :
  • Biassou was a Creole, therefore born on the island and was little or not exposed to islam. More precisely, he was born in Cap Français, of the Blacks Charles and Diane. (34) A letter from Toussaint dated 15 October 1791 refers to his mother and sister. (35) Moreover, in January 1792 he released his 80-year-old mother, who was captive in the Fathers of Charity hospital in Haut du Cap. (36)
  • He was "a former slave of the Fathers of Charity, near Le Cap." (37) This means that he grew up in the mixture of catholicism with the ancestral religion, like the majority of the island's captives.
  • He was recognized as "the most superstitious of all those to whom he commanded." (38)
  • He was seen as a Houngan, a great official of the ancestral Tradition: "He surrounded himself with sorcerers and magicians, and formed his counsel with them. His tent was filled with little cats, all colors, snakes, bones of the dead and all other objects, a symbol of African superstition." (39)
  • He surrounded himself with lightly dressed women dressed : "During the night great fires were lighted in his camp, naked women performed horrible dances around these fires, making creeping contortions, and singing words that are understood only in the deserts of Africa." (40)
  • He inspired his troops with the help of religious sermons referring to Nan Ginen, the return from beyond the grave to ancestral "Africa": "When the exaltation had reached its height, Biassou followed by his sorcerers, approached the crowd, and exclaimed that the spirit of God inspired him, and announced to the Africans that if they succumbed in battle they would revive in their ancient tribes in Africa." (41)
  • He gave his sermons in the midst of ancestral songs and drums, which is forbidden by islam: "Then frightful cries were prolonged far and wide in the woods, the songs and the dark drum were beginning again, and Biassou, profiting from the moments of exaltation pushed his bands against the enemy whom he caught in the midst of the night." (42)
  • He "loved women and liquor". (43)
  • In fact, he fancied "hard liquors that he loved to excess" and that made him "often lose his senses". (44)
  • He took care of the priests, especially the Abbot Delahaye of Dondon, his councilor, to whom he regularly sent meat. (45)
  • He reassured Father Delahaye, who worried about the fate of the priests of Limbé and Petite Anse, who collaborated with the rebels, writing to him: "I will pour my last drop of blood to defend our rights and yours". (46)
  • He asked Father Delahaye to sing a solemn mass to celebrate his official title of Vice-Roy. (47)
  • He linked the revolution in progress to the cause of the king of France and to the catholic religion to which he belonged, writing to the same priest : "As I think you are master of your doctrine, as you have been granted by the king and that if this revolution is effected by us, it is to support the right of the king our master, as well as our religion, and I believe that we must not prevent the course of our religion from professing." (48)
  • He designated Father Philémon as his army's great chaplain. This catholic priest "confessed him twice a week, and made him commune with him every Sunday, so that Biassou soon became the first soldier of an army of which Philemon had become a leader.  (...)  As the generals fought in Biassou's camp, to summon the blacks to battle, Philémon went through the ranks, and as he spoke very well the language of the negroes, he made vehement addresses to them." (49)
  • Because of his support for the rebels, Father Philemon was arrested and hanged by the authorities. A colonist who witnessed his execution mentionned that : "Biassou held a funeral ceremony for Father Philemon, who was considered a martyr of the religion and of the good cause, and the clothes he had left behind in the camp were cut into pieces, and each negro bore a piece upon him, like a talisman capable of preserving him even from death." (50) The traditional use of the late Father Philemon's parcels of clothing as a talisman validates the assertion that a few weeks earlier, the rebels had used as talisman, the hair from an immolated pig.
  • Finally, Biassou, who, like Jean-François, fought for anti-muslim Spain in 1796, found exile in Saint Augustine (Florida), then a Spanish territory, where he died in 1801. He received, on his deathbed, his catholic confession. (51) And naturally, a catholic mass was sung in great pomp at the cathedral for this heroic officer. (52)
In short, it is impossible for Biassou to be of muslim faith, as he maintained a symbiotic relationship with catholic priests and adhered to an ancestral cult tinged with catholic syncretism.


6- Boukman under Jeannot Bullet's command

Jeannot Bullet, the third in rank in the revolutionary army, was by far the most fierce of all. And, like Jean-Francois, Biassou and Boukman, he was of traditionalist adhesion, according to this French officer :
"Jeannot : Africain et non créole, ce chef des premières heures de l'insurrection servile, réputé pour sa cruauté, qui se disait le vengeur d'Ogé et de Chavannes, était, selon les colons, un sectateur du vaudou, comme Boukman." (53)
Translation :
"Jeannot : African and not Creole, this early hours leader of the servile insurrection, known for his cruelty, who called himself the avenger of Ogé and Chavannes, was, according to the settlers, a voodoo follower like Boukman."
Jeannot was recognized as a magician by this colonist :
"C'est là qu'un monstre, nommé Janot, qui était le magicien des noirs..." (54)
Translation :
"This is where a monster named Janot, who was the magician of the blacks..."
This other settler declared Jeannot a sorcerer, and associated with the rebels, and Boukman's brothers-in-arms, the words "Zombis" and "Ouanga", generally and grossly related to "vodou"*** : 


Traslantion :
"they are only told about zombies and ouanga, that is to say, revenges and spells, which they had learned to brave under our tutelage. Alas! six months after they had been left to themselves, that is to say, to all the evils of a corrupt uncivilization, worse than the savage state, they almost all recalled only phantoms, sorceries, evil spells, and poisons; they even had sorcerers in title. One Jeannot, a slave of the Bulet habitation, was at once general, a physician of the army, and a sorcerer." (55)
And concerning islam, the following points testify that Jeannot had no connection with this faith :
  • Jeannot went to catholic mass : "He [Jeannot] was seen going to mass at the place called Grande Riviere, in a carriage drawn by six horses, and escorted by 200 negroes on horseback." (56)
  • Jeannot and the soldiers in his camp consumed alcohol, which the koran (16:115) prohibits. On October 26, 1791, while Boukman was alive, Colonel Verneuil Gros, a prisoner taken to Jeannot's camp in Grande-Rivière, was served tafia, meaning hard liquor : "they gave us, along with thousand insulting remarks, some sips of tafia." (57)
  • Jeannot also drank his victims' blood : "We saw Jeannot, the mulatto Délile, and the negro Godar, cut off two of the tortured prisoners, and arrange the two others like a chicken, which they bound frog-style, and drank their blood (...) The same tragedy was repeated the next day, and so on." (58) Now, the koran (16:115) also prohibits all blood consumption, regardless of its origin.
  • There were priests in Jeannot's camp : "the priest of Grande Rivière lived with the insurgent slaves from 27 August 1791, the date on which Jeannot took possession of it." The parish priest of Dondon began the same experiment A little later, September 10, 1791, when Dondon is taken by the same Jeannot." (59)
  • Verneuil Gros witnessed a catholic priest with privileged status in Jeannot's camp : "The commander, a slave negro, named Sans-Souci (a very bad subject), said, as he went round the hut.  Pai z'autres, bon père après dromi. [Shut up, the good father is sleeping!]
    (...) The next morning we saw a priest under the gallery : he came to us and made us hear these terrible words : my children, we must know how to die our Lord Jesus Christ died for us on the cross. (...) Since then, we have frequently seen this same priest in all the camps of Grande-Rivière.     He was the parish priest."     (60)
  • On November 7, 1791, on the very day of Boukman's death at l'Acul-du-Nord, the Spaniards (anti-muslims) visited Jeannot's camp in Grande-Rivière-du-Nord to sell him arms : "At 8 o'clock in the morning, we were walking with Father Bien-Venu in the government hall, (to use the expression of the rebels) we saw a sergeant-major of a Spanish regiment enter, said to be posted on the border, accompanied by three fusiliers, and brought two large barrels of powder to the brigands..." (61)
  • The Spaniards and the rebels talked about their common cause, which is the maintenance of (christian) religion and of royalty (the only authority caring for the captives, according to the rebels) : "these unfortunates caused the conversation to fall on the French revolution : to hear them, it was up to them to avenge the outraged monarchy and bring back the old state of affairs, and they depicted us as a nation which has lost the quality of men, no longer recognizing a king, lost all notion of divinity, covered with all crimes, and deserving the greatest of punishments." (62)
  • On November 1, 1791, at the time of his execution by Jean-François' orders, Jeannot received his last sacrament from a catholic priest, not from an imam : "This priest was Father Bien-Venu, parish priest of Marmelade, who took advantage of a favorable moment to approach us and open himself  to us (...) He also informed us that it was he who had exhorted this monster [Jeannot] to death, that close to being shot, he had solicited him, by all that was most sacred, to obtain his pardon from Jean-François." (63)
  • Jeannot ordered many religious services on credit from Father Roussel, to the point of amassing a large debt. "According to the priest Roussel, Jean-Francois assured him that he took over Jeannot's debts to him, debts that related to masses said by his request." (64)
  • Finally, Jeannot, according to this eyewitness, received a funeral worthy of a great official of the ancestral religion : "the so-called Janot, who was the blacks magician (...) perhaps whose credit overshadowed him, [Jean-Francois] himself came to arrest him at the head of a company of his guards, and had him shot, and the blacks, full of respect for their great sorcerer, made him a magnificent funeral. I saw the tomb they raised to him." (65)
There is no doubt that Jeannot was not a muslim. He practiced an ancestral syncretic religion identical to the one still alive in Haiti.

7- Paul Blin, the martyr

Boukman and Paul Blin (or Bélin) followed Jeannot in rank. For the moment, we do not have enough data to draw up the religious portrait of this hero. We know, however, that he was commander at the Blin estate located in Limbé, and that he was denounced as one of the first chief plotters of the revolution. Having fled the Limbé, he remained untraceable until the outbreak of the hostilities, when his wife, too generous, had incited him to help her owner (Baillon) and his wife. (66)
 Unfortunately, for reasons we do not know, the death of Paul Blin, as well as that of Boukman, was commissioned by Jean-François. And Jeannot undertook to execute him with such cruelty (67) which suggests that the charges against him were very severe.

8- Boukman, Toussaint Louverture's brother-in-arms

Next comes, in hierarchical order, Toussaint Louverture, Biassou's aide-de-camp and army doctor. He was of Catholic faith, in his own words :
"Le dimanche et les fêtes, nous allions à la messe, ma femme, moi et mes parents." (68)
Translation :
"On Sundays and holidays, we went to mass, my wife, me and my parents."
Besides, Toussaint's soldiers, also attended mass. Which dismisses the revolutionary army islamic thesis :
"Il [Toussaint-Louverture] manquait rarement d'assister à la messe (...) Souvent s'immisçant aux fonctions du sacerdoce, il commentait le sermon du curé, haranguait le peuple et ses soldats." (69)
Translation :
"[Toussaint-Louverture] rarely missed attending mass (...) Often interfering with the duties of the priesthood, he commented on the priest's sermon, harangued the people and his soldiers."
Regarding islam, the following points remove Toussaint from this religion :
  • Toussaint was a Creole. "He was born a slave on the Breda estate, at a distance from Le Cap", (70) making extremely thin the possibility that he was exposed to islam.
  • When he quivered in his christian faith, he burned a presbytery in Gonaïves, after having prayed there, trampling a crucifix on his foot, shouting, "No, I don't want to serve this GOD anymore, I do not want to believe in him anymore. He is the enemy of my race, he is only the GOD of the whites." (71-72) Whether we like it or not, islam being an Arab religion, Allah, is certainly not the God of Toussaint's race.**** By the way, this rant from Toussaint recalls "The God of the whites", the reported words from the Morne Rouge meeting. Notwithstanding some christian revisionists, this racial vision of God is nevertheless firmly rooted among the Saint Domingue captive population who "appelaient la sainte hostie Bon Dieu à blanc." (73) (Transl.) : "called the holy ghost God of the whites."
  • Toussaint, on October 4, 1791, mentioned his intention to go to the Spaniards (islamophobes) for whom he later fought alongside Jean-François and Biassou. (74)
  • Toussaint did not drink alcohol. (75) However, he had alcohol in his camp. In his October 15, 1791, letter, he mentioned Boukman (Bouqueman) and proposed to supply Biassou's camp with strong alcohol (tafia) : "My good friend, (...) you can inform Bouqueman (...) If you need tafia, I will sent it to you when you like, but try to spare them; you can see that we should not give them amount that will disturb them." (76) 
  • Then, not different from the majority of Haitians, notwithstanding his catholic practice, "Toussaint-Louverture, on the arrival of the French expedition commanded by General Leclerc, had his fortune read by one of those vodou quite knowledgeable in the art of divination." (77)
Thus, the elements presented here demonstrate that Toussaint was a catholic, with a traditionalist touch, at critical moments. He was certainly not a muslim.


9- Jean-Baptiste Cap, the King of Limbé and Port-Margot

If Toussaint Louverture (Breda) was a free Negro, and even a former slaveholder, who had taken part in the revolution, he was not the only one. Jean-Baptiste Cap was another privileged and even fortunate Black.+
 On September 1, 1791, Jean-Baptiste Cap, having received the rank of King of Limbé and Port Margot, tried to raise captive workshops++ with alcohol. This demonstrates not only the non-islamic character of Jean-Baptiste Cap, but especially that of the captive population that he knew were  drinkers of hard liquor (tafia) :
"Le 1er septembre, plusieurs nègres et négresses furent fusillés à la paroisse. (...) Jean-Baptiste Cap, nègre libre, contumacé dans l’affaire d’Ogé s’approche de la ville. Il veut soulever les ateliers des environs, les seuls à être restés fidèles. Il s’adresse à cet effet au commandeur du citoyen Lambert, qui prétexte un voyage à faire en ville; Jean-Baptiste Cap lui dit qu’il l’attendra et lui donne commission d’apporter une dame-jeanne de taffia. Ce qu’il lui promet de faire." (78)
Translation :
"On September 1, several negroes and negresses were shot at the parish. (...) Jean-Baptiste Cap, a free negro, contumacious in the Ogé affair, approaches the city. He wished to raise the neighborhood's workshops, the only ones that remain faithful. To this end he addressed Citizen Lambert's commandeur [plantation foreman], who was pretexting a journey to be made in the city ; Jean-Baptiste Cap tells him that he will wait for him and commission him to bring a barrel of taffia. What he promises to do."
Obviously, the islamic thesis does not apply to Jean-Baptiste Cap either. The latter, as the author remarks, as a very large number of free blacks, Ogé's accomplices, made common cause with the captives, often inciting them to revolt, for reasons of political expediency. Following the revolution's victory, a portion of these republicans, converted royalists, proved hostile to the interests of the majority. They sowed division in order to implement the counter-revolutionary and retrograde republic that came to be.

10- Fayette, the literate

Fayette or Monsieur Fayette, as Biassou called him, was part of an intermediate layer of command. He was under the orders of Toussaint, Biassou, etc. We believe, according to the letters that mentioned him, that he played a facilitating role within the rebel army. His letter of October 22, 1791, (which was transcribed with the spelling mistakes), thus written during Boukman's lifetime, reveals the rebels contacts with the Spaniards, and also that not only did the rebels consume alcohol, they produced it in their camps :
"Lettre d'un nègre, signée Fayette ; du Dondon, le 22 octobre 1791.
 Mon général,
 J'ai l'honneur de vous souhaiter le bonjour et mon général français qui vous fait de même. J'ai l'honneur de vous zaprendre que nous avons tresté avec Lespagne ; nous salon oujourd'hui écrire à Monsieur le président, pour optenir ce que nous zavont de besoin ; est ses tun traité qui me fait un sansible plaisir, auquel je suis réjuis comme estamp persuadé que sett nouvelle vous fera autamp de plaisir que moi, qui fais que je vous le fais savoir. Le général vous prie, sitôt la présente reçu, de faire prendre tout le tafia qui et fait, et tous le sucre et le tafia surtout lui sont consigné pour le camp de Dondon. Tous lestat major vous salus, leur très heumbles civilité, et vous soite bien de la santé ainsi que moi.
 J'ai l'honneur d'être avec un fraternel atachement et respecteux respect,
 Mon très cher général, V.T.H. et T.Ob.S. [Votre Très Humble et Très Obéïssant Serviteur]
 Signé : FAYETTE." (79)
Translation :
"Letter of a Negro, signed Fayette ; in Dondon, October 22, 1791.
 My general,
 I have the honor to wish you good morning and my French general wishes you the same. I have the honor to tell you that we treated with Spain ; today, we've written to Mr. Chairman, to obtain what we needed; and it's a treaty that gives me a sensible pleasure, which I am convinced that will rejoice you as well, and that's why I'm sharing it with you. The general begs you, as soon as you receive this, to take all the tafia (rum) that is done, and all the sugar and mostly the rum that are consigned to him, to the Dondon camp. All the major staff salutes  you, their very humble civility, and wish you good health, me as well.
I am honored to be with a fraternal attachment and respectful respect,
 My very dear general, V.T.H. & T.Ob.S.+++
 Signed : FAYETTE. "
Boukman being alive during a request of this kind makes it difficult to believe that he was a muslim and that he would have accepted to fight among soldiers drinking alcohol that islam prohibits. Then, apart from drinking, "treating" or negotiating with Spain, an anti-muslim nation at that time because of the long muslim occupation of its territory, proves that the Saint Domingue rebels were not muslims. 

11- Barthélemy Roquefort

As we have seen, in 1790, Barthélemy (Barthélemi) shared with Boukman the immediate command of an armed band belonging to Biassou. Then, a year later, in 1791, he also took part in the premature arson at the Chabaud estate. So it can certainly be said that he was close to Boukman. And that if islam were the engine of their rebellion, Barthélemy would inevitably prove to be of muslim faith. This is not the case. For, according to Toussaint's letter, we know that Biassou's camp contained hard liquor. Now, we are informed that Barthélemy :
"était le noir qui commandait le camp, en l'absence de Biassou". (80)
Translation :
"was the black who commanded the camp, in Biassou's absence".
Therefore, if he was a muslim, Barthélemy would never have agreed to second the command of a camp where alcohol is consumed. Then, a few years later, in 1794, Barthélemy joined the French troops :
"Le colonel Barthélemy, noir du parti de Laveaux..." (81)
Translation :
"Colonel Barthélemy, black of Laveaux's party..."
Again, behavior inconsistent with that of a muslim. Moreover, at the beginning of the war, Barthélemy had the command of Limbé and Port Margot, (82) (which does not conflict with Jean-Baptiste Cap, who was the king, not the commander, of Limbé and Port-Margot, and who perished in September 1791). But in early November, 1791, French troops marched on Port Margot, and, according to prosecutor Le Clerc's eye-witness testimony, in the rebel camp stormed, there were pigs serving as food. And the French were amusing themselves by massacring those pigs to feed themselves as well :
"The blacks had clearly hoped to hold out in this position because they had a supply of livestock for food, which the whites now seized.
There I witnessed the disorder of war: soldiers and civilians, instead of just killing the animals they needed for food, ran around, sabers in hand, amusing themselves by cutting sheep and pigs in half and using only a small part, with the result that the stench that soon began to rise from this infected place would have forced us to flee it, if that had not already been part of the general plan." (83)
Finally, Barthélemy's camp in Limbé, located on the Alquier estate, offered more resistance than that of Port-Margot. Again according to Le Clerc, this robust camp, which the same French troops attacked afterwards, not only had a Frenchman maneuvering one of the cannons, it was designed by the priest Philémon, a great rebels supporter :
"Le Clerc’s troop now prepared to storm the guildiverie (rum distillery) at Alquier, strongly defended by the blacks (Le Clerc calls it “this redoubtable camp . . . this Gibraltar of the Africans”), who were aided, Le Clerc claims, by some whites as well.
The whites will be torn to pieces there, so said their general Barthélemi. . . . This camp forms a square. (...) Two narrow openings had been made for their two cannon. One, a four-pounder, was manned by Barthélemi, the other, a 48-pounder, by a veteran white gunner who had once been able to admire the value of true heroism under the Comte d’Estaing. (...) He will pay dearly for his treason, this runaway plantation manager from the district. The position is quite defensible. The plan was drawn up by our curé, Father Philemon. Minister of hell! The scaffold is waiting for you." (84)
Under these conditions, we have the assurance that Barthélemy, one of the oldest companions of Boukman, was not a muslim. 

12- César, commanding the North-Eastern camps

Let's move to the Northeastern rebel camps under General César's command. This commander, a free black man, managed this entire territory, whether it was the camp of Fort-Dauphin, that of Ouanaminthe, or one of the various "flying camps" scattered across the border area. (85)
Thus, Fauconnet, a Fort Dauphin settler, was captured by the rebels on November 15, 1791, barely a week after Boukman's death. The rebels camped on his dwelling near the Spanish border. And Fauconnet, in his attempts to escape, observed the exchange of food and ammunition between the rebels and the Spaniards. And pork, proscribed by islam, was among the food supplies that the insurgents procured :
"Imprisoned by the rebels on 15 November 1791, Fauconnet tried to escape into the Spanish colony twice. (...) It is quite clear from his account that the rebels were in control of the territory and of the various routes which led to the other side; they were also trading with the Spanish for food and ammunition. Citizen Fauconnet reports having seen a Spaniard selling three barrels of gunpowder, beef, and pork to the insurgents, which were paid for with coffee and mules stolen from raided plantations and with a coupon payable in fifteen days..." (86) 
In short, General César was not a muslim. And it is undeniable that none of the Boukman's comrade-in-arms was of muslim faith. In fact, this rebel passport, confiscated on October 1, 1791, thus during Boukman's lifetime, sums up all the points raised here: namely, that not Boukman, but Jean-François (representative of the Northern maroons) And Biassou (chief of a non-maroon band) commanded this revolutionary army composed of blacks and mulattoes of both conditions. And the improvement of their daily plight via the (false) royal decree served the captive as political fuel, but that the return to Nan Ginen, the Land of their Ancestors, made them brave death :

Source : Assemblée nationale. Archives parlementaires de 1787 à 1860 ; vol. 37. Paris, 1891. p.291.

Translation :
"In this letter is attached a model of the note found on negro prisoners; it is a square divided in four, in the first box is printed M.D.M [unknown to date]; in the second, "The prejudice is defeated, the iron rod is broken, long live the king!" ; and down in the left box, uppercase J. B. [Jean-François and Biassou - Not Boukman who was not the leader]; in the right, uppercase M. N. [Mulattos & Black)] intertwined and topped with a heart." (87)
In this case, we can erase once and for all the idea that the Haitian revolution came from the muslim doctrine. In an upcoming article, we will prove that Boukman, himself, was not a muslim.

13- Romaine La Prophétesse, the cross-dresser

Since September-November 1791, Romaine Rivière's excentric nature was noticed in Trou-Coffy, near Léogane (in the Western Province). In his warlike approach, this rebel leader, though a free creole, a married man with kids, a landowner and a traditional priest, disguised himself as the Virgin Mary and was known as Romaine La Prophetesse :

"Romaine Rivière, propriétaire, dans les hauteurs de Léogane, d'une petite plantation caféyère, au lieu appelé le Trou-Coffy, situé sur les limites de Jacmel et de Léogane, près du corail de Brach et des Citronniers, avait, dans le débordement des passions, établi un camp sur sa terre.
Là, se disant inspiré de la Sainte-Vierge, prenant la dénomination de prophétesse, il mêlait au culte qu'un on doit au créateur l'exercice des sortilièges (1).
(1) "Ce griffe, marié à une mulâtresse, a construit une chapelle et un autel, où il célèbre ses mystères à sa mode ; il met sa tête dans son tabernacle pour y écouter les réponses du Saint-Esprit, fait écrire des lettres à la Saint-Vierge et les réponses de la Sainte-Vierge se trouvent le lendemain dans son tabernacle ; il fait ses méditations et prêches le sabre à la main, enseigne à ses imbéciles prosélytes un doctrine d'où ont résulté les vols, les assassinats, les incendies. Ce scélérat est aussi charlatan, il compose des remèdes, etc." Rapport de Blouet, curé de Jacmel, du 14 février 1792." (88)
Translation :
"Romaine Rivière, owner, in the heights of Leogane, of a small coffee plantation, at the place called Trou-Coffy, located on the limits of Jacmel and Leogane, near the Brach and Citronniers coral, had, in the overflowing passions, established a camp on his land.
There, claiming to be inspired by the Blessed Virgin, taking the denomination of prophetess, he mingled with the worship that one owes to the creator the exercise of sorcery. (1)
(1) "This griffe [son of a black man or woman with a mulatto man or woman, meaning that he was born on the island and not in the Congo, as the christian revisionists claim without evidence], married to a mulatto woman, has built a chapel and an altar, where he celebrates his mysteries in his fashion, he inserts his head in his tabernacle to listen to the Holy Spirit's answers ; made people write letters to the Blessed Virgin and the Blessed Virgin's answers are found the next day in her tabernacle ; he did his meditations and preaches sword in hand, teaches his imbecile proselytes a doctrine from which have resulted thefts, assassinations, arson. The scoundrel is also a charlatan, he composes remedies, etc." Report of Blouet, priest of Jacmel, February, 14, 1792."
Thus, the cross-dressing syncretism of Romaine La Prophétesse, was inspired by her godmother, the Virgin Mary, while drawing strength, protection and remedy in traditional magic, is not islamic. 

14- Hyacinthe Ducoudray, the courageous

On March 28, 1792, barely four months after Boukman's death, Hyacinthe's troops attacked the French at Croix-des-Bouquets, near Port-au-Prince. Hyacinthe, a traditional officiant, inspired his troops with his horsehair whip, telling them that cannonballs are nothing but water (d'iau). Colonel Malenfant witnessed it :
"Leur chef Hyacinthe passait au milieu des balles, à portée du pistolet, tenant à sa main un petit fouet de crin de cheval, qu'il remuait avec vitesse en criant aux noirs : En avant, c'est d'iau, c'est d'iau (c'est de l'eau) qui sort  des canons, pas gagnez peur." (89)
Translation :
"Their leader Hyacinthe passed in the middle of the bullets, within reach of the pistol,  holding in his hand a little whip of horsehair, hich he stirred with speed, shouting to the blacks : Forward, it's d'iau, it's d'iau (it's water) coming out of the guns, don't be afraid."
And following his victory, Hyacinthe who practiced a syncretic religion (traditional and catholic), took his troop to the presbytery to be blessed by the catholic priest :

"Après cette affaire, Hyacinthe se rendit en ordre au presbytère, où il fit bénir sa troupe par le curé, après lui avoir demandé l'absolution. Le père Thomas se montra docile à tout ce que le vainqueur voulut, et resta tranquille avec une douzaine de blancs qui s'étaient réfugiés chez lui." (90)
Translation :
"After this affair, Hyacinthe went in order at the presbytery, where he had the parish priest bless him after having asked for the absolution. Father Thomas was docile to all that the conqueror wished, and remained calm with a dozens of whites who had taken refuge at his home."
Is it becoming of a muslim warlord to solicit a blessing in a catholic church after a fight? Absolutely not.

15- The ultimate proof

We had to insert this ultimate proof, freshly acquired from the Spanish archives, unequivocally demonstrating that the Haitian revolutionaries were not, and could not be, of muslim faith. It is a list of provisions that the Spanish royalists sent to the rebels in September 1793. And, as one would expect, wine, aguardiente (strong alcohol) and pork (ham) Are among the food supplied to the rebels:
"Provisiones para Biassou
Harina
 Vino
 Aguardiente
 Velas
 Lienzo de Flandes
 clavar de comer
 Canela
 Arroz
 fideos
 Hilo de todas calidades
 Javon (?)
 Pimienta
 Azeyte (?)
 Zapatos
 Pañuelas
 Puerto Maon (?)
 Coletilla aplomada fina
 Jamones
 Sombreros
 Charreteras para oficiales
Secretaria
 32 resma de papel
 4 Botellas de finta
 6 paquetes de lacre" (91)
Traduction :
"Provisions pour Biassou
Flour
 Wine
 Aguardiente (hard liquor, brandy, kleren)
 Candles
 Canvas from Flanders
 Clove
 Cinnamon
 Rice
 Noodles
 Thread of all qualities
 Soap (?)
 Pepper
 Oil (?)
 Shoes
 Handkerchiefs
 Puerto Maon (?)
 Coletilla aplomada fina (Thin plated collar) (???)
 Hams
 Headwear
 Epaulettes for officers
Office supplies
 32 Raeam of paper
 4 Bottles of Feint (?)
 6 Pack of sealing (?)"
This direct evidence is undeniable. The actors of the Haitian revolution were consuming products prohibited by islam, for the simple reason that they were not muslims. However, let no one tell us that the rebels accepted these foods proscribed by islam out of courtesy, and that they did not consume them. The Spaniards supplying these commodities, have confirmed that they consume them, notably Biassou : 
"A Spanish officer noted that Biassou's only job is to drink aguardiente [hard liquor]" (92)
At the risk of repeating ourselves, the proof is made. There were lots of Frenchmen who were prisoners of the rebels for several months. But none of them ever noticed the rebels praying by bowing their heads to the ground and their backs in the air, as muslims should do 5 times a day. If such was the case, the Spaniards, who knew the islamic religion very well, would have immediately spotted it. But that never happened. Instead, only great officiants of the ancestral religion and catholic priests were seen in the rebel camps. Moreover, the Spanish archives are filled with dozens of letters from the rebel leaders (Jean-François, Biassou, Bernardin, Matable, and Lefebvre) to Father Vasquez and Brother Fernando, in which they constantly state their christianity and their attachment to royalty. This is one such letter, dated May 6, 1793 :


Translation :
"This May 6, 1793.

Monsignor the Archbishop,
Permit me to take the liberty of having the honor of writing this to you to send you my very humble greeting by praying God that he will preserve you in eternal life and the continuation of the most happy and due to your homage and very christian priesthood, and that this great Almighty God preserve you in this happy and dignified abode of your merit.As I promise myself to be submissive and faithful to that just King who wishes to uphold his worthy hand, [illegible] delighted to have to support, in order to defeat his enemy traitor to God and the King, that I may better show you that my just faithfulness joined to it that of a whole people assured like me of this Great Lord to the scale of his unhappy barbarians who [illegible] to stain their hands in the blood of our just French King and to show him his just Revenge ; we ask, with binding hands, to be the servant of this great King of Spain, promising them to be faithful to God and to the King for life. It is by conjuring all this sincere and faithful confession that I have the honor to be very respectfully.
Monsignor the Archbishop.
Your very humble and obedient servant,
Biassou
 General of the King's Armies
Jean-François
 Grand Admiral
Lefebvre
Aide-de-Camp General
Matable
 Aide-de-Camp On-foot." (93)
So on this point, there's no shortage of proofs to silence the deceitful revisionists.


 * David P. Geggus. The Haitian Revolution : A Documentary History. Indianapolis, 2014. p.77.
 ** In 1791, Father Philémon, reinforced the rebel cause by drawing up the fortification plan of the Alquier estate in Limbé. (Cited by Jeremy D. Popkin. Facing Racial Revolution : Eyewitness account of the Haitian insurrection. Chicago, 2007. p.99.) Similarly, Madame Paget aka The Virgin, the Manbo (woman traditional official) waged war alongside Jean-François at Fort Dauphin, in 1794, killing three times more Frenchmen than the average of her male comrades-in-arms. (Cited by David Barry Gaspar, Darlene Clark Hine. More Than Chattel: Black Women and Slavery in the Americas. Bloomington, 1996. p.278.) These two examples prove that religion blended with military strategies throughout the Haitian revolution.
 *** If Vodun is a religion in Benin, in Haiti, "Vodou" does not really exist as a religion. Certainly, in the colony of Saint Domingue, where roughly a quarter of the captives originating from Dahomey, namely from present-day Benin, designated their ancestral Spirits "Vodoun". And by extension, in Haiti, "Vodou" referred to the whole Dahomean rite or rada (diminutive of Arada, a place in Benin). However, the Dahomean heritage does not represent the entire Haitian ancestral religion that is made up of the heritage of a multitude of nations or ethnic groups. It was the settlers who, in their ignorance, mistakenly thought that the word "Vodou" defined the totality of the captives ancestral religion.
 **** Although islamic missionaries would dismiss the ethnic/racial component to their religion, the fact remains that islam places an enormous weight on direct Muhammad's biological descendants, titled "Sayyid or Sayyida". Therefore, race and ethnicity are valid factors in comparing and contrasting that religion with another.
 + For more on Jean-Baptiste Cap's wealth, see : Yves Benot. "Les insurgés de 1791, leurs dirigeants et l'idée d'indépendance". In : Les Lumières, l'esclavage, la colonisation, La Découverte « TAP/HIST Contemporaine », 2005, p. 230-240.
 ++ Unfortunately, things did not end well for Jean-Baptiste Cap, this hero who fought the system since February 1791. He tried to win over Jean, commandeur on the Chaperon de la Taste estate, located near the Cap Français hospital. But turns out that Jean was a traitor who ran to the first policeman and had Jean-Baptiste Cap arrested. Jean-Baptiste Cap was soon sentenced and broken by the wheel on Cap Français' streets. As for Jean, this traitor received, on September 4, 1791, official praises and his freedom from the authorities. On top of a 300 pound pension, he even received this silver medail that reads :

"Devant : JEAN s'est dévoué aux Blancs le 1er Septmbre 1791.
 Arrière : Saint-Domingue a affranchi & pensionné Jean le 4 Septembre 1791." (94)
Translation :
"Front : JEAN devoted himself to the Whites on September 1, 1791.
 Back : Saint-Domingue has freed Jean and gave him a pension on September 4, 1791."
Sole consolation in this ordeal, the policeman who arrested Jean-Baptiste Cap got apprehended by the ruthless Jeannot, 3 weeks later. And in spite of protestations from some well-intentioned black women, Jeannot avenged Jean-Baptiste Cap by executing this policeman. (95)
 +++ V.T.H. et T.Ob.S. = Votre Très Humble et Très Obéïssant Serviteur (Your most humble and obedient servant.)

 
Notes
(1) France Convention nationale. Débats entre les accusateurs et les accusés, dans l'affaire des Colonies, imprimés en exécution de la loi du 4 pluviose. Tome 1. Paris, 1795. p. 367.
 (2) Correspondance de M. de Cambefort avc M. de Blanchelande. Journal des Débats de l'Assemblée coloniale, le 7 novembre 1791. In :  Jean Fouchard. Les marrons de la liberté. Port-au-Prince, 1988. pp.413-414.
 (3) François-Alexandre Beau. La Révolution de Saint-Domingue, contenant tout ce qui s’est passé dans la colonie française depuis le commencement de la Révolution jusqu’au départ de l’auteur pour la France, le 8 septembre 1792. Unpublished.
 (4) Verneuil Gros. Isle de St.-Domingue, province du nord...: Précis historique. Paris, 1793. p.14.
 (5) Yves Benot. "Les insurgés de 1791, leurs dirigeants et l'idée d'indépendance". In : Les Lumières, l'esclavage, la colonisation, La Découverte « TAP/HIST Contemporaine », 2005, pp. 230-240.
 (6) ANOM : Lettres patentes de juillet 1651 autorisant les Jésuites à s'établir à Saint-Domingue (juillet 1651, copie octobre 1704) ; URL : http://anom.archivesnationales.culture.gouv.fr/ark:/61561/ou533fz554l
 (7) See slavevoyages.org database.
 (8) Gouvernement de France. Code Noir sur les esclaves des ïles de l'Amérique. Paris, 1680.
 (9) ANOM : Lettre du père de Sacy, procureur des Jésuites, au sujet de l'interdiction de l'établissement d'une confrérie de "nègres" à la Guadeloupe (29 novembre 1753). URL : http://anom.archivesnationales.culture.gouv.fr/ark:/61561/ou533smpqmf
 (10) For more information on Brazilian captives brotherhoods, see : José Reis. Différences et résistances : les Noirs à Bahia sous l'esclavage. In : Cahiers d'études africaines. Vol. 32 N°125. 1992. pp. 15-34. ; URL: http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/cea_0008-0055_1992_num_32_125_2086
 (11) See : Dénonciation des crimes et attentats des soi-disans Jésuites, dans toutes les parties du monde." Paris, 1762. Ou Kawas François. S.J. "La Compagnie de Jésus en Haïti durant la colonisation française au XVIIe siècle." In : Le Brigand. Janvier-Mars 2005. No. 481 [online] URL : http://www.jesuites.org/Brigand9/colonisation.htm
(12) Gouvernement de France. "Ordonnance du Roi, Concernant les Procureurs & Économes-gérans des habitations situées aux Isles sous le Vent ; Du 3 décembre 1784". In : Moreau de St.-Méry. Loix et constitutions des colonies françoises de l'Amérique sous le Vent ; Du 3 décembre 1785. Paris, (). pp.655-667.
(13) Gouvernement de France. "Ordonnance du Roi, Concernant les Procureurs & Économes-gérans des habitations situées aux Isles sous le Vent ; Du 23 décembre 1785". In : Moreau de St.-Méry. Op. Cit. pp.918-930.
 (14) Philippe Girard. Toussaint Louverture : A Revolutionary Life. New York, 2016. [online]
(15) for more on fake emancipation decrees in the Americas, see : Wim Klooster, « Le décret d’émancipation imaginaire : monarchisme et esclavage en Amérique du Nord et dans la Caraïbe au temps des révolutions », Annales historiques de la Révolution française [online], 363 | janvier-mars 2011, uploaded March 1, 2014, retrieved on January 11, 2015. URL : http://ahrf.revues.org/11944
 (16) Pamphile de Lacroix. La Révolution de Haïti : Édition présentée et annotée par Pierre Pluchon. Paris. 1995. p.94. 
 (17) Verneuil Gros. Isle de St. Domingue : Province du Nord. Paris, 1793. p.17.
 (18) Les Affiches américaines : Supplément du Samedi 3 novembre 1787 ; Parution no. 44. p.900.  URL : http://www.marronnage.info/fr/lire.php?type=annonce&id=8436
 (19) François-Alexandre Beau. Op. Cit.
(20) Ibid.
(21) Les Affiches américaines : Supplément du Samedi 3 novembre 1787 ; Parution no. 44. p.900.  URL : http://www.marronnage.info/fr/lire.php?type=annonce&id=8436
 (22) Jacques de Cauna. "Toussaint Louverture, entre trois mondes, trois cultures : africaine, créole, gasconne." In : La Révolution haïtienne au-delà de ses frontières. Paris, 2006. p.106.
(23) Philippe Girard. Op. Cit.
(24) Thomas Madiou. Histoire d’Haïti. Tome 1. Port-au-Prince, 1847. p.72.
(25) Assemblée nationale. Archives parlementaires de 1787 à 1860: recueil complet. Tome 37. Paris, 1891, pp.311-312.
(26) Eugène Aubin. En Haiïti : planteurs d'autrefois, nègres d'aujourd'hui. Paris, 1910. p.45.
(27) Verneuil Gros. Isle de St. Domingue : Province du Nord. Paris, 1793. p.17.
(28) Sylviane A. Diouf. Servants of Allah : African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas. New York, 1998. pp.146-147.
(29) Gaspard Théodore Mollien. Histoire ou Saint Domingue. Tome 1. Paris, 2006. p. 73.
(30) Beaubrun Ardouin. Études sur l'histoire d'Haïti…, Tome 3. Paris, 1853. p.91.
(31) Jane Landers. "Transforming Bondsmen into Vassals" In : Arming Slaves: From Classical Times to the Modern Age. p.81.
(32) September 4, 1791, letter from Jean-François. Quoteb by Colonel Malenfant. Des Colonies et plus particulièrement de celle de Saint-Domingue. Paris, 1814. pp.115-117.
 (33) Mazères. De l'Utilité des colonies, des causes intérieures de la perte de Saint-Domingue et des moyens d'en recouvrer la possession - Paris, 1814. p.106.
 (34) "Biassou's burial entry noted he was native of Guarico [Cap] and son of the blacks Carlos and Diana [Charles and Diane]." Jane Landers. Black society in Spanish Florida. Chicago, 1999. p.358.
(35) Assemblée nationale. Archives parlementaires de 1787 à 1860: recueil complet. Tome 37. Paris, 1891, pp.311-312.
(36) Pamphile de Lacroix. Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de la révolution de Saint-Domingue. Tome 1. Paris, 1820. p.165.
(37) Thomas Prosper Gragnon-Lacoste. Toussaint Louverture, général en chef de l'armée de Saint-Domingue. Paris, 1877. p. 29.
(38) Louis Dubroca. La vie de J.-J. Dessalines, chef des noirs révoltés de Saint-Domingue. Paris, 1804. p.28.
(39) Thomas Madiou. Op. Cit. pp.72-73.
(40) Ibid.
(41) Ibid.
(42) Ibid.
(43) Joseph Saint-Rémy. La vie de Toussaint Louverture. Cayes, 1850. p.23.
(44) Antoine Métral. Histoire de l’insurrection des esclaves dans le Nord de Saint-Domingue…suivie des mémoires et des notes d’Isaac Louverture. Paris. 1825. p.333.
(45) Documents sur l'insurrection des esclaves de Saint-Domingue : lettres de Biassou, Fayette.... In : Annales historiques de la Révolution française, n°339, 2005. pp. 137-150 ; URL : http://www.persee.fr/doc/ahrf_0003-4436_2005_num_339_1_2756
(46) Ibid.
(47) Ibid.
(48) Ibid.
(49) Louis Dubroca. Op. Cit. pp.29-32.
(50) Jean-Baptiste Picquenard. Adonis ou le bon nègre : anecdote coloniale. Paris, 1798. pp.162-164.
(51) Jane Landers. Black Society in Spanish Florida, Chicago, 1999. p.132.
(52) Jane Landers. "Transforming Bondsmen into Vassals" In : Arming Slaves : From Classical Times to the Modern Age. New Haven, 2006. pp.120-145.
(53) Pamphile de LaCroix. Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de la révolution de Saint-Domingue. Paris, 1819.p. 482.
(54) Anonyme. Histoire des Désastres de Saint-Domingue. 1789. p.259.
(55) Mazères. Op. Cit. p.65.
(56) Pierre-Jean-Baptiste Nougaret. Histoire de la guerre civile en France et des malheurs qu'elle a occasionnés... Paris, 1803. pp. 283-284.
(57) Verneuil Gros. Isle de St.-Domingue, province du nord...: Précis historique. Paris, 1793. p.7.
(58) Verneuil Gros. Ibid. p.9.
(59) Yves Benot. « Documents sur l’insurrection des esclaves de Saint-Domingue : lettres de Biassou, Fayette », Annales historiques de la Révolution française [online], 339 | janvier-mars 2005, uploaded April 27, 2006, retrieved on February 8, 2016. URL : http://ahrf.revues.org/2175
(60) Verneuil Gros. Op. Cit. p.7.
(61) Verneuil Gros. Ibid. p.13
(62) Ibid.
(63) Verneuil Gros. Ibid. p.12
(64) Yves Benot. « Documents sur l'insurrection... » Op. Cit.
(65) Anonyme. Histoire des Désastres de Saint-Domingue. 1789. p.259.
(66) Assemblée nationale. Séance du mercredi 30 novembre 1791. in : Étienne Lehodey de Saultchevreuil. Journal de l'Assemblée nationale, ou Journal logographique…, Volume 4. Paris, 1791. p.424.
(67) "Ce Jeannot avait décolé lui même plus de quatre-vingts blancs, qu'il avait fait prisonniers. Soupçonnant la fidélité d'un de ses généraux, Paul Blin, il le fit arrêter dans son camp, couper par morceaux, et jeter au feu." (Transl.) : "This Jeannot had personally decimated more than eighty whites, whom he had taken prisoners. Suspecting the fidelity of one of his generals, Paul Blin, he had him arrested in his camp, cut to pieces, and thrown into the fire." Pierre-Jean-Baptiste Nougaret. Histoire de la guerre civile en France et des malheurs qu'elle a occasionnés... Paris, 1803. p.284.
(68) Le Moniteur universel, no. 110, 9 janvier 1799. In : Réimpression de l'Ancien Moniteur. Paris, 1843. pp.585 bis-586 bis.
(69) Michel Étienne Descourtilz. Voyages d'un naturaliste, et ses observations... Volume 3. Paris, 1809. p.249.
(70) Le Moniteur universel. Op .Cit.
(71) Michel Étienne Descourtilz. Op. Cit. p.396.
(72) Hannibal Price. De la réhabilitation de la race noire par la République d'Haïti. Port-au-Prince, 1900. p.233.
(73) Barrière de Vaublanc. Mémoires de M. le comte de Vaublanc. Paris, 1857. p.110.
(74) Assemblée nationale. Archives parlementaires de 1787 à 1860 : recueil complet. Tome 37. Paris, 1891, p.311.
(75) Michel Étienne Descourtilz. Op. Cit. p.246.
(76) Assemblée nationale. Op. Cit. pp.311-312.
(77) Michel Étienne Descourtilz. Op. Cit. p.186.
(78) François-Alexandre Beau. Op. Cit.
(79) Assemblée nationale. Archives parlementaires de 1787 à 1860: recueil complet. Tome 37. Paris, 1891, p.312.
(80) Jean-Baptiste Jacques Picquenard. Adonis ou le bon nègre : anecdote coloniale. Paris, 1796. p.193.
(81) Thomas Madiou. Op. Cit. p.209.
(82) Beaubrun Ardouin. Études sur l'histoire d'Haïti...Tome 1. Paris, 1853. p.211.
(83) “Notes de Monsieur Le Clerc.” In : Jeremy D. Popkin. Facing Racial Revolution : Eyewitness account of the Haitian insurrection. Chicago, 2007. p.97.
(84) Ibid. pp.98-99.
(85) Pamphile de Lacroix. La Révolution de Haïti : Édition présentée et annotée par Pierre Pluchon. Paris. 1995. p.90.
(86) Maria Cristina Fumagalli. On the Edge : Writing the Border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Liverpool, 2015. p.51.
(87) Assemblée nationale. Archives parlementaires de 1787 à 1860 ; 35 (20 novembre 1791). Paris, 1860. p.260.
 (88) Joseph Saint-Remy. Pétion et Haïti, étude monographique et historique. Tome 1. Paris, 1864. pp.149-150.
 (89) Colonel Malenfant. Op. Cit. p.18.
(90) Colonel Malenfant. Ibid. p.19.
 (91) "Ejército Sueldos y provisiones" ; Archivo General de Simancas,SGU,LEG,7157,14
 (92) Philippe Girard. Op. Cit. 
 (93) May 6, 1793, rebels letter to Father Vasquez ;  "Colonia francesa de Santo Domingo. Rebelión de negros" ; Archivo General de Simancas,SGU,LEG,7157,22 ; files (147-148/847)
 (94) Gazette de Saint-Domingue... du Mercredi 21 Septembre 1791. Parution no.76. pp.891-892.
 (95) François-Alexandre Beau. Op. Cit.

How to cite this article:
Rodney Salnave. "Boukman wasn't the leader of the Haitian revolution". June 16, 2017 ; updated on Oct. 25, 2019. [online] URL : http://bwakayiman.blogspot.com/2017/06/boukman-wasnt-revolutionary-armys-leader.html ; Retrieved on [enter date]



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