Dominican War of Independence
The Dominican War of Independence (Spanish: Guerra de Independencia Dominicana) was a war of independence that began when the Dominican Republic declared independence from the Republic of Haiti on February 27, 1844 and ended on January 24, 1856. Before the war, the island of Hispaniola had been united for 22 years when the newly independent nation, previously known as the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo, was unified with the Republic of Haiti in 1822. The criollo class within the country overthrew the Spanish crown in 1821 before unifying with Haiti a year later.
| Dominican War of Independence | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Dominican Republic |
Republic of Haiti (1844–1849) Second Empire of Haiti (1854–1856) | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Pedro Santana Manuel Jiménes Buenaventura Báez Juan Pablo Duarte Francisco del Rosario Sánchez Matías Ramón Mella Antonio Duvergé Juan B. Cambiaso Juan Alejandro Acosta Manuel Mota José Mª. Cabral José Mª. Imbert J. J. Puello Pedro E. Pelletier Pedro Florentino Fernando Valerio |
Charles Hérard Jean-Louis Pierrot Faustin Soulouque Vicent Jean Degales † Pierre Paul Auguste Brouard Gen. Souffrand Gen. St.-Louis Jean Francois Gen. Seraphin † Gen. Garat † Antoine Pierrot † Pierre Rivere Garat † | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 15,000 | 30,000 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
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The exact number of casualties is unknown; however, Haiti is estimated to have lost twice as many troops as the Dominican Republic. | |||||||||
In March 1844, 30,000 Haitian soldiers invaded the Dominican Republic at the behest of president Charles Rivière-Hérard, but were defeated within a month and forced to retreat back into Haiti. The Haitian campaign of 1845 ended with the retreat of the Haitian army across the Dajabón River. Three years later, Haiti's president Faustin Soulouque launched his first invasion of the Dominican Republic, but his army was beaten back by forces under General Pedro Santana. In late 1849, Dominican naval forces bombarded, sacked and burned several villages on the southern and western coasts of Haiti. In November 1855, Soulouque marched into the Dominican Republic at the head of another army, but the Haitians were decisively defeated and forced back across the border by January 1856.