Louis Delgrès

show This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (May 2020) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the French article. Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 4,175 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary Content in this edit is translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at [[:fr:Louis Delgrès]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template {{Translated|fr|Louis Delgrès}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Bust of Louis Delgrès in Petit-Bourg

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[]

Delgrès 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 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]

The 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[]

In 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 Basse-Terre, 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[]

• La Mulâtresse Solitude
• History of Guadeloupe
• Colonialism
• Siege of Masada (a similar mass suicide)

References[]

External links[]

• Louis Delgrès Le souffle de la liberté (in French)