Grand-Yaque. Christophe forces the crossing against Sérapio; more than 300 Haitians killed or drowned

On the 22nd they crossed the savanna of Tête and that of Hargue, and in the middle of the night arrived in that of Guayabine. On the 23rd, at nine in the morning, the division crossed the river of Guayabine, not without difficulty. After following the road not far from the course of the river Grand-Yaque, whose waters empty into the bay of Monte Cristi, the troops reached the town of L’Hôpital, in the magnificent valley of Santiago, and spent the night on the hattes Hilaire Gaston and Pichasse. The next day at noon they entered the town of Amina. They were marching four leagues from the course of the river, which they approached in order to cross it; and on the 25th, at four in the morning, they halted on the left bank. On the opposite bank they saw the Spanish-French troops drawn up in line of battle, about 1,500 men, under the orders of Sérapio, commander in chief of the department of Cibao. The enemy occupied a breastwork 300 feet long, armed with two field pieces, and a fort defended by a twelve-pounder and raised on a small hill. Although Clervaux’s division had not arrived, the Haitian troops amounted to 9,000 men. The 2nd and 27th demi-brigades took up position opposite the enemy entrenchments on a rise on the left bank; the 28th and 29th took position behind them; and the 1st, the 9th, the battalion of Santiago and the artillery companies held the middle of the high road, ready to force the crossing.

While Christophe was making his dispositions for the attack, the greatest order reigned in the enemy’s ranks. He sent to the opposite bank an officer of the battalion of Santiago, Don Pèdre, charged with summoning Sérapio to give up the breastwork and the fort, and with telling him that he came with no hostile intentions toward the Spaniards and made war only on the French. The enemy answered that he was ready to die rather than surrender. Christophe at once had the charge beaten, and Battalion Commander Jason, followed by the 1st demi-brigade, the battalion of Santiago and the 9th, plunged into the river. The Haitian soldiers, in water up to their waists, withstood the swiftness of the current only by pressing tightly against one another. Our troops, supported by the fire of the 2nd and 27th posted on the left bank, reached the right bank, where a bloody combat began. In spite of prodigies of valor by Sérapio, a Black officer, the Spanish-French began to give way. As soon as Christophe perceived it, he ordered Colonel Étienne Albert to cross the river with the cavalry and charge. The Haitian dragoons, having reached the opposite bank, broke the ranks of the enemy, whom the 9th was already overthrowing with the bayonet. The rout became complete, and the fugitives, hard pressed by the 9th and cut down by the dragoons of the 2nd regiment, fell back into Santiago. General Brave pushed into the center of the town, driving before him the women and children who, fleeing the cavalry, were trying to reach the woods. Most of the enemy soldiers were massacred; Sérapio and Colonel Polanque had perished in the battle.

The enemy’s munitions of war and baggage fell into our hands. We had lost more than 300 men, killed or carried away by the waters of the Grand Yaque during the crossing. We had 60 wounded, among whom were counted General Brave; Pourcely, colonel of the 9th; Jacques Louis, battalion commander in the same corps; and Squadron Leader Pierre Poux. It was the 9th that, by the impetuosity of its attack, decided the victory in favor of the Haitians. Most of the dead and wounded were soldiers of that corps, whom Christophe, it was said in the army at the time, was deliberately squandering under fire in order to destroy them. It was claimed that the influence of General Capoix, Christophe’s personal enemy, weakened in proportion to the losses of the 9th.