Pétion stormed the fort of la Coupe at daybreak, which led the English to abandon Nérette and Grenier.

Pétion, with the spyglass, discovered on 27 pluviôse (15 February), at daybreak, a convoy heading from Port-au-Prince toward la Coupe. At once he assembled his officers: some objected that their mission was only to harass the enemy, with no commission to attack him; but commandant Gauthier, captains Ogé, Boyer, and Segrettier, and lieutenant Bazelais demanded battle; the European officers at last assented.

Pétion gave brigade commander Ulysse the command of the left column, which was to fall upon the rear of the fort; he reserved to himself the command of the right, which was to attack in front. The combat began at five o’clock and lasted until half past eight; the bastion was carried with the bayonet; the enemy fell back into the fort. Ulysse pursued him there; but he was driven back as far as the bastion. Pétion was greeted by a first cannon shot which laid four men low. Nothing checked the ardor of the assailants. The main enclosure was overrun. English soldiers were then seen climbing onto the roofs, and there still continuing the fight. Brunet moved everywhere, encouraging his companions and distributing ammunition to them. When he saw that all was lost, and that he himself was wounded, he threw himself from the top of the ramparts and succeeded in saving himself.

Only fifteen men were able to find safety in flight, so obstinate had the resistance been! Only seven prisoners were taken, among whom was a young Englishwoman of twelve or thirteen years who had received a bullet. Captain Boyer hastened to give this unfortunate child some care; she died on the journey to Léogane. The interior of the fort presented a frightful spectacle; the glacis and all the chambers were strewn with the dead; one did not know where to set one’s feet. Pétion lost five officers and twelve soldiers, and had a considerable number of wounded. Four pieces of cannon, of which two were in bronze, of 2 and of 6 pounds, the others in cast iron, of 12 and of 8, together with much ammunition and many provisions of war, were the trophies of that day (1). The tricolor flag was hoisted amid the roar of the cannon and the cries of: Long live the Republic!

The capture of the camp of la Coupe decided, the same day, the evacuation of that of Nérette, and on the next day that of Grenier. A few days later, Nérette, brigade commander in the regiment of the *troupes franches*, carried the camp of Formy after a violent combat. The results of these successes were immense; the English abandoned the Fleuriau and Digneron plantations, and withdrew to the Croix-des-Bouquets. The rear of Port-au-Prince lay exposed; the valiant youth of the Croix-des-Bouquets began to desert the cause of the English; our patrols pushed far into the plain. Finally, the capture of the camp of la Coupe put the West in communication with the Artibonite, and brought about the evacuation of Port-au-Prince.