The War of Knives, also known as the War of the South, was a civil war from June 1799 to July 1800 between the Haitian revolutionary Toussaint Louverture, a black ex-slave who controlled the north of Saint-Domingue, and his adversary André Rigaud, a mixed-race free person of color who controlled the south. Louverture and Rigaud fought over de facto control of the French colony of Saint-Domingue during the war. Their conflict followed the withdrawal of British forces from the colony earlier during the Haitian Revolution. The war resulted in Toussaint taking control of the entirety of Saint-Domingue, and Rigaud fleeing into exile.
Alexandre Pétion
Charles Leclerc
Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of The Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Haiti is 27,750 km2 (10,714 sq mi), the third largest country in the Caribbean, and has an estimated population of 11.4 million, making it the most populous Caribbean country. The capital is Port-au-Prince.
Artist's impression of Christopher Columbus landing on Hispaniola, engraving by Theodor de Bry
Saint-Domingue slave revolt in 1791
General Toussaint Louverture
Battle between Polish troops in French service and the Haitian rebels. The majority of Polish soldiers eventually deserted the French army and fought alongside the Haitians.