French occupation of Santo Domingo

The French occupation of Santo Domingo started in 1795 when France came to own the whole island when by the Treaty of Basel Spain ceded Santo Domingo as a consequence of the French Revolutionary Wars. At the time, slaves led by Toussaint Louverture in Saint-Domingue were in revolt against France. In 1801 Toussaint Louverture captured Santo Domingo from the French and took control of the entire island.

In 1802 an army sent by Napoleon under the command of Charles Leclerc, captured Toussaint Louverture and sent him to France as prisoner. His successors and yellow fever succeeded in expelling the French again from Saint-Domingue. The nation declared independence as Haiti in 1804. France went on to recover Spanish Santo Domingo. In 1808, following Napoleon's invasion of Spain, the criollos of Santo Domingo revolted against French rule, an event known as the Reconquista.

The first battle took place in Palo Hincado on November 7, 1808, when Gen. Juan Sánchez Ramírez, leading an army of local and Puerto Rican soldiers, attacked by surprise and a garrison of the French Army under the command of Governor Gen. Louis Ferrand, who later committed suicide. The news was heard by Gen. Dubarquier who garrisoned 2000 soldiers in Santo Domingo. The Spanish laid siege to the city on November 27, 1808, with the aid of 6 frigates from the Royal Navy, and troops under the command of General Hugh Lyle Carmichael. Santo Domingo was returned to Spanish control by 9 July 1809.