“Seeing myself surrounded by more than 3,000 negroes,” the desperate officer in command of the unit wrote, “I see no prospect of holding out with such a small detachment, and rather than fall into the hands of this savage people fighting for its own freedom, I am taking my own life.” Some Polish soldiers made an equally daring choice: they switched sides, joining the rebels. In October 1802 Dessalines had noted that he was joined in his defection by “many European soldiers who are concerned, loyal, and tormented because they are men who, like me, have taken up arms for their own liberty, and they are considered as my friends.” He was referring, it seems, to Polish troops with whom he had made connections during his service in the colonial army. The Poles had, years before, enlisted in Bonaparte’s army in the hope that the French would support their own bid for national independence.

Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ …, loc. 430