Portal:Dominican Republic/Selected article/9

The Dominican War of Independence (Spanish: Guerra de Independencia Dominicana) was a war of independence that began when the Dominican Republic declared independence from the Republic of Haiti on February 27, 1844 and ended on January 24, 1856. Before the war, the island of Hispaniola had been united for 22 years when the newly independent nation, previously known as the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo, was unified with the Republic of Haiti in 1822. The criollo class within the country overthrew the Spanish crown in 1821 before unifying with Haiti a year later.

The First Dominican Republic was proclaimed at the Puerta de la Misericordia after the blunderbluss shot by the patrician Matías Ramón Mella in the early morning of February 27, 1844 and by the raising of the tricolor flag at the Puerta del Conde by the patrician Francisco del Rosario Sánchez, both inspired by the ideals of their leader, Juan Pablo Duarte, ending the 22 years of Haitian rule. In response, Charles Rivière-Hérard issued the first Haitian campaign against the Dominicans. Thanks to the efforts of Generals Pedro Santana and Antonio Duvergé, the Haitian column that attacked Azua was successfully defeated. However, Hérard, in his retreat, burned the town of Azua, executing all the prisoners he had taken. In Santiago, the Dominican forces under the command of General José María Imbert and General Fernando Valerio defeated another Haitian army, which in its retreat committed numerous misdeeds, robberies and fires until reaching Haiti. The first naval battle was fought on April 15, 1844. The result of the battle was that the Dominicans sank three enemy ships, without losing a single one of their own. A second campaign, led by Jean-Louis Pierrot, began after intense border hostilities. In May 1845, President Santana, assisted by General Duvergé and General José Joaquín Puello, defeated the Haitian troops at Estrelleta and Beller, capturing the Haitian squadron in Puerto Plata that had bombarded that town, causing extensive damage. The Haitians were pushed back to Haiti across the Dajabón River. (Full article...)