Bulletin of the ISPAN, No. 15: Fort Saint-Louis at Saint-Louis-du-Sud
Summary: The fort and the Anglo-French contest for supremacy in the Antilles that shaped it, down to the court martial that broke Buttet's rank for a defeat judged "injurious" through underestimating the place entrusted to him. The bulletin draws the moral that even a well-designed stronghold is worth only what its garrison is worth.
Key Findings
- The bulletin uses the 1748 capture of Fort Saint-Louis to show how colonial fortifications depended on both design and garrison performance.
- It places Fort Saint-Louis within the Anglo-French contest for Caribbean supremacy and the mercantilist logic of defending coastal storage and shipping points.
- The article traces the fort's origins to French royal engineering, the Compagnie Royale des Indes and Vauban-style bastioned fortification.
- The English attack destroyed the fortifications and led to the removal of the artillery to Jamaica, marking a turning point in Saint-Domingue defense strategy.
- The issue also reports the World Heritage Committee's post-earthquake concern for the Citadelle, Sans-Souci, Ramiers property.
- UNESCO and advisory bodies identified urgent actions: structural damage and risk assessment, emergency conservation works, and final conservation, management and risk-prevention plans.
Full Description
The fort and the Anglo-French contest for supremacy in the Antilles that shaped it, down to the court martial that broke Buttet's rank for a defeat judged "injurious" through underestimating the place entrusted to him. The bulletin draws the moral that even a well-designed stronghold is worth only what its garrison is worth. One issue of the Bulletin de l'ISPAN, the monthly bulletin of Haiti's Institut de Sauvegarde du Patrimoine National, which ran from June 2009 to at least November 2011 and documented one monument, site or historic center per issue.
How to cite
Institute for the Protection of National Heritage (ISPAN), 2010, Bulletin of the ISPAN, No. 15: Fort Saint-Louis at Saint-Louis-du-Sud, https://www.haiti.org/