Battle of Las Carreras

The Battle of Las Carreras (Spanish: Batalla de Las Carreras) was a major battle during the years after the Dominican War of Independence and was fought on the 21–22 April 1849, nearby Baní, Peravia Province. A force of 800 Dominican troops, a portion of the Army of the South, led by General Pedro Santana, defeated an outnumbering force of 10,000 troops of the Haitian Army led by Faustin Soulouque.^[3]

Battle of Las Carreras
Part of the Dominican War of Independence
Depiction of the Battle of Las Carreras
Date 21–22 April 1849 Location Nearby Baní, Peravia Province Result Decisive Dominican victory
Belligerents
Dominican Republic	Haiti
Commanders and leaders
Gen. Pedro Santana Gen. Antonio Duvergé Gen. Francisco del Rosario Sánchez Gen. Matías Ramón Mella	Faustin Soulouque
Strength
400–800 militia[1] 1 field gun	10,000–18,000 regulars 7 artillery pieces
Casualties and losses
minimal	500+ killed[a] 7 artillery pieces captured

Battle

The battle opened with a cannon barrage and devolved into hand-to-hand combat.^[1] As the remnants of the Haitian army retreated along the southern coastal road, they were under fire from a small Dominican squadron.^[1] Haitian strategy was ridiculed by the American press:

[At the first encounter] ... a division of negro troops of Faustin ran, and their commander, Gen. Garat, was killed. The main body, eighteen thousand troops, under the Emperor, encountered four hundred Dominicans with a field piece, and notwithstanding the disparity of force, the latter charged and caused the Haytiens to flee in every direction ... Faustin came very near falling into the enemy's hands. They were once within a few feet of him, and he was only saved by Thirlonge and other officers of his staff, several of whom lost their lives. The Dominicans pursued the retreating Haytiens some miles until they were checked and driven back by the Garde Nationale of Port-au-Prince, commanded by Robert Gateau, the auctioneer.^[4]

References

1. Over 500 Haitians were killed in the battles of El Número and Las Carreras.^[2]

1. Scheina 2003.
2. Clodfelter 2017, p. 302.
3. Authors 2013.
4. Philadelphia Public Ledger, January 28, 1856.

Bibliography

• Clodfelter, Micheal (2017). Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492–2015 (4th ed.). McFarland.
• Scheina, Robert L. (2003). Latin America's Wars. Potomac Books.
• Authors, Multiple (2013). Imperial Wars 1815–1914. Amber Books Ltd. ISBN 9781782741251.

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