Haitian monument in Savannah,Georgia.
The role of the ancestors of present-day Haitians in the fight for American Independence is a point of pride and cultural significance for the people of Haiti and Americans of Haitian descent, but before the dedication of Savannah’s Haitian Monument, it was almost unknown in the United States.
The Revolutionary War and the 1779 Siege are memorialized throughout Savannah, several of the city’s squares and monuments named for those who fought for the cause of American independence: the Greene Monument in Johnson Square, the Pulaski Monument in Monterey Square, and the Jasper Monument in Madison Square, all honor men who led in that conflict.
The foot soldiers who fought and died in the Siege of Savannah and the Revolutionary War are less grandly commemorated. Nor have the many non-white combatants in the conflict gained any real kind of recognition.
The Haitian Monument in Franklin Square is one attempt to right these oversights, drawing attention to black combatants in the Revolutionary War.
The Haitian monument depicts six members of the Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint-Domingue, mounted atop a 6ft by 16ft granite pillar on the sides of which are inscribed the history of the regiment and the men’s contribution to American independence.
The life-sized bronze figures, sculpted by James Mastin, are intended, with one exception, to represent the nameless black soldiers who fought in the regiment: few records survive of the names and histories of the men themselves.
The drummer boy, more famously, is Henri Christophe, first leader of independent Haiti. In his early teens when he joined the Chasseurs-Volontaires, Christophe is believed (though firm proof does not exist) to have participated in the Siege of Savannah.
Most of the impetus for the creation of the memorial came from the Miami-based Haitian-American Historical Society. Founded in 2001, one of the Society’s first projects was to obtain recognition of the role played by soldiers of pre-Revolutionary Haiti in America’s own independence.
Society members spent a total of seven years drumming up support for the monument from Savannah officials and securing (in two stages) the over $500,000 needed to construct the memorial.
The Haitian Monument was dedicated in two phases. As the initial fundraising allowed for the completion of only four of the planned six figures, a partially-completed monument with those four figures in place was unveiled in 2007. The final monument, with its two additional figures, was unveiled in October 2009.
Haitians, know your story and your place in the world. Haiti might be one of the poorest country in the world but everyone agree, Haiti fought for country like Georgia in the United States of America. Haiti inspired others to fight for their freedom.
Source: Go South Savannah.com
