Battle of Pernier

On September 2, 1791, the gens de couleur army of the West Province defeated white forces marching from Port-au-Prince with field cannon against their encampment. The free-colored fighters routed the attackers and seized artillery that would later be used in the capital struggle. Alexandre Pétion appeared in combat for the first time, famously protecting a wounded white officer from his own comrades. The battle demonstrated the military competence of the West Province free-colored army and deepened the crisis that produced the September-October 1791 concordats.