Also known as: Caco revolt of 1918, Caco uprising of 1918, Caco rebellion, 1918-1920, Caco war against the occupation
Last updated: April 26, 2026
The Caco revolt of 1918-1920 was the major rural insurgency against the U.S. occupation of Haiti, led by Charlemagne Péralte and, after his assassination in 1919, continued by Benoît Batraville. Drawing on a long tradition of Caco armed peasant resistance, the uprising was intensified by the occupation's corvée labor regime that conscripted and abused peasants in road-building gangs. By 1920 the revolt had been militarily broken, but the photograph of Péralte's corpse, intended to demoralize the insurgency, instead became a nationalist martyr symbol.
His Gendarmerie was the instrument used to suppress Caco resistance; the Caco revolts of 1918–1920 were the armed response to the occupation's disarmament campaigns and corveé system that Butler had helped build.
Led the later phase of the Caco revolt after Péralte's death
Led the Caco revolt against the U.S. occupation from 1918 until his assassination in 1919
The revolt was a direct armed response to the U.S. occupation
The revolt swept across rural Haiti, especially the North and Central departments
Caco Revolt 1918
Caco Revolt 1918
Caco Revolt 1918
Caco Revolt 1918
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