Clammer, Paul — Black Crown: Henry Christophe, the Haitian Revolution and the Caribbean's Forgotten Kingdom (2022) Source Information
Curated Interpretationstudio1804 Research — Scholarly Apparatusfr
Original document
No original document available
4 passages · Use Ctrl+F to searchPrimary
OCR transcription
Clammer, Paul — Black Crown: Henry Christophe, the Haitian Revolution and the Caribbean's Forgotten Kingdom (2022) Source Information
Machine OCR; verify against the facsimile for citations.
Clammer, Paul — Black Crown: Henry Christophe, the Haitian Revolution and the Caribbean's Forgotten Kingdom (2022) Source Information
Author: Paul Clammer
Full Title: Black Crown: Henry Christophe, the Haitian Revolution and the Caribbean's Forgotten Kingdom
Publisher: Hurst Publishers, London
Year: 2022
Type: Secondary Source — Biography/Narrative History
Location in Vault: 01-research/sources/secondary sources/clammer-black-crown.epub Overview Clammer's biography of Henry Christophe is the first comprehensive English-language account of his life in decades. Written by a travel writer who first encountered Christophe's legacy while visiting Sans Souci and the Citadelle, the book draws on extensive archival research including sources in Haiti, the UK, France, and the US. Key strengths for fiction:
Rich narrative detail of daily life and military campaigns
Extensive coverage of Christophe's kingdom (1807-1820)
New research on Marie-Louise Christophe and the royal family
Detailed accounts of the Sans Souci palace and Citadelle construction
First-person accounts from visitors and contemporaries Christophe's Origins The Grenada Theory Clammer accepts the prevailing view that Christophe was born in Grenada:
Born enslaved, likely around 1767
Sold to a ship captain who brought him to Saint-Domingue
Worked as a domestic servant/waiter at the Hôtel de la Couronne in Cap Français
Possibly served at the Siege of Savannah (1779) with free colored volunteers Physical Description From British naval officer (1814/1818):
"The king is in his person what in England you would call a fine portly looking man, about 5 feet 10 inches… he is quite black" The Hotel Years
Worked at the Hôtel de la Couronne in Cap Français
Learned to understand English from American and British guests
Gained organizational skills that would serve him as a military commander
Met important figures who would shape Saint-Domingue's future The Revolution (1791-1804) Christophe's Rise Key positions:
Captain in the colonial guard/maréchaussée (before 1793)
Officer under Toussaint Louverture
Commander of the North (1797-1801)
General of Division under Dessalines The Burning of Cap Français (February 1802) When Leclerc's invasion fleet arrived: Christophe's letter to Leclerc (2 February 1802):
"If you have the force of which you boast, I shall offer you all the resistance that befits a general: and should the fate of arms be favourable to you, you will not enter the town of the Cape until it has been reduced to ashes; and even upon these ashes I shall continue to fight you." The burning:
Christophe ordered the systematic destruction of the city
Popular tradition holds he set fire to his own house first
Officer Barrada was later scapegoated for the fire
The city was "reduced to charred bricks and beams" Christophe's Surrender (April 1802) The capitulation at Haut-du-Cap (26 April 1802):
Christophe formally submitted to Leclerc
Retained his rank and 1,200 soldiers under his command
2,0 armed cultivators returned to plantations
Leclerc absolved him of responsibility for burning the city The Bear on Ice Metaphor When General Allix tried to keep Christophe loyal (October 1802):
"Christophe compared himself to a bear who had its claws strapped to sieves to help it walk on a frozen pond.
Private Beta
Full access requires sign-in
rasin.ai is in private beta. Sign in to read the full transcription, summaries, claims, and entities for this document.