1jola: pawian: Resentful of Napoleon's decision to send them West to the Caribbean instead of East towards Poland, the legionaries defected to the side of the former slaves and fought alongside them to eventually establish the world's first Black republic. According to you this is myth.
Yes.
I still haven`t posted the reply to the myth. It is here
http://webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/bookreviews/pachonski.htm
It is long so I will attempt to choose only most important excerpts for you, but due to mods` policy, they might vanish, so don`t blame me. In order to get a full light, read the whole linked site.
In sum there were about 5200 Poles sent to Saint Domingue by Napoleon. More than 4000 died, primarily of yellow fever. Some returned to France, some were subsumed into the British Colonial Army, and only about 400 remained in Haiti. Even then, 160 of those received permission from Dessalines in 1806 to return to France, and were even sent there at Haiti's expense. Thus, only about 240 Poles actually became and remained Haitian citizens.
Likewise the stories of Poles deserting the French for the Haitian cause are grossly exaggerated with only 120 to 150 Poles ever going over to the Haitian cause, and those are more likely to have do so to save their own lives than as a matter of principle.
Certainly the Poles had little desire to be in Saint Domingue, and also had a natural sympathy for people fighting for their own independence, which probably gave true cause for Dessaline's beliefs that the Poles were a cut different from the French. But the Poles did obey orders, came to Saint Domingue and did their duty as best they could.
Summing up:
1. It is a myth that Poles en masse deserted the French troops and went over to insurgents` side.
2. It is a myth that Poles substantially contributed to the creation of the insurgent government or army and to its victories, or that they greatly helped insurgents to gain independence.
1jola: pawian: The Haitian Constitution of 1805 bars all "whitemen" from ownership of property in Haiti. An exception is given to the "naturalized Germans and Polanders", who are from thenceforth to be classified as Black: Is this a myth also, Pawian? I don't know, but you seem to, but you are not stating why do you consider it a myth. Interesting though.
No, it is not a myth, it is a fact, which, paradoxically, is not a part of the Polish myth at all. It is widely unknown, I would say.
BTW, the island was named Hispaniola, not Santo Domingo.
The whole island was called Hispaniola. Its Western part, today`s Haiti, was called San/Santo Domingo.
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