French occupation of Santo Domingo

Infobox Former Country
native_name = Spanish Santo Domingo
conventional_long_name =
common_name = Santo Domingo
continent = North America
region = Caribbean
status = French Colony
empire = French Empire
government_type = Colonial
leader1 = Napoleon Bonaparte
year_leader1 = 1801-1809
leader2 =
year_leader2 =
title_leader = Emperor
representative1 = Toussaint Louverture
year_representative1 = 1795-1802
representative2 = Gen. Dubarquier
year_representative2 = 1809
title_representative = Governor
event_start = Peace of Basel
year_start = 1795
event2 =
date_event2 =
date_start = July 22
year_end = 1809
date_end = July 9
event_end = Reestablishment of Spanish rule
event_pre =
date_pre =
p1 = Colony of Santo Domingo
flag_p1 = Flag of New Spain.svg
s1 = Colony of Santo Domingo
flag_s1 = Flag of New Spain.svg

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national_anthem =
capital = Santo Domingo
common_languages = Spanish, French
leader1 = See List of French monarchs
title_leader = King
currency = Santo Domingo peso, Saint Domingue livre
stat_area1 = 48442

The French occupation of Santo Domingo started in 1795 when France came to own the whole island when by the Treaty of Basel Spain ceded Santo Domingo as a consequence of the French Revolutionary Wars. At the time, slaves led by Toussaint Louverture in Saint-Domingue were in revolt against France. In 1801 Toussaint Louverture captured Santo Domingo from the French and took control of the entire island.

In 1802 an army sent by Napoleon under the command of Charles Leclerc, captured Toussaint Louverture and sent him to France as prisoner. His successors and yellow fever, succeeded in expelling the French again from Saint-Domingue. The nation declared independence as Haiti in 1804. France went on to recover Spanish Santo Domingo. In 1808, following Napoleon's invasion of Spain, the "criollos" of Santo Domingo revolted against French rule, an event known as the Reconquista.

The first battle took place in Palo Hincado on November 7, 1808, when Gen. Juan Sánchez Ramírez, leading an army of local and Puerto Rican soldiers, attacked by surprise and a garrison of the French Army under the command of Governor Gen. Louis Ferrand, who committed suicide later after. The news were heard by Gen. Dubarquier and garrisoned 2000 soldiers in Santo Domingo. The spanish laid siege to the city on November 27, 1808, with the aid of 6 frigates from the Royal Navy under the command of Hugh Lyle Carmichael. Santo Domingo was returned to Spanish control by July 9, 1809.