This first part of this information is taken from Julien le Prévost, comte de Limonade: "Relation des glorieux Evénements qui ont porte leurs majestés Royale sur le trône d'Haïti," published in Cap-Henry and London, 1811. Most of this information was previously published in El Dorado Vol II, no. 6, March-April 1990 in French by R. Forthoffer [ see previous article. T.D.H. ]. My only reasons for offering it again are first, that that the information in Prévost expands on the details of the organisation and second, that the uniform descriptions vary in minor details. I have translated the descriptions of the uniform but I have left many of the ranks in French as there are no satisfactory equivalents for some of them. The Maison Militaire of Henry was created by decree in 1811; 5 corps of infantry and cavalry were created, the Gardes du Corps, the Cheveaux- légers du Roi, the Cheveaux-légers de la Reine, the Cheveaux-légers du Prince-Royal and the Gardes Haytiennes. THE GARDES DU CORPS The Gardes du Corps were 250 strong, in two companies of 125 each, not counting the officers. The staff were: The King as captain The Grand Marshal of Hayti as lieutenant A Maréchal-de-camp as major-commanding Each company was to be commanded by; a Colonel, as a Sous-Lieutenant-en-premier, a Lieutenant-Colonel, as Sous-Lieutenant-en-deuxiéme, an Aide-Major-en-premier, a Lt.-Aide-Major-en-deuxiéme and two Sous-Lts. enseignes. The first company comprised a major-en-premier, 4 sergeants, a caporal-fourrier, 8 corporals, a drum major, a fife major, 4 drummers, 4 fifers, 3 sappers and 98 guards. The second company was the same in establishment with the exception of a "tambour-maitre" and "fifre-maitre" in place of the drum and fife majors. A commissary, quarter master treasurer, instructor, surgeon major and aide-surgeon major completed the establishment of both companies. The parade uniform was; a white "habit long," lapels, cuffs, collar and piping crimson, lining rose, gilded buttons, the pocket flaps horizontal ("les pattes en travers") braided on all the seams, the pantaloons and shirt white, half-boots in black leather, shakos braided as the coat, aiguillettes in gold. ( Fig.1. illustrations by R. Forthoffer.) The "petit uniform" consisted of a green "habit veste", the lapels and cuffs white, piping white on the body, red on the lapels, collar and cuffs, lining rose, the collar in the colour of the coat, pocket flaps horizontal, gilded buttons, gold aiguillettes. ( Fig.2. ) Weapons for each guard consisted of a fusil, cartridge box, sword in a cross belt, the cross belts for the sword and cartridge box to be in white hide. Each company was to have two ensigns, that of the first company to be of black taffeta with the arms of his majesty painted in the middle and the royal motto, "Dieu, ma Cause et mon Epée" and under it this inscription, "Garde du Corps, premiére Compagnie," The ensigns of the second company to be of red taffeta, bearing a crowned phoenix with this motto 'Je renais de mes cendres" and under the inscription "Garde du corps, deuxiéme Compagnie." CHEVEAUX-LEGERS The Cheveaux-légers comprised 3 corps independent of each other, which were; The Cheveaux-légers du Roi, the Cheveaux-légers de la Reine and the Cheveaux-légers du Prince-Royal. Each corps was to be two hundred strong not including officers, divided into two companies of 100 each. Each Corps of Cheveaux-légers was commanded by: The King as captain. The Grand Marshal as lieutenant A Marechal-de-camp as major commandant Each of the corps was commanded by a Colonel with the title of Sous-Lieutenant-en-premier. Each company was commanded by a Sous-Lt.-en-deuxiéme, an Aide-Major-en-premier, an Aide-Major-en-deuxiéme and two cornettes. Each company comprised; a maréchal-des-logis chef, 3 maréchal-des-logis, a "brigadier-fourrier," 8 brigadiers, a trumpet major, 4 trumpeters and 82 Cheveaux-légers. The establishment of the second company was identical with the exception of a "trompette-maître" in place of the trumpet major. Looking after both companies was a commissary, a quarter-master-treasurer, an instructor, a surgeon major and an aide-surgeon-major. The full dress of the Cheveaux-légers du Roi was; a "habit long" of sky blue (bleu celeste"), the collar crimson, piping and lining rose, lapels and cuffs white, gilt buttons, gold aiguillette, sky blue pantaloons, braided in gold, shakos braided in gold, with sky blue plumes, hussar boots. ( Fig.3. ) The "petit tenue" was a "habit-veste" of blue cloth, the lapels, cuffs and collar sky blue, piping and lining red, buttons silver, silver aiguillette, blue pantaloons braided in silver, cavalry boots. ( Fig.4. ) The full dress of the Cheveaux-légers de la Reine was to be: a crimson "habit long," collar, lapels, cuffs and lining sky blue, yellow piping, gilded buttons, gold aiguillettes, crimson pantaloons braided in gold, shakos braided in gold and with red plumes. Hussar boots. The "petit uniform" was to be: a blue "habit veste" with collar, lapels and cuffs crimson, piping and lining red, silvered buttons, silver aiguillettes, blue pantaloons, braided in silver, shakos braided silver, cavalry boots. The full dress of the Cheveaux-légers du Prince-Royal was to be: a green "habit long," with collar, lapels, and cuffs rose, piping and lining yellow, gilded buttons, aiguillette gold, green pantaloons, braided in gold, shakos braided in gold with green plumes. Hussar boots. The "petit-tenue" was to be: a blue "habit veste" with collar, lapels and cuffs green, piping and lining red, silvered buttons, silver aiguillettes, blue pantaloons, braided in silver, shakos braided in silver. Cavalry boots. The armament was to be a carbine, 2 pistols, a sabre with steel scabbard, a cavalry cartridge pouch, the bandoleer of the sabre and the cartridge pouch to be of white hide. There were to be 4 standards for each corps, 2 per company. The standards of the Cheveaux-légers of the King were to be of sky blue taffeta, the arms of the king on one side and the device "Dieu, mon Cause et mon Epée" and underneath the inscription "Cheveaux-légers du Roi" and the number of the company. On the other side was to be a sun in splendour side by side with the royal cipher with the words, "ll luit pour tous." The standards of the Cheveaux-légers de la Reine were to be of crimson taffeta, on one side her arms with the motto "Qu' á son instar les Arts et les Champs fleurrisent" and under the inscription "Cheveaux-légers de la Reine" and the number of the company. On the other side the cipher of the queen, an "M" and "L" interlaced, entwined with laurels and roses, surmounted by a royal crown; under the cipher a heart in flames and the words "Pour le Roi et la Patrie!" The standards of the Cheveaux-légers du Prince Royal were to be of green taffeta, one side his arms, surmounted by a crown on which are placed two dolphins, with the device of the prince "Les Jeux de l'Enfance annoncent les grandes Hommes!" and under the inscription, "Cheveaux-légers du Prince-Royal" and the number of the company. On the other side the Genius of the State blowing a trumpet, at his feet the motto "Je l'inspirirai et il prosperera". THE GARDE HAYTIENNES They were to total 1200 men divided into 5 "Brigades" of 200 each. A Colonel-General commanded with a Maréchal-de-camp as second in command and a Brigadier-des-armes as Colonel Major. Each brigade had; a lieutenant colonel as first captain, a captain-en-deuxiéme, a lieutenant-en-premier, a lieutenant-en-deuxiéme, a sous-lt.-en-premier, a sous-It-endeuxiéme, a sergeant major, 4 sergeants, a "caporal-fourrier," 8 corporals, 4 drummers, 4 fifers, 2 sappers and 216 men. A commissary, 2 adjutant-majors, a quarter-master-treasurer, an instructor, a surgeon-major and his aide, 5 adjutants sous-officiers, one to each brigade, a tambour major, a fife major a "tambour-maitre" and a "fife-maitre" completed the establishment. The full dress uniform was to be a red "habit long" lapels and collar of black velvet, cuffs, lining and piping white, epaulets red, pantaloons white, black gaiters, shakos edged in red silk lace, braided cord hangings, red pom-poms. ( Fig.5. ) The "petit uniforme" was to be a blue "habit veste," the collar and cuffs white, piping and lining red, lapels green, pantaloons in Russian style, gaiters and shakos as the "grand uniforme." ( Fig.6.) The arms were to be a fusil, cartridge box and "briquet" (presumably a sabre-briquet) the bandoleer of the cartridge box and sabre-briquet to be of white hide. Each brigade was to carry two standards, that of the first brigade to be of black taffeta, the second of red, the third of sky blue, the fourth green, the fifth white. Each had one side the arms of the king in the middle with the royal device "Dieu, ma Cause et mon Epée" and on the other the inscription "Gardes Haytiennes" with the number of the brigade and the legend "La Victoire couronne la Valeur!" At an oath taking following the coronation of Henry in June 1811, the following units are mentioned; the representatives of the armed forces of the kingdom included marines (soldats de marine), grenadiers from the three battalions of each regiment, with the three standards of each regiment, the artillery with three standards from each regiment, the Corps Royal des Bombardiers, the cavalry with three standards from each regiment, the Guides á Cheval, the Corps of Royal Bons-Bons (the cadets drawn from the police recruited from Dahomey and which are referred to by others as the "Royal-Dahomets") and the Gardes de Police from each parish (paroisse) of the realm (otherwise known as the Royal-Dahomets). At a Grand Review later, the "Compagnies agricôles de la police," possibly one and the same with the Gardes de Police or Royal-Dahomets, headed the army. Hubert Cole in his biography of Henry gives the following details of the army of Henry, without quoting any source. The day after the patronal festival of the Queen, celebrated on August 15th 1816, there was a review of the Guard and in addition to the guard units already mentioned were the Chasseurs of the Guard, the colonel being Henry's illegitimate son Prince Eugéne who marched at their head wearing a red and green coat and white breeches. The 6 standards of the Chasseurs shared three inscriptions, "I disperse my enemies," "Quick as Lightening" and "I sound terror," Two companies of the Royal Artillery each had a standard, the first bearing the inscription "I triumph over my enemies," the second "I disperse my enemies." Cole also states that Henry reduced his army to 20,000 - 25,000 by 1813 although he gives neither a source nor a previous figure. However he does quote a British lieutenant from the Iphigenia who estimated Henry's army in 1819 to be composed of two regiments of cavalry, masquerading as three, two regiments of artillery, also masquerading as three, a regiment of engineers and nineteen regiments of infantry - a total of 35,000, although Cole points out that Henry had the habit of inflating his regiments from two to three on paper to confuse his enemies. It was in the 8th regiment that the mutiny began in 1820 which put an end to the dynasty. Henry tried to put the troops to useful work by giving them land or used them to labour on construction projects. Lack of pay and his increasingly tyrannical behaviour finally lost him the support of the army that had been so necessary to his survival. Confirmation of these figures and of other aspects of Henry's army comes from the "Almanach Royale d'Hayti", copies of which are in the British Library for 1816, 1817, 1818 and 1820. The Maison Militaire du Roi was composed of a General Staff ("un Etat général"), a "Commissariat général de Troupes", a corps of artillerie cheval with the title "Royale artillerie", the two companies of Gardes du Corps, the three corps of Chevaux-Legers (sic), and of a regiment of grenadiers, to be known as the Gardes Haytiennes. It is interesting to note that the Gardes Haytiennes were to be regarded as grenadiers and that as in European guards, officers ranked higher than in the regular army. The Royale artillerie consisted of two companies, with an establishment as follows: The King as captain. The Prince Royale as lieutenant. The Comte du Gros-Morne as major commandant. A Commisaire with the rank of sous-lieutenant, a quarter master treasurer with the rank of captain, an instructor with the rank of Lt. colonel, a surgeon major and an aide-surgeon major looked after the companies. Each company had a sous-lieutenant with the equivalent rank in the regular army of lt. colonel, a aide-major-en-premier with the equivalent rank of captain, an aide-major-en-deuxiéme with the equivalent rank of lieutenant, and a cornette with the equivalent rank of sous-lieutenant. There are no details of numbers of men or of uniform. The Almanach for 1817 contains the same information as that of the previous year, but with the addition of the Chasseurs de la Garde, implying their creation in 1816. There were three companies of Chasseurs, the establishment as follows: A Colonel-General, a Colonel-Major, a commissaire, a quarter master treasurer (with the rank of lieutenant), three adjudant majors, with the equivalent ranks of captain, lieutenant and sous-lieutenant, an instructor (lieutenant), a surgeon major (lieutenant) and an aide-surgeon (lieutenant). Each company had a sous-lieutenant-en-premier (with the rank of colonel in the regular army), a sous-lieutenant-en- deuxiéme (Lt. colonel), an aide-major-en-premier (captain), two aide-majors-en-deuxiéme (lieutenants) and three ensigns with the equivalent rank of sous-lieutenants. Again, no details of uniform or numbers of men are given. The officers of the kingdom included a Grand Admiral, 6 Grand Marshals, 9 lieutenant generals, 13 marechaux-de-camp and 8 major-generals. The Grand Admiral, Prince Jean, was responsible for the Marine Royale which counted two contre-admiraux, two chefs de division, two captain of vessels, three captains of frigates, seven lieutenants of vessels, 12 ensigns and 10 aspirans. The Troupes Maritimes were commanded by two captains and three lieutenants, one of them of the artillery. Port captains etc. are also included in the list. No details are given of ships. Henry had a number of small warships in the early (lays of his rule, commanded by English mercenaries but they had all been sent away by 1816. The Corps Royal d'Artillerie was composed of three regiments, the first of one battalion, the second of three battalions and the third regiment vacant. Each battalion was probably supposed to consist of four companies each with a captain, lieutenant and sous-lieutenant, although the first had only three. None seem to have had a full complement of officers, giving credence to the idea that the actual strength of the army was considerably below its theoretical establishment. No details are given of the number of guns belonging to the artillery. The Grand Master of Artillery, Prince Eugéne, the Duc du Môle, is mentioned in the 1817 Almanach, in charge of munitions. The Corps Royal de Genie was made up of a staff, two companies of miners of 50 men each including officers, and six companies of sappers also 50 strong including officers. Each sapper and miner company had a captain, lieutenant, sous-lieutenant. A lieutenant-colonel-commandant commanded the sappers, assisted by an adjutant major and a quarter master treasurer. The staff was made up of a director general, three "directeurs de province", 6 captains, 6 lieutenants and a number of "dessinateurs", "élèves" and "employés" attached at discretion. The Provincial Directors were responsible for batteries, barracks, forts and arsenals in their provinces. 32 regiments of infantry are listed, as follows: 1): du Roi, 3 batallions 2). de la Reine, 3 batallions. 3). de l'Arcahaye, 2 weak batallions 4). du Prince Royal, 3 batallions 5). de Dondon, 2 batallions 6). du Cap-Henry, 3 batallions 7). de l'Artibonite, 3 batallions 8). de Saint Marc, 3 batallions 9). du Port de Paix, 3 batallions 10). du Mirebalais, vacant 11). du Port au Prince, vacant 12). de la Croix des Bouquets, vacant 13). des Cayes, vacant 14). des Gonaïves, 3 batallions 15). d'Arquin, vacant 16). de l'Anse á Veau., vacant 17). de Saint Louis, vacant 18). de Jérémie, vacant 19). de Dalmarie, vacant 20). des Verrettes, 3 batallions 21). de Léogane, vacant 22). de Jacmel, vacant 23). de Bagnet, vacant 24). du Petit Goave, vacant 25). du Limbé, 3 batallions 26). de Borgne, 3 batallions 27). de la Grande Riviére, 3 batallions 28). du Trou, 3 batallions 29). du Fort-Royal, 3 batallions A separate command then follows in the Almanachs, the Armée Royale du Sud, under the command of the Comte de Jérémie, with a staff of a major general, three colonels, one of them commander of the Royal Dahomets de Jérémie, 7 lieutenant-colonels, 5 captains, a lieutenant and an inspector of revenues. This impressive establishment conceals an important fact, however. The Comte de Jérémie was the brigand chief Jean-Baptiste Perrier, known as Goman, who had maintained his independence in the mountains of the Southern peninsula since the French had been expelled. A thorn in the side of the Republic of Haiti under Pétion, he was a unreliable ally of Henry at best and the title was intended to buy his support. The impressive command he was given on paper illustrates Henry's pretensions to rule in the South and the reality may have stopped well short of the paper strength and organization. Goman was finally overthrown in 1820 by Boyer, Pétion's successor, with Henry failing to lift a finger to help his Comte de Jérémie. The Armée Royale du Sud: 30). de Sans - Souci, 3 battalions 31). de Tiburon, 3 battalions 32). de Cavaillon, 3 battalions. In addition there was the Company of Royal Bon-bons at Henry's palace of Sans-Souci, under a captain, lieutenant and sous-lieutenant. The structure of each infantry regiment varied but theoretically the staff should have included a colonel, three lieutenant-colonels, a lieutenant-adjutant-major and a sous-lieutenant. There should have been 6 companies in each battalion, one of grenadiers, one of chasseurs and four others. Each battalion had 6 captains, 7 lieutenants and 7 sous-lieutenants. Some are short of one or two of the necessary officers; the weakest, Regt. no.3, l'Arcahaye, comprised in 1816 only two battalions, the first with two captains, a lieutenant and a sous-lieutenant, the second with only two captains and a sous-lieutenant. The staff of this regiment lacked the colonel and there were only two other officers. By 1820, l'Arcahaye was even weaker but no.10, du Mirebalais, had been activated but comprised only one battalion and that had only a captain of grenadiers, a lieutenant of chasseurs and two sous-lieutenants, one of grenadiers, the other of chasseurs. It seems that the details of Henry's apparent deception concerning the size of his army has some truth, but the titles of the vacant regiments are mostly all in the South, where Henry hoped one day to rule. As with his list of palaces and his list of heralds, all of them named after towns, he included towns and places that were under the control of the Republic. He maintained the fiction in his Almanach that he was the rightful ruler of all Hayti and that one day it would all be his. The exception to the list of vacant regiments that contain Southern place names is that of du Mirebalais. There had been a mutiny in the Mirebalais garrison in 1812 and the regiment then seems to have been disbanded, to be re-activated some time after 1818 in skeletal form. There were three cavalry regiments of three squadrons each. 1). du Roi, 3 squadrons, the third weak 2). de la Reine, 3 squadrons 3). du Prince Royale, vacant. The first regiment had a staff comprising a colonel, two lieutenant colonels, a captain-quartermaster and two sous-lieutenants-adjutant-majors. The second had a colonel, three lieutenant colonels, a captain-quartermaster, a captain-adjutant-major, a lieutenant and a sous-lieutenant. Each of the squadrons had three captains, three lieutenants and four sous-lieutenants. The Royal-Dahomets (sic) are mentioned throughout the part of the Almanach dealing with the structure of justice and administration in the towns and countryside. Each parish had its detachment and they also carried the post, which was administered by the Lieutenants du Roi, the royal officers attached to each administrative district. It may be worth mentioning that the flag of the Kingdom of Haiti was of two bars, black and red, rather than the blue and red flag created by Jean Jacques Dessalines, who had ripped out the white ( which in his viewpoint represented the white European oppressors ) central panel of the French tricolour, and later changed the blue section into black to represent the negro population. Pétion later adopted the horizontal blue and red flag for the Republic of Haiti. Sources: Almanach Royal d'Hayti, for 1816, 1817, 1818 and 1820, Cap-Henry. Cole, Hubert, "Henry Christophe, King of Haiti", London 1967 Julien le Prévost, comte de Limonade: "Relation des glorieux Evénements qui ont porte leurs majestés Royale sur le trône d'Haïti," published in Cap-Henry and London, 1811. 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