Louis Delgrès was a revolutionary military officer and abolitionist born on August 2, 1766, in Saint-Pierre, Martinique. A free man of color, he was the son of Élisabeth Morin, a Black woman, and Louis Delgrès, a white Creole functionary of the French crown. Raised in Martinique and later Tobago, Delgrès received a solid education, equipping him with literacy and skills that shaped his military career. His life was defined by his fierce commitment to the ideals of the French Revolution—liberty, equality, and the abolition of slavery—and his ultimate sacrifice in resisting Napoleon Bonaparte’s reimposition of slavery in the French Caribbean.
Delgrès began his military career in 1783 at age 17, joining the Martinique militia. By 1791, he was a sergeant, but his support for the French Revolution’s egalitarian principles led him to exile in Dominica when royalists seized control of Martinique. There, he was elected lieutenant in 1792, aligning with republican forces. His career took him across the Caribbean, fighting British troops in Guadeloupe and Saint Lucia, where he was gravely wounded in 1795. Captured by the British in 1794, he was imprisoned in Portchester Castle but was later released and continued his service, earning the rank of chef de bataillon (battalion commander) by 1799.
A staunch republican and anti-slavery advocate, Delgrès was deeply influenced by the French National Assembly’s 1794 abolition of slavery and the Haitian Revolution’s push for freedom. Stationed in Guadeloupe, he grew wary of Napoleon’s intentions to restore slavery. In 1801, he joined officers opposing the pro-Napoleon governor, Jean-Baptiste Raymond de Lacrosse, and by January 1802, he was appointed commander of Basse-Terre. When General Antoine Richepance arrived in May 1802 with orders to reimpose slavery, Delgrès and his ally Joseph Ignace chose rebellion over submission, while others, like Magloire Pélage, acquiesced.
On May 10, 1802, Delgrès issued a powerful proclamation, co-authored with his white Creole secretary Monnereau, titled “To the Entire Universe, the Last Cry of Innocence and Despair.” It denounced Napoleon’s betrayal of revolutionary ideals and called for resistance against slavery’s return, famously encapsulating the motto “Live Free or Die.” Leading a diverse force of soldiers and formerly enslaved Guadeloupeans, Delgrès waged a fierce 18-day campaign against Richepance’s troops. Outnumbered and cornered at Fort Saint-Charles (now Fort Delgrès), he and his followers retreated to the Habitation d’Anglemont near Matouba.
On May 28, 1802, facing certain defeat, Delgrès and approximately 300 companions chose death over surrender. They ignited their gunpowder reserves in a defiant explosion, killing themselves and attempting to take French troops with them. The rebellion was crushed, and a brutal repression followed, with survivors, including Delgrès’ wife, Rose (known as Toto), facing execution or massacre. Slavery was reinstated in Guadeloupe on June 16, 1802, lasting until its final abolition in 1848.
Delgrès’ legacy as a “Chevalier de la Liberté” endures. Though long overlooked, his sacrifice is now celebrated in Guadeloupe and Martinique through monuments, street names, and cultural tributes, including the blues band Delgrès. In 1998, he was honored with an inscription in the French Panthéon opposite Toussaint Louverture, and in 2005, a French postage stamp bore his image. His 1802 proclamation remains a testament to the universal fight for dignity and freedom, inspiring generations with its call to resist oppression.