Alexandre Pétion

Anne-Alexandre Sabes, better known as Alexandre Petion, was born in Port-au-Prince, in then Orleans street, on Monday, April 2, 1770, from the common-law union of Mr. Pascal Sabes, a white, rather well-to-do retired trader, and Ursule, a free mulatress who, as was then the custom, had no family name, and was commonly known as "Ursule a Sabes". Mr. Cabes was appalled when he saw his newborn son, because the baby was black. This is not unusual for quadroons, but it is reported that Mr. Sabes, for that very reason, disliked his son, and even doubted his paternity. He was violent and even brutal with the little boy, to the extent that Suzanne, Alexandre's elder sister, who was white-skinned, often had to intervene on her brother's behalf. Alexandre, when aged six, was sent to a school for mulatto and free black children, where he was taught to read, and not much more. When the American war of Independence started, the celebrated French admiral, comte d'Estaing, came to Saint-Domingue to recruit troops for service against the British in the U.s. As a result, many soldiers were stationed in Port-au-Prince. Young Alexandre got into the habit of following the soldiers' maneuvers on Place du Gouvernement every morning. The soldiers befriended him, especially the canoneers, to the extent that they started to teach him their trade - artillery. This became young Alexandre's lifelong passion, and he was to become the colony's best known artillery man. He never sent to France until Rigaud's defeat in 1800, and never attended any military academy, French or otherwise. (Petion et Haiti, Etude Monographique et Historique, by Saint-Remy des Cayes, Haiti, Deuxieme Edition, Paris, Librairie Berger-Levrault, 1956, pages 11, 12, 14, in French. Adaptation by Andre Charlier).Alexandre Sabès Pétion (French pronunciation: ​[alɛksɑ̃dʁ sabɛs petjɔ̃]; April 2, 1770 – March 29, 1818) was the first President of the Republic of Haiti from 1807 until his death in 1818. He is one of Haiti's founding