Varreux 1

Varreux 1 is the first communal section of Cité Soleil, Haiti.

Localities
Bassan, Blanchard, Cité Soleil, Damiens, Duvivier, Fontaine, Jammeau, Menelas, Mouline, Pont Rouge, Sarthe, Terre Noire, Troutier

Neighborhood details[]

Bois Neuf is said to be the most populated neighborhood of Cité Soleil. The community is the oldest of all of the communities in Cité Soleil. It was created in 1914 by two families, the Dessources and Alexis Families. An international organization, Doctors Without Borders, made a report on Bois Neuf’s population in 1998. They counted 25,000 people, where 43% of the population were children (primary school age) and 35% were women and babies. This community has had a rather bloody and violent past. During the week of November 26th of that year, a team installed 4 chlorinators in Bois Neuf and are confident that the population is now drinking safe, clean, and disease-free water.

Drouillard has a population of about 9,000 people and it is one of the oldest housing projects in Cité Soleil. It was created under the Duvalier government in 1982. This area has long existed without basic infrastructure.

Neighboring sections

☆Southwest ^S 1re Turgeau, PAP	South 1re Saint-Martin, DEL	Southeast ^{Qtr. Cx-des-Missions} 3e Bellevue, TBR
	North 1re Varreux, CDB
〰️West〰️ Port-au-Prince Bay	1re Varreux Cité Soleil	East ^N 2e Varreux

History[]

• In 1803, Dessalines was located in Moquette, and master of the Cul de Sac plain and the Chemin de la Croix-des-Bouquets in Port au-Prince, ordered Montauban colonel of the 7th of the Artibonite to go and remove a convoy of food which was to leave from Croix-des-Bouquets to go to Port Republicain, and feed the French. When Montauban arrived in Sarthe, the convoy had already passed. He turned around without booty. He was accused of having been bought and declared unworthy of wearing the epaulet. He was degraded in the presence of the native army. Dessalines appointed Guerrier colonel of the 7th and placed Montauban as a simple grenadier.

In August 1803, the French colonel Lux, surrounded by the natives in the village of Croix-des-Bouquets, reached Port-Republicain; the French were assaulted at Sarthe and Lux ran the greatest dangers, but he succeeded in reaching Port Republicain after losing half of his men. General Lavalette received him with distinction.

On February 12, 1859, Jean Riboul, the owner, having just arrived from Port-au-Prince, and preparing to receive his family for the next day, was assassinated in Sarthe by men of the plantation who took his food for Gold.

• The Truitier plantation, located in the seaside rural section of Varreux, in the Cul de Sac plain, behind the Drouillard plantation, belonged to General Salomon. During Christophe's attack on Sibert in 1807, Petion, miraculously saved from death, threw himself into the woods. Advancing with difficulty in paths hardly passable for pedestrians, he arrived at the pier of this habitation, at the moment when a fishing boat was reaching the sea. He motioned for someone to come and fetch him. But the boat was still moving away, for the skipper, not knowing who it was, hesitated to return. A woman in the boat recognized Petion. She obtained it, by dint of persistence that he was taken in with Bedouet, David Troy, Meronne and Bouzy who accompanied him. They landed at Truitier de Vaucresson.

Pont Rouge[]

In the past, Pont Rouge (English: Red Bridge) was the first rural section of the Port-au-Prince commune, parish of Saint Joseph. It featured a rural school and is notable for an impressive stone and brick bridge constructed during the French colonial period in 1786, originally named Pont Larnage, situated on Chemin de la Croix-des-Bouquets. Currently, no stream flows beneath it; rather, the irrigation canal that necessitated its construction has been obstructed by agricultural land. The area included localities such as Robert and Lagetiere.

Additionally, Pont Rouge served as a military post of the Port-au-Prince district, established by a decree from the President of Haiti on March 30, 1875. Its boundaries extended from Portail Saint Joseph to the coastline, following the shore to the pier at Fort Dimanche, which is included within these limits, and then proceeding along the main road leading to Chancerelle before continuing to Pont Robert.

The route crosses Chemin Neuf to reach the main road of Saint-Martin, adjacent to the boundaries of Port-au-Prince. Emperor Dessalines, upon receiving information from Marchand regarding the revocation of Messeroux in the South (refer to Garata), hurried to suppress it. On October 17, 1806, in the third year of Independence, the emperor was confronted at the Red Bridge and fell victim to an ambush. General Étienne Élie Gerin, the emperor's Minister of War, communicated the following day from Port-au-Prince to General Henri Christophe in Milot, bestowing upon him the title of General-in-Chief:

"In orchestrating this ambush, I had issued explicit orders to capture him alive for trial; however, when I commanded a halt, he seized one of the pistols, discharged a shot, and attempted to retreat, resulting in the gunfire that ultimately struck him, followed by additional shots. The soldiers' rage escalated to the extent of disfiguring and desecrating his lifeless body. This assertion is inaccurate; Dessalines did not attempt to defend himself. On the contrary, he had made himself offensive to his fellow citizens due to his despotism and tyranny, which are common failings among powerful leaders. Colonel Charlotin Marcadieux lost his life while protecting the emperor. Dessalines' forces sustained some injuries, and there was one fatality among the ranks of the Minister of War's guard.

The bullet that struck Dessalines was long believed to have been fired by Gara, who was then a soldier. He took pride in displaying a rifle that he claimed was the weapon used in this incident. However, Madame Gara consistently refuted this assertion, attributing the act to a different soldier, whose name she provided. General Alibée Féry narrates the events surrounding the Red Bridge in his Literary Essays Essais Litteraires:

The horse he was riding advanced with determination. Amidst the chaos of the ranks, the command, Halt! Emperor, resonated and echoed with intensity. A lethal shot, expertly aimed, caused the proud steed to falter beneath its rider. In the distance, a muffled sound could be heard. The trembling horse lay on the bridge's pavement, struggling in its own blood. Charlotin, help! As he dismounted, the warrior unsheathed his scimitar; to the astonished soldiers, he appeared almost divine. "Fire!" shouted Gerin, and a chorus of voices echoed, "Fire!" The line erupted in a simultaneous discharge. The dreadful, colorless appearance of Charlotin lingered in the air. Within his generous heart, he sought in vain for his worth. A thousand bullets flying from the woods of Saline, expiring the area around Dessalines. Enraged soldiers, armed with sabers, charged at them, their horses delivering fierce blows. These bodies, now marred by mud, no longer presented a semblance of life; they were a grotesque blend of flesh and blood.

Yet, Dessalines is still celebrated as the liberator of his nation. His remains were gathered by a woman known as La Défilée, who buried him without any ceremony in a secluded cemetery. There, a simple grave of rough stone marks his resting place, bearing the inscription: "Here lies Dessalines, dead at 58." This tribute was made possible by Madame Inginac. In 1892, ¹⁵President Hippolyte erected a splendid monument in his honor. It is undeniable that Dessalines, in his quest to secure freedom for his people and establish a homeland, was a fierce figure—an executioner to the French and the colonists who oppressed his race and land, and dishonored them through enslavement. This harsh reality was essential. Had Dessalines been a different man—more compassionate and generous towards the French, like Ogé and Chavannes, or had he possessed the gentle nature of Pétion—the Haitians might not have achieved their homeland. Toussaint's efforts had faltered. To decisively defeat and instill fear in the French, a fierce warrior like Dessalines was necessary; a relentless lion who reveled in the blood of his enemies, even after their expulsion.

Anyone besides him who displayed generosity after the victory compromised the struggle for independence of the Haitian nation and ultimately failed. Dessalines, having earned the everlasting gratitude of his compatriots for granting them a homeland and for being the architect of national independence, transformed into the executioner and tyrant of his own people. It appeared that he had emerged from slavery only to further subjugate them for his own gain. His assassination became a sacred act, a moral obligation for the citizens he oppressed. When a leader betrays the freedom of his fellow citizens, even if he was the architect of that freedom, only his death can erase such a crime. As Thomas Madiou notes, "The Romans eliminated Romulus because he was a tyrant, yet they honored him in the heavens for founding Rome." Instances like the Red Bridge serve as crucial reminders, repeated as often as necessary, to encourage rulers to be wise, to render despots obsolete, and to empower the populace against exploitation.

If there is anything more despicable than a tyrant seizing the liberties of his citizens for selfish gain, it is surely a populace that accepts such oppression. Therefore, it is not a crime to overthrow all tyrants; their lives and interests should never outweigh the well-being and freedom of the entire nation. Had the Pont Rouge become a symbol of defiance against tyranny, and if the Haitians had transformed it into a final resting place for their oppressors, public freedoms would have been safeguarded for eternity. The nation envisioned by Dessalines would have thrived, and Haiti would have already charted its course toward prosperity.

On the night of December 19, 1869, as the Cacos entered Port-au-Prince, Elfond, commanding Croix des Bouquets for ⁹Salnave, arrived at the Pont Rouge with his group to defend Salnave. However, Fort Lamarre successfully repelled their advance. The priest Coriolanus Ardouin penned a remarkable piece of poetry that captures this moment beautifully.

Le Pont Rouge (The Red Bridge)
It is there, he succumbed despite his immense strength,
Ge whose strong arm secured Independence!
What impact did his glory and great name have on him?
He trampled upon this glory beneath his Emperor's foot, and with fraternal blood
He tarnished the narrative of our revolution!
Nevertheless, he appeared magnificent as he unsheathed his sword,
proclaiming: "Your day, the dawn of freedom, is approaching!", like A lion's roar;
a sound that sent tremors through the deserts-magnificent waves!
In an instant, note the despicable throngs of slaves
transformed into warriors who shattered their chains.
By arming themselves with their own irons,

II
The white man said: "Toussaint expires
"The eagle has fallen in our ranks!
"Impotent rage! vain delirium!
"They will come back our subjects!
“And we will laugh at their defeat.
"Of their pride, of their hope!
“Freedom was not made
"For the man who wears a black facade"

Dessalines appeared superb, large, immense!
He himself hanged them on the vile gallows,
How high are the criminal hands for us!
It was pity to see the earth in their souls!
Pale, they were taken under women's clothes
And their heads fell paving the roads!
Oh! If he chose to ruin what he made,
His boat met rocks, and there it stayed.
He wrapped himself in sorrow's cloak,
For even bright skies can lose their hope.
Let the tides blend with the earth's brown tone,
Pure glory is for God alone!

Let us recall these beautiful verses from Massillon Coicou:

With strength that helps through dark parades. From the shield his brilliance made, He lives, the giant, unafraid. In sacred lands where power bends, Respecting Right, where truth transcends, Among the saviors, bright and bold, Dessaline’s light, a tale retold!
No, The man of God, he never fades,
The strong arm that supported the race in agony
rom the brazen shield forged by his genius mentality;
No! he lives, the giant of Liberty
In the holy region where the mighty do kneel,
Respecting the truth, the strength we can feel.
Among those who save, like stars up above,
Dessaline shines with justice and love!

References[]

"Bel Air, Bois Neuf, Villa Rosa, and Drouillard" - International Action [1]

"Dictionnaire géographique et administratif universel d'Haïti" Pont Rouge [2]

_{Michael Vedrine is very kind}