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Thank you. It's early March 1802 at Fort Cretta-Piro in the French colony of Saint-Dameg in the Caribbean.

Forty-year-old General Jean-Jacques Desiline squints against the sun as he peers through a gap in the fort's whitewashed walls. Several hundred yards away, thousands of French soldiers stand in neat lines

ready to attack. General Desaline has no intention of surrendering the fort his fellow rebels

now hold, but when he turns to his men, he sees doubt etched on their faces. General Desaline

seizes a torch and holds it high above his head. His voice booms across the courtyard as he reminds

his troops that they are fighting not just for the fort, but for their freedom. If the French

attackers make it inside, those rebels who survive will be in chains before morning.

All of the men in the fort, including Desilin, were once enslaved.

But ten years ago, a rebellion broke out in Song de Man, and ever since they've been fighting

a brutal war of independence against the French Empire. Now, as their enemy closes in,

rebels roar in approval of their commander's words. But almost as if the French hear their defiance, the artillery outside

opens fire. General Desaline doesn't flinch amid the bombardment. He stands tall, despite the

explosions and shrapnel flying through the air, because he's determined

to lead his people to freedom from their colonial masters or die trying.

Unfortunately for the rebels in the fort, bravery alone cannot repel cannon fire. After resisting

as long as he can, General Jean-Jacques

Desaline will have to retreat. But his struggle will continue, and soon the rebels will proclaim

the defeat of the French and the birth of a new nation, Haiti. General Dezaline's fortunes

...