Władysław Franciszek Jabłonowski

Władysław Franciszek Jabłonowski (25 October 1769 – 29 September 1802) was a Polish military officer who served in the French Revolutionary Army during the Napoleonic Wars. He is the first known Polish general of African descent.

After joining the French army, he died of yellow fever in 1802 in Saint-Domingue,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> after being sent there as part of the Saint-Domingue expedition, which saw Polish troops fighting alongside the French to restore slavery in the colony. After the French and Polish suffered heavily from yellow fever, they withdrew their surviving forces from Saint-Domingue.

Some of Polish soldiers sent to Saint-Domingue deserted and joined the Haitian rebels in their quest for independence, and about 400 settled on the island after the war. They were granted full citizenship by Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who led the country.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Early life

Of mixed ancestry, Władysław was the illegitimate child of Maria Dealire, a British aristocrat, and married into the Polish aristocracy, and an unidentified man of African descent. He acquired the nickname "Murzynek".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Dealire's husband, Polish nobleman Konstanty Jabłonowski, accepted the boy as his son and gave him his family name, so he was considered Polish.

On 25 February 1783, Jabłonowski as a youth was admitted to the French military academy at Paris École Militaire. There he was a schoolmate of Napoleon Bonaparte and Louis Nicolas D'avout. In a climate of bullying, he was subjected to racist taunts, including from Napoleon.<ref name=Pachonski> Template:Citation </ref> Upon graduation on 20 February 1786, he joined the Régiment de Royal-Allemand with the rank of second lieutenant. He achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel within 8 years.<ref name="kurierhistoryczny" />

Military career

In 1794 Jabłonowski fought in Tadeusz Kościuszko's uprising against Tsarist Russia.<ref name=":0" /> He participated in battles of Szczekociny, Warsaw, Maciejowice, and at Praga. A member of the Polish insurrectionist group Centralizacja Lwowska, he was sent to the Ottoman Empire to gain the support of the Ottoman and French governments for the creation a Polish army to antagonize Russia.<ref name="kurierhistoryczny" /> Another opportunity for this later appeared with the French fighting in Italy.<ref name="kurierhistoryczny" />

He was appointed brigade chief in the French army on 4 January 1798. In 1799, he was under the command of General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski.<ref name="kurierhistoryczny" /> In 1799 he was made General of Brigade of the Polish legions<ref name=Pachonski /> (the Dąbrowski Legion). He became provisional brigade general in the Army of Italy on 20 May 1800 after being nominated by General André Massena. However, his French superiors would not approve this rank.<ref name="kurierhistoryczny" /> He distinguished himself in the battle of Bosco and Pasturana<ref name="kurierhistoryczny">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and commanded a legion in the Alps.<ref name="kurierhistoryczny" />

On 24 July 1801, he was again nominated to the rank of brigade general in the Polish legions by General Joachim Murat, an appointment that was confirmed on 21 December 1801 by the First Consul. In May 1801, he was appointed as the commander of the Danube Legion, which was renamed the 3rd Polish Half-Brigade on 21 December.<ref name="kurierhistoryczny" /> He was subsequently given the option of serving in Louisiana or Saint-Domingue. He was sent at his own request to Saint-Domingue in May 1802 along with the 3rd Polish Half-Brigade and accompanied by his common-law wife Anne Penot.<ref name="rypson47">Template:Cite book</ref> There he fought against Black rebels who had revolted against French rule in mid-1802. Jabłonowski died from yellow fever on 29 September 1802 in Jérémie.<ref name="rypson47"/>

The disease caused many deaths among French-led forces in the colony, killing more than those who died because of warfare.<ref name=Pachonski /> Approximately 400 men of the 3rd Polish Half-Brigade (renamed the 113th Line Infantry Half-Brigade on 2 September), out of 5,280 men of the unit, deserted the French and joined the rebels.<ref name="rypson">Rypson (2008), Being Poloné in Haiti</ref> They settled in what became Haiti, where their descendants are known as Polish Haitians.

In Polish culture

Jabłonowski is mentioned in Adam Mickiewicz's notable epic poem Pan Tadeusz, in the context of a veteran of the Polish legions recounting what he had seen:

how Jabłonowski had reached the land where the pepper grows

and where sugar is produced, and where in eternal spring

bloom fragrant woods: with the legion of the Danube there

the Polish general smites the Negroes [Murzyns], but sighs for his native soil<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

See also

• Saint-Domingue expedition