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Napoleon's troops under LeClerc arrive at the shores of Haiti.

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Flotilla
Left: Napoleon's troops under LeClerc arrive at the shores of Haiti (1938) / Right: Flotilla (1996

Flotilla depicts Napoleon’s troops sailing towards Haiti. Originally, L'Ouverture had been working with the republican government of France until the reign of Napoleon. The former emperor of France, in an effort to quell the revolution and recapture the island, sent General LeClerc with an imposing fleet in tow. Several boats float in dark blue water above the horizon line, giving the impression of a rising wave of vessels about to crash down onto the land. The pale gray sky is all but consumed by the sea. From the land rise stalks of sugarcane, a mark of the cruelty of the plantation system that French forces are coming to reinstate. Together, these elements create an oppressive atmosphere, one that the revolutionaries had to wade through to fight for their freedom.