France had established a colony on the island of Hispaniola in 1625 and created sugar and coffee plantations, which used a vast number of African slaves. The slaves lived under terrible conditions and they would eventually rebel in the late 18th century leading to the Haitian Revolution. 

The Battle of Vertières was the last major battle of the Haitian Revolution, making Haiti the first-ever nation to successfully gain independence through a slave revolt. 

The battle was fought on November 18th 1803 between forces made up mainly of former slaves people led by Jean-Jacques Dessalines, and Napoleon’s French expeditionary forces under the command of General Rochambeau. 

Napoléon Bonaparte had come to power in 1799 and this was his first major defeat. France then withdrew its remaining 7,000 troops from the island and Napoleon abandoned any ambitions to a North American empire. The defeat of the French had ramifications far beyond Haiti and the Caribbean, with the war having gone so badly, Napoleon sold Louisiana (New France) to the United States for $15 million dollars, in the Louisiana Purchase. 

November 18th also used to be Armed Forces Day (French: Jour Des Forces Armées) in Haiti. President Jean-Bertrand Aristide abolished the Haitian army in the early 1990s.