1. Sylvain Salnave was elected president after he led the overthrow of President Fabre Geffrard.
19 Facts About Sylvain Salnave
2.
Sylvain Salnave, a light-skinned mulatto, was born in Cap-Haitien in 1827.
3.
Sylvain Salnave was captain of cavalry when Fabre Geffrard overthrew Faustin Soulouque in January 1859, and was rewarded for his aid with the rank of major.
4.
In 1861, Sylvain Salnave was bitter in his denunciation of Geffrard for what he called Geffrard's subserviency in the matter of the Spanish regime in neighboring Dominican Republic.
5.
Sylvain Salnave promoted and encouraged frequent insurrections on the borders, and in 1864 he abetted an insurrection in the northern part of Haiti, but the movement was put down with the aid of the Spanish.
6.
In July 1866, Sylvain Salnave led a new uprising at Gonaives.
7.
The attitude of the masses and the growing popularity of Sylvain Salnave began to occasion much concern to the liberals, who found themselves once more obliged to submit to a military man.
8.
Sylvain Salnave gained the sympathy of the people by his courage and his simple tastes.
9.
Petion Faubert at Leogane, Normil at Anse-a-Veau, Michel Domingue at Aquin, and Pierre Theoma Boisrond-Canal at Petionville and Croix-des-Bouquets all rose up against the dictatorship assumed by Sylvain Salnave, who was being besieged at Port-au-Prince.
10.
Sylvain Salnave tried to come to terms with them; but failing in his attempt, he determined to rely henceforth on his energy and valor in maintaining his authority.
11.
Sylvain Salnave had the advantage of the unity of command over his opponents; for the rebels in the South had numerous leaders: Domingue, whose headquarters were at Cayes, Normil at Anse-a-Veau, etc.
12.
Sylvain Salnave's intrepidity gave him for a while all the chances of crushing his foes.
13.
Sylvain Salnave had purchased a steamer in the United States to replace the two men-of-war, Le 22 Decembre and Le Geffrard, which had gone over to the insurgents.
14.
The next day Sylvain Salnave went on board and sailed for Petit-Goave, in which harbor the two steamers belonging to the rebels were anchored.
15.
Sylvain Salnave had at that time to fight the opposition of the Catholic clergy.
16.
Sylvain Salnave now began to reflect that he might yet be able to allay the discontent reigning throughout the country by relinquishing the absolute power he had usurped.
17.
Sylvain Salnave succeeded in reaching the Dominican territory; but General Jose Maria Cabral, who was in sympathy with his opponents, betraying the trust he had placed in him, gave him up to the Haitians.
18.
On January 15,1870, Sylvain Salnave arrived at Port-au-Prince, where he appeared before a court martial.
19.
Sylvain Salnave was sentenced to death and shot on the same day at six o'clock in the evening, tied to a pole set up on the smoking ruins of the Executive Mansion.