Haitian invasion of Gran Colombia

The Haitian invasion of Gran Colombia (1821–1823), also known as the Haitian–Gran Colombian War, War of Haitian Intervention, and the Bolívar Affair, was an invasion of launched in 1821 by Haiti. The invasion was prosecuted over the failure of to liberate the enslaved black population in  in accordance with a promise made to Emperor Jacques I in 1818, in exchange for military equipment and troops Bolívar would later use to defeat the  forces in  during the. Though there was general fear of the actions of Haiti in South America in the courts of, the , and the , all of the major powers of the time were preoccupied with the ongoing in.

The promise to free the more than 1.2 million slaves in Spanish America, about one-fifth of the 6.7 million inhabitants of the region, was crucial to Bolívar's ability to attain Haitian military support for his planned war against Spanish throughout the southern continent. Having entered into exile to the island of in 1814 after a dispute with the government of, Bolívar later fled to Haiti in 1815 after a series of failed assassination attempts against him. Settling in the city of, Bolívar met with Haitian officials to discuss the possibility of Haitian support in Bolívar's ongoing campaign to oust Spain from its colonies in South America. After being granted a personal audience with Jacques I of Haiti, the Haitians agreed to Bolívar's request for 10,000 troops, 4,000 muskets, 14,000 pounds of gunpowder, and various pieces of military equipment that would be put to use in creating a new South American army from Bolívar's powerbase in.

After decisively defeating the Spanish at the in, South American independence was de facto solidified, and the countries liberated by Bolívar proclaimed him the hero of the Americas, . It was hoped that Bolívar and his new government in Gran Colombia would end slavery as promised, but Bolívar, under pressure from the new elites in the country, refused to bow to Haitian requests, and confirmed the role of slavery in the new country. Outraged, the Haitians immediately put together plans for a retaliation against the South American nation. None of the Gran Colombian leaders had expected much of a response from Haiti aside from its declarations of war against them, and flatly ignored Haitian demands, having forgotten that the Haitians were responsible for contributing the very army that liberated their own nation, and the hundreds of thousands of slaves that were awaiting their freedom in accordance with the statements made during the conflict by Bolívar.

The Haitians wasted no time putting together an invasion force under the command of Jean-Michel Emmanuel, who would be responsible for overseeing the entire expedition into Gran Colombia. Having not taking any precaution to prepare for an invasion by Haiti, and seriously underestimating the threat the island nation posed, the army of Gran Colombia was completely unprepared for a war. With no foreign support from the other regional powers, such as the – still reeling from the disastrous  and the recent  – the army of Gran Colombia, numbering only 4,500 troops, was swiftly overwhelmed by the Haitian expeditionary force of 12,000 soldiers and their 25,000 freed slave allies on the mainland. The first year of the war was a complete rout for Gran Colombia, and the next two years consisted of the Gran Colombian army under Bolívar seeking to avoid a field battle against the better trained and equipped Haitians.

Ultimately, Bolívar would be captured at the Battle of Quevedo in 1823, where he had hoped to build a large army to go on the offensive during the winter of that year. Bolívar was tried and executed for what became the first documented use of, having been judged by a mixed jury of Haitian military officers and Colombian freed slaves who collaborated with the Haitian forces. Gran Colombia was partitioned into territories under the jurisdiction of Haiti, and its slave population was emancipated and granted full rights under Haitian imperial law. This would bring a swift end to the Gran Colombian nation, and introduce a new foreign government far closer to home and far more capable of enforcing its will and authority over the local population. The long-term consequences of Bolívar's failure to liberate the slaves of the land as promised in 1815, ultimately resulted in Gran Colombia becoming an integral part of Haiti by the modern-day.