Editing Henri Christophe (section)

==Early life==
Claims about Henri Christophe's place of birth and life before coming to prominence have been contested since the early nineteenth century. Born Christophe Henry, probably in [[Grenada]] but perhaps [[Saint Kitts|St Kitts]]<ref>Marcus Rainsford's 1802 '[https://books.google.com/books?id=0LZXAAAAcAAJ St Domingo, or, An Historical, Political and Literary Sketch of the Black Republic]' gives Christophe's birthplace as St Domingo. An 1803 letter from Edward Corbet in the UK National Archives says Grenada. Pierre McCallum's 1805 '[[iarchive:travelsintrinid01mcagoog|Travels in Trinidad During the Months of February, March, and April, 1803]]' claims St. Kitts.</ref> the son of a slave mother and Christophe, a freeman, he was brought as a slave to the northern part of [[Saint-Domingue]].  In 1779 he may have served with the French forces as a drummer boy in the [[Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint-Domingue]], a regiment composed of [[gens de couleur libres]] ([[Multiracial people|mixed-race]] residents of Saint-Domingue), and fewer black residents. The regiment fought at the [[Siege of Savannah]], a battle during the [[American Revolutionary War]].<ref name=haitianhistory.org>[http://www.haitianhistory.org/contents.php?pagetitle=History Haitian Monument Outline]{{dead link|date=March 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, Haitian History</ref> It is claimed that Christophe was wounded in this battle.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_8mRKAAAAcAAJ|title=Essai sur les Causes de la Révolution et des Guerres Civiles en Haïti|last=Vastey|first=Baron de|publisher=Imprimerie Royale|year=1819|location=Sans Souci|pages=160}}</ref>

As an adult, Christophe may have worked as a mason, sailor, stable hand, waiter, or billiard marker; if so, most of his pay would have gone to his master.<ref name="Monfried" /> One popular story claims that he worked in and managed ''La Couronne'', a hotel restaurant in [[Cap-Haïtien|Cap-Français]], the first capital of the French colony of Saint-Domingue and a major colonial city.  There, the legend goes, he became skilled at dealing with the ''grand blancs,'' as the wealthy white French planters were called. However, none of the hotel's sales records support this claim. He was said to have gained his freedom from slavery as a young man, before the [[Haitian Revolution#1791 slave rebellion|slave uprising of 1791]]. On 15 July 1793 he married Marie-Louise Coidavid,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Clammer |first1=Paul |title=Black Crown Henry Christophe, the Haitian Revolution and the Caribbean's Forgotten Kingdom |date=2023 |publisher=Hurst Publishers |isbn=9781787387799}}</ref> a member of the free black community of Cap-Français. The political skills he learned as a hotelier also served him well when he later became an officer in the military and leader in the country.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

Beginning with the slave uprising of 1791, Christophe distinguished himself as a soldier in the [[Haitian Revolution]] and quickly rose to be a colonel during the revolutionary years. He fought for years with [[Toussaint Louverture]] in the north, participating in numerous battles during the revolution, and eventually rising to the rank of [[commander-in-chief]] at Cap-Français. By 1801, Louverture had promoted him to brigadier-general.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Clammer |first1=Paul |title=Black Crown Henry Christophe, the Haitian Revolution and the Caribbean's Forgotten Kingdom |date=2023 |publisher=Hurst Publishers |isbn=9781787387799 |page=85}}</ref>