La Mulatresse Solitude

La Mulâtresse Solitude was born on the island of Guadeloupe around 1772. Her mother was an enslaved woman from Africa, who had been raped by a sailor while she was transported from Africa to the West Indies. Thus, before she even opened her eyes on the world, La Mulatresse Solitude knew the horrors of slavery firsthand.  The little information we have on her comes from the book “Histoire de la Guadeloupe” (History of Guadeloupe) by Auguste Lacour (1805–1869).

She was called "La Mulâtresse" ('Female Mulatto') because of her origin. Mulatto is (now derogatory) term for the first-generation offspring of a Black person and a white person. This had some importance for her in the racial hierarchy of the society of the time: because she was noted to have pale skin and pale eyes, she was given domestic work rather than being forced to work in the fields. In 1794, Solitude saw the abolition of slavery and joined a Maroon community in Guadeloupe.

In 1802, eight years after slavery was proclaimed abolished in Guadeloupe for the first time, Napoleon Bonaparte decided to reinstate it and sent General Antoine Richepance to Guadeloupe. In charge of 3,500 men, he was instructed to reinstate Lacrosse as Captain-General, disarm all soldiers of colour, deport rebel officers and “restore discipline” among the former slaves. On his arrival, he ordered the disarming of soldiers of colour and made them board his ships. In response, Battalion Chief (Commander) Joseph Ignace and Captains Palerme and Massoteau organized an uprising. On 10 May 1802, their fellow rebel Louis Delgrès, a native of Saint-Pierre, Martinique, who was Battalion Chief and Commander of the Basse-Terre district, launched a proclamation entitled: ‘To the whole universe, the last cry of innocence and despair’.

La Mulatresse Solitude, who was then a few months pregnant, joined this fight against Richepance’s troops and fought by the side of her male counterparts to protect the freedom of themselves and their children. After eighteen days of greatly outnumbered combat (between more than 4,000 soldiers on Richepance’s side and around 1,000 regular soldiers on the side of the rebels), the rebels were defeated. Ignace, about to be taken prisoner, committed suicide, while Delgrès and his troops blew up the Danglemont house in Matouba, where they had taken refuge. Solitude was taken prisoner around 23 May 1802, when Palerme’s camp in Dolé was taken. Delgrès and his companions rallied to the cry of "Live Free or Die!" Unfortunately the latter would become the option they all must take.

Solitude survived the battle of May 28, 1802, but was imprisoned by the French. Because she was pregnant at the time of her imprisonment, she was not tortured or executed until November 29 of the same year, one day after giving birth. Lacour tells us little about Solitude’s death, merely recording that she was sentenced to death and tortured (possibly to death) a day after giving birth. According to André Schwarz-Bart’s novel La Mulâtresse Solitude (1972), Solitude was hanged. This is not confirmed by any historical source. Furthermore, the French term suppliciée does not necessarily imply the death penalty. To be suppliciée means to be tortured, which could include flogging or being shackled, and could culminate in death. It was common for the death penalty to be reduced to lesser forms of punishments, such as forced labour.

Excitingly, a woman named Solitude was mentioned in a register of newly freed slaves in Guadeloupe in 1860. She was 80 years old and was given the patronymic name ‘Toto’. The evidence suggests that this Solitude could have been the mulatto of 1802, since the age seems to match; however, her given name is a little confusing, since it corresponds to that of another female figure from 1802. Toto was also the nickname of Marthe Rose, known as Toto, the companion of Delgrès. Marthe Rose may even have been Solitude’s sister.

Ultimately, we may never know for sure what happened to Solitude or her baby. However,  as a female figure of the 1802 rebellion, the Mulatto Solitude symbolizes the Caribbean women and mothers who fought to protect the ideals of equality and freedom in the context of slavery.