Spanish reconquest of Santo Domingo

Spanish reconquest of Santo Domingo
Part of the Caribbean campaign of 1803–1810
Map of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico
Date November 7, 1808 – July 9, 1809 Location Captaincy General of Santo Domingo Result Anglo-Spanish victory Territorial changes Reestablishment of Spanish rule in Santo Domingo
Belligerents
Santo Domingo United Kingdom	France
Commanders and leaders
Juan Sánchez Ramírez Ciriaco Ramírez Hugh Lyle Carmichael	Jean-Louis Ferrand † Joseph de Barquier

The Spanish reconquest of Santo Domingo (Spanish: Reconquista Española de Santo Domingo) was a successful revolt against French rule in the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo which lasted from November 7, 1808, to July 9, 1809. In 1808, following Napoleon's invasion of Spain, the criollos of Santo Domingo revolted against the French, which caught the attention of British forces engaged in the Caribbean campaign of 1803–1810. The revolt culminated in 1809 with a return to the Spanish colonial rule for a period commonly termed España Boba.

The Treaty of Basel of 1795 stipulated that Spain would transfer Santo Domingo to France, which did not happen until 1801 when an army under Toussaint Louverture occupied the colony. In 1802, French forces intent on deposing Louverture occupied Santo Domingo. However, peninsular events that transpired in 1808 would shake the Dominican population to rise up in revolution against the French occupation. Conspiracies arose within that same year, some of which had been instigated by the governments of Cuba, Puerto Rico and Haiti. Eventually, under the leadership of Juan Sánchez Ramírez, the Dominicans, with the help of an British fleet from Jamaica, would inflict a crushing defeat on the French forces, once again becoming part of the Spanish monarchy in 1809, ending the French period of Santo Domingo, and officially marking the end of French presence in Hispaniola.

Though not a war of independence, this conflict represented one of the early Dominican struggles against European imperialism. This would serve as a context of the many conflicts that gave rise to the independence of what would later become the Dominican Republic.