Fort Delgrès, Basse Terre

The passing of the «Charge» at Fort Delgrès, Voukoum Group. The passing of the “charge” at the Fort Delgrès marks the ending of the «Mardi Gras» day, loading it with a very strong symbolic value: the Fort Delgrès is a French fort that dominates the city of Basse-Terre in Guadeloupe. It was a hotbed of Guadeloupe’s people fight against slavery, led by the resistant officer Louis Delgrès. After Napoleon re-established slavery in 1802 (after a first abolition in 1794 by Victor Hugues), Delgrès and Ignace’s rebellious colonial army occupied the fort. They abandonned it on May 22nd 1802 and took refuge at the foot of the Soufrière volcano, in Matouba. On may 28th 1802, as he saw himself lost, Delgrès and his 300 companions committed suicide with explosives, following the revolutionary motto: “to live free or to die”.