Fort Riviere was a mountain fort on the summit of Montagne Noire, on the north coast of Haiti

Haiti

Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...

, located to the south of Grande-Rivière-du-Nord

Grande-Rivière-du-Nord

Grande-Rivière-du-Nord is a municipality in the Grande-Rivière-du-Nord Arrondissement, in the Nord Department of Haiti. Jean-Jacques Dessalines was born there in 1758 on the Cormiers plantation....

  and 20 miles south of Cap-Haïtien

Cap-Haïtien

Cap-Haïtien is a city of about 190,000 people on the north coast of Haiti and capital of the Department of Nord...

. An old French bastion

Bastion

A bastion, or a bulwark, is a structure projecting outward from the main enclosure of a fortification, situated in both corners of a straight wall , facilitating active defence against assaulting troops...

 fort, it was the site of the 17 November 1915 overwhelming and quick defeat of the Haitian rebel force called the Cacos.

Historical background

In 1915, Haiti, a small country in the Caribbean, was in a state of political upheaval. On 28 July 1915, two companies of United States Marines

United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

 and three United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 sailors landed in Haiti — beginning what would become a nineteen year occupation of Haiti by the U.S. Marines.

The Marines and sailors under Admiral William B. Caperton

William B. Caperton

William Banks Caperton was an admiral of the United States Navy.-Biography:He was born on June 30, 1855 in Spring Hill, Tennessee. Caperton graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1875...

 rapidly reestablished an interim government. Police, customs, schools and hospitals were all placed under the purview of the Marines and Naval personnel assigned to the occupation.

The Marines established a law enforcing constabulary, officered by Marine non-commissioned officer

Non-commissioned officer

A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...

s who were granted Haitian commissions as officers and leaders of native troops. This group, called the Gendarmerie d'Haiti, was tasked with enforcing all laws of the country and provided a quasi-military force. They were backed by the Krag-Jørgensen

Krag-Jørgensen

The Krag-Jørgensen is a repeating bolt action rifle designed by the Norwegians Ole Herman Johannes Krag and Erik Jørgensen in the late 19th century. It was adopted as a standard arm by Denmark, the United States of America and Norway...

 rifles of the 1st Marine Brigade with 88 officers and 1,941 men garrisoning ten towns.

The establishment of an interim government and law enforcement presence did not settle a group of rebels called the Cacos. On the northern end of the country, skirmishing continued in the villages and jungled mountains. In October 1915, after a brief ceasefire, the Cacos began again their assault on government held towns and U.S. forces. It was during this same period that Gunnery Sergeant Daniel Daly

Daniel Daly

Sergeant Major Daniel Joseph "Dan" Daly was a United States Marine and one of only nineteen men to have received the Medal of Honor twice...

 and Captain, Smedley Butler

Smedley Butler

Smedley Darlington Butler was a Major General in the U.S. Marine Corps, an outspoken critic of U.S. military adventurism, and at the time of his death the most decorated Marine in U.S...

, two Marines who had received one Medal of Honor

Medal of Honor

The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...

 each for separate actions, were awarded their second Medals of Honor.

In the dark of the night on 17 November 1915, Butler, leading a strong force of Marines and sailors, surrounded the last stronghold of the Cacos, Fort Riviere, on a mountain to the south of Grand Riviere du Nord. At 07:30 a.m., Butler gave a signal via whistle and all the Marines attacked. The surprise was total and the Cacos were taken in confusion. Crawling through a tunnel, Butler and his men were involved in bloody hand-to-hand fighting. In 15 minutes, more than 50 Cacos were killed.

See also

• History of the United States Marine Corps
  History of the United States Marine Corps
  The history of the United States Marine Corps began with the founding of the Continental Marines on November 10, 1775 to conduct ship-to-ship fighting, provide shipboard security and discipline enforcement, and assist in landing forces. Its mission evolved with changing military doctrine and...