Battle of Palo Hincado The Battle of Palo Hincado was the first major battle of the Spanish reconquest of Santo Domingo of the Spanish colonial Captaincy General of Santo Domingo , that was occupied by the French in the Spanish West Indies . The site is in the present day Dominican Republic , on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean . The battle was fought on November 7 , 1808 , at Palo Hincado savanna , near El Seibo in the colony of Santo Domingo . A force of 2 , 000 Spanish Dominican and Puerto Rican troops , led by General Juan Sánchez Ramírez , defeated a force of 600 troops of French Army of Napoleon , led by Governor General Jean - Louis Ferrand . Preparations . In 1808 General Ramírez was in southwestern Hispaniola , operating with the support of the Haitian independence ringleaders Uber Ciriaco Ramirez and Christopher Franco , and backed by the Spanish Royal Governor of colonial Puerto Rico , General Toribio Montes . Ramírez sent a letter via a Spanish ship anchored in Samana on September 17 to Governor Montes . On November 28 the Spanish schooner " Monserrate " arrived in Puerto Rico from Macao with the news that the supply aid requested by Ramírez would soon reach Montes . With this encouragement General Ramírez redoubled efforts — while French Governor General Ferrand was preparing to quell the impending rebellion . It was easy for Ramírez take possession of the town of El Seibo on Oct . 26 , 1808 . Won by the fervor of the Reconquista , as some Haitian French forces were serving in the Napoleonic Wars in eastern France . With their positions quickly forming , twenty nine soldiers , including General Ramírez , reached the port at the mouth of the river at Boca de Yuma to receive the military aid sent from Puerto Rico by Governor Montes . The war materials had been shipped in a brig and a schooner — and consisted of a gunboat , four rifles with bayonets , a hundred sabers , and corresponding ammunition . In addition , two hundred volunteers arrived , mostly Creole emigrants . The brig , named " Frederick " , and the schooner , named " Render " , then left the Port of Higuey to return to Puerto Rico . At that time General Ramírez received the news that Governor General Ferrand was directed towards El Seibo with a respectable force , and determined to master the revolt . The timing was bad for the revolutionaries . He urged taking the French garrison at Samaná ( " Sabana de la Mar " ) for making a stronghold , because without the possession of this port the " Reconquista " forces could fail . Then General Ramírez noted the presence of their British allies ' warships off the Santo Domingo coast , and contacted Commander Dashwood of the British frigate La Franchise . Dashwood agreed to take charge of attacking the French garrison at Samaná . He also said the Spanish leader could count on the cooperation of the Commander of Arms for Samaná , Diego de Lira , committed to the " Reconquista " cause . Of those who landed in Boca de Yuma / Port of Higuey from Puerto Rico , the only true military leader among them was Lieutenant Francisco Diaz . He joined the forces of General Ramírez . As one of the few " reconquistadores " that had knowledge of war tactics , Ramírez was entrusted to direct the transfer of weapons and baggage to El Seibo from the port . Then Diaz was in charge of organizing the conflict ' s meeting site , the enlistment of weapons , and choosing the most advantageous position to wait out the approaching enemy . After a study of the whole area , Diaz chose the site of Magarin . On the morning of November 3 Lieutenant Diaz began organizing and distributing arms and ammunition to his forces at the Port of Higuey in Boca de Yuma . Very early the troops gathered in front of the Shrine of Our Lady of Altagracia and heard mass . After the ceremony they received the news that Governor Ferrand and the French were very close to El Seibo . General Ramírez gave the order to march westward to meet the enemy . November 5 dawned on Lieutenant Diaz in El Seibo . Here he continued organizing and incorporating the new volunteers into his Spanish ' makeshift army . ' The preparation and distribution of arms and ammunition was also in charge of Lieutenant Diaz . That night General Ramírez had " a terrible vision of French Governor General Ferrand ' s emissary " , who it was announced that the battle would go overwhelmingly in favor of the French in El Seibo on the 7th . Through Ferrand ' s envisioned emissary , Ramirez ' replied , ' letting him know his forces were prepared to measure their strength against the French . " To the emissary of Napoleon ' s forces these intentions sounded like a bluff , and the envisioned Ferrand could not help but smile . " The weapons and tactical superiority of the French forces looked to easily beat the Spanish , who were untrained and poorly armed . Ferrand ignored the real warnings that Ramírez ' s forces were not to be underestimated , especially in their deft handling of the knife , and happily prepared to give battle . On November 6 General Ramírez and the troops moved up to the strategic position of Magarin , well chosen by Lieutenant Diaz . Here a temporary hut held the few tough firearms and ammunition at their disposal . The site at Palo Hincado savanna was half a league west of the town of El Seibo . General Ramírez issued orders to wait for the enemy advance . Lieutenant Diaz resolved to take on preparatory measures himself on the night of November 6 , before the morning date announced by Governor General Ferrand for French entry into El Seibo . The rain did not stop during the night , with adverse consequences . In the early morning of November 7 it cleared however . General Ramírez and Lieutenant Diaz provided guns with dry " amunicionar " ammunition and bayonets , for the foot and horsemen troops . They were all " reconquistadores " ready " to fight with fury and rage Napoleon ' s infesting the ' Prime of the Indies ' for the infamy of the Spanish Crown . " The " reconquistadores " reached Palo Hincado between nine and ten o ' clock . Lieutenant Francisco Diaz was in position at the top of the savanna , in front of the nearly three hundred soldiers carrying rifles . Located in the center of his army , on the eminence above , General Ramírez distributing orders to his troops . He placed on his right Manuel Carvajal , and his left Pedro Vasquez . Miguel Febles served as adjutant . From the eminence above General Ramírez gave a speech to the troops . He warned that their action would be decisive , since coming to the front of the French enemy with their governor ' s cream of the forces at his disposal , whose defeat would mean the triumph of the " Reconquista " campaign . Ramírez recommended assault with their knives after the first shot was spent , to avoid the response of the best tactical rifle the French used . He ended the speech announcing that he ordered the death penalty , to shoot any retreating Spanish soldier , even himself . In this way everyone was forced to realize that it was better to die fighting than by being dishonorably shot . His final exclamation was " long live Fernando VII , a Prince personified in those moments the best Spanish hopes . " The General ' s speech was followed by tense moments of silence and attention . The French advanced and opened fire at about noon . A Gallic horse line pounced left to cut the Spanish forces off . Riders led by Captain Antonio Sosa wasted no time and ran to meet them , forcing the attackers to pull in the flanges . Among many other provisions , Jose de la Rosa was to ambush thirty riflemen at the rear of the enemy to distract attention after the fire broke out front . De la Rosa was one of those who came to Boca de Yuma on October 29 from Puerto Rico . The first shock was bloody melee . General Ramírez gave the cavalry of his right wing , led by Captain Vicente Mercedes , the order to advance , an operation that was executed very quickly , overwhelming the French enemy . Ten minutes of fighting enough for the field covered with corpses remain . The tactic of Spanish forces was to quickly capture the distance of duel shot in combat . They executed with such alacrity and boldness that they lost only seven , while the French casualties were heavy . Among the Spanish who died were the two cavalry units leaders , Captain Antonio Sosa and Captain Mercedes Vicente . The Battle of Palo Hincado concluded on November 7 , 1808 — with a Spanish victory over the Napoleonic French . Aftermath . With the displayed waste of their battalions , French Governor General Ferrando ordered a hasty return to the city of Santo Domingo with a group of surviving officers . They were chased by a squadron commanded by Spanish Colonel Pedro Santana , namesake of the future leader of the Republic . The French escaped by crossing a torrential river , that the squadron was unable to follow . The French stopped to rest in Glen Guaiquía . Meanwhile , it was here the unhappy Governor Ferrand , dominated by depression , took his own life with a pistol shot to the head . " This became the third major war event symbolizing " the triumph of Dominican will . " The first had been the victory over the British in 1655 , and the second had been the Battle of the Sabana Real in 1691 . " There is a monument at the battle site in the Dominican Republic .