Revolutionary army rank let a mixed-race illegitimate heir outrank his white legitimate sibling

Evidence

Descourtilz was personally involved in one complex struggle for the control of a plantation in the Artibonite. It pitted Descourtilz’ uncle, M. Lachicotte, against his “bastard” half-brother, Philippe, both of whom claimed the inheritance of the property of their deceased father. It was a classic family drama—a conflict between a legitimate heir and an illegitimate heir—but it took on a particular cast in postemancipation Saint- Domingue. Philippe was of African descent, and his mother was probably a slave, but he was able to take advantage of the revolutionary context to gain the upper hand on Lachicotte. He became an officer in Louverture’s army, outranking and indeed at one point commanding Lachicotte. — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 801

Categorization

• FICTION: The legitimate-vs-illegitimate heir struggle over a plantation, with the social orders reversed by revolution, is a ready-made novelistic conflict.