History of the Saints : Discover

Discover : History

History

What would Christopher Columbus say if he saw Los Santos today? He had so-named the islands in honour of the religious All Saint’s Day, the name “Los Santos” was later translated to French when the territory moved under administration of the French crown. The year 1648 witnessed the arrival of the islands’ first settlers, who in due time established a garrison to defend the territory against the Caribbean and the English. The ever opposed French and English troops began to engage in serious naval combat from as early as 1666, in the course of which French defensive strategy transformed the archipelago into a sort of Caribbean Maginot Line, by constructing batteries on all major islands on the model of the Corsican “tours genoises”. The infamous Battle of the Saints took place on the 12 April, 1782 on the open sea, in the canal separating the Saints from Dominica. Peace was not to come until as late as 1816, when France finally reconquered the Saints, this time for good.