In March 1844, 30,000 Haitian soldiers invaded the Dominican Republic at the behest of their president Charles Rivière-Hérard but were defeated within a month and forced to retreat back into Haiti. The Haitian campaign of 1845 ended with the retreat of the Haitian army across the Massacre River. Three years later, the emperor of Haiti launched his first invasion of the Dominican Republic, but his 18,000-strong army fled after 400 Dominicans put up resistance in the south. In November 1849, a small naval campaign was undertaken in which Dominican government schooners captured Anse-à-Pitres and one or two other villages on the southern coast of Haiti, which were sacked and burned by the Dominicans. In November 1855, the Haitian emperor marched into the Dominican Republic at the head of a 30,000-man army, but the Haitians were decisively defeated and forced back across the border by January 1856.
