5
It is my duty to give to the French government
an exact account of my conduct.1 I will recount the facts
with all the naïveté and the frankness of a former military man, while
adding the thoughts that will arise naturally, in a word
I will tell the truth even if it were against my interests. The colony of Saint-Domingue
of which I was the commander was enjoying the greatest tranquility. Agriculture
and commerce were flourishing, the island had attained a degree of
splendor that no one had ever seen previously,2 and all of this I dare to say
was the result of my labors.3 And yet we were on a war footing.
The commission had issued a decree that ordered me to take all the
necessary measures to prevent the enemies of the Republic from
penetrating the island.4 As a consequence, I ordered all the
commanders of the seaports not to allow inside the harbors any
warship unless they were known and they had
been authorized by me. And if it was a squadron, no matter which
nation it came from, it was absolutely forbidden to enter
the ports, even the harbors, until I ascertained
personally where it came from and what orders it bore.5
This order was still in effect when on 16 pluviôse [5 February 1802] the [French] squadron appeared
before Cap[-Français].6 I had at the time left the town to go on
a tour of the Spanish part in Santo Domingo to check
on cultivation.7 On my way, while passing by [San Juan de la] Maguana, I had
sent one of my aides-de-camp to General Dessalines,8 commander
in chief of the departments of the West and South, residing in Saint-Marc, to
order him to come join me in Gonaïves or in Saint-Michel to
accompany me on a tour. When the squadron appeared I
was in Santo Domingo, from which I left three days after
my business was done to go to Hinche via Bánica.9 When I arrived in Papaye,
I met my aide-de-camp Coupé10 and an officer sent by
General Christophe11 who handed over to me a letter from this general by
which he informed me of the arrival of the French squadron in front of
Cap and assured me that the general in chief commanding this
squadron had not done him the honor of writing to him;12 that
he had only sent an officer to order him to prepare
lodgings for his troops;13 that he, General Christophe,
having asked this officer if he did not carry a letter
for him or dispatches for General Toussaint Louverture,
inviting him to hand them over to him so that he could pass them on at once,
this officer had answered that he had not been entrusted with any;
that General Toussaint had never even been mentioned;14 “hand over
the town,” he had added, “and you will be well rewarded.
The French government is sending you gifts, here;” that
General Christophe had then said to him “since you have no
letter for the general in chief or for me, you may
leave and tell your general that he does not know his
duty, that it is not the way one introduces oneself in a country
belonging to France.” General Leclerc, having received
this response, demanded that General Christophe hand over the position.
In case he refused, he warned him that as early as the following
morning he would land fifteen thousand men, to which the latter
responded that he begged him to await General Toussaint Louverture,
that he had already alerted him, and that he was again going to do so a
second time with the greatest haste.15 Indeed, I received a
second letter and hastened to go to Cap despite the
flooding of the river of Hinche, hoping to have the pleasure of
embracing our brothers in arms from Europe and of receiving at the same time
the orders of the French government; and to march
more rapidly I had left behind all my escorts.16
Between Saint-Michel and Saint-Raphaël, I met General Dessalines
and told him: “I had sent for you so that you could accompany me on
a tour of Port-de-Paix and Môle [Saint-Nicolas], but there is no need.
I have just received two letters from General Christophe announcing
to me the arrival of the French squadron before Cap,” and
communicated these letters to him. He then told me that he had himself
seen from Saint-Marc six large ships-of-the-line sailing toward Port-
Républicain, but that he ignored to which nation they belonged.17 I
then ordered him to leave promptly to go
to this port, since it was possible that, General Christophe
having denied entry into Cap to the general commanding the
squadron, the latter had directed himself to Port-Républicain in the hope
of finding me there. In this case, I gave him the order to invite
this general to wait for me, assuring him that I would first go
at once to Cap in the hope of meeting him there, and in
case I did not find him there I would return at once to Port-
Républicain to confer with him.18 I indeed left
for Cap, going by Le Vaseux, the shortest route.19
When arriving at the heights of Grand-Boucan,20 in the location known
as the Saint-Jacques gate, I saw a fire in the town of Cap.
I then pushed my horse at full speed to get
to this town, find the General commanding the squadron,
and determine what could have caused this
fire.21 But as I approached I found all the roads covered
with inhabitants22 who had evacuated this unfortunate
town and could go no further for the reason that all
the passageways were being shelled by the artillery of the ships that
were in the harbor.23 I then decided to go up to the fort of
Belair, but I also found that this fort had been evacuated and that all the
cannon pieces had been spiked.24 I was consequently obliged to
retrace my steps. After passing by the hospital,25 I encountered
General Christophe and asked him who the person was who had given the order
to set the town on fire. He responded that he had. I blamed him
very vigorously for having employed such a rigorous method.26 “Why”
I told him, “did you not instead take military
dispositions to defend the town until my arrival?” He replied to me:
“What do you expect, General, my duty, necessity, circumstances,
and the repeated threats made by the general commanding the squadron forced me to do so.
I showed the general the orders I was bearing, but
to no avail.” He added that the proclamations that had been distributed secretly
around town to seduce the people and rouse the troops
were not worthy of the forthrightness of a military man;27 that if truly
this commander of the squadron had peaceful intentions, he would
have awaited me there; that he would not have employed the means that
he used to sway the commander of the fort of La Bouque, who is a
drunkard;28 that as a consequence he would not have seized this fort;
that he would not have killed half the garrison of Fort-Liberté with a sword;29 that he would not have landed in l’Acul;30 and that in a word
he would not have initiated all the hostilities of which he has made himself
guilty.31 General Christophe joined me and we continued
our march together. When arriving in Haut-du-Cap, we went through the plantation
of Bréda until the Boulard fence.32 There, I ordered him to gather
his troops, to wait in Bonnet[-à-l’Evêque]33 until further notice, and to
inform me of all his future maneuvers; and told him that I was going
to Héricourt34 and that I would perhaps receive there some news from the commander
of the squadron and that he would pass on to me the orders from the government; that
maybe even I could meet him; that I would then learn the
reasons that could have led him to arrive in the colony in such a manner;
and if he had orders from the government I would bid him to
communicate them to me, and I would consequently make arrangements with him.
General Christophe then left me to proceed to the position I had
indicated to him, but he encountered a large body of troops that opened fire on him and forced him
to dismount from his horse, to rush into the river [of Haut-du-Cap], and to
swim across it. As for myself, after I left him, as I was traveling with
Adjutant-General Fontaine and two other officers, as well as my aide-de-camp Coupé
who was marching ahead of us, the latter warned me that he was encountering
troops on the road.35 I ordered him to position himself ahead of us. I was told
that these troops were commanded by a general.36 I then asked
to have a conference with him, but he did not have time to execute
my orders. We were fired upon twenty-five paces from the Vaudreuil fence.37
A bullet pierced my horse. Another bullet took away the hat
of one of the officers who were with me, which forced us to
abandon the main road, to cross the meadows and the woods to
proceed to Héricourt, where I spent three days awaiting news
from the commander of the squadron, but still to no avail.
But the following day I received a letter from General Rochambeau who
announced to me that the column that he commanded had seized Fort-
Liberté; that he had punished part of the garrison that had
resisted by executing them by the sword; that he would not have thought
that these troops would have sullied their bayonets with the blood of
fellow Frenchmen; and that he would have expected to find this garrison
well disposed toward them. I answered this letter, and expressing
my discontent to this general, I asked him why he had
ordered the massacre of these brave soldiers who had only been
following the orders that had been given to them, who by the way had
so well contributed to the happiness of the colony and to the triumph of the
republic, [and] if this was the reward that the government had
promised to them.38 I finished by telling him that I would combat until
death to avenge the death of these brave soldiers and my liberty
and to restore calm and order to the colony.39 It was indeed
the decision I had just made after having thoroughly thought
about the different reports made to me by General Christophe, about
the dangers I had just faced, about the letter of General Rochambeau,
and finally about the conduct of the general commanding the squadron.40
After taking these resolutions, I proceeded to Gonaïves. I
informed General Maurepas41 of my intentions. I
ordered him to oppose the utmost resistance to all those who
would present themselves before Port-de-Paix where he commanded, and
in case he was not strong enough, having only a demi-brigade under him,
to imitate the example set by General Christophe, to retreat then
to the mountain, taking with him the ammunitions of
all kinds, and to defend himself to the death.42 I proceeded
then to Saint-Marc to visit the fortifications there. I learned
that this town was already informed of the unfortunate events
that had just taken place, and that the inhabitants had already
evacuated. I gave the order to offer as much resistance as the
ammunition and the fortifications would allow. Just as I was
about to leave this town to proceed to Port-au-Prince43
and the southern part to give my orders there, captains Jean-
Philippe Dupin44 and Isaac brought me the dispatches of Paul Louverture45
who commanded Santo Domingo. Both of them
announced to me that a landing had just taken place in Oyarzábal,46
that the French and the Spaniards who lived in this
area had revolted and had cut off the roads
to Santo Domingo.47 I informed myself of the content of this dispatch. While going through
the letter of General Paul and the copy of the letter of General Kerversau48
to the commander of the city of Santo Domingo that was attached,
I saw that this general was inviting the commander, and
not General Paul as he should have done, to
prepare lodgings for his troops. I also saw that
General Paul had rejected his demand
until he received orders from me.49 Consequently
I responded to General Paul that I approved of his conduct and I gave him
the order to do all that was within his purview to defend himself in case
of an attack, even to take General Kerversau and all his troops
prisoner if he could.50 I handed my response to the captains whom I
mentioned and, expecting that because the roads were cut off they might
be arrested and that they would be asked to hand over their dispatch, I entrusted them
with a second letter by which I ordered General Paul to take
with General Kerversau all possible means of conciliation
and warned them that if the expected scenario took place they should hide the first letter and
only show the second one.51 General Paul, not
receiving as quickly as he wished a response to his dispatches, sent me
another black officer bearing copies of the same dispatches,
to which I merely replied with a receipt and sent him back. Of these three
officers, two were black and the other white. They were arrested as I
had foreseen and the two blacks were assassinated against every
kind of justice and reason and against the laws of war.52
Their dispatches were handed over to General Kerversau who, having hidden
the first letter, only showed the second one to General Paul,
that is to say the one where I ordered him to seek some conciliation with
him. It is as a consequence of this letter that Santo Domingo
surrendered.53 After sending these dispatches, I again took the road to the South.
I had barely begun my march when a courier reached me
at full speed, bringing me a packet from General Vernet54
and a letter from my spouse, both of which announced to me the arrival
of my two children coming from Paris and of their tutor (which
I had ignored until then), adding that they were bearing
orders from the first consul for me.55 I then retraced my
steps and flew to Ennery, where I indeed found my two children
and the respectable tutor whom the government had been kind enough
to assign to them. I kissed them with the greatest satisfaction
and much haste, and asked them at once if it was true
that they were bearing letters for me from the first consul.56 The tutor
responded to me that yes and indeed handed over to me a letter that I opened
and read half way through. Then I closed it and said that I reserved
the right to read it at a moment when I would be more tranquil.57 I then invited
him to inform me of the intentions of the government and to give me
the name of the commander of the squadron, which I had not yet been able to learn
until then. He replied to me that his name was Leclerc,58 that the intentions
of the government toward me were highly favorable, which was
confirmed to me by my children,59 and which I myself verified
later when reading the letter of the first consul. I
noted to them, though, that if the intentions of the government were
pacific and good toward me and toward those who had
contributed to the happiness that the colony enjoyed, the general had
certainly not followed them or executed the orders that he had received
since he had landed in the island as an enemy, doing
evil purely for the pleasure of doing so, without
contacting the commander nor communicating to him his
powers.60 I then asked mister61 Coisnon, the tutor
of my children, if General Leclerc had not given him anything
for me and if he had not asked him to tell me something.
He responded to me that no, while encouraging me still to go
to Cap to confer with this general. My children joined
their own solicitations to try to convince me. I explained to them
that, judging by the conduct of this general, I could have no
trust in him; that he had landed as an enemy; that
despite this I had thought it my duty to go before
him to prevent evil from spreading; and that he then had people
shoot at me and that I had run the greatest dangers; that finally
if his intentions were as pure as those of the government
that was sending him, he would have taken the time to write to me to
inform me of his mission; that even before his arrival
in the harbor he should have sent an aviso62 with you on board, as is
done customarily, to notify me of his powers
and inform me of his arrival;63 that since he had not fulfilled
any of these formalities, it was already too late, and so I
definitely refused to go find him; that yet
to prove my attachment and my submission to the French
government I would write a letter to General Leclerc, I would send it
through mister Granville,64 a respectable man, accompanied by my
two children and their tutor, whom I would ask to tell him
that it was absolutely up to him to lose the colony entirely
or to save it for France; and that I would make
all the necessary arrangements with him; and that I was ready to submit
to the orders of the French government as soon as General Leclerc
showed me the orders that he was bearing and
ceased any type of hostility. Indeed, I wrote the letter65 and
the deputation left. Hoping that, because of my submission,
everything would go back to normal, I stayed in Gonaïves until the
following day, when I learned that two ships of the line had attacked
Saint-Marc. I went there and learned that they had already been
repulsed.66 I then returned to Gonaïves to await the
response from General Leclerc. Finally, two days later, my sweet children
arrived with this response that I so desired, in which this
general was summoning me to proceed to Cap to be with him, and
announced to me that he had also ordered his generals
to march on all points, [and] that since his orders were issued
he could no longer revoke them.
He still promised me that General Boudet would stop on the Artibonite River.67
I then judged that he did not know the country perfectly well, or
that he had been deceived, since to reach the Artibonite one
must have free passage through Saint-Marc, which was not the case
since the two ships that had attacked this town had
been repulsed.68 He also added that they would not attack
Môle [Saint-Nicolas], that they would only blockade it whereas this
position had already surrendered.69 I then responded frankly to the
general that I would not go to meet him in Cap, that his
conduct was not inspiring enough confidence, that nevertheless
I was ready to hand over my command to him per the orders
of the first consul, but that I did not want to be his lieutenant
general. I then encouraged him to inform me of his intentions, while
assuring him that I would do all that was within my powers to contribute
to the restoration of order and tranquility. I
added finally that if he persisted in marching forward
he would force me to defend myself, even though I had no troops.70
I sent him this letter via a very fast courier, who
responded on his behalf that he had no more response to
give to me and that he was beginning his campaign.71 The inhabitants of Gonaïves
asked for my permission to send him a deputation, which I
granted, but he kept this deputation with him. The following day I
was informed that he had seized, without further ado and without firing
a single gunshot, Dondon, Saint-Raphaël, Saint-Michel, and Marmelade,
and that he was getting ready to march on Ennery and Gonaïves.72 These
new hostilities led me to reflect again. I thought
that the conduct of General Leclerc was quite contrary to the
intentions of the government, since the first consul in
his letter promised peace whereas he was waging war.
I saw that instead of trying to stem the progress of evil he only kept
facilitating it. “Does he not fear,” I was saying to myself,
“by conducting himself in such a manner, to be blamed by the first consul,
this great man, whose equity and impartiality are so well
recognized, whereas I will be approved?”73 So I opted
to defend myself in case of an attack and took my dispositions accordingly
even though I had few troops. Since Gonaïves was not
defensible, I gave orders to burn it in case we were forced to
retreat.74 I positioned General Christophe, who had been obliged
to fall back, on the Eribourg road that leads to Bayonnet,75 and
retired to Gonaïves, where a part of my honor guard, which was in Port-Républicain,
came to join me and defend me. But I learned that Gros-
Morne had just surrendered and that the army was going to march on Gonaïves in three
columns,76 that one of these columns commanded by General Rochambeau was supposed
to pass by the [Ravine-à-]Couleuvres and descend to La Croix on my ranch, and to
cut us off from the road to the town and the passage through the Ester bridge.77 I ordered
consequently to burn the town of Gonaïves78 and I marched ahead of the
column that was heading for the Ester bridge at the head of 300 grenadiers from my
guard, commanded by their chief, and sixty mounted guards. I did not know the
strength of General Rochambeau. I encountered him in a gorge and the attack
began at four in the morning with a sustained fire that lasted until
noon. General Rochambeau began the attack. I have learned through the prisoners
that I took that the column was more than four thousand men strong.79
While I was battling General Rochambeau, the column
commanded by General Leclerc arrived in Gonaïves. Once the affair of La Croix
was over, I proceeded to the Ester bridge to take the artillery that
defended this spot, with the intention of then heading to Saint-Marc where I
planned on making a strong resistance. But on the way I learned that
General Dessalines, after arriving before me at this location, had
been obliged to evacuate it and had fallen back on Petite-Rivière.80 I was
obliged because of this maneuver to slow my march to send
ahead of me the prisoners I had made at La Croix [and] the wounded
to Petite-Rivière, and convinced myself later to go there in person.81
After I arrived at the Couriotte [plantation] on the plain [of the Artibonite River], I left my troops there and went forward
alone. I found that all the countryside had been evacuated. I received a letter from
General Dessalines informing me that, having learned that the Cahos [mountain chain]82 was going to be
attacked, he had proceeded there with his troops to defend it.83 I ordered him
at once to come join me. I had the ammunition and
the provisions that I had with me transferred to Fort Louverture, also known as Crête-à-Pierrot.84
I ordered General Vernet to obtain the necessary vases to hold
the water for the garrison in case of a siege. When General Dessalines arrived, I
ordered him to take the command of this fort, to defend himself until the last
extremity. I left him for that purpose half of my guard with Brigadier Chief
Magny and my two squadrons.85 I enjoined him not to let General
Vernet be exposed to enemy fire, but to leave him in a secluded spot to
oversee the making of cartridges.86 Finally, I let General Dessalines know
that while General Leclerc would attack this position I would go
to the northern part to make a diversion and retake the various parishes
that had already been seized, and that with this maneuver I would force
this general to retrace his steps [and] to make arrangements with me to preserve
for the government this beautiful colony.87 Once this order was given, I took six companies of
grenadiers commanded by Gabart, chief of the fourth demi-brigade,
and Battalion Chief Pourcely.88 I marched on Ennery, which I retook.
I found there the proclamation of General Leclerc that declared me an outlaw.89
Convinced that I had done nothing wrong, that all this disorder
that plagued the country had been caused by General Leclerc, believing
actually that I was still the legitimate commander of the island, I refuted his proclamation
and declared him an outlaw.90 Without losing time, I resumed my march
and retook without further ado Saint-Michel, Saint-Raphaël, Dondon, and Marmelade. In
the latter parish, I received a letter91 from General Dessalines that informed me
that General Leclerc had marched on Petite-Rivière with three columns;
that one of these columns, while passing through the Cahos and the Grand Fonds, had
seized all the treasures of the republic coming from Gonaïves and the money
that the inhabitants had deposited; that it was so loaded with
loot that it had been unable to proceed to its destination and had been
obliged to backtrack to deposit its riches in Port-Républicain;92
that the other two columns that had attacked the fort had been
repulsed by brigadier chief Magny;93 that General Leclerc after
gathering more forces had ordered a second assault that had
also been repulsed by General Dessalines after his arrival.94
Then, informed of these events, I proceeded to Plaisance, where I first took
the camp of Bedouret95 that overlooks this position and that was
occupied by troops of the line96 and also captured in an assault
all the forward positions.97 Just as I was about to descend on the position, I
received a letter from the commander of Marmelade notifying me
that a strong column coming from the Spanish part was heading toward
this position.98 I then promptly headed toward this column, which instead
of proceeding to Marmelade had marched to Hinche, and
pursued it without being able to reach it, after which I returned
to Gonaïves, took control of the plain that surrounds
this town, [and] readied myself to march on Gros-Morne, to then go
relieve General Maurepas who had likely retired to the mountains
of Port-de-Paix, where I had ordered him to stay without knowing if he
had already capitulated and made his submission to General Leclerc.99
I received a third letter100 from General Dessalines, who
reported to me that General Leclerc, after gathering all his forces,
had ordered an assault and that he had been repulsed with a very
considerable loss, which had determined him to surround this
position and shell it.101 As soon as I learned the danger that was
threatening it, I hastened to bring my troops there to free it.
When I arrived before the camp, I did a reconnaissance, learned the necessary
information, and made the necessary dispositions to attack it, based
on which I was going infallibly to enter the camp from a weak side
that I had reconnoitered and seize the person of General Leclerc
and all his general staff.102 But as I was about to execute my plan, I learned that
the garrison, lacking water, had been obliged to evacuate the fort.103
If my project had succeeded, my intention was to send General
Leclerc back to the first consul while giving [him] a precise account of his conduct,
and to solicit that he send another person worthy of his trust
to whom I could hand over my command.104 After the fort was evacuated, I retired
to the Cahos to gather my forces there and await the garrison [of Crête-à-Pierrot]. As soon as it
arrived there, I asked General Dessalines where the prisoners were
who, he had told me previously, were in the Cahos. He replied to me
that some of them had been taken by the column of General Rochambeau, that some of them
had been killed in the various attacks he had endured, and that the
rest had escaped during the various marches he had
been obliged to undertake. This response shows that it is unjustly that they
have tried to blame me for the assassinations that were committed, because, they say, as chief
I should have prevented them. But am I responsible for the evil that is committed
in my absence?105 While in Gonaïves I had sent my aide-de-camp
Coupé to General Dessalines to ask him to give orders to the commander
of Léogane to evacuate all the inhabitants (men and women) and to send
them to Port-Républicain, [and] to keep in this town as many armed
men as he could manage so as to mount the greatest possible resistance in case of
an attack. My aide-de-camp Coupé, who bore my orders, came back and told
me that he had not found General Dessalines, that he had learned
that Léogane had been burned, and that the inhabitants had escaped
to Port-Républicain.106 All the disasters that had taken place until that time
are General Leclerc’s fault. Why, before landing, did
he not inform me of his powers? Why did he land without
an order from me, in keeping with the decree of the commission? Did he not
commit the first hostilities? Did he not try to sway the generals
and the other officers under my orders by all available means? Did he not
try to incite the cultivators to rise up by persuading them that I was
treating them like slaves and that he had come to break their shackles?107
Should one use such means in a country where tranquility
reigned, and that was in the power of the republic? If I
made my fellows work, it was to make them appreciate the price
of liberty without license, it was to prevent the corruption
of morals; it was for the general happiness of the island, and in
the interest of the republic, and I had indeed succeeded
because you could not see in the entire colony a single man
without occupation and the number of beggars had diminished;
aside from a few in the towns there was not a single one in the
countryside.108 If General Leclerc had had good intentions,
would he have welcomed in his army the person named Golart109 and would he have
given to him the command of the 9th demi-brigade in which he had
already served as battalion chief previously, and which he had pushed to revolt?
This dangerous rebel, who would arrange for owners to be assassinated on
their plantations; who invaded the town of Môle Saint-Nicolas; who
shot on General Clervaux110 who commanded the town,
on General Maurepas and his brigadier chief; who waged
war in this region; who incited the cultivators of Jean-Rabel, Moustique,
and the heights of Port-de-Paix to rebel; who even had the audacity to shoot
at me a bullet that cut off the feather in my cap (mister
Bondère, a doctor who was accompanying me was killed by my side, my aides-de-camp
had to dismount) as I was marching against him to get him to submit to his
chief and to retake the territory and the town that he had invaded; this brigand,
at last, after sullying himself with all sorts of crimes, had hidden in a forest
until the arrival of the French squadron. Would he also have welcomed and
promoted to the rank of brigadier chief another rebel named Lamour
Derance111 who had all the planters of the plain of Cul-de-Sac assassinated;
who incited the cultivators to rise up; who ravaged all this beautiful island; against whom
just two months before the arrival of the squadron I had been obliged to march
to force him to retreat to the woods?112 Why was this rebel
welcomed amicably, as well as others, while I and my subordinates,
who have constantly remained faithful to the French government, and
maintained order and tranquility in the island, they wage
war on us?113 Why do they want to accuse me of the crime of having
implemented the orders of the government? Why should I be blamed for
every wrong that happened? As for the disorder that reigned, the troops who
surrendered to General Leclerc, had they received their orders from me?
Had they consulted me? No. Well, those who did bad things had
not consulted me either, so one should not now give me
more blame than I deserve. I shared these considerations with a few prisoners
I had taken. They replied that some people feared the influence that
I had over the people and that they employed all these means
to destroy it. This led me to reflect: after considering all the
misfortunes that had already befallen the colony, the plantations destroyed, the
assassinations perpetrated, even the rapes perpetrated against women,
I forgot the many ways I had been wronged to think
only about the happiness of the island and the good of the government. I resolved
to obey the order of the first consul, especially since General Leclerc
himself had just retired to Cap with all his troops after the affair
of Crête-à-Pierrot.114 Please note that until that instant
I had not yet been able to find a single moment to respond to the
tranquility to do so. I assured him of my submissiveness and of my
first consul.115 I hastened to use this instant of
entire devotion to his orders while assuring him that unless he sent
another, older116 general officer to take over,
I would help General Leclerc do as much damage as possible through the resistance
that I would oppose him. I remembered that General Dessalines had recounted
to me that two officers of the squadron, including an aide-de-camp of General
Boudet and a naval officer accompanied by two dragoons,117 [had been taken prisoner] when
Port-au-Prince had been taken and when they had been sent to
get the troops to rebel.118 I ordered that they be brought to me. After conversing
with them, I sent them back to General Boudet and handed them
a letter for him along with the one I had written for the first consul.119
Just as I was dispatching these two officers, I learned that General
Hardÿ had passed through Coupe-à-l’Inde with his army,120 that he had stepped on my
property, ravaged it, and that he had taken away all my animals, and especially
a horse named Bel Argent121 to which I was particularly attached. Without
losing any time, I headed toward him with the forces at my disposal and
reached him near Dondon. The affair commenced and lasted with the utmost
doggedness from eleven in the morning until six at
night.122 Before leaving, I had given the order to General Dessalines
to wait until he joined up with the garrison that had evacuated
Crête-à-Pierrot and to stay in the camp of Marchand while
warning him that after the battle I would proceed to Marmelade.123
After I arrived there, I received the response from General Boudet that he had
sent me through my nephew Chancy whom he had previously
made prisoner.124 This general assured me that my letter would be faithfully delivered
to the first consul, that to that effect he had already sent it to General Leclerc,
who had promised that he would do so. Based on the reports of my nephew and after
reading the letter of General Boudet, I thought I could discern in him a
character of honesty and frankness worthy of a French officer and [that he was]
fit to command.125 Consequently, I addressed myself to him with
trust to invite him to incite General Leclerc to begin
negotiations. I assured him that ambition had
never been my guide but truly honor, that consequently
I was ready to hand over my command to obey the orders of the first
consul and to make all the necessary sacrifices to stop the progress
of evil. I sent him my letter through my nephew Chancy whom
he retained with him.126 But two days later I received a letter from a
fast courier announcing to me that he had informed General Leclerc
of my intentions and that he assured me that the latter was
ready to conclude some arrangement with me and that I could count
on the good intentions of the government toward me. The same day
General Christophe communicated to me a letter he had just received
from citizen Vilton, a resident of Petite-Anse, and another from
General Hardÿ, both of whom asked him for a meeting and asked me to grant
him permission to do so, which I granted while enjoining him
to be very circumspect.127 General Christophe, instead of going to the
meeting indicated by General Hardÿ, received a letter from General Leclerc,
of which he gave me a copy as well as of his response, and asked
for my permission to proceed to the location that had been indicated
to him, which I granted, and he [went].128 Upon his return he brought back to me
a letter from General Leclerc telling me that it would be a fine day
for him if he could convince me to confer with him
and to submit to the orders of the republic.129 I responded at once
that I had constantly borne arms for it, that if from the
beginning people had behaved toward me the way they should have
not a single shot would have been fired and that peace
would not even have been troubled in the island, and that the intention of the government
would have been fulfilled. I personally expressed to General Leclerc as well as
Christophe how discontented I was that this one had surrendered
without any order from me.130 The following day, I dispatched to him my
adjutant-general Fontaine bearing a letter from me in which
I asked him for a meeting on the Héricourt plantation, which
he rejected.131 Yet Fontaine told me and assured me that he had been
very well received.132 I did not lose heart and dispatched to him for the
second and third time my aide-de-camp Coupé and my secretary
Nathan133 to assure him that I would make my submission and that I was
ready to hand over my command to him pursuant to the intentions
of the government and the first consul. He responded to me that an hour of
conversation would be more effective than ten letters, while giving
me his word of honor that he would act with all the frankness and
the loyalty that one could expect from a French general. I was also
given a proclamation from him that invited all
citizens to regard the article of the previous one dated 7 pluviôse that made me
an outlaw as null and void.134 “Don’t fear,” he said
in this proclamation, “you, the generals who are under your
orders, and the inhabitants who are with you, that I will look
into anyone’s past conduct. I will cast the veil of forgiveness on all the
events that have taken place in Saint-Domingue. Imitating in
this regard the example that the first consul set for France
on 18 brumaire,135 I will regard everyone in the island in the future
as good citizens. You ask for rest. When one has
commanded like you and supported for so long the
burden of government, rest is owed to you, but
I hope that during your retirement you will share your knowledge
during your free time on how to ensure the prosperity of Saint-Domingue.”136
After this proclamation and General Leclerc’s word of honor,
I proceeded to meet him in Cap. I made my submission to him
in conformity with the intention of the first consul.137 I then talked
to him with all the frankness and cordiality of a military man
who loves and appreciates his comrade. He promised me to forget
everything and offered the protection of the French government and he agreed
with me that we had both been at fault. “You can,
general,” he said to me, “retire to your home in full safety,
but tell me if General Dessalines will obey my orders and if
I can rely on him.” I answered him that “yes, General
Dessalines can have his faults like every man, but he
knows military subordination.”138 I pointed out to him nevertheless
that for the public good and to get the cultivators back to
work, as they were when he arrived in the island, it was necessary that
General Dessalines be restored to his command
in Saint-Marc and General Charles [Belair]139 in Arcahaye. I pointed out to him that I
could not abandon my command without this, because I would never be
tranquil, which he promised.140 At eleven at night I bade him
goodbye and retired to Héricourt, where I spent the night with
General Fressinet141 and left the following morning for Marmelade.
The next day I received a letter from General Leclerc that
invited me to send back to him my guard, both on foot and mounted, and
sent me an order for General Dessalines.142 After I informed myself of its
content, I passed it on while encouraging him to conform to it; and to
better fulfill the promises I had made to General
Leclerc, I invited General Dessalines to meet me
on the service road half way between his plantation and mine,
which he did. I convinced him to submit as I had done, that
public interest demanded that I make a sacrifice, that I was willing
to make it, but as for him he would keep his command.143
I said the same thing to General Charles [Belair], as well as to all the officers who
were with them, and I finally managed to persuade them
despite all the repugnance and the regrets and the tears that they
displayed for leaving me and separating from me.144 After this
meeting, each proceeded to his own post. Adjutant-
General Perrin, whom General Leclerc had sent to Dessalines
to pass on his orders, found him well disposed to fulfill them
because I had incited him to do so previously during our
meeting.145 I had been promised that General Charles [Belair] would be assigned
to Arcahaye, yet it was not done.146 It was no use
ordering the inhabitants of Dondon, Saint-Raphaël, Saint-Michel,
and Marmelade to return to their plantations since they had
done it as soon as I had taken over these towns. I
only enjoined them to resume their customary work.
I ordered those of Plaisance and of the surrounding areas
to return home and to go back to work as well. They expressed
to me their fears of being threatened.147 I wrote
consequently to General Leclerc to remind him of his promises and to invite him to
ensure their execution. He responded to me that he had already issued orders on this subject.148
Yet the person who commanded this position had already divided his troops and sent
detachments on all the plantations, which had frightened the cultivators and
had forced them to flee to the mountains.149 I had retired to Ennery and had informed
General Leclerc of this, as I had promised to him. When arriving in this town,
I found a large number of cultivators from Gonaïves, whom I encouraged to return home. Before
my departure from Marmelade, I had issued an order to the commander of this position150 to hand over
the artillery and the ammunition to the commander of Plaisance.151 Agreeably to the intentions of General
Leclerc, I also gave the order to the commander of Ennery to give back the one gun that was there
and the ammunition to the commander of Gonaïves. Once these orders were issued, I only
busied myself with restoring my plantations that had been burned. I had a convenient
home made in one of the houses of the mountains that had been spared by the
flames for my spouse who was still in the woods, where she had been forced
to seek refuge.152 While I occupied myself with this work, I learned that five hundred
regular troops had arrived to take quarters in Ennery, a small town that until then
must never have housed more than fifty gendarmes for the police,153 [and] that a very
large detachment had also been sent to Saint-Michel. I immediately proceeded to the town.
I saw there that all my plantations had been looted and that they had even taken
my cultivators’ chests. I immediately went to complain to the commander [Pesquidous].
I showed him soldiers who were loaded with fruits of all kinds that
were not even ripe yet. I also showed him cultivators who, upon seeing this
looting, were fleeing to other plantations in the mountain. I informed
General Leclerc of what was going on. I pointed out to him that the measures that were being taken, far
from inspiring confidence, were only feeding distrust, that the number of
troops that he had sent was far too considerable and could only be bad
for cultivation and the planters. I then returned to my plantation in the
mountain. The following day, I received the visit of the commander of Ennery [Pesquidous] and realized
quite well that this military man, far from paying me an honest visit, had only come
to my home to reconnoiter my plantation so as to make it easier
to seize me when he would receive the order. While I was talking with
him, someone came to warn me that several soldiers had come with horses and
other draft animals to one of my plantations near the town where resided
one of my goddaughters154 to take away the coffee and other crops that they had found there. I
complained to him. He promised me that he would repress this thievery and severely punish
those who would be guilty of it.155 Concerned that my stay in the mountains
was inspiring distrust,156 I decided to come to this same [Beaumont] plantation
that had just been looted and that had been almost totally destroyed and was
very near the town [of Ennery] that is only two hundred paces away. I left my wife
in the apartment that I had had prepared for her. I only spent my time
planting new crops to replace those that had been totally destroyed
and preparing the materials necessary for the reconstruction of my
plantations, but every day I only experienced new vexations
and more looting. The soldiers who were coming to my home were in such large
numbers that I did not even dare to put them under arrest. I vainly
complained to their commander; I received no satisfaction from him. I finally
decided, even though General Leclerc had not done me the honor of
responding to the first two letters I had written to him on this subject, to
write him a third one that I sent to him in Cap with one of my sons, Placide,157 for
greater safety. I received no more response to this one than to the previous ones.
The chief of the general staff only said that he would write a report.158
Some time later, the commander [Pesquidous] having again come to see me one
afternoon, he found me at the head of my cultivators in the process of leading
my reconstruction work. He himself witnessed that my son
Isaac was pushing away several soldiers who had come all the way to the door of
my house to cut plantains and small bananas and take them away. I
reiterated to him the sternest complaints and he promised as always that he would
prevent these disorders. For three weeks159 that I spent in this
plantation, every day I witnessed more looting, and every
day I was visited by people who had come to spy on me, but all
witnessed that I was only occupying myself with domestic work. General
Brunet had come in person and found me occupying myself in the same manner.160
Despite this, I received a letter from General Leclerc that, instead of satisfactorily addressing
the complaints I had made to him, accused me of having kept armed men in the
area [and] ordered me to demobilize them. Convinced of my innocence and that surely
ill-intentioned people had deceived him, I responded that I had too much
honor not to keep the promises that I had made, and that when handing over my command to him
I had not acted without careful deliberation, and thus my intention was
not to try to reclaim it. I assured him further that I was not aware of any armed
men in the area of Ennery and that for three weeks I had constantly stayed on
my plantation getting people to work.161 I finally sent my son Isaac to give him
an account of all the vexations I was enduring and to warn him that if he did not bring an end to them I would
be obliged to abandon the home where I resided to retire to my ranch in the Spanish
part.162 One day, before I received any response from General Leclerc, I was
told that one of his aides-de-camp [Ferrari] passing through Ennery had told the commander that he was
bearing orders to put me under arrest that were addressed to General Brunet. Since General Leclerc had
given me his word of honor and promised me the protection of the French government, I did not want
to believe this allegation.163 I even told the person who was advising me to leave my plantation
that I had promised to stay there quietly and to work on repairing the damages that had
been made, that I had not yielded my command and demobilized my troops to
do something stupid, and thus I did not want to leave my home, and that if they came to
arrest me they would find me there, that I did not want to give any grounds for calumny.
The following day I received a second letter from General Leclerc through my son I had
sent to him. It was worded as such: “Army of Saint-Domingue headquarters of Cap-
Français 16 prairial year ten [5 June 1802] the general in chief to General Toussaint Since you
persist, citizen general, in thinking that the large number of troops that are in
Plaisance are frightening the cultivators of this parish, I am asking General Brunet
to confer with you about locating some of these troops behind
Gonaïves and a detachment in Plaisance. Make sure to inform the cultivators
that once this measure is taken, I will punish those who abandon their plantation
to go to the mountains. As soon as this measure is implemented,
let me know what results it has produced, because if the means of persuasion
that you employ fail to succeed, I will employ military means.
I salute you, signed Leclerc.” (Note that it is surely by mistake that the
secretary wrote Plaisance and that it should be Ennery.) The same day I
received another letter from General Brunet, of which here is an excerpt: “Army of Saint
Domingue Georges plantation headquarters 18 prairial year 10 [7 June 1802] Division General
Brunet to Division General Toussaint Louverture. Here is the moment,
citizen general, to prove to the general in chief in an unequivocal way
that those who may deceive him on your account and your good faith are
hopeless slanderers and that your sentiments only tend toward bringing back
order and tranquility to the areas that you inhabit. You must help me
ensure the free circulation on the road of Cap, which is no longer [safe] since yesterday,
because three people had their throat cut by fifty brigands between
Ennery and Coupe-à-Pintade. Dispatch against these sanguinary men
people worthy of your trust and whom you will pay well. I will reimburse you
for your expenses. We have, my dear general, to make arrangements
together that cannot be dealt with by mail, but that a one-hour meeting
will finalize. If I were not so overwhelmed with work and minute annoyances,
I would have handed over my response in person, but as I cannot leave
these days, if you have recovered from your illness, come
tomorrow. When it comes to do good one should never delay. You
will not find in my rural abode all the comforts with
which I would have liked to greet you, but you will find the frankness
of a gallant man who has no other wish but the prosperity of the colony
and your personal happiness. If Mrs. Toussaint, whom I infinitely want
to meet, wished to accompany you, I would be very pleased. If she
needs horses I will send her mine. I repeat this to you,
general, you will never find a more sincere friend than me. Trust
the captain general, show friendliness toward all those who are his
subordinates, and you will enjoy tranquility. I salute you
cordially, signed Brunet.”164 Based on these two letters, even though I was ill I
followed the urgings of my sons and other persons and left that very night
to meet General Brunet. Accompanied by only two officers,
I arrived at his home at eight at night.165 After entering his bedroom,
I told him that I had received his letter as well as that of General Leclerc in which he invited me
to confer with him and that I was coming for this purpose; that I had not
brought my spouse despite his wishes, because she never went out, never saw
other people, and only busied herself with her domestic affairs; that if, when
he toured the area, he wished to do her the honor of seeing her, she
would host him with pleasure.166 I pointed out to him that, being sick, I could not stay
very long with him, that I invited him consequently to finish our affairs
as soon as possible so that I could depart, and showed him the
letter of General Leclerc. After reading it he told me that he had not
yet received any order to confer with me regarding the object of this letter.167 He then
excused himself because he had to leave for a moment and he left indeed after having
summoned an officer to keep me company. No sooner had he left that an aide-de-camp of
General Leclerc168 entered accompanied by a very large number of grenadiers who surrounded me,
seized me, tied me up like a criminal, and led me on board the
frigate Créole. I invoked General Brunet’s word and the promises he had
made to me, but to no avail. I never saw him again. He was probably hiding to avoid
the well-deserved reproaches that I could have made to him.169 I have even learned since then that he
had been guilty of the greatest vexations toward my family; that after
I was arrested he had ordered a detachment to proceed to the plantation
where I resided with a large part of my family, most of them women and children
or cultivators; that he had ordered his men to open fire, which had forced
these poor victims to flee half-naked into the woods; that everything had been
pillaged and vandalized; that the aide-de-camp of General Brunet170 had taken from
my house one hundred and ten portugaises171 that belonged to me, and seventy-five from one
of my nieces,172 along with all my linen and those of my people. After these horrors
were committed in my residence, the commander of Ennery went with one hundred
men to the plantation where my wife and my nieces were, arrested them without even giving
them the time to take their linen or any of their belongings or mine that
were in their possession. They were taken like guilty people to Gonaïves and from
there on board the frigate Guerrière.173 When I was arrested I had no other
clothes beside those I was wearing. I wrote consequently to my spouse
to send me the things that I most urgently needed to Cap, where
I hoped to be sent. This letter was given to the aide-de-camp of
General Leclerc who was asked to deliver it, but it never reached its destination
and I received nothing.174 As soon as I was aboard the frigate, the Créole set
sail. They took me four leagues from Cap to the ship of the line
Héros, where they took me the following day.175 My spouse, as well as
my children who had been arrested with her, arrived as well. We set
sail at once for France.176 After a thirty-two day crossing during
which I endured not only the greatest fatigues but also unpleasantness
such as it would be impossible to imagine unless having witnessed it,177
even my wife and my children endured a treatment that their sex
and their rank should have made better, and instead of having us disembark
to relieve us, they kept us on board sixty-seven
days.178 After such a treatment, am I not justified to ask: where
are the results of the promises made to me by General Leclerc based on his
word of honor as well as the protection of the French government?179 If my
services were not needed anymore and they wanted to replace me, should they
not have proceeded with me just as was done every time with white
French generals? They were warned before their authority was taken away,
they sent a person charged with the government’s intentions [and] the order
to hand over the command to this or that person listed by the government, and
in case they refuse to obey one can then take great
measures against them and one can then with justice label them as rebels, and
embark them for France.180 I have even sometimes seen general officers
who were criminals for having gravely faltered in their duty, but in light
of the character that was theirs they were treated cautiously, they were respected
until they appeared before superior authorities. Shouldn’t General Leclerc have
sent for me and warned me himself that he had received
reports against me on this or that object true or not? Shouldn’t he
have told me “I gave you my word of honor and promised the protection of the government,
today since you have made yourself guilty I am going to send you to
the government to account for your conduct,” or “the government
orders you to appear by its side, I am passing on these orders to you?” But not
at all, he used against me means that were never employed, not even
against the greatest criminals. Surely I owe this misunderstanding to my color,
but did my color ever prevent me from serving my fatherland with zeal
and fidelity? Does the color of my body demean my honor and my
courage?181 Supposing even that I were a criminal and that there were orders from
the government to put me under arrest, was it necessary to employ one hundred riflemen
to tear my wife and my children from their property without respect and
deference to their rank and their sex, without humanity and without charity?
Was it necessary to open fire on my plantations and on my family, and to have all our
estates looted and vandalized? No: my wife, my children, and my family
have no responsibilities and had no account to give
to the government. They did not even have the right to put them under arrest.182
General Leclerc must be frank: was he afraid of having a rival? Based on his conduct,
I compare him to the Roman Senate that pursued Hannibal all the way into
his lair.183 When the squadron arrived in the colony, they used my
momentary absence to seize the greatest part of my correspondence
that was in Port-Républicain and all that I possess in this region. Another
part that was on one of my plantations was also seized.184
After I was arrested, why was I not sent with this
correspondence to the government to account for my deeds?185 They have thus
seized all my papers to blame me for faults that I did not commit. But
I have nothing to fear, this correspondence alone is enough to justify myself
in the eyes of the equitable government that must judge me.186 Arrested arbitrarily without
hearing me or telling me why; took all my assets; plundered all my
family in general; seized my papers and kept them; embarked me sent me naked
as worm; spread the worst calumnies on my account. Based on this
I am thrown at the bottom of a cell. Isn’t it like cutting the leg of
someone and telling him: “walk?”187 Isn’t it like cutting his tongue and telling him: “talk?”
Isn’t it like burying a man alive? All of this was well thought out to lose me,
to annihilate me, and to destroy me because I am black and ignorant,188
and I must not count as one of the soldiers of the Republic or have any merit,
and no justice for me; and if I have none in this world I will have some in the next.
I know that they will look and pay in all the corners of the colony and everywhere
to find or manufacture lies against me, but man proposes and God189
disposes of him. While France was waging war and combating
her enemies, and was unable to come to the colony and bring us any help,
I did everything to conserve it for her until the arrival of General Leclerc,
without forces, without ammunition, without weapons, without any ship of war,
without money and without commerce, but I employed courage, wisdom, and
prudence.190 Seconded by my comrades in arms and by God’s will,
I managed to put everything back in good order and to make the country
entrusted to my command flourish, hoping that when peace came the government would
have declared that the army of Saint-Domingue had served the fatherland well, and that is all
that we ask for or hope for, and this action would have flattered us,
me in particular, who directed everything.191 But to the contrary, General Leclerc sent
us cannonballs of 36 and 24 [pounds] as our only reward. The country belonged to
France, which found it tranquil and peaceful: it only depended on him,
with a bit of wisdom and frankness, to take command and give
an account to the government of the state in which he found this country. It is not in a time of
peace that he should come to wage war,192 to force a people loyal to its government
to take up arms, to force Frenchmen to fight Frenchmen, and deceive my
good faith. If General Leclerc were truly a frank military man, and loyal,
he would not have treated me in this manner, considering that I handed my command over to him.
If he had seen how I risked my life on several occasions when taking the fortifications
of l’Acul-du-Saut, how I dismounted, led the grenadiers, [and] took
the fort despite the grapeshot and musket volleys. Several of my comrades were
injured and I received several wounds to my leg, without counting those who
were killed outright, and several other affairs that I will cite later. If General
Leclerc were present, and if he had endured as much misery as me, and struggled to chase
the enemies of France, he would not have secretly labored to lose me, he would
perhaps have recognized the valor of a military man who served his fatherland with courage and
fidelity, and if I were a white man, after serving like I served, all these
misfortunes would not have happened to me. As for the constitution they tried to blame on me,
it is easy to justify myself.193 After I chased the enemies of
the republic from the colony, quieted all factions and gathered all the parties,
after I took possession of Santo Domingo, seeing that the government
was not sending laws or decrees,194 feeling the urgency of establishing a police in this country
for the security and tranquility of each individual and for the good of the government,
I invited all the city councils to summon an assembly to
appoint deputies and select wise and enlightened men to form a
central assembly, so as to entrust them with this work.195 This
assembly was composed of good men, wise and upright, in a word honest
people. I informed its members that they had an arduous and honorable
task to fulfill, that they had to make laws specific to the country, advantageous
for the government, and useful to everyone’s interests: laws based
on customs, and the character of the inhabitants of the colony, and the areas
of the country.196 Once finished, the constitution was to be sent for approval to the
government, which alone had the right to adopt or reject it.197 Thus, as soon
as the bases of the constitution were established and organic laws were passed,
I hastened to send all of them with a member of the central assembly
to the government to obtain its approval.198 One cannot then blame me for
any of the so-called errors or faults that this constitution possibly contained.
Until the arrival of General Leclerc I had received no news from the
government on this subject. So why today do they want to make a
crime of what cannot be a crime? Why do they want truth to be a
lie, and lies to become truth? Why do they want
darkness to be light, and light to be darkness?199 In a conversation
I had in Cap with General Leclerc, he told me that when he was in
Samaná at the tip of the island, he had sent a spy to Santo Domingo
to see if I was there, that this spy had reported to him that indeed
I was there, in this town.200 Why then did he not come to meet me there
to give me the orders of the first consul before beginning the
hostilities? He would have seen the haste with which I would have fulfilled them. To the
contrary, he used the fact that I was in Santo Domingo to proceed to Cap
and send divisions to all points of the colony. This proves that he
had no intention to communicate anything to me. If General Leclerc went
to the colony to do wrong I should not be blamed for it. It is true
that only one of the two of us should be reproved, but if one takes the time
to do me justice, one will see that it is he who is the cause of all the woes that
the island has endured, since without notifying me he entered the colony which he
found intact, that he pounced on the inhabitants who were working, and especially
those who had contributed to the conservation of the colony by shedding their blood
for the motherland.201 Here is precisely the source of evil. If two children
are fighting, isn’t their father or their mother supposed to prevent them, and enquire
as to who is the aggressor and punish him or both of them, in case they are
both wrong?202 General Leclerc did not have the right to put me under arrest.
The government alone could arrest the two of us, give us a hearing, and
judge us. Yet General Leclerc enjoys his liberty, and I am at the bottom
of a cell. After having given an account of my conduct since the arrival of
the squadron in Saint-Domingue, I will give details about my conduct
before the landing.203 Ever since I started serving the republic,204
I have never received a dime as salary. General Laveaux and all the agents
of the government and the accountants who were charged with inspecting the public
treasury can vouch for me: no one was ever more delicate
or disinterested. I only received sometimes the meal
allowance that was owed to me, and even then very often I did not ask for it. If I
gave orders to take some sum in the treasury, it was always for the public
good. The paymaster would send it wherever the good of the service required it.
I only know of one instance, when I was far from my home, when I
borrowed six thousand francs from citizen Smith who was paymaster in the department
of the South.205 Here, in two words, is my conduct and the result of my
administration. When the English evacuated, there was not a dime in the public
treasury; we were obliged to issue loans to pay the troops and the
salaries of the republic. When General Leclerc arrived he found three million
five hundred thousand livres in the coffers. When I entered Cayes after the departure of
General Rigaud,206 the treasury was empty; General Leclerc found three million there.
He found money in the same proportion in all the various treasuries
of the island.207 Based on this one can see that I did not serve my fatherland for personal
interest, but that to the contrary I served it with honor and fidelity and probity,
in the hope of receiving one day flattering displays of the gratefulness
of the government.208 All the people who know me will do me justice.
I was a slave, I dare to announce it, but I never had to endure even a reproach
on the part of my master.209 I never neglected anything in Saint-Domingue for
the happiness of the island. I used my time of rest to contribute to it.
I sacrificed everything.
I made it my duty and my pleasure to contribute to the prosperity
of this beautiful colony. Zeal, activity, courage: I employed everything.
The island had been invaded by the enemies of the republic. At the time, I only had
forty thousand men armed with pikes. I sent them all back to
the fields and organized a regiment with the authorization of General Laveaux.210
The Spanish part had allied itself to the English to wage war on the French.
General Desfourneaux211 was sent to attack Saint-Michel with well-disciplined
troops of the line, [but] he could not take it. General Laveaux ordered me
to attack this position, I carried it (it is worth noting that during the attack
of General Defourneaux this position was not fortified, whereas when I
captured it it was fortified and all its corners were flanked by bastions).
I also took Saint-Raphaël [and] Hinche and gave an account to General Laveaux.
The English were entrenched at the Ester bridge, I chased them from it.
They were in possession of Petite-Rivière, my only ammunition was
a box of cartridges that had fallen in the water during the attack,
this did not discourage me: I carried this position before daybreak with my
dragoons and captured the entire garrison, which I sent to General
Laveaux, and I took nine cannons, using only one cannon from the ones
I had taken in Petite Rivière. I attacked and overwhelmed a fortification
defended by seven cannons that I captured. I also
seized from the Spanish the fortified camp of Miraut and the town of Verrettes.
I waged and won against the English a famous battle that lasted from six
in the morning until nighttime. This battle was so bloody that the trails
were covered with the dead and that one could see rivulets of blood flowing
everywhere. I seized all the baggage and ammunition of the enemy, took
a large number of prisoners, and I sent the lot to General Laveaux,
and gave him an account of the encounter.212 All the posts of the English in the heights
of Saint-Marc were pushed back by me, as well as the fortifications in
the mountains of Fond-Baptiste and Délices, the camp of Droët in the mountain of
Matheux, which the English regarded as impregnable, the citadel of
Mirebalais, known as the Gibraltar of the island, occupied by eleven hundred men,
the famous camp of l’Acul-du-Saut, the three-story fortifications in masonry
of Trou-d’Eau, those of the camp of Décayette and of Baubin. In a word,
none of the fortifications that the English had in this part could resist me,
nor those of Neiba, San Juan de la Maguana, Bánica and other
spots occupied by the Spanish. All these I handed over to the republic.213
I faced the greatest dangers, was almost taken prisoner several times, and spilled my blood
for my fatherland. I received a bullet in my right hip that is still in my body. I had
a violent concussion to the head caused by a cannonball that so shook
my jaw that most of my teeth fell off and that the few that remain
are still very wobbly.214 Finally, I suffered on different occasions seventeen
wounds, of which I still bear honorable scars. General Laveaux
witnessed several engagements. He is too just not to do me justice, not to say
if I ever hesitated to sacrifice my life when it came to contributing to the
well-being of my country and the triumph of the republic.215 If I wanted to count all the services
I have rendered to the government in all the wars, I would need several volumes
and would never end. And to reward me for all these services they arrest me
arbitrarily in Saint-Domingue like a criminal, they tie me up and bring me
on board without any regards for my rank and for what I have done, without any attention
Is this the reward worthy of my labors? Based on my conduct, could I expect
such treatment? I had some wealth for a long time. The revolution
found me with about six hundred and forty-eight thousand francs. I exhausted
it all serving my fatherland. I had only bought a small property
to settle my spouse and her family.216 Today, after such a conduct,
they try to cover me with opprobrium, infamy, and they make me the unhappiest
man in the world217 by denying me my liberty and by separating me from what
is dearest to me in the world, from a respectable father aged one hundred and five who
needs my help,218 from a beloved wife who will probably not be able to bear the woes
that will burden her, far from me, and from a cherished family that made my
life happy.219 When I disembarked from the ship they made me climb in a car. I was hoping
that I would be brought before a tribunal to account for my
conduct and to be judged, but instead I was taken, without allowing me an instant
of rest, to a fort at the frontiers of the republic, where I was
locked in an awful cell.220 It is from the depths of this prison that I invoke
the justice and the magnanimity of the first consul. He is too generous and too good
a general to let a former military man who suffered many wounds in the service of his
fatherland die in a cell without giving him even the satisfaction of
justifying himself and obtaining a ruling on his fate. I thus ask to be brought
before a tribunal or court martial, where General Leclerc will also
be made to appear, and that we be judged after being both heard. Equity,
reason, laws: all convinces me that this justice cannot be denied to me.
While crossing France I read in public papers an article that concerned me. I am accused
of being a rebel and a traitor, and to justify this accusation they claim to have intercepted
a letter in which I was inciting the cultivators of Saint-Domingue to revolt.221 I
never wrote such a letter, and I defy anyone to produce it, to
tell me to whom it was addressed and to bring this person in public. At any rate, this calumny
falls on its own. If it had been my intention to take up arms, why would I have laid
them down and made my submission? A reasonable man, and even more so
a military man, cannot believe such an absurdity.222
Addendum to this memoir. If the government had sent a
wiser man, nothing bad would have happened, nor a single shot
fired. Why did fear lead General Leclerc to commit so many
injustices? Why did he not keep his word? Why, at the arrival of the
frigate Guerrière that was bringing my wife, did I see several persons
who had been arrested with her? Some of these persons had never shot
a rifle and were innocent people, heads of family who were torn
from the arms of their wife and their children.223 These are so many arms lost to
cultivation. All the persons who had spilled their blood to save the colony
for France, the officers of my staff, [and] my secretaries never did
anything except under my order: all were thus arrested without cause.224 When I
disembarked in Brest my children were sent to a destination unknown to me,
and my spouse to another that I ignore.225 May the government give me more
justice: my wife and my children have done nothing and have no account
to give. They must thus be sent back home to look after our interests
and care for our unhappy family. [It is] General Leclerc who caused
all this evil, and I am at the bottom of a cell, without being able to
justify myself. The government is too just to leave me like this with my arms tied and
allow me to be slapped by General Leclerc without hearing me. When I arrived in
France, everyone told me that the government was just. Should I not
partake of its justice and its blessings? General Leclerc says in his letter
to the minister [of the navy] that I saw in the gazettes that I am waiting for his troops to get sick
to wage war on him and retake my command. It is an atrocious and
abominable lie, it is an act of cowardice on his part.226 Even though I have little
knowledge and I have no education, I have enough good sense to hold back from
fighting against the will of the government; I never thought of it. The
French government is too strong, too overwhelming for General Leclerc to
compare it to me who is its subaltern. In truth, when he marched
against me I said several times that I would not attack, that I would only defend
myself until the month of July or August when I would also start to [fight].227
But later I thought about the colony’s woes, and the letter of the
first consul, and I made my submission. So I demand the evidence
for the things of which General Leclerc is accusing me. We will see the lies and calumny
that he vomited against me. We will see that General Dessalines made his submission on my
orders, whereas General Leclerc said I only submitted after
the submission of General Dessalines.228 Why did General Leclerc not follow the
procedure established for a long time, which all generals or squadron leaders
have always followed? A squadron never arrived in the colony without having
sent an aviso one month or fifteen days ahead to warn of its arrival, so that one
could prepare to receive it, and this measure is even more followed in times of war,
to avoid any of the inconveniences that might occur. None of these formalities
was fulfilled. One should also note the landings that were being made in
various spots. There was not a single general commanding the departments
or a county commander who opposed a great resistance.229
Those who had such an order and all those who knew a bit about military
matters, all were saying “wait for General Toussaint Louverture, the
commander in chief of the island, when he arrives you may come in.” The others saw that
these were Frenchmen and they surrendered without even waiting for any order,
and one will see, based on this, that all had the good and best intentions
and that all the bad things that were done come from the foolish measures of General
Leclerc. I also observe that, not long before the arrival of the squadron, an English
frigate came before Samaná to enter the bay to capture another
ship that had cast anchor in the harbor, not knowing if there was a garrison
in this spot. They saw it coming and they believed that it was a French
ship, [so] they let it enter the pass. Luckily, the commander saw
that it was the opposite and ordered to open fire, and they were forced to turn back after having
killed seven of our men and wounded several.230 We were in a state of war,
and I was not aware that a squadron was going to come to the colony. Only
through indirect means did I hear that when the peace comes a fleet will come along with many
merchant ships for the commerce of the colony.231 Could I believe
this without receiving word of the official peace from my government,
or of the impending arrival of the squadron, and without being forewarned by General Leclerc
who was bearing the orders of the government, and if he was in Cap or in
Port-au-Prince? General Leclerc arrived in this manner in the colony:
he ordered landings in all the spots like an enemy without informing me
[that he was] bearing orders for me, hid them and would not hand them over until after
he had begun the hostilities. What would have I done according to reason and to justice,
following military regulations and the hierarchy of powers? I would have made him
prisoner, or forced him to leave and to give an account of his conduct to the government.
Maybe I would have been blamed, but all this misfortune that took place would never
have happened, and I would have done my duty, because an officer cannot
hand over his command to anyone without orders from his superior, or suffer
that any disorder occur in the area entrusted to his command.
And I believe that when a man enters a position like an enemy he must
be received the same way. I once saw Mr. de Vincent,232 who was governor
in Cap, go to surprise a position and see if the garrison was doing its duty,
and he used a different route to return to this position.
The officer on guard ordered to open fire and killed a man of his escort and he was
consigned in the guardhouse until he was recognized. Far from punishing him,
this officer, who was a captain, he promoted to battalion chief. Mr. la
Valtière went similarly to visit a position. The sentry shot at him.
The bullet scratched one of the officers who was accompanying him, well, this sentry who
was a mere private was promoted to sub-lieutenant, whereas I, for defending
my position that was surprised during my temporary absence, I was
arrested without any consideration, nor justice, and reason. Based on a
proclamation that General Leclerc proclaimed to the whole colony,
based on his word of honor, and the protection of the government that he promised me,
I made my submission, handed over my troops and the weapons. And yet
in all times a word of honor has been binding, and the protection of a government
has always been sacred. Where is then the promise of General Leclerc?
It was to deceive me, then, and if he wanted to deceive me why did he not
use ruses and finesse only, and not his word and the protection
of the French government? Giving me one’s word, and not keeping to it,
it is wanting for honor. Promising the protection of the government, and acting
in a different way, it is violating the laws, and failing the government itself.
And the word of honor has always been followed by all sensible men
and frank military men; and while I was waging war with
all the enemies of the republic, I never deceived anyone by
giving my word, not even any of the enemies that were waging war
against me. He employed this method to deceive me. They employed all kinds
of ruses and finesses; so I did the same on my side.233
Here is a well-known fact: the marquis of Espinville234 was commander
of Mirebalais for the king of Spain, and he had under his orders five
thousand men of the infantry of the line, and 18 hundred well-mounted dragoons,
and he marched several times against Verrettes and the Artibonite, during the
time of the coalition against the republic. And when I gained control of
all the region up to Verrettes, I attacked the Mirebalais and I had the
pleasure of capturing this position and all the surrounding areas,
and he became my prisoner, and everyone wanted to hurt him
because he was a knight of Saint-Louis.235 I placed him under the protection of the
republic, and gave him my word that nothing would happen to him, and I
assured him that he would only be a prisoner of war until further notice.
I had him sent to Gonaïves with his spouse, along with the persons from his
house who wanted to follow him, and while he was on the Grand-Pré
plantation as my prisoner he and his spouse were treated with respect. I gave to General
Laveaux an account of the capture of Mirebalais and all the prisoners, but I
did not think of telling him that Mr. d’Espinville was under the protection
of the republic. Finally, several reports and denunciations were made against
him to General Laveaux. This general and the members of the council proceeded
to Gonaïves to put him on trial.236 I then complained that he was under the protection
of the French government, and that I had promised it when he was made prisoner
at the capture of Mirebalais, and that it was for this reason that I had not sent him
to Port-de-Paix like the others. Then, to General Laveaux who was commander in
chief of the island, I explained that the protection I had
promised him in the name of my government was sacred, and that I would sooner
abandon my command than break my word. Then General
Laveaux and all the members of the council and the other persons who were present,
all felt the justice of my claim. The marquis of Espinville was released
and sent back home, and he later asked to leave the colony
to continue his service against a promise not to take up arms against the republic.237
This demand was granted to him, and I remember being complimented
by all these gentlemen who were present for having defended the honor and the dignity
of my government.238 Yet I never received an education
nor instructed, but my big common sense made me understand that a man must
keep his word, especially a representative of the government. With all the
nations I was combating it was the same. There are twenty
to thirty other cases I don’t want to cite even though witnesses were present.
I repeat it again I demand that General Leclerc and I appear together
before a tribunal and that the government order that they bring
all the pieces of my correspondence. In this manner, one will see that I am
innocent and all I have done for the republic, even though I sense that
several pieces will be intercepted. First consul, father of all military men,
honest judge, defender of the innocent, decide on my fate. My wounds
are very deep, employ the salutary remedies to prevent them from ever opening.
You are a doctor, I rely entirely on your justice and your fairness.
Salutations and respect,239