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MEMOIRS
OF TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE
part 1
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The signature of Toussaint
Louverture
It is my duty to render to the French
Government an exact account of my
conduct. I shall relate the facts with
all the simplicity and frankness of an
old soldier, adding to them the
reflections that naturally suggest
themselves. In short, I shall tell the
truth, though it be against myself.
The colony of Saint Domingo, of which I
was commander, enjoyed the greatest
tranquillity; agriculture and commerce
flourished there. The island had
attained a degree of splendor which it
had never before seen. And all this--I
dare to say it--was my work.
Nevertheless, as we were upon a war
footing, the Commission had published a
decree ordering me to take all necessary
measures to prevent the enemies of the
Republic from penetrating into the
island. Accordingly, I ordered all the
commanders of the sea-ports not to
permit any ships of war to enter into
the roadstead, except they were known
and had obtained permission from me. If
it should be a squadron, no matter from
what nation, it was absolutely
prohibited from entering the port, or
even the roadstead, unless I should
myself know where it came from, and the
port from which it sailed.
This order was in force, when, on the
26th of January, 1802, a squadron
appeared before the Cape. At that time I
had left this town to visit the Spanish
part, Santo Domingo, for the purpose of
inspecting the agriculture. On setting
out from Maguâna, I had despatched one
of my aides-de-camp to Gen. Dessalines,
Commander-in-chief of the departments of
the West and South, who was then at St.
Marc, to order him to join me at Gonaïves,
or at St. Michel, to accompany me on my
journey.
At the time of the squadron's
appearance, I was at Santo Domingo, from
which place I set out, three days after,
to go to Hinche. Passing by Banique,
arriving at Papayes, I met my
aide-de-camp Couppé and an officer sent
by Gen. Christophe, who brought me a
letter from the general, by which he
informed me of the arrival of the French
squadron before the Cape, and assured me
that the General-in-chief commanding
this squadron had not done him the honor
to write to him, but had only sent an
officer to order him to prepare
accommodations for his forces; that Gen.
Christophe having demanded of this
officer whether he was the bearer of
letter to him or of dispatches for the
General-in-chief, Toussaint L'Ouverture,
requesting him to send them to him, that
they might reach him at once, this
officer replied to him, that he was not
charged with any, and that it was not,
in fact, a question concerning Gen.
Toussaint. "Surrender the
town," he continued; "you will
be well recompensed; the French
Government sends you presents." To
which Gen. Christophe replied,
"Since you have no letters for the
General-in-chief nor for me, you may
return and tell your general that he
does not know his duty; that it is not
thus that people present themselves in a
country belonging to France."
Gen. Leclerc having received this
answer, summoned Gen. Christophe to
deliver the place to him, and, in case
of refusal, warned him that on the
morning of the next day he should land
fifteen thousand men. In response to
this, Gen. Christophe begged him to wait
for Gen. Toussaint L'Ouverture, to whom
he had already sent the intelligence,
and would do so the second time, with
the greatest celerity. In fact, I
received a second letter, and hastened
to reach the Cape, in spite of the
overflowing of the Hinche, hoping to
have the pleasure of embracing my
brothers-in-arms from Europe, and to
receive at the same time the orders of
the French Government; and in order to
march with greater speed, I left all my
escorts. Between St. Michel and St.
Raphaël, I met Gen. Dessalines and said
to him, "I have sent for you to
accompany me on my tour to Port-de-Paix,
and to Môle; but that is useless now. I
have just received two letters from Gen.
Christophe, announcing the arrival of
the French squadron before the
Cape."
I communicated to him these
letters, whereupon he told me that he
had seen from St. Marc six large vessels
making sail for the coast of Port Républicain;
but he was ignorant of what nation they
were. I ordered him then to repair
promptly to this port, since it was
possible that Gen. Christophe having
refused the entrance of the Cape to the
general commanding the squadron, the
latter might have proceeded to Port Républicain
in the hope of finding me there; should
this prove true, I ordered him, in
advance, to request the general to wait
for me, and to assure him that I would
go first to the Cape in the hope of
meeting him there, and in case I should
not find him there, I would repair at
once to Port Républicain to confer with
him. I set out for the Cape, passing by
Vases, the shortest road. On arriving
upon the heights of the Grand Boucan, in
the place called the
Porte-Saint-Jacques, I perceived a fire
in the town on the Cape. I urged my
horse at full speed to reach this town,
to find there the general commanding the
squadron, and to ascertain who had
caused the conflagration. But, on
approaching, I found the roads filled
with the inhabitants who had fled from
this unfortunate town, and I was unable
to penetrate farther because all the
passages were cannonaded by the
artillery of the vessels which were in
the roadstead. I then resolved to go up
to the Fort of Bel-Air, but I found this
fort evacuated likewise, and all the
pieces of cannon spiked.
I
was, consequently, obliged to retrace my
steps. After passing the hospital, I met
Gen. Christophe, and asked him who had
ordered the town to be fired. He replied
that it was he. I reprimanded him
severely for having employed such
rigorous measures. "Why," said
I to him, "did you not rather make
some military arrangements to defend the
town until my arrival?" He
answered, "What do you wish,
general? My duty, necessity, the
circumstances, the reiterated threats of
the general commanding the squadron,
forced me to it. I showed the general
the orders of which I was the bearer,
but without avail." He added,
"that the proclamations spread
secretly in the town to seduce the
people, and instigate an uprising, were
not sanctioned by military usage; that
if the commander of the squadron had
truly pacific intentions, he would have
waited for me; that he would not have
employed the means which he used to gain
the commander of the Fort of Boque, who
is a drunkard; that he would not in
consequence have seized this fort; that
he would not have put to death half of
the garrison of Fort Liberty; that he
would not have made a descent upon Acul,
and that, in a word, he would not have
committed at first all the hostilities
of which he was guilty.
Gen.
Christophe joined me, and we continued
the route together. On arriving at Haut-du-Cap,
we passed through the habitations of
Breda as far as the barrier of Boulard,
passing by the gardens. There I ordered
him to rally his troops, and go into
camp on the Bonnet until further orders,
and to keep me informed of all the
movements he made. I told him that I was
going to Héricourt; that there,
perhaps, I should receive news from the
commander of the squadron; that he would
doubtless deliver to me the orders of
the Government; that I might even meet
him there; that I should then ascertain
the reasons which had induced him to
come in this manner; and, that, in case
he was the bearer of orders from the
government, I should request him to
communicate them to me, and should in
consequence make arrangements with him.
Gen.
Christophe left me then to repair to the
post which I had assigned to him; but he
met a body of troops who fired upon him,
forced him to dismount from his horse,
plunge into the river, and cross it by
swimming.
After
separating from Gen. Christophe, I had
at my side Adjutant-General Fontaine,
two other officers, and my aide-de-camp,
Couppé, who went in advance; he warned
me of the troops on the road. I ordered
him to go forward. He told me that this
force was commanded by a general. I then
demanded a conference with him. But
Couppé had not time to execute my
orders; they fired upon us at
twenty-five steps from the barrier. My
horse was pierced with a ball; another
ball carried away the hat of one of my
officers. This unexpected circumstance
forced me to abandon the open road, to
cross the savanna and the forests to
reach Héricourt, where I remained three
days to wait for news of the commander
of the squadron, again without avail.
But,
the next day, I received a letter from
Gen. Rochambeau, announcing "that
the column which he commanded had seized
upon Fort Liberty, taken and put to the
sword a part of the garrison, which had
resisted; that he had not believed the
garrison would steep its bayonets in the
blood of Frenchmen; on the contrary, he
had expected to find it disposed in his
favor." I replied to this letter,
and, manifesting my indignation to the
general, asked to know, "Why he had
ordered the massacre of those brave
soldiers who had only followed the
orders given them; who had, besides,
contributed so much to the happiness of
the colony and to the triumph of the
Republic. Was this the recompense that
the French Government had promised
them?"
I
concluded by saying to Gen. Rochambeau,
that "I would fight to the last to
avenge the death of these brave
soldiers, for my own liberty, and to reëstablish
tranquillity and order in the
colony."
This
was, in fact, the resolution I had taken
after having reflected deliberately upon
the report Gen. Christophe had brought
me, upon the danger I had just run, upon
the letter of Gen. Rochambeau, and
finally upon the conduct of the
commander of the squadron.
Having
formed my resolution, I went to Gonaïves.
There I communicated my intentions to
Gen. Maurepas, and ordered him to make
the most vigorous resistance to all
vessels which should appear before
Port-de-Paix, where he commanded; and,
in case he should not be strong
enough,--having only half of a
brigade,--to imitate the example of Gen.
Christophe and afterward withdraw to the
Mountain, taking with him ammunition of
all kinds; there to defend himself to
the death.
I
then went to St. Marc to visit the
fortifications. I found that the news of
the shameful events which had just taken
place had reached this town, and the
inhabitants had already fled. I gave
orders for all the resistance to be made
that the fortifications and munitions
would allow of.
As
I was on the point of setting out from
this town to go to Port-au-Prince and
the southern part to give my orders,
Captains Jean-Philippe Dupin and Isaac
brought me dispatches from Paul
L'Ouverture, who commanded at Santo
Domingo. Both informed me that a descent
had just been made upon Oyarsaval, and
that the French and Spaniards who
inhabited this place had risen and cut
off the roads from Santo Domingo. I
acquainted myself with these dispatches.
In running over the letter of Gen. Paul
and the copy of Gen. Kerverseau's to the
commander of the place of Santo Domingo,
which was enclosed in it, I saw that
this general had made the overture to
the commander of the place, and not to
Gen. Paul, as he should have done, to
make preparations for the landing of his
force. I saw also the refusal given by
Gen. Paul to this invitation, until he
should receive orders from me. I replied
to Gen. Paul that I approved his
conduct, and ordered him to make all
possible effort to defend himself in
case of attack; and even to make
prisoners of Gen. Kerverseau and his
force, if he could. I returned my reply
by the captains just mentioned. But
foreseeing, on account of the
interception of the roads, that they
might be arrested and their dispatches
demanded, I gave them in charge a second
letter, in which I ordered Gen. Paul to
use all possible means of conciliation
with Gen. Kerverseau. I charged the
captains, in case they should be
arrested, to conceal the first letter
and show only the second.
My reply not arriving as soon as he
expected, Gen. Paul sent another black
officer with the same dispatches in
duplicate. I gave only a receipt to this
officer, and sent him back. Of these
three messengers two were black and the
other white. They were arrested, as I
had anticipated; the two blacks were
assassinated in violation of all justice
and right, contrary to the customs of
war; their dispatches were sent to Gen.
Kerverseau, who concealed the first
letter, and showed to Gen. Paul only the
second, in which I had ordered him to
enter into negotiations with Gen.
Kerverseau. It was in consequence of
this letter that Santo Domingo was
surrendered.
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