Master of the Crossroads - Madison Smartt Bell [414]
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER: In his cell at Fort de Joux, Toussaint composes a report of his conduct during Leclerc’s invasion, intended to justify himself to the First Consul, Bonaparte.
SEPTEMBER 13: The expected abatement of the yellow fever at the approach of the autumnal equinox fails to occur. The reinforcements arriving die as fast as they are put into the country, and Leclerc has to deploy them as soon as they get off the boat. Leclerc asks for ten thousand men to be immediately sent. He is losing territory in the interior and his black generals are beginning to waver, though he still is confident of his ability to manipulate them.
As of this date, a total of twenty-eight thousand men have been sent from France, and Leclerc estimates that ten thousand five hundred are still alive, but only forty-five hundred are fit for duty. Five thousand sailors have also died, bringing the total loss to twenty-nine thousand.
SEPTEMBER 15: General Caffarelli, agent of Napoleon Bonaparte, arrives at the Fort de Joux for the first of seven interrogations of Toussaint.
OCTOBER 7: Leclerc: “We must destroy all the mountain Negroes, men and women, sparing only children under twelve years of age. We must destroy half the Negroes of the plains, and not allow in the colony a single man who has ever worn an epaulette. Without these measures the colony will never be at peace. . . .”
OCTOBER 10: Mulatto General Clervaux revolts, with all his troops, upon the news of Napoleon’s restoration of the mulatto discriminations of the ancien régime. Le Cap had been mostly garrisoned by mulattoes.
OCTOBER 13: Christophe and the other black generals in the north join Clervaux’s rebellion. On this news, Dessalines raises revolt in the west.
NOVEMBER 2: Leclerc dies of yellow fever. Command is assumed by Rochambeau.
By the end of the month the fever finally begins to abate, and acclimated survivors, now immune, begin to return to service. In France, Napoleon has outfitted ten thousand reinforcements.
1803
MARCH: At the beginning of the month, Rochambeau has eleven thousand troops and only four thousand in hospital, indicating that the worst of the disease threat has passed. He is ready to conduct a war of extermination against the blacks, and brings man-eating dogs from Cuba to replace his lost soldiery. He makes slow headway against Dessalines in March and April, while Napoleon plans to send thirty thousand reinforcements in two installments in the coming year.
APRIL 7: Toussaint Louverture dies a prisoner in Fort de Joux.
MAY 12: New declaration of war between England and France.
JUNE: By month’s end, Saint Domingue is completely blockaded by the English. With English aid, Dessalines smashes into the coast towns.
OCTOBER: Early in the month, Les Cayes falls to the blacks. At month’s end, so does Port-au-Prince.
NOVEMBER 10: Rochambeau flees Le Cap and surrenders to the English fleet.
NOVEMBER 28: The French are forced to evacuate their last garrison at Le Môle. Dessalines promises protection to all whites who choose to remain, following Toussaint’s earlier policy. During the first year of his rule he will continue encouraging white planters to return and manage their property, and many who trusted Toussaint will do so.
DECEMBER 31: Declaration of Haitian independence.
1804
OCTOBER: Dessalines, having overcome all rivals, crowns himself emperor. A term of his constitution defines all citizens of Haiti as nèg (blacks) and all noncitizens of Haiti as blanc (whites)—regardless of skin color in both cases.
1805
JANUARY: Dessalines begins the massacre of all the whites (according to the redefinition in the Constitution of 1804) remaining in Haiti.
ORIGINAL LETTERS AND DOCUMENTS
Quotations which appear italicized in the main text derive from the historical record, and are reproduced here in the original versions.
FROM CHAPTER 3
Toussaint Louverture, général des Armées du Roy; à Monsieur Chanlatte jeune le scélérat, perfide et trompeur.
Quartier général ce 27 aoust 1793 .
J’ai reçu vos trois lettres que vous m’avez