Stone That the Builder Refused - Madison Smartt Bell [463]
Laplume, commander of Toussaint’s forces south of Port-au-Prince, offers to side with the French.
FEBRUARY 6: Leclerc’s columns advancing from Limbé join with one of Rochambeau’s columns from Fort Liberté to establish control of the Northern Plain.
FEBRUARY 7: Leclerc takes possession of the ruins of Le Cap, and dispatches Toussaint’s sons Isaac and Placide with messages for Toussaint.
Toussaint writes orders to Dessalines to sack and burn Port-au-Prince at the first opportunity.
FEBRUARY 8: At night, Toussaint meets his sons at Ennery. An exchange of letters between Toussaint and Leclerc begins.
Laplume’s forces swear allegiance to France.
FEBRUARY 9: Dessalines, having previously joined Lamartinière at Croix des Bouquets, retreats before Boudet’s advance, burning the country behind him and taking hostages in the direction of Mirebalais.
Toussaint writes to Dommage at Jérémie, instructing him to scorch the earth behind him as he retreats toward the mountains of the interior.
FEBRUARY 11: Dessalines circles Port-au-Prince to burn Léogane, but is forced to fall back before one of Boudet’s columns. The French achieve secure communication with Laplume.
FEBRUARY 12: Humbert lands with 1,200 troops at Port-de-Paix, where Maurepas with 2,000 regulars burns the town and retreats. Maurepas regroups in the hills with several thousand irregulars and counterattacks successfully. The French are barely able to hold the town with the help of the shipboard guns.
Leclerc writes to Toussaint requesting that he come to meet with him, and offers a four-day cease-fire.
FEBRUARY 14: Reinforcements from the missing portion of Leclerc’s fleet arrive at
Le Cap.
FEBRUARY 17: Leclerc outlaws Toussaint and Christophe as rebels—Toussaint having failed to respond to his letter of February 12. Leclerc orders a blockade of the coast to cut off Toussaint’s resupply links to the United States, and swears not to take his boots off until he has captured Toussaint.
Some 1,500 men sail from Le Cap to reinforce Humbert at Port-de-Paix, while other ships go to Môle Saint Nicolas, which surrenders without a struggle.
FEBRUARY 19: Leclerc launches a three-pronged attack on Toussaint in the Cordon de l’Ouest: Rochambeau moving from Fort Liberté, Hardy from Le Cap, and Desfourneaux from Limbé. The strategy is to force Toussaint out of the mountains and onto the coastal plain near Gonaives.
Reinforcements reach Humbert, who attacks Maurepas and is defeated with heavy losses.
FEBRUARY 20: The French advance in the Cordon de l’Ouest is delayed by heavy rain.
In Santo Domingo City, Paul Louverture, whose instructions from Toussaint have been intercepted, submits to Kerverseau.
FEBRUARY 21: Boudet, held down at Port-au-Prince by Dessalines until today, sends a column north to contribute to the convergence on Toussaint in the Cordon de l’Ouest. Plaisance submits to Desfourneaux, and Hardy takes Marmelade from Christophe, who retreats toward Ennery, delaying Hardy’s advance with ambushes. Rochambeau wins a battle at Mare à la Roche to reach Saint Michel. The French noose appears to be tightening on Toussaint at Ennery.
FEBRUARY 22: Rochambeau presses south as far as Saint Raphael, intending if possible to capture Toussaint’s family at Habitation Lacroix, near Ennery. Toussaint’s youngest son, Saint-Jean, is captured by Hardy’s men during the family’s flight from Ennery. That night Rochambeau occupies the heights of Morne Barade at the same time Toussaint arrives at the top of Ravine à Couleuvre, and battle begins.
FEBRUARY 23: Driven from Ravine à Couleuvre by Rochambeau’s troops, Toussaint breaks Rochambeau’s advance with a cavalry charge on Habitation Périsse and forces the surviving French back to the ravine.
The troops of Hardy and Desfourneaux, now united under Leclerc, enter Gonaives after resistance by Vernet, who burns the town before retreating. Toussaint, now ill with fever, retreats south to Pont d’Ester, joined by his family.
FEBRUARY 24: Dessalines massacres the whites of Saint Marc, then burns and evacuates