To Shining Sea - Chapter 19
The United States Navy and the Capture of Jacmel, February 27th 1800
The Unveiling of Canadian History, Volume 4.
To Shining Sea – Ireland, Haiti, and Louisiana, and the Idea of a Continental Republic, 1797 – 1804.
Part 2 – The Haitian Frontier
Chapter 19 - The United States Navy and the Capture of Jacmel, February 27th 1800
With the British trying to hinder General Toussaint’s command of Saint-Domingue, claiming he was going to invade Jamaica, and with the French trying to undercut General Toussaint, by forcing them into a unwinnable invasion of Jamaica, and while General Toussaint also had to prepare for Napoleon’s attempt to restore the slave plantation system in Saint-Domingue, the only direction he could look to for help was the American Consul-General Edward Stevens. And the American Navy gave him the key assistance, to end slavery on the whole island!
Captain Christopher Perry, of the USS General Greene
With the suppressing of the mulatto uprisings in the north (completed after the capture of Mole St. Nicolas on October 29th 1799), General Toussaint could now launch his offensive into the south.
In early November, General Toussaint launched a two-pronged offensive into the South province – Dessalines led one wing of the 55,000-man army to successfully retake Petit-Goave and Grand-Goave, while Christophe led the other wing of the army in an attempt to seize Jacmel, but the mulatto army there, under Petion, were able to stall that offensive, and a 5-month siege of Jacmel began.
General Toussaint was able to renegotiate the agreement with Stevens, to allow General Toussaint to arm and to expand his navy ships in order to transport men and supplies to his troops in the south – that no vessels are allowed to arm except those that are in his immediate service; that all others found at sea should be liable to capture; that all armed vessels in his service must carry regular passports, signed by the consul general of the United States, by the British agent, and by the General; and that no passports will in future be granted to vessels belonging to the colony of Saint-Domingue that may be sent to other islands.
But, in November, a squadron of six armed vessels, belonging to General Toussaint, sailing from Port-au-Prince with a quantity of ammunition and military stores on board and destined for Jacmel to blockade that port and cooperate with the army, having passports from the British agent, and with General Toussaint having written to British Admiral of the Jamaica Station, Peter Parker, and British Governor of Jamaica, Balcarres, informing them of the real destination of this squadron, was captured by a British frigate, taken to Jamaica, tried, condemned and sold!!!
General Toussaint was now without half of his ships!
The British feared that they were designed for use against Jamaica (?!?) or perhaps they really wished to see Toussaint and Rigaud weaken each other to the point that the British could reconquer this lucrative plantation island(!?!)
But the duplicity of the British was shown by Stevens, who wrote to Pickering that:
“I am loth to impute the capture of this squadron to the cruel policy, on the part of the British, of continuing the contest between General Toussaint and Rigaud, and of preventing either from gaining the ascendency, that, by this means, both may be ultimately weakened.”
Stevens had already informed Maitland on May 23rd that the French Directory had sent plans for an invasion of Jamaica from Saint-Domingue and that General Toussaint had opposed it. Now (in a September 30th letter to Pickering) Stevens was able to obtain copies of the plans, and wrote about it in detail, that:
“While T----t [Toussaint] was in town, several schemes were presented to him by a Mulatto General of Brigade called Martial Besse who has been sent out by the Directory for the express purpose of commanding the expedition. Of all these I have obtained copies. Some of the most important I now have the honor of enclosing to you as also a plan which was presented by Sas Portas a Jew who for several years carried on a contraband trade between St. Iago de Cuba and Port Antonio in Jamaica and who seems perfectly acquainted with the strength and local situation of the latter island. The copies I send to you contain the essence of this scheme. The other papers which are still in my possession are only repetitions of these. They consist of a plan offered by one Dubuisson an emigrant officer who was in the English service while they were in possession of the western parts of this colony and who to show his gratitude for the kindness they at that time showed him has very generously offered to assist in an expedition for laying waste by fire and sword one of their richest and most flourishing possessions. I have also an additional plan presented by Martial Besse which is only an amplification of that projected by Sasportas. He has accompanied it with separate letters of instruction to Dubuisson and Sasportas which contain nothing but what is mentioned in his two plans …
I have given Mr. Charles Douglass the British Agent a copy of the plan and advised him strongly to go down to Jamaica to confer with the heads of the government and take effectual measures to counteract it …
Wild and impracticable as this scheme of invasion may appear in the actual state of this colony it is astonishing with what ardour the particular agent seems to urge it. Without troops, arms, ammunition, clothing or any of the essentials requisite for raising or equipping an army he strains every nerve and has sent his emissaries to Curacoa, St. Thomas and Guadeloupe to furnish him with the means of effecting his purpose. Toussaint on the other hand is determined that the invasion shall not take place. He appears to encourage it that he may the more certainly prevent it. He has refused to furnish troops urging as a plea that the war in the south requires every man that can be raised. His confidential officers are of the same opinion with him and are altogether opposed to the expedition. They have too much penetration not to perceive that the Jamaica invasion is a counterpart of the Egyptian expedition and that were they to quit St. Domingo there is little chance that they would ever return to it. It was T-----t [Toussaint] who furnished me with the plans and he at the same time entreated me to counteract the agent’s operations by every possible means.”
On October 15th, Commodore Talbot and the USS Constitution arrived at Cap Francais in Saint-Domingue. On December 20th, Stevens met with Talbot to discuss ways they could collaborate on assisting General Toussaint in his war with Rigaud (and with the British) – it seemed that Admiral Parker and Governor Balcarres deliberately worked to undermine the ‘secret’ agreement.
Captain Murray of the USS Constellation would reported that:
“we have no enemy so much to be shunned in this quarter, as the British, for they blockade all the passages, and let few of our vessels pass them.”
In early January 1800, Talbot sent Captain Christopher Perry and the USS General Greene to the southern coast of Saint-Domingue to disrupt Rigaud’s shipping – Rigaud’s gunboats had been attacking American merchant ships; to enforce an effective blockade of the considerable clandestine trade carried on between St. Thomas and Jacmel – that was supplying Rigaud; and ‘for the purpose of aiding General Toussaint in the capture of Jacmel.’ The Americans captured a Danish schooner, the William and Mary, that was trying to supply Rigaud’s army.
On February 27th, while General Toussaint launched a 2,000-man assault on Jacmel, while the USS General Greene assisted him.
“[USS General Greene] engaged three of Rigaud’s forts warmly for 30 or 40 minutes; in which time we obliged the enemy to evacuate the town and two of the forts, and repair to their strongest hold; this fort however soon hauled down its colors … Jacmel, closely besieged on the land side by Toussaint’s army, and blockaded by the General Greene, was reduced to a state of starvation. As a last effort, they made a desperate sally in the night, with intentions to force Toussaint’s lines, but failing in the attempt, and the whole garrison, of more than 5,000 men, fell into the hands of Toussaint.”
As a sign of gratitude, General Toussaint gave to the USS General Greene a new anchor and 15 tons of cannon, and he rewarded Perry and his crew with 10,000 pounds of coffee – over 50 pounds per man – that had been captured from the schooner William and Mary!
While General Toussaint was preparing for a final offensive against Rigaud, news (and rumours) would arrive from France. He had sent as his representative to Paris, General Vincent, who arrived in time to witness the transfer of power from the Directory to the First Consul. General Toussaint received information that a French expedition of 15,000 men was sailing to Santo Domingo, to be used as a base from which to launch an invasion of Saint-Domingue. He instead prepared an offensive for control of Santo Domingo [i.e the Spanish-run eastern part of the island].
Although by their 1795 treaty, the Spanish had ceded the eastern two-thirds of the island to France, it still remained under Spanish administration, with French approval, with slavery still being maintained – while the Spaniards did a thriving business kidnapping former-slaves in Saint-Domingue and shipping them to be sold in Cuba.
Note: General Toussaint had also sent secret agents to Paris to gather advance information concerning any decision affecting the colony. It was reported that Bonaparte had asked his advisers what colonial system had given the best financial results, and he was told that it was the system prevailing before the Revolution [i.e. the plantation slave system]. He answered ‘then, the sooner we return to it the better’.
In March, General Toussaint asked Phillipe Roume (the Agent of France to Saint-Domingue) for a decree that would authorize him to occupy (Spanish) Santo Domingo, but Roume refused. Meetings were held (planned and regulated by the leading chiefs) across the colony that demanded that General Toussaint should take over the government and put a stop to the slave traffic in Santo Domingo, but Roume still refused. When thousands of cultivators marched to meet with Roume, General Toussaint assured him that it would be impossible for him to restrain the mob, and on April 27th, Roume agreed to the decree.
General Toussaint sent General Age, with a small detachment of 300 men, from Jacmel, to Santo Domingo City to arrange for the transfer of power, but the Spanish Governor, Don Joaquin Garcia, informed Age that he would require a period of six months in which to make arrangements for evacuation and to receive exact orders from the Spanish government – who would, of course, have to consult with the French government, and Age was forced to return. But when Age arrived back, on June 16th Roume would rescind his decree!
General Toussaint had also sent an armed schooner with 70 soldiers from Le Cap Francais – to serve as a garrison at Santo Domingo when it was delivered, but the British frigate ‘Alarm’ captured the schooner and put the troops on shore!?!
Stevens would write to Pickering that:
“the troops cannot march in safety by land, and as the English have now got intelligence of his designs on the Spanish part of the island, that portion of it will be so closely invested, that nothing will be suffered to pass to it by sea.”
While waiting for Age’s return, a new three-man commission from France arrived at Santo Domingo, travelling overland to Saint-Domingue and met with General Toussaint. The commissioners (Julien Raimond, General Jean-Baptist Michel and General Vincent – who had been sent to France as Toussaint’s representative and was now sent back) stated that the First Consul has confirmed Toussaint as General-in-Chief of the Army of Saint-Domingue and that Roume was to be maintained as Agent; that he expects that these forces will never be employed against any other than the British, the enemies of France; and that he expects, by the first despatches, to be informed that he has made peace with Rigaud, and restored tranquility to the colony.
The commissioners also brought a letter from the Minister of Marine, Pierre Forfait, with a decree from the First Consul Bonaparte (that he had issued on December 25th 1799) that showed his rejection of Egalite:
“Citizens, a constitution that wasn’t able to sustain itself against multiple violations has been replaced by a new pact destined to solidify freedom. Article 91 states that French colonies will be ruled by special laws. This disposition derives from the nature of things and the differences in climate. The inhabitants of French colonies located in America, Asia, and Africa cannot be governed by the same laws. The differences in habits, in mores, in interests; the diversity of soil, crops, and goods produced demands diverse modifications. Far from being a subject of alarm for you, you will recognize here the wisdom and profundity of vision that animate the legislators of France ...”
And Bonaparte also said that the words ‘Remember Brave Blacks, that the French people alone recognize your freedom and the equality of your rights’ should be emblazoned upon the tricolor displayed in the colony!
But General Toussaint refused to place the inscription on his banner, saying that:
“they do not owe their emancipation to France, but to their own valour.”
He also told Vincent that:
“it is not a fortuitous concession of liberty, made to us alone, that we want, but a recognition of the principle that whether a man be red, black, or white, he cannot be the property of any other man. We are free today because we are strong. The First Consul maintains slavery in Martinique, which means that he will make us slaves when he feels he is strong enough to do so.”
(Keeping in mind the Consul’s request for peace) on June 20th, General Toussaint issued a proclamation of clemency to the inhabitants of the South Province and sent three peace commissioners (including General Vincent) to Petit-Goave to meet with three agents sent by Rigaud – but Rigaud refused the offer. General Toussaint then ordered Dessalines to attack Rigaud at Les Cayes, and as the defenses began to crumble, the resistance shattered. On July 29th, Rigaud, and his family, boarded a ship and fled to France, where he lamented his fate to Consul Bonaparte. On August 1st, General Toussaint entered Les Cayes in triumph.
With peace being restored in Saint-Domingue, General Toussaint turned to the task of halting the abduction of freed men in Saint-Domingue who were being transported to Santo Domingo to be sold back again into slavery! Also, he must have wondered what the Consul meant by the ‘special laws’ that were to govern the French colonies.
In November, Roume, who had rescinded his decree for authorization to occupy Santo Domingo, was arrested for having ‘sewed discord among us and fomented trouble’. After being held for 9 months, Roume was sent away to the United States, where he remained awhile in Philadelphia before returning to France.
General Toussaint now informed Garcia, the governor of Santo Domingo, that he meant to carry out Roume’s order of April 27th, and to take control of Santo Domingo for France. Garcia received the order on January 6th 1801, and sent 1500 Spanish troops to protect the border. In response, General Toussaint sent two columns – Moyse with 3000 men and another 4500 men that he himself led, and as the Spanish defence crumbled, the troops crossed the border into Santo Domingo.
On January 26th 1801, as Governor Garcia left with his remaining Spanish troops for Cuba, General Toussaint accepted the keys to Ciudad Santo Domingo; proclaimed an amnesty to all Spanish colonists who chose to remain and to govern themselves according to their new rights as French citizens; and in accordance with French law, announced the abolition of slavery throughout the entire island of Saint-Domingue.
[next week - chapter 20 - The Disbanding of the Provisional Army, June 14th 1800]
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