To Shining Sea - Chapter 24
The Leclerc Instructions, October 31st 1801
The Unveiling of Canadian History, Volume 4.
To Shining Sea – Ireland, Haiti, and Louisiana, and the Idea of a Continental Republic, 1797 – 1804.
Part 3 – The Louisiana Frontier
Chapter 24 - The Leclerc Instructions, October 31st 1801
With a rapprochement with the United States, and with a peace agreement with Britain, Napoleon’s and Talleyrand’s France could now begin to build its new colonial empire - but that meant the elimination of General Toussaint and the independence of Saint-Domingue.
First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte, by Andrea Appanani (1801)
Bonaparte had earlier proposed discussions for peace with Britain that were refused, but this would change - with a war over the Knights of Malta!
On January 1st 1801, the Act of Union took effect that created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and abolished the Irish parliament. British Prime Minister Pitt, with the approval of the majority of his cabinet, wished to bring in a bill that would change the oath for members of parliament to the oath of Allegiance – that would therefore not bar Catholics in Ireland from parliament.
Note: This had earlier been done in Canada in 1791 – allowing French Catholics to be elected to the new legislative assembly.
But this was opposed by King George III and Pitt resigned, and on March 14th Henry Addington became the new prime minister.
At this time, the British government feared the danger of war with the Czar of Russia over the island of Malta – and the Order of the Knights Hospitallers of Saint John [i.e. the Knights of Malta].
Earlier, in July 1798, when General Bonaparte was on his expedition to Egypt, he had captured the island of Malta, forcing the Grand Master, Hompesch, to surrender. Czar Paul I of Russia had initially wanted to send the Russian navy to return Malta to the Order but was persuaded against the idea.
Note: After Paul became Czar in 1796, he moved the Priory of Poland, that had fallen into disrepair and had not given any revenue to the Order for over a century, to St. Petersburg in Russia, and was rewarded with the title of Protector of the Order.
Supported by the Czar, the Knights declared that Hompesch had betrayed the Order when he surrendered, he was subsequently deposed, and Paul was nominated to be the new Grand Master! This was quite controversial – since Paul was not single, he was married; he was not Roman Catholic, he was a Russian Orthodox Christian; and he was not a Knight. Czar Paul now sought to reclaim the island of Malta for the Order, but, by September, the British navy had taken control of Malta from the French and the British refused to return the island to the Order!
On November 16th 1800, Sweden, Norway and Denmark signed conventions with Russia ‘to maintain the inalienable rights of neutral nations’ – forming a (second) League of Armed Neutrality – that would have frozen all British trade with northern Europe, while, at the same time, France was closing British trade with southern Europe. On November 18th, Czar Paul ordered that an embargo be placed on all British ships in Russian ports, and that those British ships already in Russian ports were to be seized.
On January 14th 1801, Britain responded with an embargo on all Swedish, Danish and Russian ships in British ports. Britain would send a large fleet to demand the detachment of Denmark, and then Russia from the League. But before the fleet arrived, on the night of March 23rd, Czar Paul I was assassinated – with British support and using some of the Knights of St. John (!?!).
The new Czar, Alexander I, removed the embargo on British ships, and began negotiations on a new convention, that would be more favorable to the British. Alexander declined to become the Grand Master of the Order, accepting instead to be only a Protector of the Knights! Plans would be made to relocate the Order’s headquarters from St. Petersburg, to the Priory of Clerkenwell, in London!!!
On April 2nd, the British fleet bombarded the Danish navy at Copenhagen, forcing the Danes to surrender and to withdraw from the League. Sweden would later also withdraw from the League.
The new British foreign secretary, Lord Hawkesbury, now began negotiations with the French commissary in London, Louis-Guillaume Otto, about the possibilities for peace, and in July, sent their diplomat Anthony Merry to Paris to meet with Talleyrand – at the same time that Talleyrand was meeting with Murray (and Jefferson was meeting with Pichon). And Talleyrand would soon read from Pichon about his conversation with Jefferson – concerning Saint-Domingue and the need for a peace with Britain – a peace that was now within reach.
Returning from the baths, Talleyrand now proposed to Murray that France would agree to a ratification of the convention with the removal of the 2nd article, if the American government would interpret the removal of the article as ‘an abandonment respectively of the pretentions under that 2nd article’ – meaning that France would accept the abrogation of the old treaties and the United States would give up its claim for indemnities.
Murray wrote to Madison on July 23rd, that:
“convinced sir as I am that nothing better can be gained & confiding in a liberal judgement in Government upon the situation in which I am placed, I shall exchange upon these terms.”
On July 27th, Murray would receive a Letter of Recall, as Minister Resident to the Bavarian Republic, from Madison, that:
“the President being desirous of diminishing expense whenever economy can be reconciled with the public good and thinking it expedient also that our diplomatic connections with Europe should be limited to cases indispensably requiring them, has concluded to discontinue the establishment of a Public Minister at The Hague.”
Murray replied that:
“it was my intention to ask leave to return as soon as the negotiation with which I alone am now charged here has been finished.”
Jefferson would reduce the American missions to only three – Great Britain, France and Spain. He was also considering letting the Convention lapse – it will ‘begin the work of placing us clear of treaty with all nations.’
Jefferson wished to isolate the United States politically by simply avoiding any treaties at all that might involve it in European affairs –
“the day is within my time as well as yours when we may say by what laws other nations shall treat us on the sea. And we will say it. In the meantime, we wish to let every treaty we have drop off without renewal.”
The ratifications were exchanged on July 31st, with Bonaparte agreeing to the Senate’s proviso with his own proviso that:
“the Government of the French Republic consents to accept, ratify, and confirm the above convention, with the addition importing that the convention shall be in force for the space of eight years, and the retrenchment of the second article: Provided, that by this retrenchment the two states renounce the respective pretentions which are the object of the said article.”
On September 30th, a preliminary peace agreement was reached between the French Republic and Britain, whereby Britain would recognize the French Republic, and Malta would be restored to the Knights of St. John! France would withdraw from Egypt, which would be returned to the Ottoman Empire, and Britain would restore the French colonial possessions – Tobago, Martinique and Saint Lucia (that Britain had seized in 1794-96).
Note: While France and Britain were negotiating the withdrawal of French forces from Egypt, the siege of Alexandria had forced the French commander, Menou, to surrender Egypt (and the Rosetta Stone) to Britain on August 30th.
With their plans for a French colony in Egypt now ended, Bonaparte and Talleyrand would return to their plan to restore France’s colonial empire in France’s North American colonies.
On October 8th, Bonaparte issued orders to assemble a fleet to be sent to Saint-Domingue. At this time, General Vincent had arrived in Paris with the new Saint-Domingue constitution, and at his interview with Bonaparte, he defended the actions of General Toussaint and spoke out against the expedition. But Bonaparte was committed to send the expedition, and he banished Vincent to the isle of Elba.
On October 23rd, Bonaparte placed General Charles Victor Leclerc (who was married to Pauline, Bonaparte’s sister) in command of the expedition.
On October 16th, Talleyrand wrote to Otto that if the British would question the French naval preparations, he should answer without hesitation that they are intended for Saint-Domingue, since the British would ‘regard with pleasure an expedition whose aim is to restore the colony of Saint-Domingue to a state of organization such as it will no longer be a dangerous neighbor to the European colonies in the Antilles.’
On October 20th, Talleyrand again wrote to Otto that he should inform Lord Hawkesbury that two fleets were being assembled, one at Brest and the other at Rochefort ‘in order to carry ten or twelve thousand troops to Saint-Domingue for the purpose of re-establishing order there’.
Otto was told by Prime Minister Addington that:
“the interest of the two governments is absolutely the same, namely, the destruction of Jacobinism and that of blacks in particular.”
The British ministry, he said, didn’t care how many troops were sent; it merely hoped that they would be sufficient to re-establish order in the French colonies.
On October 30th, Talleyrand, on instructions from Bonaparte, again wrote to Otto that:
“I should like to have the British government give orders at Jamaica to supply him [i.e. Leclerc] with all the provisions he may need, it being the interest of civilization to destroy the new Algiers which is organizing itself in the midst of America.”
[note how Talleyrand used the same expression as Jefferson – referring to Saint-Domingue as ‘a new Algiers’.]
The next day, October 31st, Talleyrand prepared the secret instructions for Leclerc – the plans to subdue General Toussaint’s army and then to re-colonize the island.
In chapter 1, Leclerc was told that he would command over 20,000 troops and that the expedition should be divided into three periods –
“the first period shall comprise the first 15 or 20 days necessary for occupying the strongholds, organizing the National Guard (all the whites, the mulattoes and the loyal blacks shall be armed and organized) …
the second period shall be when the two armies being prepared, the rebels shall be pursued to the death; they shall be hunted out first in the French and then in the Spanish part …
the third period shall be that when Toussaint, Moyse, and Dessalines no longer exist, and when 3,000 to 4,000 blacks, retired to the hills of the Spanish part, shall form what are called ‘marrons’ in the islands, and who can be destroyed with time, perseverance, and a well contrived system of attack.”
In chapter 2, he was instructed that:
“the Spaniards, the English, and the Americans view with equal anxiety the black republic …
the captain-general shall write circulars to the neighboring colonies for the purpose of acquainting them with the object of the government, (explaining) the common advantage to the Europeans in destroying this rebellion of the blacks and (expressing) the hope of being assisted (in crushing it). If necessary, provisions should be sought in America, in the Spanish islands, and even Jamaica …
All the merchandise found in the ports belonging to the blacks should be sequestered to the profit of the army …
Declare in a state of blockade all the ports containing rebels, and confiscate every vessel leaving or entering. Jefferson has promised that from the moment that the French army arrives, every measure shall be taken to starve Toussaint and to aid the army.”
In chapter 3, it asserted, as French policy, that:
“never will the French nation give chains to men whom it has once recognized as free. Therefore, all the blacks shall live at Saint-Domingue as those in Guadeloupe today …”
Note: After the British invaded Guadeloupe in April 1794, France appointed a new governor, Victor Hugues, who arrived at Guadeloupe with a small 1150-man force in May 21st, proclaimed the end of slavery and rallied the former slaves and mulattoes, forcing the British to surrender on October 6th. While trying to revive a post-slavery economy, he also authorized privateers to attack ships in the Caribbean Sea to bring added wealth to the island – creating tensions with the United States.
Guadeloupe was the only other remaining French colony, with Saint-Domingue, in the Caribbean, at that time - until Tobago, Martinique and Saint Lucia would be restored by Britain.
Chapter 3 continued, with the plan to defeat Toussaint, that:
“in the first period, only the blacks who are rebels will be disarmed. In the third, all will be so treated. In the first period, the policy should be exigent. Toussaint should be treated with; he should be provided with everything he may ask for – in order to make possible the occupation of the principal points and to establish French control in the country …
All Toussaint’s principal agents, white or colored, should, in the first period, be indiscriminately loaded with attentions and confirmed in their rank; in the last period, all sent to France – with their rank if they have behaved well during the second, as prisoners if they have acted ill during the same period …
Toussaint, Moyse, and Dessalines should be well treated during the first period; sent to France at the last, in arrest or with their rank according to their conduct during the second …
Toussaint shall not be held to have submitted until he shall have come to Le Cap or Port-au-Prince in the midst of the French army, to swear loyalty to the Republic. On that very day, without scandal or injury but with honor and consideration, he must be put on board a frigate and sent to France … If, after 15 or 20 days, it has been impossible to get Toussaint, proclaim that if within a specified time he does not come to take the oath to the Republic, he shall be declared a traitor, after which period a war to the death will begin …
[and] all those who have signed the constitution should in the third period be sent to France; some as prisoners, others at liberty as having been constrained.
During the first, second, and third periods, trade must necessarily be carried on with the Americans but after the third period only French ships shall be admitted, and the old pre-Revolutionary regulations put into force.”
In other words, Talleyrand’s (and Bonaparte’s) plan was to deceive everyone at first, and after re-conquering Saint-Domingue and shipping Toussaint and his generals off to France, secondly, to re-acquire Louisiana – and then, they would have no more use of the Americans!
On December 14th 1801, Leclerc left France, from the ports of Brest and Rochefort, with a fleet of 45 ships (that included 22 ships-of-the-line) and with 12,000 troops, and sailed for Saint-Domingue.
[next week - chapter 25 - President Jefferson’s Message to Congress, December 8th 1801]
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