The crafty and unfeeling Coisnon thought that the most favourable moment had arrived for opening the business of his mission, and without delay entered upon it by addressing the chief, and imploring him to reflect upon the consequences that would inevitably result from any hostile measures against the power of Bonaparte, as any resistance to so powerful a force, composed of troops that had always been elated with victory, must prove unavailing. On the other hand, he pledged the sincerity with which his master was actuated, spoke of the admiration which Toussaint’s conduct had excited, and of the distinguished valour and judgment which he had displayed in the multifarious operations of the war. He also held out to him the most attractive, yet delusive, promises of what would ensue from his joining the French standard, and the vengeance that would doubtless accompany any act of hostility; and, finally, he handed to the negro chief the letter, of which he was the bearer, written by Bonaparte in his own hand, and teeming with expressions which might have moved the resolution of more determined men than Toussaint. But that cautious, unbending, and inflexible man was on his guard against the snare that was laid to entrap him, and the cunning tutor was necessitated to try the effect of a more powerful agency, the intercession of his children and the entreaties of his wife. Bonaparte, in his letter to the chief, tries what effect an allusion to the former will have. “We have made known to your children, and to their preceptor,” he says, “the sentiments by which we are animated. We send them back to you. Assist with your counsel, your influence, and your talents, the captain-general. What can you desire? The freedom of the blacks? You know that in all the countries we have been in, we have given it to the people who had it not. Do you desire consideration, honours, fortune? It is not after the services you have rendered, the services you can still render, and with the personal estimation we have for you, that you ought to be doubtful with respect to your consideration, your fortune, and the honours that await you.” Such an appeal might have had some influence and power over a vain man, and the feelings of the father might have been softened when the eloquence of the preceptor pleaded in behalf of the children, whose lives would be the forfeit of the non-compliance of the parent. But this would not do, nor would the subsequent artless appeal of the tutored children, aided by the faithful mother, from whose tears the savage Coisnon prematurely looked for success. All were unavailing, and Toussaint, after having composed himself, and assumed an appearance of ease and confidence, took the preceptor by the hand; then directing the others to retire, he said to him, with a stern and dignified manner, “Take back my children, since it must be so. I will be faithful to my brethren and my God.”
Notwithstanding the failure of Coisnon’s mission, a truce was agreed upon for a few days, for the purpose of carrying on a correspondence between Le Clerc and Toussaint, to try if the horrors of war might not be averted by mutual concessions. Le Clerc anticipated a favourable result, but Toussaint’s reply contained no augury of his submission to the will of the chief consul. The truce, therefore, being at an end, each of the chiefs prepared for active operations, and Toussaint and Christophe were declared to be enemies of the French republic, and all persons were called upon to seize them.
Every art and every stratagem was now devised by Le Clerc, which might entice over the negroes to his cause; and he therefore first held out assurances to their officers of rank and preferment in the French army, and to the negroes themselves he gave the most solemn promise that their freedom should be respected and preserved inviolate. Another circumstance also, which very materially contributed to the successes which Le Clerc gained, was, that the cultivators throughout the colony had had enough of war, and had determined to remain neutral in the pending struggle, so long as their properties were insured to them, and their remaining inactive was permitted. Consequently, Le Clerc having nothing to apprehend from them, was at liberty to turn the whole of his attention against the organized forces of the negro chiefs; and, to oppose these, required no little skill and manœuvre, from the great obstacles which the face of the country presented to European forces, inured only to a systematic mode of fighting, whilst the negro soldiers were thoroughly instructed in skirmishing, bush fighting, and every other irregular mode of warfare. For such operations as these, they were in the highest possible order, both as to discipline and equipments. They knew well how to manage their artillery, were quick in firing, and no bad marksmen. All their movements were effected with amazing rapidity, and from one point of communication to another they flew with the greatest celerity. The French seemed astonished at the quickness with which they performed their movements, and at times when they thought victory certain, found themselves unexpectedly opposed to a body, who made the most desperate attack upon them, and forced them to retire completely discomfited. They also had another advantage over the European troops; neither the scorching heat of the sun, nor the pernicious influence of the night air, had any injurious effects upon them, whilst the French were suffering severely from the evil consequences of both. Although one day they might have sustained a defeat, still, on the next, the negro soldiers appeared in force before their enemy, prepared to renew the combat. Not so with the French; for the severity of the duties of the field was insupportable, and on many occasions, when they had gained advantages, their fatigue was so great that they were unable to follow them up, and thereby throw their opponents into disorder and confusion.
The principal exertions of the French troops commenced in the plains of the north, just after the truce had expired, and about the 20th of February, by an attack on Plaisance, which place having surrendered, the black commander and his soldiers, consisting of five hundred infantry and cavalry, joined the French standard. Marmalade followed, having been defended a short time by Christophe, who was at last obliged to retreat, in consequence of the treachery of one of his officers who had surrendered an important position on his line, and had followed the example of the commander at Plaisance.
In the neighbourhood of Port Paix, the French troops, under Humbert, sustained a check; and on the 20th of February the troops under General Debelle were obliged to retire, after having sustained some loss.
The division of General Boudet having landed at Port au Prince, left that city, and proceeded against La Croix des Bouquets, where the celebrated Dessalines had taken up a position; but on the approach of the French force he set fire to the place, and the next day, by a most extraordinary and rapid movement across the mountains, appeared before Leogane, to which place he also set fire, notwithstanding the resistance offered by a French frigate which lay in sight, and which had been sent thither to insure its safety. The movements of this chief were the most surprising; one day he was found in the plains of the Cul de Sac, acting with the most determined bravery, and committing dreadful ravages in the face of the French army; and the next, he was found in the plains of Leogane committing similar excesses, avoiding, in both, coming in contact with the enemy in the open field. Bush fighting, and setting fire to the plantations, to impede the advance of the enemy and destroy their provisions, was his only aim, and in this he seems to have been unusually fortunate and successful.
One of the black chiefs, La Plume, who had retreated before Generals Desfourneaux and Hardy from the vicinity of Plaisance, surrendered, with all his troops, to General Boudet, which compensated for the losses which the French had sustained, and was a serious, if not a fatal, blow to the negro cause.
On the 24th of February, General Rochambeau fell in with Toussaint, who had under him about three thousand men, and had taken up a strong position in the Ravine à Couleuvre. The attack was commenced by Rochambeau, and met with great skill and courage by the negro general and his troops, and a most sanguinary conflict ensued. The blacks fought with the most determined bravery, and the French made the greatest efforts to exceed them; and at last, after having lost eight hundred of his men, who were left dead in the field, Toussaint thought it prudent to retreat, and take up his position on the banks of La Petite Rivière. There could not have been more military skill shewn than was displayed by the respective commanders in this battle. The slaughter was immense, and the loss of the French, it was conjectured, exceeded that of the negroes; but the latter had no public journals to announce their triumphs, whilst the former had the benefit of gazettes and proclamations to extol their successes, and to magnify the disasters of their opponents. It is certain that after the action Rochambeau could not advance, and the black general was in some measure justified in claiming the victory, as well as some merit for taking up another position, particularly as Le Clerc was advancing to cut him off with a large force; and which seems true enough, for he took up a line in the vicinity of Gonaives, with his advance upon the road of St. Marc.
Whatever opinion is entertained of the result of the battle, its consequences were certainly injurious to his cause; his retreat was demonstrative of discomfiture, and such a feeling existed among his troops, as well as among those of his other divisions. Under the influence of this feeling, and the allurements of the French generals, who held out the most engaging promises, desertions became frequent, and in one instance the conduct of the black general Maurepas, who commanded the district of St. Marc, and who, at the moment that Le Clerc was engaged in making preparations to compel him to retire from it, surrendered with his force, consisting of two thousand men, proved quite decisive of the fate of the contest.
Declining to enter into a further detail of the operations in the field, as they consisted chiefly of irregular warfare, and presented nothing of importance, I shall merely make a few observations on the conduct of the respective chiefs who commanded, and their measures to defeat each other’s design.