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CHA P. XVII.

Expedition to St. Domingo.-Probable Value of that Colony to France-→→ State of it at the Time of the Expedition-Force of the Armament.— Character of Toussaint L'Ouverture.-Arrival of the French Fleet, and Army, at the Cape-Resistance experienced-Success-Cape burnedSurrender of many of the black Chiefs - all the Coast repossessed by the French.-Negotiation with Toussaint broken off-Toussaint declared a Rebel-Generals Le Clerc, and Rochambeau, &c. march against him.→ Reinforcements arrive from France.-Plan of the Campaign-partial Success and Defeat.-Attack of Toussaint in his Intrenchments, and complete Defeat.-Reverse of Fortune for a Moment-final Success of the French.-Toussaint surrenders with his Generals on Terms-violated -arrested and sent home to France-imprisoned, and dies.-War begun afresh.-Conclusion.

T the close of our last chapter

the arrival of dispatches from St. Domingo to France, with favourable accounts of the progress of the French arms, towards the accomplishing that object, for which, even before he had made peace, the first consul had risked the greatest armament ever dispatched to the new world. We shall now resume the subject; nor discontinue it, till we have detailed, in connected arrangement, all the transactions of this extraordinary and novel warfare, which occurred within the year; and which involves in its consequences not only the most important objects to the parent country, but to Great Britain herself, and perhaps to the whole human race.

In the ready acquiescence of Bonaparté and the French government to the preliminaries, which formed the foundation of the treaty of Amiens, it appeared that the VOL. XLIV.

most powerful consideration which

induced cagers acquiescence

was the recovery of St. Domingo. A fleet had been for a long time collected at Brest, and a considerable army had been assembled in the neighbourhood. Although Ireland was held out as the intended object of the expedition which was thus preparing, yet it had been observed, for a considerable time before the preliminaries were signed, that it was to this army the French government sent all the West India refugees and black troops then in France; and as it was hardly reasonable to suppose that they could ever have been intended to be employed in an expedition against Ireland, it appears probable, and almost certain, that this fleet and army were assembled at Brest, merely with a view of holding out a menace during war, and for the real purpose of occupying St. Domingo, as soon as ever the British government should be

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persuaded

persuaded to sign such a peace as France expected and required. Early in the month of October 1801, the preliminaries were signed between the French and English governments; and without waiting for the discussion of those points that were to be arranged before a definitive treaty could be signed, the French government, with an almost inconceivable degree of activity, equipped in the ports of Rochefort, Toulon, Havre, and Flushing, those armaments which were to cooperate with the grand equipment at Brest, of which admiral Villaret Joyeuse was the naval commander, and general Leclerc (who had married the sister of the first consul) the commander of the land forces, with the commission of captain-general of St. Domingo. The great solicitude for the recovery of that colony, the astonishing activity in fitting out the expedition, and the possible loss of the entire French navy incurred by it, are not to be wondered at when the immense importance of the island is considered, the character and power of Toussaint L'Ouverture who then governed it, and the great difficulties which the nature of the country, and its numerous and armed population, would most probably oppose to a forcible occupation of the island. As to the intrinsic value and importance of St. Domingo as a colony, it is almost beyond the power of calculation. That part of it which belonged to France before the war, which was barely one third of the island, and by far the least fertile, was more productive and profitable, in every point of view, than all the British West India islands taken together: the value of its annual ex

ports were above 7,000,000l. sterling, which employed 1640 ships, and 26,770 seamen. When to this possession should be added the Spanish part of the island, it would be a moderate calculation to state the future probable value of the whole island, moderately speaking, at three times the value which the French part alone possessed before the war. Even when the whole island should be brought to the state in which the French part was formerly, it would not then be half peopled or half cultivated, and would still hold out the fairest prospects of increasing wealth and resources. It was therefore clear that if France could only hold St. Domingo as a colony, she need hardly wish for more foreign possessions, as that island alone would be worth all the colonies which the other European states possess (taken collectively), both for intrinsic value and from the number of ships and seamen itwould employ in time of peace, which would at once lay the firm foundation of a commerce and a navy, that at no very distant day must be superior to that of any other nation. These considerations, which involv ed materially the future destinies of the French empire, were naturally among the principal objects of its government: the expedition there fore for St. Domingo, which had been long preparing, was completely equipped within a very short time after the signing of the prelimina ries, allowed a chance to the French fleet of making the passage, without being obstructed or captured by the English force. Such being the inten tions and views of the French goverument, at the time of signing the preliminaries, it is worthy of attention to observe what was the state

of

of the island at that time, and the character of those who possessed its government.

The colony of St. Domingo had suffered more in proportion than the mother country, by the excesses which the false and extravagant notions of liberty had given rise to in the commencement of the French revolution. There were three distinct classes of men in the island; the whites, the men of colour, and the blacks. Notwithstanding the jacobin and levelling sentiments which then prevailed in the French army, yet the garrisons of St. Domingo at first sided with the two former classes, who were the proprietors, against the claims of the blacks to emancipation. The whites and the men of colour afterwards quarrelled among themselves, and the French garrisons were too feeble to interfere with success, in settling their civil broils. At length, when the continuance of the war in Europe put it out of the power of France to send any reinforcements of troops to St. Domingo, and the island appeared likely to become an English colony, the republican troops were obliged decidedly to call in the aid of the blacks to repel the English and defend the island. In order to make of slaves enthusiastic soldiers, no less a promise than that of liberty was held out to them. It was for liberty that they stood with fidelity to their posts, bravely met the dangers of battle, and without assistance from the mother country defended the colony against the power of Great Britain, the proud mistress of the seas. Among this race of negroes, formerly so despised, were immediately found characters suited to the vast parts which they were called upon to act. Generals capable

of conducting armies with consummate kill; statesmen of no common or bounded views: some who, at the schools at the Cape, and the other principal towns, had learned in their youth, from European masters, those sciences and that knowledge in which Europe so much excels; others who, with little or no education, drew from the native strength and resources of their own minds, a capability of filling the most important situations with decency. Of this number, if fortune were always constant to merit, in Toussaint L'Ouverture, not only the poet, but the faithful historian, would have seen "hands which the rod of empire might have swayed." The ascendency of his genius entitled him. to the chief command among his countrymen, and when the course of events had made him for years the supreme governor of the island, he "bore his faculties so meekly," acted with so much honour and justice to foreign merchants, and showed so strong a desire to raise the race of his fellow negro citizens, not only in political rank but in moral character, that the eyes of the world were turned upon him, as one of those extraordinary men whose fortune it was to be the founders of empires and republics. He was considered as the Washington or Bonaparté of St. Domingo, and the man who was fated to be the principal instrument of restoring the negro race to freedom and independence. Viewed in this light, he was undoubtedly the most interesting of all the public characters which appeared on the great stage of political events for the present year. For several years before, the whole weight of the govern→ ment of St. Domingo had been sustained

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sustained by him; he had subdued or tranquillized every party that opposed him, and had at length drawn up a constitution for that country, such as in his judgment promised to secure its happiness and independence. In forming this constitution himself, and in not sending to Bonaparté to form one for St. Domingo, it was considered by the first consul, that this chief of the colony had committed an open act of rebellion against him as Sovereign of the mother country; but in justice to the moral character of Toussaint, it must be recollected that France had abandoned the island, during the war, to the blacks, and that they, not knowing of the private negotiations between lord Hawkesbury and M. Otto, naturally considered the war would be of much longer duration, and therefore ventured to make a constitution for themselves, without consulting the great constitution-maker of Europe this was their great offence; and no sooner did they hear of the preliminaries being signed than they saw on their coasts an immense flcet and army, destined to occupy the island as masters, and possibly to reduce them to the state of slavery, from which they had purchased their emancipation by their blood, and by their courageous defence of the colony. Toussaint had just suppressed an insurrection, which must have been the most afflicting to his feelings as a man, inasmuch as it was headed by his nephew, general Moyse, in whom he had reposed entire confidence. From the protection that the humanity of Toussaint afforded to the whites, a party was formed against him, who eried out that he had abandoned and sold the blacks to the whites.

When this party, with general Moyse at their head, was subdued, Toussaint turned his attention to secure the independence and interests of the island by negotiations with America and England. The negotiation with the government of Jamaica appeared in the greatest state of forwardness, when it was abruptly broken off, in consequence of the news arriving at Jamaica of the conclusion of the preliminary treaty, and almost immediately after Toussaint learned that a great fleet and army was on its passage to St. Domingo. He then complained most bitterly of the want of good faith in our government, who, he said, had, without any provocation on his part, coalescedwith France to ruin him; and, indeed, when it is considered how easily England could have prevented the sailing of the expedition if she had thought proper, this supposition appeared to have some foundation. It was only in the month of January 1802, that it was known at St. Domingo that peace had been concluded with England, and before the month had expired the French armament appeared before their ports; there was therefore very little time to make any preparations, or hardly time for the blacks to form an opinion whether the French came as friends or foes. The French force that presented itself before St. Domingo was probably the most formidable armament which had ever sailed at one time to the western hemisphere; the only document like an official account of their force appears in a letter from their ad miral Villaret Joyeuse to the British admiral Duckworth, commanding at Jamaica. As the object of this letter was to obtain, if necessary, supplies and ammunition, it must

there

therefore be supposed that the French admiral, in order to allay any jealousy or alarm, rather underrated than exaggerated his force. The satement of Villaret Joyeuse was as follows: that twenty-five sail of the line had entered the ports of St. Domingo, but that five sail being Spanish, were to proceed immediately to the Havannah; that three sail of the remainder were merely armed en flute, and that the number of the troops they had brought out was sixteen thousand men; that he daily expected six sail more, three of which were Batavian, and were to proceed to their own ports, and that these vessels were to bring about 5 or 6000 additional troops. The great pains taken in this letter to describe the naval force as little formidable as possible, leaves strong room to suppose that the account of the land forces were probably underrated when they were thus stated at only 21 or 22,000 men. When it is considered that the squadrons of Gantheaume and Linois both arrived very shortly after this letter was written, we cannot fairly estimate the force destined to make the first attack on St. Domingo at less than 25,000 troops and twenty-six sail of the line, with a proportional number of frigates; this force too, great as it was, was to be followed by other reinforcements. The details of the passage of the French fleet were given in a letter from the admiral Villaret Joyeuse to the French minister of marine: they had been detained by contrary winds in Brest harbour till the 14th of December, upon which day they sailed, and in forty-six days made Cape Samanah, the nearest port of St. Domingo; there they were joined by a division which sailed from

Rochefort, and also by some ships from Ferrol, commanded by the Spanish admiral Gravina. A part of the squadron was sent from thence with the division of general Kerveyseau, to take possession of the city of St. Domingo, and the Spanish part of the island, while the main body proceeded to Cape François, before which harbour they presented themselves on the 3d of February. A small squadron was detached to take possession of Port au Prince, which expedition was confided to general Boudet, while the grand army under the orders of Leclerc and Rochambeau prepared to take possession of the Cape and all the important positions in the north of the island. The French generals were by no means certain, whether Toussaint meant to resist or not; their operations, however, were so calculated and combined as to overcome any resistance that they could expect to find. While the grand fiect lay directly before the port, the first debarkation was made on the 3d of February, in the bay of Mancenille, about twenty-five miles east of the Cape. This army was commanded by generals Rochambeau and Brunet. On their landing, a tumultuous assemblage of blacks made a show of resistance, crying No whites, no whites;" they were, however, soon routed and dispersed, and general Brunet entered with the fugitives into the forts of Ance and Bouque, which, after a desperate resistance, were carried by the French troops. A French fleet in the mean time entered the roads of Fort Dauphin, but although the blacks kept up a cannonade for some time, they were obliged to evacuate it on the near approach

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