Napoleon gave Leclerc a set of secret instructions which demanded Leclerc
give his word of honor about many things and then violate it. The
general plan was to first promise the black leadership places of
authority in a French-dominated government. Then, once having
established control, to move to the second stage of arresting and
deporting any black leaders who seemed troublesome, especially Toussaint
Louverture. The third and final stage was not only to disarm all the
blacks, but to return the colony to slavery and the pre-Revolutionary
colonial state. Virtually no one in Saint-Domingue was fooled by Leclerc's
protestations of benevolent purpose.
On Feb. 2, 1802 Leclerc arrived in the bay of Cap Francois, the city
governed and defended by Henri Christophe, one of Toussaint's most
important generals, and later on Haiti's second president and first and
only king. Christophe would not allow the French to disembark, and
prepared to burn the city to the ground if they tried. Leclerc pressed
the issue and, true to his word, Christophe torched this Paris of the
Americas. The black armies retreated to the interior to fight a guerilla
war and Leclerc took over a huge pile of ashes. The final stage of the
Haitian Revolution had begun.
The Leclerc Campaign
Phase 1: Crete-a-Pierrot
Leclerc's forces quickly took most of the coastal towns, though Haitians
burned many of them before they retreated. Eventually a decisive moment
came as Dessalines and his second in command, Lamartiniere, were asked to
hold the small former British fort, Crete-a-Pierrot, an arsenal of the
Haitians.
Both sides claimed victory. It sort of depends on what measure one
uses. The French ended up with the fort, but they lost twice as many men
as the Haitians, and were shocked to discover how well the blacks could
fight in a pitched battle. The Haitians took great solace in their
ability to hold off the French for so long. For the rest of the war they
used Crete-a-Pierrot as a rallying cry. After abandoning the fort, the
Haitians retreated into the Cahos mountains and fought a guerrilla war
from then on.
Phase 2: Surrender
By April 26 Christophe and his troops surrendered to Leclerc. Toussaint
followed on May 1st. Even though things had not gone as Napoleon
planned, within two months Leclerc had achieved Napoleon's first
goal--pacification of the leaders. Now Leclerc was free to implement
phase 2 -- the arrest and deportation of "trouble makers."
The Arrest and Deportation of Toussaint Louverture
After Toussaint's surrendered, he ostensibly retired to his plantation at
Enery to live out his days. However, there is a good deal of historical
controversy about this. Some argue that Toussaint immediately began to
plot anew against the French. I really don't know which way the factual
evidence leans, but the logic of the situation leads me to suspect that
these charges against Toussaint were true. First of all it is not like
Toussaint to simply walk away and abandon the struggle of the past 10
years. Further, he had to have suspected that the French would reinstate
slavery and the old colonial system. Again, it's not like Toussaint to
quietly acquiesce in such a turnabout. Finally, he must have known how
weakened the French were becoming from the ravages of yellow fever. How
long and how seriously could the French fight with only a fraction of
their men?
But all of this is mere logical speculation, not factual knowledge. What
we do know are the details of Leclerc's dishonorable subterfuge to arrest
and deport Toussaint. On June 7 Toussaint received a message from French
General Brunet to meet with him at a plantation near Gonaives. Brunet
assured Toussaint that he'd be perfectly safe with the French, who were,
after all, gentlemen!
Shortly after arriving at the plantation he was arrested and shipped off
to prison in France. Toussaint was taken to Fort de Joux, a cold, damp
prison near the Swiss border. Toussaint soon withered away and died on
April, 7, 1803. So much for French honor!