a1339: Memoirs of Hayti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Karioka9@cs.com

Bob's call for new material is the pretext for resurrecting this enjoyable
account of life in newly independant Haiti.  The author, an American
negociant in Cap Haitien, writes at length and passionately about the
massacre of the French which he witnessed, but in this installment he
concerns himself more pleasantly with matters of trade, Haitian-Dominican
relations and Dessalines' coronation as emperor in Sep. 1804.  His tone is
remarkably unprejudiced, except for the narration of the coronation
festivities in Port-au-Prince which he borrowed from another American
businessman who took part in the celebrations.  The Memoirs were serialized
in the Port Folio, a monthly literary magazine published by the Federalist
reporter Joseph Dennie under the pseudonym Oliver Oldschool.  Additional
research in Dennie's papers at Harvard's Houghton Library might bring out the
identity of our literary negociant who only signs "R."  Daniel S.

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

Memoirs of Hayti (part 12)
Port Folio Magazine
Vol. III, No. 5 (May 1810)

The Cape, Island of Hayti, November 1805

That portion of the island of Hispaniola called the Spanish part, which is by
far the most considerable in extent of territory, though not in culture and
population, was ceded to France in the year 1795 by the Treaty of Basle.  In
conformity with this arrangement, Toussaint L'Ouverture, in his capacity of
general in chief of the island under the French Republic, took possession of
it, with the exception of the city of St. Domingo.  This important place was
in the occupancy of a force under the command of Don Joachim Garcia,
insubordinate to the authority of the new proprietors, and was not
surrendered until the year 1810, when Paul L'Ouverture, brother of the black
general, was stationed there as commander in chief of the Spanish department.

Upon the arrival of the French army in the winter of 1801-2 under the
captain-general Le Clerc, Paul L'Ouverture embracing the apparent friendly
offers of the Gallic commanders, delivered up the city to general Kerverseau.
 Brigadier-general Clerveaux, a mulatto officer, who commanded at the town of
St. Iago, following this example, also submitted without opposition, and
thereby placed the whole province in the complete possession of the troops of
France.  The war which commenced at that period between the white and black
republicans, and which was terminated by the expulsion of the French army
towards the close of 1803, had its seat principally in the western part of
the island.  In consequence of this, the inhabitants of the Spanish part were
in a situation to remain neuter until the contest should be decided, and then
to side with the victorious party.  They accordingly pursued this system, and
upon the success of the indigene arms, those upon the north side of the
island, as far eastward as Port Plate, generally hastened to acknowledge
their subjection to the authority of Dessalines, as citizens of Hayti.  In
consideration of this honourable proof of loyalty, the governor-general
appointed the officers that were to command them from among themselves, and a
cordial intercourse was kept up with them for several months, and a
profitable commerce in the products of that territory, encouraged.  Those on
the contrary who resided near the city, placing more confidence in the
protection of the French, who still preserved a garrison there under general
Ferrand, preferred to continue their allegiance to that government.  About
the first of March a decree was issued by the French commander prohibiting
all intercourse with that part of the island which was in possession of the
blacks, by which it appears that at that time, the French only occupied the
district which lies between Cape Raphael on the North East coast, and Ocoa
bay on the south side.

Thus stood affairs for a short time until the intrigues of the French had
changed their complexion.  Emissaries and agents, aided by the influence of a
priest, were employed to bring the Spaniards over to their interest, by
circulating addresses through the country calculated to inspire faith in the
great nation, and distrust in the "brigands."  At length after the
commencement of the horrible system of massacre which was extended throughout
the French part, the Spaniards became alarmed and fearful of encountering a
similar fate with their unfortunate cidevant allies, manifested a disposition
to withdraw from their new masters.  They accordingly made application to
Ferrand for assistance, and requested him to send a capable officer to
command them.  That general, seizing with avidity the favourable opportunity
which presented itself, dispatched to their aid general Devaud with a body of
troops.  On the receipt of intelligence of their hostile movements,
Dessalines issued from the Cape a proclamation addressed to the Spaniards,
bearing date the 8th of May, printed copies of which were distributed through
their territory.  In this document he cautions them against being seduced by
the "perfidious insinuations" of the French, and threatens them with
destruction if they should dare to oppose his authority.  He allows them
fifteen days to make up their determination "whether they would coalesce with
his cruel enemies, or rally under his banners."

As stated in a former letter, Dessalines left the Cape for the seat of
government of the 14th of May.  During his visit in the North, the grand
dignitaries of the government had heaped additional honours upon his head, by
granting him an extension for life of his title of governor-general, with the
important powers of nominating his successor and of making peace and war.

The determination of the Spaniards eventuating in favour of the French
interest, a small army was marched against them, which penetrated without
much difficulty as far as the town of St. Iago.  This place being defended by
a garrison of about seven hundred men, opposed a powerful obstacle to the
further conquests of the Haytiens.  A battle took place on the 3rd of June,
in which the blacks were unsuccessful, and were compelled to retreat with
loss.  A short time afterwards, however, under the command of Christophe, who
had advanced with a reinforcement, St. Iago was carried.  All the white
inhabitants who could not escape, were put to the sword, the town was
delivered up to pillage, and the Haitian army returned to the Cape with about
seven or eight hundred black and mulatto prisoners.  Most of the white
inhabitants of the conquered town and its vicinity had fled to the city of
St. Domingo, leaving behind them their property, which afforded to the
victorious troops a rich and extensive field for plunder.  St. Iago is an
ancient, and has once been, a very wealthy town.  A large quantity of gold
and silver, was found there by the soldiers, who indiscriminately robbed the
churches as well as private habitations.  On the return of the black army
with the spoils of war, the French advanced their outposts as far as Monte
Christi, where they were in possession on the 30th of September following.
The Spanish prisoners becoming burthensome to the government, were soon
afterwards, liberated, and in a state of the most abject poverty and
distress, were compelled to beg their bread in the streets of the Cape.

The existence of a French force in the island, though at a considerable
distance from the Haytien settlements, and separated by a very mountainous
country, and although during the continuance of the war then supported
between England and France, there was no probability of an attempt at another
invasion by the latter, was to Dessalines a source of serious uneasiness.  He
was determined to use his utmost endeavours to expel them, by "reconquering
the boundaries which nature had set to his dominions."  But he was not yet
prepared for an undertaking so arduous, and therefore laid aside any
immediate intention of marching against the city of St. Domingo.  The
internal affairs of his government required some attention, and after his
departure from the Cape, he visited Port-de-Paix, Port-au-Prince, and other
towns, for the purpose of ascertaining generally the situation of their
fortifications and military establishments, and of reviewing his troops.

Immediately after the expulsion of the French army, the construction of
powerful forts had been commenced on the high mountains in the interior of
the country, as places of retreat in case of a future visit from their old
enemies.  These fortresses have been built under the direction of skilful
architects and engineers, and are admirably well constructed and defended.
There is one near the Cape called Le Fevrier which I shall describe on a
future occasion as a specimen of the strong holds of this country.  It is the
determination of the Haytiens, in case the French should send another army to
the island, which they look for on a return of peace in Europe, to abandon
the towns on the coast after setting them on fire, to conflagrate and destroy
all the gardens and plantations in their neighborhood, to poison the water,
and then to retire to the mountains, leaving their foes neither protection
from the climate nor sustenance from the soil.

In additions to these forts, some of which were constructing under his
inspection, the governor-general devoted a portion of his time to the
planning of two cities, which were about this time commenced.  One was a few
leagues to the eastward of Port au Prince, and was called Alexandria, in
compliment to Alexander Petion, general of division, commanding one of the
western departments.  The other, situated upon the plantation formerly called
Marchand, afterwards called Camp Marchand, about ten leagues from Gonaives
towards the interior, was nominated the city of Dessalines, and was intended
to be the permanent seat of government, and the residence of the executive.
At this latter place, a splendid palace was built by his excellency, to which
he shortly after removed.

Until the month of September following, no event of a political or
interesting nature occurred.  The chiefs of the island were busily employed
in the superintendance of the forts, and in the government of their
respective departments, the cultivators were kept closely at work upon the
plantations in the cultivation of coffee, sugar, etc. and the inhabitants of
the towns were engaged in their commerce and their various respective
occupations.  The government assured a settled appearance, and tranquillity
was again restored.  Still, however, something occasionally transpired to
excite uneasiness.  The coffee plantations having suffered much from the
devastations that had so long existed, had not yet been sufficiently
productive to supply all the demands of commerce.  The officers of the
government were obliged to make extensive purchases from the Americans, of
provisions, clothing, and ammunition for the troops, and to provide for
future exigencies, in payment for which, the latter had contracted to take
coffee.  The supply not being equal to the demand, and the government
conceiving that the Americans did not pay sufficient for the produce of the
island, foreigners were at times entirely prohibited from purchasing coffee,
except from them, which occasioned many complaints.  The natives too, who
from being mere merchants, aspired to the rank and character of negociants
complained to the governor of the disadvantages they were subjected to, from
the privilege the American supercargoes enjoyed of hiring stores and
retailing their cargoes, which entirely precluded them from the opportunity
of speculation.  To remedy this, a decree was issued prohibiting the further
continuance of this regulation, and declaring that none should have the
liberty of retailing cargoes but the resident merchants, not however
confining it to the indigenes.

The animosity of the Haytiens against the Spaniards, not being confined to
those alone who resided in the island, was extended to the mother country.
War was declared against Spain, and whenever an opportunity offered of
exercising their cruel vengeance it was not neglected.  About the 28th of
June, a Spanish brig called La Bucha Dicha, bound from Cadiz for Vera Cruz
with a valuable cargo of wines, etc. was captured by an indigene barge, and
brought into the Cape, where she was condemned.  The captain, his wife, son,
and crew were cast into prison, where no one was permitted to converse with
them, and were afterwards barbarously murdered.

In the latter part of August or beginning of September, intelligence was
received in the island that Bonaparte had been proclaimed emperor of the
French in the month of May preceding, and to the astonishment of all, before
many days had elapsed, a proclamation signed by the chiefs Vernet, Clerveaux,
Christophe, Petion, Gabart, Geffrard, and a number of inferior officers,
declaring citizen Jean Jacques Dessalines emperor of Hayti, was published.
This act of appointment sets forth that the chiefs could see no advantages
the people could derive from a division of the executive power, and they were
fully satisfied that the supreme authority of the nation could be best
confided to the hands of the man who possessed the affections of all.  It
farther stated that his excellency had refused for a long time the acceptance
of a title of so much dignity, and that it was with the greatest reluctance
that he had consented to accede to their wishes.  This was something in the
style of that unambitious man of whom Mark Antony observed

                "I thrice presented him a kingly crown,
                "Which he did thrice refuse."

In order however that it might not appear that Dessalines had been acting
"like master like man" with Bonaparte, or as a servile imitator, the
proclamation was very cunningly antedated the 25th of January, and the
document intimating the acceptance of the title, the 15th of February.  This
is perhaps one of the weakest and most silly acts ever committed by the
Haytien cabinet.  The very proceedings of the government bear prima facie
evidence of the trick, for in all the public documents prior to September,
Dessalines is entitled governor-general.  That this creation of the imperial
dignity had its origin in the similar event which had taken place in France,
does not admit of a doubt, and I think it more than probable, that the idea
was first suggested by some of the waggish British officers who were
occasionally visiting the island in their ships of war as a hoax upon the
first consul, by depreciating the importance of the dignified title he had
assumed.  Be this as it may, Dessalines was proclaimed emperor throughout the
island amid the acclamations of all his subjects and celebrations of the
event were held in various parts of the empire.  The festivity which
commenced on the 15th of September at the Cape, was continued with
entertainments and illuminations for three days.

The 8th day of October was appointed for a grand procession at Port au
Prince, in honour of this glorious event, and nearly a month before, a
pompous programme describing the order of it was published by general Petion.
 The intention of this chief was no doubt to exhibit something splendid, as
from a perusal of the intended order is very evident, but the means of doing
it were wanting.  A friend of mine, an American, who marched in the
procession as one of the deputation of foreign commerce, has diverted me
exceedingly by contrasting the real appearance of it with the idea one would
conceive from a view of the programme.  Thus what are called "the troops of
the garrison" who were to assemble on the Champ de Mars to receive the
procession, was composed of about two or three hundred negroes with arms,
"some without coats, hats and shirts, and others even destitute of culottes."
 The public teachers, conducting a great number of their pupils, "consisted
of an old negro pedadogue, followed by about a dozen children half clothed or
naked."  The deputation of the body of artisans, "was composed of a few
ragged mechanicals."  The deputation of agriculturists "was made up of eight
or ten plantation negroes who had been sent for to the country to act their
part, and who appeared like the Laplanders, in bear-skins." Upon the whole,
except the officers, the Americans, and a few other individuals, there was
never before so shabby a set of ragamuffins called a procession.  On their
arrival upon the public square, they found "the amphitheatre in the midst of
which was a throne," to be nothing more than a stage made of the roughest
boards, in the centre of which was a kind of table.  One of the officers
mounted this rostrum and read aloud the act announcing the nomination of the
emperor, after which he delivered a kind of oration, and the procession then
moved to the church where a Te Deum was sung in thanksgiving for this
memorable day.  At the conclusion of this procession returned to the house of
the general, where it was dismissed.  It appears that after the Te Deum had
been appointed as part of the duties of the day, no one could be found
capable of performing the service, and it is an actual fact that a detachment
of soldiers was sent into the Spanish part of the island to catch some
priests.  In this curious employment they succeeded, and returned to Port au
Prince with two, who regulated the religious exercises of the day.  The
firing of cannon, which was answered from the American vessels in the
harbour, was repeated several times in the course of the ceremonies, and the
festivities of the occasion were closed by a general illumination.  The
emperor was himself at Port au Prince, and after the procession, which he
beheld from his window, had been dismissed, he received the gratulations of
all who went to pay their respects to him.  In this tribute of regard, our
countrymen were not backward.  They waited upon him in a body to congratulate
his majesty upon what they humorously termed, his accession to the throne of
his ancestors, and were very graciously received.

R