Kitabı oku: «The Present State of Hayti (Saint Domingo) with Remarks on its Agriculture, Commerce, Laws, Religion, Finances, and Population», sayfa 5

In this destruction of the Cape, some instances of the most extraordinary brutality were exhibited, and others of devotedness and heroism were displayed; one or two it will be as well to mention, as illustrative of the generosity and humanity of the one party, and of the ferocity and cruelty of the other. When the revolters first entered the city, every man, woman, and child were bayoneted or cut down with such instruments as they could muster, but the young females were in most cases spared, for the momentary gratification of the lust of those into whose hands they fell. One case of the most singular enormity took place: – a leader of the revolted slaves, named Gautier, had entered the house of a respectable merchant in the square, in which were the proprietor, his wife, his two sons, and three daughters; the sons were young, not exceeding the age of ten, but the daughters were elegant young women, the eldest about eighteen, and the youngest not exceeding fourteen. Gautier, assisted by one or two wretches equally inhuman, promised to spare the family, on account of his having received many acts of kindness and generosity from the father, to whom he was often sent by his master on business, he being a domestic slave. These poor creatures, who were at first half-expiring from the terror of the scene around them, and from the idea of being the captives of barbarians, recovered somewhat from the alarm into which they had been thrown, through the promises of security thus unconditionally pledged to them; and although not permitted to go out of the sight of their captors, they did not apprehend that any mischief was in embryo, and that their lives were to be sacrificed. Impressed with the idea of safety, they proceeded to prepare a repast for their supposed guardians, and set it before them in the same splendour as they were wont to do when receiving their best and dearest friends. Gautier drank freely, and his compeers did no little justice to the rich repast. Night coming on, and apprehensive of the consequences of a surprise from the governor’s force, they began to deliberate upon what plan they should adopt to secure their unhappy captives from flight, when, not being able to devise any thing likely to be effectual, they came to the savage resolution of murdering them all. The daughters were locked up in a room, under the watch of two of the revolters, whilst the remainder of them commenced the bloody task by bayoneting the two sons. The mother, on her knees, imploring mercy with pitiful cries, met with the same fate, whilst the husband, who was bound hand and foot, was barbarously mangled, by having first his arms and then his legs cut off, and afterwards run through the body. During this blood-thirsty scene, the daughters, ignorant of the tragic end of their parents, were in a state of alarm and terror not to be described, yet hoping that their lives were safe. But, alas! how deceitful that hope! for their destiny was fixed, and their time but short. Gautier and his diabolical associates went into their room, stripped them naked, and committed on their defenceless persons the most brutal enormities, when with the dead bodies of their parents they were thrown into the flames which were then surrounding them, where they all perished.

I shall mention another case of an opposite character, and in which a degree of heroism was exhibited that deserves to be recorded with every praise. A M. Tardiffe, a planter, and a young man of considerable property and of great courage and presence of mind, had joined the force of the governor, and had consequently become an object of great hatred, particularly on the part of some of the mulattoes who resided in the vicinity of his estate. Awakened one night about twelve o’clock by the cries of females, he jumped up, and rushed to the room in which his sisters, two amiable young ladies, were reposing, where he found armed men attempting to get through the window. He instantly flew for his sabre and pistols, which were loaded, his sisters following him, and then returned to the room to oppose the assassins. He found one had accomplished his purpose of getting into the room, whom he in an instant ran through the body; when, turning to the window, he shot another fellow just entering, and afterwards one or two others who made similar attempts. About this time his domestics had all come up stairs, and they shewed themselves most faithful in adhering to their master; for, not contented with merely opposing the entry of the assassins into the house, they sallied forth to meet them at the front of it, and although their numbers were inferior to that of their unprincipled and lawless invaders, they successfully attacked them, killing seven, and driving away the rest, with the exception of one, who was captured, who happened to be the illegitimate brother of M. Tardiffe, to whom he had shewed the warmest affection and whom he had cherished as the dearest relation. In return for such ingratitude and villainy, how did M. Tardiffe act? Did he give him up for public justice? No. Did he permit his faithful and enraged domestics, who were witnesses of his crimes, to execute momentary vengeance upon him? No. But he took him by the hand, mildly remonstrated with him, and afterwards furnished him with the means of leaving the colony for America, lest the searching hand of justice might before long stay his career. I have thought it adviseable to relate these two cases, from the extraordinary enormity of the first, and from the singular circumstances attending the last, having received the detail of them from an individual who was engaged in most of the events which occurred at that period.

After this first revolt of the slaves in the north, emigrations commenced in almost all parts of the colony, some going to the United States, many to the neighbouring islands; and some of the most opulent and powerful of the planters to England, under the impression that the British government would be disposed to turn its attention to their cause. The war between France and England having commenced, some regard was paid to their solicitations, and through the instance of M. Charmilly (the M. Charmilly of Spanish notoriety) the government of England sent out directions to the governor of Jamaica to afford to those inhabitants of St. Domingo who were desirous to place themselves under British protection every possible support, and to send without delay a competent force, and to take possession of such places as the people might be disposed to surrender to them.

The intentions of the British government being known by the means of secret agents, the commissioners, Santhonax and Polverel, had recourse to every possible means of strengthening the force in the colony, and of being prepared for the reception of the British troops whenever they should make their contemplated descent. They collected the regular troops, militia, and such of the whites as were in their interest, together with the free negroes and mulattoes who had hitherto followed their cause. But this was not deemed by them a sufficient body when united, to oppose British soldiers led on by experienced commanders. They therefore at once “proclaimed the abolition of every species of slavery, declaring that the negroes were thenceforth to be considered as free citizens”; and thereby assigned over to a lawless banditti the fee simple of every property in the French part of the island of St. Domingo, placing every white inhabitant within almost the grasp of a set of people insensible to every feeling of humanity, rude and ruthless as in their native wilds.

A description of these untutored people cannot be better given than in the language of Mr. Edwards, who says, “The Charaibs of St. Vincent, and the Maroons of Jamaica, were originally enslaved Africans; and what they now are, the freed negroes of St. Domingo will be hereafter, – savages in the midst of society, without peace, security, agriculture, or property; ignorant of the duties of life, and unacquainted with all the soft endearing relations which rendered it desirable; averse to labour, though frequently perishing for want; suspicious of each other, and towards the rest of mankind revengeful and faithless, remorseless and bloody-minded; pretending to be free while groaning beneath the capricious despotism of their chiefs, and feeling all the miseries of servitude without the benefits of subordination.” The prediction of this elegant author has certainly been realized in all its parts, and subsequent events have fully confirmed the opinion which he had formed of the negro character, when left to his own uncontrolled will and unrestrained in his propensities. Sloth, lust, and every species of wantonness and cruelty marked the progress of the enfranchised slaves in the first moment of their freedom; and until leaders of decisive and resolute powers for command undertook to preserve some degree of order and submission, they wandered in parties through the different parishes, inflicting the most unheard-of cruelties on the innocent and unoffending, without regard to sex or colour. To the will and command of their chief they were generally obedient, although they were subjected to duties of the most dangerous and laborious description; but when the least relaxation of discipline was permitted, they again resorted to plunder and destruction, and to every other species of insubordination, gratifying their insatiable thirst for the blood of the whites, as well as of that of the mulattoes, who were averse to the measure of emancipation. In these predatory excursions they committed the most shocking excesses, and more real and afflicting accounts have been received of the enormities practised by them when wandering in detached parties, than have been known to follow the most sanguinary battle in which they had been engaged.

I see nothing through the whole career of the rebellion to induce me to alter my opinion of the cause whence all these lamentable effects sprung; and I must again repeat, that it was not misconduct on the part of the proprietors which excited the first revolt, and induced the slaves to take up arms against those from whom, in innumerable instances, they had experienced kindness and indulgence. It was natural to expect that in a colony, the operations in which are entirely performed by slaves, some cases of oppression would occur which would justly deserve reprobation; but the rebellion became general, although I am not aware that any successful attempt has been made to shew that the conduct of the planters towards their slaves was generally harsh and oppressive.

De Vastey, in his remarks, would wish it to be inferred that the brute creation received infinitely more kindness and indulgence from their master than was shewn towards the slave: but De Vastey being a negro, it is natural that he should exhibit the worst side of the picture, without noticing its better one. He adduces no instances of that oppression which he wishes to prevail upon mankind to believe to have been inflicted: we have nothing from him but allegations and assertions, without proof to support them. It is true, that he puts forward some statements of cruelties inflicted on his negro brethren, but those were subsequent, even by his own account, to the revolt and to the emancipation; but he has forgotten that the first atrocities, the first acts of cruelty and indiscriminate murder, were committed by his very brethren (for whom he claims the pity of mankind for their sufferings and for their unmerited bondage) on the plantation Noé, and others in the vicinity. De Vastey, it is plain, is no authority on which the charge of cruelty on the part of the planter before the rebellion can be supported.

With regard to the mulattoes, or free men of colour, who were doubtless the chief instigators of the rebellion and of the first revolt of the slaves, although they cannot escape the condemnation justly due to them for their perfidy, yet the extreme disabilities under which they laboured in some measure might be adduced in mitigation of the censure which their faithless conduct so truly deserved. If they had not commenced the work of revolt, but had remained quiet observers of the proceedings of the national and colonial assemblies, and delayed their operations until the result of the deliberations and arrangements of those bodies had been promulgated, they would have called forth spontaneous expressions of approbation from all classes of people: but the eagerness which they manifested for civil feuds and for a preponderancy of power in the colony, without any conditions and without the least possible reservation, has called down upon them, and I think justly too, very severe reprobation. It has been observed, that this class of people were, from their education and from their general demeanour, as eligible members of society as the whites, and as such ought to have been admitted into all its rights and advantages. This, I believe, no one undertakes to deny; but it is no more than fair and equitable towards the white population to observe, that prior to every concession being made to them, something like a line of demarcation should have been drawn as to the limits to which those concessions should be carried, otherwise from their number and power the mulattoes might have obtained an overwhelming preponderancy in the colony, rendering the white colonists mere cyphers.

The decrees against the people of colour, as they appear on the records of the colony, are extremely harsh and impolitic, and a relaxation, if not a repeal of them, would have been only an act of justice. The government held them in no repute, but considered them as it were national property, and gave the public a right in them. They were subjected by the governors, when they had arrived at a particular age, to a military servitude of the most degrading kind, and for a time to labour on the public roads, the severity of which was almost too great to be borne. They were not permitted to hold any office of power or trust in the state, nor could they even follow the humble calling of a schoolmaster. The least possible taint in the blood excluded them, and the distinction of colour had no termination. Not so in the British colonies, where it is lost in the third generation. It is said also, that “the courts of criminal jurisdiction adopting the popular prejudices against them gave effect and permanency to the system. A man of colour, being a prosecutor, must have made out a strong case indeed, if at any time he obtained the conviction of a white person. On the other hand, the whites never failed to procure prompt and speedy justice against mulattoes. To mark more strongly the distinction between the two classes, the law declared that if a free man of colour presumed to strike a white person, of whatever condition, his right hand should be cut off; while a white man for a similar assault on a free mulatto was dismissed on the payment of an insignificant fine.”³

It is, I conceive, impossible for any one to be informed of the existence of such a system without exclaiming, that whatever might have been the proceedings of the people of colour in the work of rebellion, their grievances offered considerable extenuation of their conduct. This presents the most disgraceful and indefensible page in the colonial records of criminal jurisprudence. True it is that its severity, that its flagrant injustice, precluded the possibility of putting it in force; the abhorrence which it so generally excited among all orders of people, made it a dead letter; but it was notwithstanding a law in force, and might have been acted upon by an arbitrary and unmerciful judge.

The only circumstance that contributed towards affording the coloured people some degree of security and protection under their disabilities was the power which they indirectly derived from the possession of property in the colony. They consequently had influence, because under a corrupt government money bought it, and many were the venal officers of the state who had stooped to be their pensioners. Many of these mulattoes held large estates, and possessed besides extensive available funds; these men in most cases evaded those exclusions from society, to which their brethren of less influence were obliged to submit. They were secure enough both in their persons and property, whilst the less wealthy among their coloured brethren had to submit to every species of insecurity and mortification.

I have now said as much as may be deemed necessary on the subject of the situation of the coloured people at the time of the first disturbances in St. Domingo, and I trust I have made it appear conclusive, that the cause of those disturbances did not proceed from the oppression and the tyranny practised over the slaves, but from the measures of the national assembly, the colonial assemblies, aided by that specious and intriguing body, the society of Amis des Noirs, and the coloured people then residing in France, who had been tainted with the pernicious doctrines then prevailing in that country.

CHAPTER IV

Effects of emancipating the slaves. – Arrival of the British forces. – Their subsequent operations. – Evacuation by General Maitland. – M. Charmilly negotiates with the English. – Views of the English cabinet. – Parties in the contest. – And insincerity of the French planters

Having, in the last chapter, arrived at the period when Santhonax and Polverel conferred freedom upon the slave population, and at the time also when the planters of the colony had solicited the aid of the British government to their cause, I shall now proceed in my detail of the effects produced by the former, and, in as succinct a manner as possible, notice a few of the operations of the latter, as well as the consequences arising from them.

No sooner had the abolition of slavery been promulgated, than it spread through the whole colony with remarkable rapidity, and the work of insubordination and destruction commenced. In the different parishes the slaves rose simultaneously, formed into bodies, took possession of the mountains, and secured themselves within those fastnesses which everywhere abound through the island. They then sallied forth into the plains, spreading devastation around them, setting fire to the cane fields, and demolishing every description of habitation within their range, murdering the unoffending white inhabitants wherever they met with them. In one part of the colony the insurgents amounted to nearly one hundred thousand, without any leader who had the least possible command over them. In the north their force in the first instance only amounted from about twenty to twenty-five thousand, but they quickly increased to forty thousand of a most desperate and sanguinary character.

The British force under Colonel Whitelocke made its appearance before Jeremie on the 19th of September 1793; it consisted only of about eight hundred and seventy rank and file. As this place was to be given up to the British force by stipulation, the town was taken possession of the next day, and the inhabitants all took the oath of allegiance with much eagerness. Cape St. Nicolas next followed; but here the inhabitants displayed some hostility, and most of them joined the standard of republicanism, although they had before strenuously adhered to the royal cause, and kept the white flag always hoisted. Tiburon was next tried, but here, notwithstanding the strongest pledges of cooperation on the part of the planters, their infidelity was so manifest, and the force of the enemy had become so formidable, that the troops were obliged to retreat with some loss, and this object of the expedition therefore unfortunately failed. From fatigue and from sickness, from the exposure to which they had been subjected, both in the sun and the noxious dews of night, the troops became much dispirited and discouraged, and further operations were suspended until a force from England arrived of sufficient magnitude to prosecute further offensive measures. This did not take place until the February following, when a British squadron arrived with troops, which were immediately landed, with Major (now Sir Brent) Spencer at their head, who most gallantly attacked the enemy, drove them back with considerable loss, and thereby retrieved that which before ended in a failure. The whole bight of Leogane was now commanded by the British squadron, and a further force being expected from England, it was anticipated that Port au Prince would fall an easy conquest, from the supposition that the people were mostly in favour of their cause. A considerable time elapsed before the reinforcements from England made their appearance; in the interim, many skirmishes took place in the vicinity of Leogane, as well as at Tiburon, and in the neighbourhood of Cape Nicolas Mole; in some instances the British were successful, and in others the enemy obtained advantages.

About this period it was that Andrew Rigaud first made his appearance at the head of the revolted slaves: he was a man of colour, and had the command at Aux Cayes. With about two thousand of the rebels he marched from his station and besieged Tiburon; but the fort which was manned by some British soldiers, who defended it with their usual intrepidity, and who afterwards sallied forth, attacked the besiegers in the field, and put them to the rout with great slaughter.

During the interval occasioned by the non-arrival of the reinforcement from England, the planters who were, in the first instance, favourable to the cause of the British, began to shew some symptoms of displeasure; and the tardiness with which the operations were carried on, and the absence of that decision which the urgency of their situation required, induced many very powerful individuals to relinquish all further adherence to the party in which they had engaged, and to join the republican standard.

On the 19th of May the force which had been so long looked for arrived under the command of General Whyte, who, with Commodore Ford, proceeded at once to deliberate on the measures which it would be adviseable to adopt for the capture of Port au Prince. On the 30th the ships of war, consisting of four ships of the line, three or four frigates, and several smaller vessels, anchored off the city. The land forces amounted to only about fifteen hundred men capable of doing duty. The next morning a flag was sent to summon the city to surrender, to which no attention was paid, and it is even said that the letter was returned unopened. The commissioners, Santhonax and Polverel, were known to be in the city with a considerable force; and it was expected that a powerful stand would be made, for the preservation of this important place. Fort Bizotton, which is situate on an eminence to the southward of the city, commands the Leogane road and the southern entrance in the harbour. The land-side was attacked by a body of troops under the gallant Major Spencer, whilst a simultaneous attack was made on the sea-side by two of the ships of war. Captain Daniel of the forty-first regiment, with about seventy or eighty men, took advantage of a thunder storm which happened about eight o’clock, entered the breach which had been rendered practicable, and carried the fort at the point of the bayonet. The captain was severely wounded, and some of his men and officers fell. The city soon surrendered, and the commissioners evacuated it on the fourth of June, the birth-day of the then sovereign of Great Britain, George the Third, when the British troops entered and took possession of it together with the shipping in the harbour. It was the intention of the republican commissioners to set fire to the city, but the prompt and decisive attack of the British gave them no time for carrying so destructive a design into effect.

This capture was of great consequence to the cause of the British as far as their proceedings had gone on; it gave confidence to the soldiers, and inspirited the colonial troops who had joined their standard; but it afterwards proved to be the grave of many a British officer and soldier: sickness began to rage amongst the troops to such an alarming extent, as is generally the case in the autumnal months, that it was found necessary, for the preservation of the post, to erect additional lines of defence, fearing that in their then condition the enemy might try to regain the position. To accomplish this, the troops were subjected to incessant toil, first in the sun, and then during the night exposed to all the pernicious vapours arising from heavy rains which fall during the rainy seasons. In point of booty the capture of Port au Prince was a very fine acquisition, although the commissioners carried off with them every thing valuable which it contained, consisting of upwards of two hundred mule loads. They were accompanied also by upwards of two thousand of the inhabitants, who followed in their career. Finding however that they had lost all their influence in the colony, and that Rigaud and Toussaint L’Ouverture had obtained possession of the whole, they thought it expedient to leave the island, and return to France, where they received the congratulations of the government, whose representatives they had been appointed to carry into operation the most injudicious decrees that could possibly have been framed for the internal government of any colonial appendage.

The value of the captured property has been variously estimated: a writer of some authority says, that “In the harbour were found two and twenty top-sail vessels, fully laden with sugar, indigo, and coffee, of which thirteen were from three to five hundred tons burthen, and the remaining nine from one hundred and fifty to three hundred tons, besides seven thousand tons of shipping in ballast; the value of all which at a moderate computation could not be far short of four hundred thousand pounds sterling. One hundred and thirty-one pieces of cannon regularly mounted in batteries were on the lines.”

After the reduction of Port au Prince, a further reinforcement arrived under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Lennox, consisting of about six hundred men, but on their passage from the windward islands to Jamaica, to which latter place they first sailed, sickness broke out amongst them, by which more than one hundred died on board, and a hundred and fifty were left at Port Royal in the last stage of disease. It is impossible to describe the mortality that prevailed amongst the troops in St. Domingo. When active operations were likely to be attended with a beneficial result, the commander-in-chief was prevented from taking advantage of the positions which he held, by the epidemic which at the time so lamentably raged. There could not be produced eight hundred British soldiers in a condition for the field, and many of them had only a short time previously been discharged from the hospitals; of course they were not equal to the fatigue of active service, nor were they in the least fit for a duty which rendered it necessary to expose them to the pernicious humidity of the night air. The commander-in-chief, General Whyte, was seized with this malignant fever; and his health was so much impaired by the effects of disease, and anxiety for the fate of his officers and men, who were daily dying around him, that he was compelled to leave the island and return to England, when the command devolved on Brigadier-General Horneck.

From the departure of General Whyte in September 1794, until the arrival of General Williamson in the month of May following, nothing of any material consequence ensued, except some skirmishes between the posts of the British and revolters, attended with no decisive result on either side. During this short period of inactivity on the part of the British, Rigaud, collecting a strong force, advanced towards Leogane, which at that time was defended by some colonial troops, and succeeding in his attack upon the place, he inhumanly murdered the French planters who fell into his power, and afterwards advanced upon Port au Prince; but in his attempt upon Fort Bizotton which commanded his advance, he failed, having been repulsed by the garrison, with great slaughter, whence he retreated, for the purpose of making another effort for the recovery of Tiburon. He left Aux Cayes with a force of three thousand men with four small armed vessels, and on the 25th of December they commenced the attack on the place. The fort, which consisted of only about four hundred and fifty men, defended it with great bravery; and after the loss of two-thirds of their number, the remainder sallied forth, cut their way through the revolters, and reached Irois in safety.

In the vicinity of St. Marc, Colonel Brisbane, who commanded there, had much to do in keeping the insurgents in check, who had at this time become exceedingly bold in their movements, and seemed determined on the most vigorous operations, both offensive and defensive. The colonel with a few British and some colonial troops, obtained advantages over them in several skirmishes in the plains of the Artibanite; but whilst he was engaged there the mulatto inhabitants of St. Marc, who had pledged themselves most solemnly to observe the strictest neutrality, violated their pledge, and in the most cowardly manner put to death all whom they found actively engaged against the French republic. The garrison defended themselves in the fort, from whence they were relieved in a short time by a vessel of war from Cape Nicolas Mole. The white inhabitants also of St. Marc, many of whom were the most forward to hail the arrival of the British and to place themselves under British protection, engaged in a plot for the destruction of Colonel Brisbane, but that officer, ever on the alert, discovered and successfully defeated their designs.

At Port au Prince a similar conspiracy was brought to light, the object of which was the destruction of the garrison and all the English people by those very French inhabitants who joined in hailing with acclamations the arrival of the British force before the city. Such abominable treachery did not go without its commensurate punishment; the conspirators were seized, and about twenty of the principal ones, amongst whom were several French officers of rank, were condemned by the sentence of a court-martial. Of these conspirators fifteen were shot on the 18th of February, 1795, and the remainder were sent off the island.