Black Spartacus by Sudhir Hazareesingh

Author:Sudhir Hazareesingh
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

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‘Ne perdons pas notre temps’: never was Toussaint more faithful to his revolutionary motto than in the months which followed his successful campaign in Santo Domingo. He bundled Don García and his retinue off the island in February 1801, after relieving the governor of the 298,000 gourdes in his treasury;78 ‘not a single gourde ’ could be allowed to leave the colony, he wrote disingenuously to García, lest it fell into British hands.79 With typical aplomb, Toussaint had fooled the Spanish government into thinking that his invasion of Santo Domingo had the full backing of Britain and the United States.80

The conqueror also sent Bonaparte a brisk message that the whole of Hispaniola was now under republican rule, and invited him to recall Roume to France, as the French agent’s head had been poisoned ‘by intrigue and malice’.81 In a longer letter written to the First Consul on the same day he allowed himself to show off, praising his soldiers for their gallantry and fortitude during the Santo Domingo campaign. He also informed him that he had promoted Moyse and Dessalines to the rank of division general – the latter for his pivotal role in defeating Rigaud, the former for his prowess against the Spaniards.82 Toussaint’s praise for Moyse was a tragic irony, given that his nephew was soon to betray him. But there was little doubt that Moyse had earned the commendation: even his enemies conceded that he was a brave and formidable warrior.83

In Toussaint’s mind the decommissioning of the Spanish and French envoys had edged Saint-Domingue further on its mercurial road towards autonomy. In April 1801, after nonchalantly giving him the news about Santo Domingo and enquiring about his health and that of his family, Toussaint ordered Roume to leave Saint-Domingue – but the real point of his letter was to underline that he had been right all along, against Roume’s objections.84 Roume had been kept in extreme confinement for five months, without any possibility of movement or communication; had it not been for the help discreetly provided by the American consul, Stevens, he and his family could have starved. He responded angrily, giving Toussaint an opportunity for a final touch of cruelty: he informed the Cap municipality that the agent had become mentally unbalanced, and that in light of his age and infirmities he needed to leave the colony forthwith.85

The protection of the territory’s labourers was one of Toussaint’s first priorities, especially when he learned that Spanish families were deserting Santo Domingo’s plantations in droves and taking their house and field slaves with them. By late January 1801 it was estimated that more than 3,000 men and women had been forcibly removed by their owners and taken to nearby Spanish dominions, most notably Cuba. Toussaint took immediate action, reminding the Spaniards that many of these slaves were citizens of Saint-Domingue who had been captured illegally. When he learned that a vessel named Trois Mâts was about to set sail from Santo Domingo with a large contingent

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