The French Revolution in San Domingo by Stoddard Lothrop

Author:Stoddard, Lothrop [Stoddard, Lothrop]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
Published: 1914-02-15T06:00:00+00:00

XVIII

The Destruction of Le Cap

When Sonthonax sailed for the West in the opening days of March, 1793, Le Cap appeared so crushed in spirit that he anticipated little resistance to the stern rule of General Laveaux. And yet the very first report of this trusted deputy must have stirred Sonthonax to fresh disquietude. In his letter of March 7, Laveaux reported quiet, it is true, but added that this was “thanks to the watchfulness of the Commission Intermédiaire” and to his own military patrols. He also reported so much veiled hostility and seditious language that a projected sally against the rebel negroes had been indefinitely postponed.1

And his subsequent letters were more ominous still. The very next day arrived the tidings of the execution of Louis XVI, which produced “commotion” suppressed only by redoubled patrols,2 while ten days later the news of the English war caused him to ask Sonthonax for further orders in case of extreme necessity.3 Before March was out the situation had grown so bad that Laveaux wrote, “You must repress the disaffected; their numbers grow with every day. Count on us, but do not lose a single instant in your return. … We fear a violent explosion.”4

Such was the state of Le Cap when on the 7th of May a new Governor-General arrived from France. The outbreak of war with both England and Spain5 placed distracted San Domingo in a highly perilous situation, and made the presence of an able military head a matter of prime necessity. Realizing this obvious fact, the Convention dispatched to San Domingo one Galbaud, an officer free from political entanglements and with a professional reputation of the best. His instructions were the counterpart of those issued to Desparbés, — subordination to the Commissioners in political matters, but a free hand in the technical handling of the troops.6

Galbaud was a quiet, steady soldier who had always kept out of politics and who asked nothing better than absorption in his professional duties. But the excitable population of Le Cap, goaded to despair by the long months of Sonthonax’s brutal rule, welcomed the new Governor-General as a deliverer: when it discovered that his wife was a San Domingo Creole it greeted Galbaud as an avenger as well. Madame Galbaud has left a vivid picture of her husband’s triumphal progress through the streets of the city and of the frantic enthusiasm which met him on every side.7

Galbaud’s soldierly instincts were greatly shocked at the terrible condition of Le Cap. He found everything in the greatest dilapidation; the magazines empty, the soldiers destitute and mutinous for want of pay, the treasury completely looted by Sonthonax and his corrupt associates. Madame Galbaud relates her horror at the Commissioners’ conduct in both North and West, and the General himself seems to have shared her feelings. He at once took measures to remedy the situation, quieted the troops, and confirmed the inhabitants in their favorable opinion of his character.

At the news of Galbaud’s arrival the Civil Commissioners’ jealous and despotic

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