WAR BETWEEN THE BLACKS AND MULATTOES OF HAYTI.
The ambitious and haughty mulattoes had long been dissatisfied with
the obscure condition into which they had been thrown by the reign of
Dessalines; and at the death of that ruler, they determined to put
forward their claim. Therefore, while Christophe was absent from the
capital, the mulattoes called a convention, framed a constitution,
organized a republic, and elected for their president, Alexandre Pétion.
This man was a quadroon, the successor of Rigaud and Clervaux
to the confidence of the mulattoes. He had been educated at the
military school at Paris; was of refined manners, and had ever been
characterized for his mildness of temper and the insinuating grace
of his address. He was a skilful engineer, and at the time of his
elevation to power he passed for the most scientific officer and the
most erudite individual among the people of Hayti. Attached to the
fortunes of Rigaud, Pétion had acted as his lieutenant in the war
against Toussaint, and had accompanied that chief to France. Here he
remained until the departure of the expedition under Le Clerc, when
he embarked in that disastrous enterprise, to employ his talents
in restoring his country to the dominion of France. Pétion joined
Dessalines, Christophe, and Clervaux when they revolted and turned
against the French, and aided in gaining the final independence of
the Island. He was commanding a battalion of mulattoes, under the
government of Dessalines, at the close of the empire.
Christophe, therefore, as soon as he heard that he had a rival in
Pétion, rallied his forces, and started for Port au Prince, to meet
his enemy, and obtain by conquest what had been refused him by right
of succession; and, as he thought, of merit. Pétion was already in the
field; the two armies met, and a battle was fought.
In this contest, the impetuosity of Christophe’s attack was more than
a match for the skill and science of Pétion; and the new president was
defeated in his first enterprise against the enemy of his government.
The ranks of Pétion were soon thrown into irretrievable confusion, and
in a few minutes they were driven from the field--Pétion himself being
hotly pursued in his flight, finding it necessary, in order for the
preservation of his life, to exchange his decorations for the garb of a
farmer, whom he encountered on his way, and to bury himself up to the
neck in a marsh until his fierce pursuers had disappeared.
After this signal success, Christophe pressed forward to Port au
Prince, and laid siege to that town, in the hope of an easy triumph
over his rival. But Pétion was now in his appropriate sphere of action,
and Christophe discovered that in contending against an experienced
engineer in a fortified town, success was of more difficult attainment
than while encountering the same enemy in the open field, where his
science could not be brought into action. Christophe could make no
impression on the town; and feeling ill assured of the steadfastness of
his own proper government at Cape François, he withdrew his forces from
the investment of Port au Prince, resolved to establish in the North
a separate government of his own, and to defer to some more favorable
opportunity the attempt to subdue his rival at Port au Prince.
Thus placing themselves in hostile array against each other, the two
chiefs of Hayti employed themselves in strengthening and establishing
their respective governments, and in attempts to gain over the
different parts of the Island to an acknowledgment of their authority.
Christophe assumed the title of President of the State, and Pétion,
of the Republic; and the inhabitants of the country conferred their
allegiance according to the opinions of their chiefs, or the places of
their residence.
The successes of Christophe in his late campaign against his rival
at Port au Prince, had encouraged him with the hope of obtaining a
complete conquest over him when he had strengthened and confirmed
his power over the blacks of the North. The greater part of this
province had already declared for him, and refused to acknowledge the
new president at Port au Prince, who had been taken from among the
mulattoes of the South. In this state of public feeling, Christophe
proceeded to issue a series of proclamations and addresses to the
people and the army, encouraging them to hope for a better era about to
arise under his auspices, in which the evils of foreign invasion and
the disaster of intestine disturbance were to cease, and the wounds of
the country to be healed by the restoration of peace and tranquillity.
He manifested a desire to encourage the prosperity of commerce and
agriculture; and by thus fostering individual enterprise, to ensure
the happiness of the people under his rule. To support the credit of
his government among the commercial nations abroad, he dispatched
a manifesto to each of them, with a design to remove the distrust
which had begun to be entertained in the mercantile world of the new
governments of Hayti.
It was announced in these dispatches that the storehouses and magazines
of the Island were crowded and overflowing with the rich productions
of the Antilles, awaiting the arrival of foreign vessels to exchange
for them the produce and fabrics of other lands; that the vexatious
regulations and ignorant prohibitions of his predecessor no longer
existed to interfere with the commercial prosperity of the Island;
and that protection and encouragement would be granted to commercial
factors from abroad, who should come to reside in the ports of the
country.
Christophe felt that his assumption of power was but a usurpation, and
that so long as his government remained in operation without the formal
sanction of the people, his rival at Port au Prince possessed immense
advantages over him, inasmuch as he had been made the constituted head
of the country by an observance of the forms of the constitution. To
remedy this palpable defect, which weakened his authority, he resolved
to frame another constitution, which would confirm him in the power he
had usurped, and furnish him with a legal excuse for maintaining his
present attitude. In accordance with this policy he convoked another
assembly at Cape François, composed of the generals of his army and
the principal citizens of that province, and after a short session
these subservient legislators terminated their labors by giving to
the world another constitution of the country, dated upon the 17th of
February, 1807. This new enactment declared all persons residing upon
the territory of Hayti, free citizens, and that the government was to
be administered by a supreme magistrate, who was to take the title of
President of the State, and General-in-Chief of the land and the naval
forces.
The office was not hereditary, but the president had the right
to choose his successor from among the generals of the army; and
associated with him in the government there was to exist a Council
of State, consisting of nine members, selected by the President from
among the principal military chiefs. This, like the constitution, which
conferred power upon Dessalines, made Christophe an autocrat, though he
was nominally but the mere chief magistrate of a republic.
The rival government of Port au Prince differed from that of
Christophe, by its possessing more of the forms of a republic. With
a president who held his power for life, and who could not directly
appoint his successor, there was associated a legislative body,
consisting of a chamber of representatives chosen directly by the
people, and a senate appointed by the popular branch of the government,
to sustain or control the president in the exercise of his authority.
Hostilities between Christophe and Pétion were carried on for a long
time, which led to little less than the enfeeblement of both parties.
The black chief, however, established his power on solid foundations
in the North, while Pétion succeeded in retaining a firm position in
the South. Thus was the Island once more unhappily divided between two
authorities, each of which watched its opportunity for the overthrow of
the other.
The struggle between the two presidents of Hayti had now continued
three years, when a new competitor started up, by the arrival of Rigaud
from France. He had passed by way of the United States, and arrived
at Aux Cayes on the 7th of April, 1810. This was an unexpected event,
which awakened deep solicitude in the bosom of Pétion, who could not
avoid regarding that distinguished mulatto as a more formidable rival
than Christophe. He feared his superior talents, and dreaded the
ascendency he held over the mulatto population. Rigaud was welcomed
by his old adherents with enthusiastic demonstrations of attachment
and respect; and after enjoying for a few days the hospitalities that
were so emulously offered to him, he proceeded on his way to Port au
Prince. Though Pétion could not feel at his ease while such a rival
was journeying in a species of triumph through the country, he dared
not, at least in his present condition, to make an open manifestation
of his displeasure, or employ force against one who had such devoted
partisans at his command. He determined, therefore, to mask his jealous
feelings, and wear an exterior of complaisance, until he could discover
the designs of Rigaud. The latter was received graciously by the
President, whose suspicions were all effectually lulled by the harmless
deportment of the great mulatto chieftain; and he was even invested by
Pétion with the government of the South. This was to place an idol in
the very temple of its worshippers, for Rigaud returned to Aux Cayes to
draw all hearts to himself. No one in that province now cast a thought
upon Pétion; and within a short period Rigaud was in full possession
of his ancient power. Pétion, affrighted at his situation, surrounded
as he was by two such rivals as Rigaud and Christophe, began an open
rupture with the former before he had fully ascertained whether he
could sustain himself against the hostilities of the latter. Some of
the mulattoes, who, with a spirit of patriotism or clanship foresaw
the triumphs which would be offered to the blacks by civil dissensions
among themselves, proposed a compromise between Rigaud and Pétion; but
this was rejected by the latter, who began to make preparations to
invade Rigaud’s province.
Resolved to profit by this division, Christophe marched against Pétion,
but the common danger brought about a union, and Christophe judged it
prudent to retire.
When Pétion had been left at peace, by the temporary retirement of
Christophe from the war against him, all his former jealousy was
awakened within him against Rigaud. The treaty of Miragoane had been
wrung from him by the hard necessities of his situation, which were
such as to force him to choose between yielding himself a prey to the
warlike ambition of Christophe, or complying with the urgent demands
pressed upon him by the political importance of Rigaud. A compact thus
brought about by the stern compulsion of an impending danger, and
not yielded as a voluntary sacrifice for the preservation of peace,
was not likely to remain unviolated when the necessity of the moment
had passed away and was forgotten. Thus, as has been observed, when
Christophe, engaged as he was in renovating the structure of his
government, had ceased from his hostilities against Pétion, the latter
became immediately infested with all his former dislike of Rigaud.
Intrigues were commenced against him, to shake the fidelity of his
followers, and to turn the hearts of the Southern blacks against the
mulatto who had been placed over them as their chief.
Emissaries were employed in all parts of that province, reminding
the people of the obligations which they owed to the constituted
authorities of the Republic at Port au Prince, and conjuring them to
remember that the preservation of the country against the designs of
France could only be assured by the unanimous support given to the
chief of the Republic, who alone could perpetuate the institutions of
the country, and maintain its independence against its foreign enemies.
An armistice concluded between Pétion and the Maroon chief, Gomar,
furnished an opportunity to the former to arm this formidable brigand
against the government of the South. Gomar’s followers, eager for new
scenes of plunder, commenced their depredations in the plain of Aux
Cayes, and the plantations in that quarter were soon subjected to the
same ravages as had fallen to the lot of those of Grand Anse. While
Rigaud was involved in a perplexing war with these banditti, and had
already discovered that the allegiance of his own followers at Aux
Cayes was wavering and insecure, he was dismayed at the intelligence
that Pétion had already invaded his territory at the head of an
army. Thus were the mulattoes committing suicide upon their political
hopes, if not upon their very existence, by a mad strife in the cause
of their respective chiefs, when their formidable enemy in the North
was concentrating his power, and watching a favorable moment to pour
destruction upon both.
Rigaud hastened to collect his forces, in order to defend his territory
against this invasion of Pétion; and the latter, having already passed
the mountains of La Hotte, was met by his antagonist in the plain of
Aux Cayes. A furious battle immediately took place; and after a gallant
resistance, Rigaud’s troops had already begun to give ground before the
overpowering numbers and successive charges of the enemy, when a strong
reinforcement of troops under the command of General Borgella, coming
in from Aquin, turned the tide of battle in favor of Rigaud, and Pétion
was defeated in his turn, and his army almost annihilated in the rout
which followed.[39]
The joy of this signal victory over his opponent, which had driven him
from the southern territory, did not efface the bitter recollections
which had fastened themselves upon the sensitive mind of Rigaud. In
that province, where he had once been all-powerful, and Pétion a
subservient instrument of his will, he saw that his former glory had so
far departed that he could not trust the fidelity of his own personal
attendants, while his former lieutenant was now his triumphant rival.
The applauses and sworn devotedness with which the multitude had once
followed in the march of his power had now with proverbial fickleness,
been exchanged for the coldness of indifference, or an open alliance
with his foes.
In this desolate state of his fortunes, Rigaud had lost his wonted
energies; and instead of following up his late success, and arming
himself for the last desperate effort to crush his insinuating but
unwarlike opponent, he returned to Aux Cayes, to new solicitudes and
new experience of the faithlessness of that mob whose whirlwind-march
he had once guided by a single word. Pétion’s partisans had now gained
over to their opinions a formidable proportion of the people of Aux
Cayes, and Rigaud had scarcely entered his capital when a multitude
of blacks and mulattoes were gathered in the streets opposite the
government house.
Their cries of vengeance upon Rigaud, and their menacing preparations,
struck a panic into the little body of followers, who, faithful among
the faithless, still adhered with unshaken constancy to the declining
fortunes of their once glorious chief. His friends besought Rigaud not
to attempt the hazardous experiment of showing himself in the gallery
to persuade the mob to disperse. But not suspecting that the last
remnant of his once mighty influence had departed from him, Rigaud
persevered in his design, and advancing to the gallery of the house,
he demanded in a mild voice of the leaders of the multitude what they
intended by a movement so threatening, when he received in answer a
volley of musketry aimed at his life.
But he remained unharmed, though he returned into the house heart-sick
and desperate. A furious onset was immediately commenced from without,
and this was answered by a vigilant and deadly defence from Rigaud’s
followers within. The contest continued through the night, but the mob
were defeated in every attempt which they made to obtain a lodgment
within the walls of the edifice, and no decisive success could be
obtained to disperse them. Rigaud, now convinced that the witchery of
his power existed no longer, made a formal abdication of his authority,
and nominated General Borgella as his successor in the command of
the South. Rigaud, worn with chagrin and humiliation, retired to his
plantation, Laborde, where he died within a few days after, a victim to
the faithlessness of the multitude.
Thus ended the life of André Rigaud, the ablest scholar and most
accomplished military man of any color which the St. Domingo revolution
had produced. The death of Rigaud had the effect of uniting the mulatto
generals, Borgella and Boyer under Pétion, and against Christophe; the
latter, however, succeeded in maintaining his authority in the North,
and still looked forward to a time when he should be able to govern the
whole Island.
Christophe, like Dessalines, had been made a monarch by the
constitution which formed a basis to his power; but he had at
first only assumed to himself the modest title of President. This
moderation in his ambition arose from the desire to supplant Pétion
in his government, and become the supreme head of the whole country
without any rival or associate. For this purpose it was necessary to
surround his power with republican forms; to make it attractive in
the estimation of the better class of blacks and mulattoes, with whom
republican notions happened to be in vogue.
But the prospect of superseding Pétion in his authority had become less
clear with every succeeding attempt, of Christophe against him; and
after years of untiring hostility, it was evident that Pétion was more
firmly enthroned in the hearts of his people than at the commencement
of his administration, and that no solid and durable advantages had
been gained over him in the field. Christophe was thus led to change
his policy; and, instead of seeking to assimilate the nature of the two
governments, in order to supplant his rival in the affections of his
countrymen, he now resolved to make his government the very contrast of
the other, and leave it to the people of his country to decide which of
the two forms of power was the best adapted to the nature and genius of
the population over which they maintained their sway.
The one was a republic in direct contact with the people, and governed
by a plain engineer officer, who, though clothed with the sovereignty
of the state, “bore his faculties so meekly” that he mixed freely with
his fellow-citizens, but as a man in high repute for his intelligence
and his virtues.
Christophe determined that the other should be a monarchy, surrounded
by all the insignia of supreme power, and sustained by an hereditary
nobility, who, holding their civil and military privileges from the
crown, would be props to the throne, and maintain industry and order
among the subjects of the government. The Republic was a government
of the mulattoes, and had been placed under the rule of a mulatto
president. The monarchy was to be essentially and throughout, a
dominion of the pure blacks, between whom and the mulattoes it was
alleged there was such diversity of interest and personal feeling that
no common sympathy could exist between them.
In pursuance of this new policy, Christophe’s Council of State was
convoked, and commenced its labors to modify the constitution of
February, 1807, in order to make it conformable to the new ambition
of Christophe. With this council there had been associated the
principal generals of the army and several private citizens, who were
sufficiently in the favor of Christophe to be ranked among those
willing to do him honor. The labors of this council were brief, and
upon the 20th of March, 1811, the session was closed by the adoption
of a new form of government. The imperial constitution of 1805 was
modified to form an hereditary monarchy in the North, and to place the
crown of Hayti upon Christophe, under the title of Henry the First.
In their announcement to the world of this new organization of the
government, the Council declared that the constitution which had been
framed in the year 1807, imperfect as it was, had been adapted to the
circumstances of the country at that epoch, but that the favorable
moment had arrived to perfect their work, and establish a permanent
form of government, suited to the nature and condition of the people
over which it was to bear rule.
They added that the majority of the nation felt with them the necessity
of establishing an hereditary monarchy in the country, inasmuch as
a government administered by a single individual was, less than any
other, subject to the chances of revolution, as it possessed within
itself a higher power to maintain the laws, to protect the rights of
citizens, to preserve internal order, and maintain respect abroad; that
the title of governor-general, which had been conferred upon Toussaint
L’Ouverture, was insufficient to the dignity of a supreme magistrate;
that that of emperor, which had been bestowed upon Dessalines, could
not in strictness be conferred but upon the sovereign of several states
united under one government, while that of president did not, in fact,
carry with it the idea of sovereign power at all. In consideration of
these grave objections to all other terms to designate the supreme head
of the state, the council expressed itself driven at last to adopt the
title of king. The council next proceeded by a formal decree to confer
the title of King of Hayti upon Henri Christophe and his successors
in the male line, and to make such changes and modifications in the
constitution of 1807 as were required by the recent alteration in the
structure of the government.
On the 4th of April, the Council of State, which, with the additions
made to their number from among the chiefs of the army and the leaders
among the population, was pompously styled the Council General, in
their robes of state, and headed by their president, proceeded to the
palace of Christophe, to announce in formal terms the termination
of their labors, which had resulted in the formation of a new
constitution, making the crown of Hayti hereditary in the family of
the reigning prince. After a speech filled with the very essence of
adulation, the President of the Council, General Romaine, exclaimed
in the presence of the sovereign, “People of Hayti, regard with pride
your present situation. Cherish no longer any fears for the future
prosperity of your country, and address your gratitude to Heaven; for
while there exists a Henry upon the throne, a Sully will ever be found
to direct the march of your happiness.”
On the day following, the new constitution was proclaimed by official
announcement throughout the kingdom, and Christophe entered upon the
exercise of the kingly powers which had been conferred upon him. The
first act of his reign was the promulgation of a royal edict, creating
an hereditary nobility, as a natural support to his government, and
an institution to give éclat and permanence to his sovereignty. These
dignitaries of the kingdom were taken mostly from among the chiefs
of the army, and consisted of two princes, not of the royal blood,
of seven dukes, twenty-two counts, thirty-five barons, and fourteen
chevaliers.
Of priority in rank among the princes of the kingdom, were those of the
royal blood, consisting of the two sons of Christophe, the eldest of
whom, as heir apparent, received the title of Prince Royal.
Having finished these creations of his new monarchy, and received
the two royal crowns of Hayti, Christophe appointed the 2d of June,
1811, as the day for his coronation. All the chiefs of the army and
other grandees of the realm had orders to repair to the capital, and
among them there appeared a deputation from the blacks of the Spanish
territory, who had assumed to themselves the pompous appellations of
Don Raphael de Villars, chief commandant of Santiago; Don Raymond de
Villa, commandant of Vega; Don Vincent de Luna, and Don José Thabanes,
who at least represented the Spanish creoles by the grandiloquence
of their names. An immense pavilion had been erected upon the Place
d’Armes of Cape Henry, furnished with a throne, galleries for the
great ladies of the court, chapels, oratories, an orchestra, and all
the arrangements necessary for the august ceremony. This was performed
in due stateliness by the new archbishop of Hayti, the capuchin Brelle,
who consecrated Christophe King of Hayti, under the title of Henry the
First.
FOOTNOTE:
[39] Lacroix.