Port au Prince.
Since writing my last letter, I have had an opportunity of attending the
Commander in Chief upon an expedition, which remained a secret at
head-quarters, until the morning after we left Port au Prince. Having
dined at the government-house, we set off, a party of five, viz. the
Commander in Chief, Colonel Grant, Major Gillespie, Dr. Jackson, and
myself, escorted by a troop of hussars. In the evening we arrived at the
Croix des Bouquets, a town situated in the plain of the Cul de Sac,
about twelve miles from Port au Prince. Here the General was received by
Colonel O’Gorman, and Major le Pine (two of the foreign officers in
British pay), at the head of a party of the garrison drawn up at the
gate of the fort. We were soon afterwards conducted to the residence of
Monsieur le Curé, where the Commander in Chief was provided for the
night—the rest of the party finding quarters in the town. Before we
separated, orders were given to the escort, announcing that the General
would be on horseback at gun-fire in the morning.
Colonel Grant and myself, being quartered in the same house, rose at
five o’clock, and hastened to the Curé’s, where we found the hussars
drawn up before the door, and the Commander in Chief mounting his horse.
We were instantly on the march, and, soon after passing the outer gate
of the town, the General mentioned the object of the expedition, viz. to
witness the result of an attack, which he had ordered to be made upon a
strong post of the brigands, in the mountains separating the valley of
the Cul de Sac from the plain of Mirebalais; where they had maintained a
commanding position for the last three or four years, to the great
annoyance of our convoys, and of all persons possessing any property in
that vicinity.
Upon this elevated point they had assembled to the number of eight or
nine hundred; and had so strongly fortified themselves as to consider
the position secure against any force which the British commander might
be able to detach. A body of troops had been ordered to proceed in three
columns, with a view of assailing them, in so many different directions
at the same time. We advanced near to the mountains, and within sight of
the brigand post, without hearing any signal, or seeing any of the
troops. We remained therefore only a short time below the hills, and
after being three hours on horseback returned to the Croix des Bouquets
to wait despatches from the officer appointed to command the attack.
On arriving at Monsieur le Curé’s we found the breakfast-table spread
with a copious repast, equally calculated for the hungry trooper, and
for him who had quietly slumbered away his morning hours.
The lamentable revolution has robbed the Curé of his appropriate, and
more distinguish-home—his late residence having been converted into a
fort, and the house into a barrack: but the change, which has placed him
in a more humble abode, has not deprived him of his disposition to
promote the comfort of those who visit him, whether friends or
strangers.
At the hour of dinner the plenteous board again displayed the bounty of
the generous host; who provided an ample supply for a party of eighteen;
our number being increased by some of the officers of the 21st dragoons,
and others belonging to the garrison of the town.
Just as we were seated at table a dragoon arrived, announcing the action
to have commenced, between our troops, and the brigands in the
mountains; and, on looking out, the post was discovered to be in flames;
which augured favorably for the attacking party.
We resumed our quarters at the Croix des Bouquets for the night, and on
the following morning, escorted as before, returned to Port au Prince,
where the General received despatches, informing him that the attack had
succeeded to his wishes—the enemy being defeated, and the place in
possession of our troops; but, we have to lament the loss of several
brave men killed, and many wounded, the post having been defended with
great obstinacy.
This expedition afforded me an opportunity of seeing the plain of the
Cul de Sac, to the extent of sixteen or eighteen miles; and I am sorry
to observe that it exhibits one vast and melancholy picture of
devastation; a considerable part of the town of Croix des Bouquets being
involved in the same destructive fate.
Before the revolution this fertile plain was one of the most improved
spots in the West Indies, being, at that time, adorned with numbers of
highly improved estates, handsome houses, rich gardens, and plenteous
crops of sugar. Now it offers only the dismal marks of ruined greatness
and beauty—displaying a grievous example of the evils which result from
misguiding the passions of the ignorant by the abuse of a popular
sentiment. If the people of France and the slaves of their colonies had
been first taught to comprehend that true _liberty_ consisted in the
privilege of enjoying their own rights, not in the destruction of the
rights of others, that enchanting term could never have been so
perverted to the misery of mankind. To force unlimited freedom upon
slaves, who had always been governed by terror, was to surrender every
consideration of justice, policy, and discretion, to a mere pretence—to
a high-sounding but hollow humanity. It was to let loose the tiger
without having the power of again subduing him, and can only be regarded
as the act of a set of madmen.
It is probable that the lately enviable plain of the Cul de Sac will
soon revert to a wild forest, bearing no visible mark of its former
cultivation; at present a naked chimney, part of a mill, the broken wall
of a sugar-house, or some other ruin, lifts its head, here and there,
above the aspiring thorn—some remains are likewise seen of the fine
roads, the expensive aqueducts, and other improvements which enriched or
embellished the teeming valley: but, unless the all-redeeming hand of
industry shall resume its sway, the few remaining marks of its former
influence will be speedily buried amidst the rapid vegetation of this
prolific soil.