Page:Haiti- Her History and Her Detractors.djvu/151

 Rh on the 17th of November, 1802, and he at once began committing the acts of cruelty for which he was famed. General Maurepas, whom Brunet had arrested at Port-de-Paix, had been, together with his whole family, transferred to the man-of-war Le Duguay-Trouin, at that time in the harbor of Cap-Français. Colonel Bandin and a regiment of native troops were also embarked on the same ship. By Rochambeau's order all these unfortunate people were thrown into the sea and drowned.

At that time it sufficed to be black or mulatto to be suspected of sympathizing with the insurgents, and, in consequence, to be mercilessly murdered. Yet the French were among the first to call Dessalines a monster when he retaliated by killing the whites. If it were possible to excuse such excesses, must not one make allowances for the uncultured men who were fighting in order to shake off an odious yoke? The French were supposed to represent progress and civilization; should they not be the ones to give the example of respect of human life and of the rules of war? If Dessalines is called a monster, what epithet then does Rochambeau deserve, he whose victims cannot be numbered!

At first good fortune seemed to favor the new Captain-General. Reinforcements had just arrived from France; he availed himself of this opportunity