Page:Haiti- Her History and Her Detractors.djvu/55

Rh to death, bore their sufferings stoically. For many months following, their unfortunate companions were hunted and when caught were hanged. The method employed for quelling the insurrection was savage and merciless. But the revenge soon to be taken equalled in mercilessness the acts which provoked it. Before the end of 1791 the colonists were to begin to expiate their crimes. Remaining still haughty and full of pride they imagined that the martyrdom of Ogé and Chavanne would so intimidate the "affranchis" that they would not dare to renew the struggle. As a matter of fact, after Ogé's defeat, the free blacks and mulattoes of the South, who, under the leadership of André Rigaud, had gathered on the plantation of Prou, willingly laid down their arms. But this proved to be only a truce. The colored men wanted time in which to form and to mature their plans. Ogé's fate made it clear to them that by force alone they would conquer the power of exercising the political rights which they had vainly endeavored to acquire peacefully. Tranquilized by their recent victory and the apparent submission of the "affranchis," the wealthy planters began to renew their intrigues against the colonial government. Two battalions, sent from France with a view to helping to maintain order in Saint-Domingue, arrived at Port-au-Prince on March 2, 1791. The friends of the former Colonial Assembly of Saint-Marc, which had been severely arraigned by the National Assembly in a resolution adopted on October 12, 1790, won over the soldiers to their cause. The latter landed in Port-au-Prince in disobedience to the orders given them by the Governor-General, Mr. de Blanchelande. The city was in open rebellion. The prison was stormed. André Rigaud, Pinchinat, and some other "affranchis" who were then in jail were set free. Mr. de Blanchelande left hastily for Cap-Français. The colonists murdered Colonel Mauduit, whose fidelity to the colonial government had displeased them; his body was mutilated and his head, stuck on the end of a pole, was