Page:Haiti- Her History and Her Detractors.djvu/86

 demanded the restitution of the whole portion of the French territory occupied by the Spaniards; he insisted upon having Jean-François sent out of the country. On January 4, 1796, the black leader left Fort Dauphin for Havana. He died in Spain, where he had kept his rank of lieutenant-general.

The English, however, thought that Jean-François's followers might be useful to them. To win them over to their cause they had recourse to a black man named Titus, whom they supplied with money and arms. Obeying Laveaux's orders Villate attacked and stormed the camp organized by Titus. The latter was killed and his followers dispersed.

In spite of the services rendered to France by Villate, Laveaux never trusted him. From Port-de-Paix, where he resided, he used to watch every movement of the military commander of Cap-Français.

As a matter of fact, Laveaux was displeased at his being kept in the background. As Governor of Saint-Domingue he had now but the native troops to rely on for maintaining his authority; and these he believed more devoted to the officers of their own color than to him. The European officers, the colonists, the royalists, the reactionists had no scruple at going over to the Spaniards and the English. It was not possible to intrust to them the mission of defending the colony. France had thus to resort to the colored men, who constituted the majority of the first freedmen; they rose then to the foremost rank by mere force of circumstances. Through their own fault the whites had lost their preeminence. Rigaud had all the power in the South, Beauvais in the West, and Villate at Cap-Français. The two first fully acknowledged Laveaux's authority; they never failed to keep him aware of their doings. Their devotion to France could not be questioned; they acted bravely in defense of her territory against the English. Villate alone was at variance with the Governor of Saint-Domingue. Nevertheless, the latter deemed it fit to hold all the mulattoes responsible for his quarrel with his subordinate at Cap-Français.