Page:The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade.djvu/293

 Leclerc and nearly the whole of the French army, did not give up the defense until lie hud caused the loss to his besiegers of about 3000 men, including several distinguished officers; and even then, rushing out, he fought his way through the enemy, and made good his retreat.

The reduction of the fortress of Crete à Pierrot was considered decisive of the fate of the war; and Leclerc, deeming dissimulation no longer necessary, permitted many negroes to he massacred, and issued an order virtually reëstablishing the power of the old French colonists over their slaves. This rash step opened the eyes of the negroes who had joined the French; they deserted in masses; Toussaint was again at the head of an army; and Leclerc was in danger of losing all the fruits of his past labors, and being obliged to begin his enterprise over again. This was a very disagreeable prospect; for although strong reinforcements were arriving from France, the disorders incident to military life in a new climate were making large incisions into his army. He resolved, therefore, to fall back on his former policy; and on the 25th of April, 1802, he issued a proclamation directly opposite in its spirit to his former order, asserting the equality of the various races, and holding out the prospect of full citizenship to the blacks. The negroes were again deceived, and again deserted Toussaint. Christophe, too, despairing of any farther success against the French, entered into negotiation with Leclerc, securing as honorable terms as could be desired. The example of Christophe was imitated by Dessalines, and by Paul L'Ouverture, Toussaint's brother. Toussaint, thus left alone, was obliged to submit; and Christophe, in securing good terms for himself, had not neglected the opportunity of obtaining similar advantages for his commander-in-chief. On the 1st of May, 1802, a treaty was concluded between Leclerc and Toussaint L'Ouverture, the conditions of which were, that Toussaint should continue to govern St. Domingo as hitherto, Leclerc acting only in the capacity of French deputy, and that all the officers in Toussaint's army should be allowed to retain their respective ranks. "I swear," added Leclerc, "before the Supreme Being, to respect the liberty of the people of St. Domingo." Thus the war appeared to have reached a happy close: the whites and blacks mingled with each other once more as friends; and Toussaint retired to one of his estates near Gondives, to lead a life of quiet domestic enjoyment.

The instructions of the first consul, however, had been precise, that the negro chief should be sent as a prisoner to France. Many reasons recommended such a step as more likely than any other to break the spirit of independence among the blacks, and rivet the French power on the island. The expedition had been one of the most disastrous that France had ever undertaken. A pestilence resembling the yellow fever, but more fatal and terrible than even that dreadful distemper, had swept many thousands of the French to their graves. What with the ravages of the plague, and the losses in war, it was calculated that 30,000 men, 1,500 officers of various ranks, among whom were fourteen generals, and 700 physicians and surgeons, perished in the expedition.

It is our melancholy duty now to record one of the blackest acts committed