ABSTRACT
T h e departure ot'Santhonax and Polverel, amounted to little more than the removal of the individuals, and that of the wealth which they had acquired by pecula tion. The Republicans, the Mulattoes, and the revolted negroes, taken either separately or collectively, presented to the British a formidable host of foes. These had been induced to act in concert through the intrigues of Pol verel and Santhonax, while without any proper cement, each party aimed at a separate interest. The commis sioners, anxious to support their own power, and the rights of the Mulattoes whom they professed to protect, had invested Rigaud, a Mulattoe chief, with a commis sion that gave him almost an absolute dominion in the
southern part of the island. Unfortunately for his em ployers, he felt the force of his situation, and well knew how to apply the power which he had thus acquired to the accomplishment of those purposes by which he was actuated. His brother, who stood next to him in com mand, derived his commission from the same source. These men gave direction to the whole body of Mulat toes; while Toussaint L’Ouverture, established by the same authority, directed a considerable portion of the huge mass of revolted and liberated negroes, whom the commissioners had solicited, with the promise of freedom, to assist them against a powerful rival, and detestably rewarded with the pillage and conflagration of Cape Francois. Thus, Laveaux commanded the Republican whites; Rigaud, the Mulattoes; and Toussaint, the blacks. However their private interests might jar, all were alike enemies to the British; and the British, in their turn, were fully sensible that they could expect no perma nent establishment in the island, till these were all sub dued.
