Toussaint's Failures & Victories
Toussaint had gained much of his power and popularity by joining the French army. By 1794, he was a leader of the French army. By 1796, he was proconsul of a district. (James, 1963, p.162). In 1794, Toussaint and his partner Laveaux wanted to take over the town of Saint Marc. The British controlled this town and the military leader in charge of the British was an old enemy of Toussaint’s from his service in the Spanish army. Lieutenant Colonel Brisbane was watching Toussaint’s activities. Toussaint did manage to draw Brisbane away from Saint Marc. This strategy worked, and for a brief period, Toussaint controlled the town of Saint-Marc. However, Brisbane was able to return in time to re-take the town and Toussaint escape the British army by traveling up the Artibonite River. As Toussaint prepared to attack Saint Marc again, his partner Laveaux sent a proclamation urging the citizens there to fight against the British. The proclamation had little effect and even stated when Toussaint planned to attack the town. Amazingly, even with prior warning, Toussaint managed to take two forts above Saint Marc. Unfortunately for Toussaint, Brisbane called in for reinforcements and Toussaint was forced to abandon the capture forts after fifteen days. (Bell, 2007,p.110-113).
Soon after his failure at Saint Marc, Toussaint decided to attack the Spanish. By October 21st of 1794, he had managed to remove the Spanish army from the towns of Saint Michael and Saint Raphael. During these two victories, he captured a total of two officers and about fifty soldiers. Toussaint’s success made him very popular among the French army. However, Brisbane’s army at Saint Marc remained a problem. Toussaint knew he could not risk open war with Brisbane so he resorted to guerrilla attacks on Brisbane’s army. (Bell, 2007, p. 113-114). Due to Toussaint’s brilliant military campaign the war between the Spanish and the French was drew to a close. On July, 22nd 1795, the French and Spanish signed a peace treaty ending the war. (Bell, 2010). On July, 23rd, 1795, the French National Convention recognized Toussaint’s vital role in the war between the French and Spanish and promoted him from colonel to brigadier general. (Bell, 2007, p. 119).
After the end of the French and Spanish war, Toussaint began to experience revolts in once secured areas. These revolts prompted concern, seeing as they were a sign of unrest. In 1795, Toussaint was called to subdue a revolt in Port de Paix. In 1796, he had to try to gain control of another revolt in Saint Louis du Nord. Another colored general, André Rigaud was causing problems in the Southern part of Saint-Domingue. Félicité Sonthonax, a commissioner and chief representative of Saint-Domingue, supported the revolution. However, in order to be effective as commissioner, he needed both Toussaint and Rigaud’s help. (Bell, 2007,p.142).
It is important to realize, that Rigaud did not regard Toussaint as the leader of the revolution. Sonthonax and Laveaux did support Toussaint. Since Rigaud was less willing to cooperate with Toussaint, Sonthonax and Laveaux depended more heavily upon Toussaint’s military prowess. Sonthonax and Laveaux urged Toussaint to make an attack against the new British General Simcoe, who was occupying the town of Saint Marc. Toussaint knew that capturing the town of Saint Marc would greatly help the Haitian’s cause. Toussaint was slightly cautious though, after his previous failed attempt to take the town.
For the reasons above, Toussaint needed to acquire a path through the Artibonite plain to gain access to the town of Saint Marc. As a result, Toussaint planned to create a diversion in the farming town of Mirebalais. His main goal was to forge access from Mirebalais to the west coast port of Arcahaie. Arcahaie was an important fortification point for the town of Lapointe, which was one of the last remaining spot upon the Artibonite River which Toussaint did not directly control. In April of 1797, Toussaint reclaimed Mirebalais. Due to his victory, Toussaint now had an easy route to penetrate through to the Cul de Sac plain. From there, Toussaint could directly jeopardize Port-Au-Prince, another British occupied town. (Bell, 2007, p.143).
Unfortunately, Toussaint and his army only reached the town of Croix des Bouquets, where they encountered strong British resistance, and consequently, they were forced to turn back. Due to this setback, British General Simcoe was now emboldened to question Toussaint’s authority and military brilliance. Simcoe and Dessources, a sympathizer of the British; whom Toussaint had utterly humiliated with his re-capture of Mirebalais, gathered two thousand men from Saint Marc and seized the town of Verrettes. Concurrently, British general Churchill re-took Mirebalais. Toussaint responded harshly and with an army of ten thousand men, he dismantled the British army as they tried to withdraw from Verrettes to the safety of Saint Marc. After this victory, Toussaint attempts to re-take Saint Marc again. Toussaint was unable to accomplish this, due to an unforeseen flaw in the battle plan. He was forced to withdraw. While Toussaint has attempted to take Saint Marc for a third time, Simcoe re-occupied Mirebalais. However, when Toussaint’s army became a threat to Saint Marc, Simcoe left Mirebalais, and Toussaint re-took the town. (Bell, 2007, p.144).
Commissioner Sonthonax was highly pleased with Toussaint’s victories and made him commander in chief to the entire French army on the island of Saint-Domingue. (Bell, 2007, p.144). Soon after this, Toussaint and Sonthonax began to quarrel. After the re-elections for the French National Assembly occurred in 1796, these disagreements grew more severe. The split eventually caused Sonthonax to leave the island and he was replaced by Joseph d’ Hédouville. Before Hédouville arrived, a British general named Thomas Maitland had come to oversee the British armies in Saint-Domingue. Hédouville placed himself into office in Le Cap in 1798. (Bell, 2007, p. 155-156). Toussaint did not meet him and said British skirmishes on the West Coast demanded his attention. In March of 1798, Toussaint captured Lapointe. This was a huge victory. Toussaint had now become a real threat to the town of Saint Marc to the north and Port-Au-Prince to the south. Maitland wanted to find a way to stop Toussaint. He tried to split Toussaint and Hédouville’s relationship. Maitland makes an offer to withdraw all British troops from the western part of Saint-Domingue. In exchange, the French colonist who had cooperated with the British, must be given amnesty. (Bell, 2007, p. 158).