1805, February: (The Invasion of Santo Domingo and the Problem of the Eastern Garrison): The problems confronting Dessalines in 1805 closely resembled those …

1805, February: (The Invasion of Santo Domingo and the Problem of the Eastern Garrison): The problems confronting Dessalines in 1805 closely resembled those that had confronted Toussaint in 1800: Ferrand and his grenadiers still held Santo Domingo, any Haitian who fell into their hands was automatically treated as a fugitive slave, and agriculture continued to decline despite the enforced servitude system. The government, which Bellegarde described as “a military regime in full brutality,” lacked even a constitution, while Dessalines considered the public treasury his personal fund and sanctioned comparable attitudes among his courtiers. In February 1805, accompanied in the field by his favorite mistress Euphémie Daguille, Dessalines launched 30,000 men in two columns against Santo Domingo in a swift offensive. French and Spanish troops under a former colon named de Viet made a determined stand near Azua at a fort called Tombeau des Indigènes, where Gabart captured it in a swirl of cold steel. De Viet, upon his capture, was led before Dessalines and flayed to death with thorn bushes; before his body was cold, a soldier ripped open his belly with a machete, tore loose the quivering heart, ate it, and strung the entrails on a tree limb.