1816, October–November: (The Fontanges Mission and Haiti’s Defiant Stance): France’s next demarche was conciliatory: in October 1816, two more commissioners …

1816, October–November: (The Fontanges Mission and Haiti’s Defiant Stance): France’s next demarche was conciliatory: in October 1816, two more commissioners — the Vicomte de Fontanges, a former planter of Gonaïves, and Sieur Esmangart — arrived in Port-au-Prince aboard the frigate La Flore, bearing a thousand Croix du Lys, ten Crosses of Henri IV, and twelve Legions of Honor for judicious distribution, along with the French king’s sorrow that his Haitian subjects were still unreconciled. The commissioners’ timing was poor: they had hoped to transmute Pétion from president to governor-general, but a week after La Flore anchored, the newly ratified 1816 constitution redesignated him not merely as president but as président-à-vie, and Pétion would not negotiate in secret. At the Cap, Henry was even more difficult: when La Flore hove to off Fort Picolet and signaled for a pilot, there was no reply, and mindful of Medina’s fate, Fontanges relayed his proposals — addressed merely to “General Christophe” — via an inbound merchantman. Reading no farther than the salutation, Henry returned the letter with the endorsement: “Neither the French flag, nor any Frenchman, will be admitted to this kingdom until France recognizes Haiti’s independence.” On November 10, 1816, Pétion summed up Haiti’s position with finality: “The Haitian people have proclaimed their independence not just to France but to the whole universe — nothing exists that can make Haiti retire from this unyielding resolution.”