1843, February–April: (Rivière-Hérard and the Downfall of the Mulâtres): Boyer was gone, and so were Bonnet and Inginac — the one dead of old age at St.

1843, February–April: (Rivière-Hérard and the Downfall of the Mulâtres): Boyer was gone, and so were Bonnet and Inginac — the one dead of old age at St. Marc, the other penning his memoirs in Kingston, cursing the English typesetters who butchered his French — and the power-hungry, educated young men who had turned them out now had their chance. Forty years old, handsome, dashing, balding, and very much the man of destiny, Charles Rivière-Hérard entered Port-au-Prince as soon as Boyer departed and moved into the Palais National. On April 4, 1843, with self-abnegation worthy of ancient Rome, Rivière went through the motions of stepping down, declaring “my work is done,” but naturally the “one other” selected by the junta to compose the gouvernement provisoire proved to be Rivière-Hérard himself. Meanwhile, with a sizable military escort, Rivière-Hérard took a swing to the north and over into Santo Domingo, where he disarmed the countryside and arrested several Dominican leaders, while back in Port-au-Prince the spoils were being parceled out as Rivière — who entered upon his new role as a major — was promptly promoted général de division. The sight of young mulâtre politicians dressing up in uniform and monopolizing promotions aroused fury among an army whose noir leaders had mostly won their galons under Dessalines and Christophe, especially when the gouvernement provisoire revoked Boyer’s more recent promotions among their own.