1958, July 28–29: (The Sheriffs’ Coup: Ma Douce Clairemène, Pasquet Seizes the Casernes, Perpignand Wants a Smoke, Duvalier Packs His Bags for the Colombian …

1958, July 28–29: (The Sheriffs’ Coup: Ma Douce Clairemène, Pasquet Seizes the Casernes, Perpignand Wants a Smoke, Duvalier Packs His Bags for the Colombian Embassy, and Success Outruns the Plan): When the jeep from St. Marc reached the beach, the filibusterers’ outpost opened fire, felling all three soldiers — but not before Arthur Payne, a Dade County deputy, was hit in the thigh. The others finished unloading, commandeered the first vehicle to come along — a blue camionnette, Ma Douce Clairemène, license number 8028, blazoned with two singularly appropriate inscriptions: Malgré Tout and Dieu Maître — and headed south. Though word got through to Port-au-Prince, General Flambert for reasons still unaccountable failed to alert the garrison and instead lay in wait on the Champ de Mars. Near Arcahaie the jeep gave out, but springless Ma Douce Clairemène jolted ahead. The humble taptap escaped Flambert — wheeling around the corner into the main gate of the casernes, Pasquet announced he was bringing in five blan prisoners, the sentry presented arms and passed them through. Turning left to headquarters, they scrambled inside, shot the officer of the day when he reached for his pistol, and cut down the officer and sergeant of the guard as they ran across the parade ground. Within moments the submachine-gun-armed filibusterers had awakened and confined fifty groggy soldiers in their squad rooms. Incredibly, the plot seemed to have succeeded — but success had outrun the plan. Now would have been the moment to dash through the back gate into the palace and confront Port-au-Prince with a fait accompli, but the weapons they expected to find in the casernes had already been transferred to the palace basement by a prudent president. Instead of thrusting ahead, the filibusterers frittered away their time and their lives — ringing army installations and even the palace to announce their presence, wasting their two commodities: surprise and time. Duvalier meanwhile packed his luggage with greenbacks and stood ready for a dash to the Colombian embassy. At about 5:30 A.M., after soldiers had made their way to the Champ de Mars, the palace siren sounded the alarm and the regime’s men swarmed up from the slums, milling and ducking with every burst of fire from the casernes. At the height of this, cheerful little Perpignand wanted a smoke and sent a frightened soldier to buy a pack of Régie du Tabac’s Splendides — but Lucien Chauvet was at the gate, and the soldier instead found himself explaining to Chauvet that the invaders numbered only eight.