Christophe burns the Cap

In January 1802 the French squadron carrying the division of General Hardy, of the Leclerc expedition, presented itself before the Cap. Christophe, who was in command there for Toussaint, had all the instruments necessary for the service of a battery of red-hot shot transported to the fort Picolet, and had torches distributed to the soldiers of the garrison, so that the town might be delivered to the flames. He refused to hand over the town in the absence of Toussaint. “The earth will burn,” he cried, “if the squadron persists in wishing to enter the roadstead.” Captain General Leclerc summoned him to surrender the forts Picolet and Belair, warning him that in case of refusal 15,000 men would be landed the next morning, and that he held him responsible for everything that might happen. Christophe persisted in his refusal, and, on 4 February, he set fire to his own house, which he had had tarred. The national guard made vain efforts to extinguish the fire. The citizens were driven back by the soldiers with blows of rifle butts. At eleven o’clock in the evening the town was no more…

Rouzier tells this under the entry Cap-haïtien (le).