Debelle attacks Maurepas’s camp and is thrown back

Humbert marched on Port-de-Paix. Maurepas then abandoned Fort Pageot, from which he had time to remove the munitions. Port-de-Paix was the only place where the French were not massacred at the approach of the expedition. Humbert took possession of the smoking ruins of the town. He made several sorties against Maurepas, who was encamped at the Trois Pavillons, and was driven back with losses. The reverses that Humbert had suffered in fighting Maurepas had struck the French army with astonishment. He was one of the illustrious generals of the expedition: under the orders of Masséna, in Switzerland, he had contributed particularly to winning for him the battle of Zurich. General Leclerc sent the Divisional General Debelle to his aid with 1,500 men on 19 February. Debelle resolved to attack Maurepas in spite of the advice of Humbert, made more prudent by his reverses. He set out for the camp of Maurepas with 2,000 men, divided into four columns, on 20 February. The French were charged, and General Debelle returned in disorder to Port-de-Paix.

Rouzier tells this under the entry PORT-DE-PAIX.