1796-05-11
France’s third civil commission lands at Le Cap with Sonthonax aboard
Haitian
The Directory formed the commission on 23 January 1796 and gave it five members: Léger-Félicité Sonthonax, Julien Raymond, Philippe Roume, Pierre Leblanc and Marc-Antoine Giraud. They came ashore at Le Cap on 11 May 1796 with soldiers under général Donatien Rochambeau. Their orders were to put French authority back together after Villatte’s attempted coup of 20 March. Sonthonax was the man who had abolished slavery in the North in August 1793, and the crowds welcomed him for it. Fifteen months later Toussaint Louverture put him on a ship back to France.
Source
Researched: Juno7; Haiti-Référence; Persée (Sonthonax's second mission, May 1796-August 1797)