Léogane. Toussaint arrives; the army of the South assembles; festival and promotion of Dessalines.

After being feted by the colonists, Toussaint left Les Cayes, carrying with him the names of all those Black and colored Rigaudins who were to be sacrificed. By his amnesty he held back those whom he intended to put to death. On 23 August he had fixed the boundaries of the department of the South and had named General Laplume commander-in-chief of that department. As he passed through Aquin he named Colonel Nérette commandant of the arrondissement of that town. He reached Léogane on 30 August. Immediately upon his arrival in that town he ordered the troops that had made the campaign of the South to assemble there. Dessalines left Jérémie after leaving there a battalion of the 4th, under the orders of Dommage, who had become commandant of the arrondissement of the Grand’Anse.

The expeditionary army of the South was soon assembled at Léogane. A religious and patriotic festival was held in that town. All the troops, massed on the parade ground, were reviewed by the general-in-chief, who then mounted the altar of the fatherland and said to them: “You have resisted, with the courage that marks the free man, the attack made upon your rights by Rigaud. You have covered yourselves with glory; and so that you may never tarnish it by an action unworthy of you, each demi-brigade of the army will have a tablet on which will be inscribed in large letters the name of the chief of the demi-brigade, followed by these words: Discipline, subordination and bravery have won the victory.” He then urged them always to pray to God, to whom alone they owed their triumphs. He came down from the altar of the fatherland and went to the church, followed by all the senior officers of the army. After the Te Deum had been sung he went up into the pulpit and ordered General Dessalines to approach him: with his own hands he took from him the sword belt of a brigadier general and replaced it with that of a general of division. He then called General Clervaux, clasped him in his arms and made him the gift of a superb carbine, telling him that no one but the general-in-chief had ever used that weapon. The senior officers returned to the head of their corps amid the strains of the military band. The rest of the day passed in festivities and rejoicing. Toussaint, who thought only of isolating himself from the mother country, had preferred this inscription, Discipline, subordination and bravery have won the victory, to the one Bonaparte had sent: Brave Blacks, remember that the French people alone recognize your freedom and the equality of your rights.