Santo Domingo. Toussaint enters; the French flag is raised and a Te Deum sung

The general-in-chief, for his part, had arrived on 5 January 1801 at San Juan de la Maguana. He was at the head of the 7th and 10th demi-brigades, commanded by Charles Bélair and Jean-Philippe Daut, and of some companies of the 8th. These troops formed a brigade under the chief command of Colonel Paul Louverture. Toussaint issued a proclamation in which he announced that, in spite of the insults offered to General Agé the year before by Don Joaquín García, he did not intend the Spaniards to be treated as enemies; he promised safety and protection to persons as well as to property, and he exhorted the Spaniards to turn from their error. The inhabitants of the district of San Juan, which did not stir, were perfectly well treated. Continuing his march, the general-in-chief reached Azua without obstacle on 12 January 1801. He found the town in perfect tranquillity; on the day after his arrival he wrote to Don Joaquín García that neither he nor his troops breathed vengeance, that he desired only the happiness of the Spaniards, and that the decree of 17 Floréal which authorized him to take possession of the eastern part had not been revoked by that of Prairial, since the latter had never been officially notified. He ended his letter by bitterly reproaching Don Joaquín García for having insulted the French government in the person of General Agé. Toussaint continued his march with prodigious speed; his infantry covered as much as twenty-five leagues a day. When his advance guard, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Gauthier, reached the river Nizao, it met the Spaniards. Gauthier, at the head of about a hundred men, the remnant of the Legion of the West from Jacmel, vigorously attacked Generals Chanlatte and Kerverseau; they resisted energetically; but Colonel Charles Bélair, arriving on the field with the 7th, decided the success of the battle; the Spaniards, having lost more than two hundred men, beat a retreat. A few hours after the fight Toussaint Louverture reached the Nizao; there he learned of the brilliant conduct of Gauthier; he went up to him, embraced him, and told him that he saw with happiness that he was determined to serve his cause with as much courage as he had shown during the civil war on behalf of Rigaud. In addressing these words to him, Toussaint had already resolved on his ruin.

Don García was in despair when he saw the Cantabria battalion fall back on Santo Domingo. Toussaint, wishing that there should be no bloodshed, sent Adjutant-General d’Hébécourt, as he approached the place, to propose an arrangement to the governor. Don Joaquín García welcomed the proposal eagerly. He signed, jointly with d’Hébécourt, a capitulation by which the town was to be delivered to Toussaint Louverture. So as not to wound the pride of the Spanish governor, Toussaint called this shameful capitulation an arrangement.

On 27 January 1801 (7 Pluviôse) he entered Santo Domingo while, to the thunder of twenty-one guns, the Spanish flag was lowered; immediately afterward twenty-two guns saluted the French flag, which flew over the ramparts. At the same time the army entered the place in solemn order, to the sound of the bells of every church. Don García and the Cabildo accompanied Toussaint Louverture to the town hall. There they invited him to take the customary oath, in the name of the Holy Trinity, to govern the eastern part with equity. He said to the governor and the Cabildo: “That is all one could require of a governor sent by the court of Madrid; but the case is not the same; I have come to take possession of this part in the name of the French Republic. Nevertheless I swear with all my heart, before God who hears me, that I consign the past to oblivion, and that my vigils and my cares shall have no other aim than to make the Spanish people, now become French, happy and content.”

When he had taken this oath the governor presented him with the keys of the town. He exclaimed: “I accept them in the name of the Republic; let us go and thank the Author of all things for having crowned with the fullest success our enterprise, prescribed by the treaties and the laws of the Republic.” The crowd went to the cathedral, where a Te Deum was sung with pomp in thanksgiving.