Montrouis. Boudet encamped here; forces an Indigenous redoubt nearby.

While Leclerc was assailing Les Gonaïves, General Boudet, encamped at Montrouis, set out to march on Saint-Marc. He ordered Lieutenant Colonel Valabrègue, who had taken possession of L’Arcahaie, to join him. Valabrègue left L’Arcahaie on 4 Ventôse (22 February), fell into several ambushes laid by the cultivators, and suffered considerable losses. The French, following the Montrouis road at midday, had burning ground under their feet and a blazing sun over their heads. Heat and fatigue so overwhelmed them that many lay down heedlessly under the trees and let themselves be massacred by cultivators whom Charles Bélair had armed. Valabrègue reached Boudet in the middle of the night, and the French division set out. It came upon a post the Indigenous held not far from Montrouis. It attacked it in order to open the road that leads to Saint-Marc. It was twice repulsed; Boudet was obliged to have this redoubt cannonaded for part of the morning of 23 February. The Indigenous, unable to withstand the artillery, abandoned the position and fell back on Saint-Marc. Boudet let his troops rest for the remainder of the day and all the following night. At dawn the division resumed its march; it saw flames rising before it along the road, devouring splendid plantations.