Laxavon. Taken by Lacroix from Toussaint Brave; Christophe routed before it by Froment

In the meantime the French were winning successes at Laxavon and at Ouanaminthe, and driving the independents far back into the interior. On the night of 14 to 15 January, Brigadier General Lacroix, at the head of a battalion of the 77th commanded by Froment, of 400 Indigenous-Spanish infantry commanded by Tabarrès, and of a squadron under the orders of Polanca, attacked Laxavon, which Toussaint Brave held with 150 men. The Indigenous could not withstand such forces; Laxavon was carried with the bayonet, and Toussaint Brave lost 40 men killed. The next day, 16 January, General Lacroix scaled the fort of Ouanaminthe after overthrowing and scattering the independents. He returned to Fort-Liberté, leaving the battalion of the 77th at Laxavon and Commandant Vaussier at Ouanaminthe. General Christophe, learning that these two towns were in the hands of the French, marched against them at the head of 2,000 men and advanced to the very ramparts of Laxavon. Battalion Commander Froment, at the head of 600 men of the 77th and a numerous cavalry, made a vigorous sortie against him and put him to utter rout. Christophe, who had been wounded in the head during the fight, left three hundred men on the field of battle, ten officers among them, including a colonel named Lafleur. The 3rd battalion of the 5th Indigenous lost its colors. One hundred and fifty muskets and a drum major’s cane fell into the hands of the French. Christophe withdrew to Grandpré, harassed by some cultivators who had been partisans of Sans-Souci. Since the murder of Sans-Souci he could not make himself obeyed by the inhabitants of the Dondon and of Vallière.