Charpentier. At its barrier the Polish company overthrows Férou, then is driven back into Les Cayes by Cocoherne and the Indigenous cavalry; Raymond Benne is killed.

Meanwhile Cangé learned that Geffrard, who had withdrawn into the mountains of Petit-Goâve after the defeat he had suffered at Anse-à-Veau, was in extreme distress, without munitions, abandoned by a great number of his men, and powerless to resume the offensive unless he received reinforcements. Cangé flew to his aid with a squadron and a battalion. As soon as these reinforcements arrived, Geffrard entered the South once more, after forcing the cordon of Miragoâne, which Colonel Hurto commanded, and marched on Aquin. Almost all the French troops were concentrated at Les Cayes and at Jérémie. When he came near Aquin, he divided his army into three columns. At noon, while the French were taking their rest, Jean Louis François, at the head of the first column, attacked an advanced post that covered the town and carried it. The enemy came out of Aquin and marched to meet the Indigenous. Vigorously assailed, the French were broken and pursued to the entrance of the town. At the same moment Colonel Nérette, coming out from Les Cayes, was entering the town. He made a vigorous sortie against the Indigenous dragoons and drove them back after taking a flag from them. But as soon as he saw Jean Louis François advancing at the charge at the head of the infantry, he abandoned the field of battle and withdrew to the seashore, where he entrenched himself. Geffrard, choosing not to assail his position, which was formidable, resolved to effect his junction with Férou. He meant afterward to go and besiege Les Cayes, whose fall was bound to bring down that of the other towns of the South. He made for the quarter of the Citronnier, where there was a strong French garrison. The ground was disputed foot by foot, and he reached it only after passing through several ambushes in the course of a day. The French, astonished at the boldness of his march, abandoned their position and went back into Les Cayes. Geffrard camped at the Citronnier and at once had his arrival announced to Férou. In less than forty-eight hours he saw several envoys of Férou and of Vancol, the two principal chiefs of the independents of the South, present themselves before him. They told him that they were charged with offering him the chief command of the insurrection. Geffrard answered them: “Go and tell Commandant Férou that I obey the orders of Dessalines, and that I shall use all my energy to make his authority respected in this department. I accept his offer if he consents to acknowledge Dessalines as general in chief of the Indigenous armies.” “Your party is Commandant Férou’s own,” the deputies replied; “you were our companion in arms under General Rigaud, and we know that you could not serve a bad cause.” The deputies withdrew amid the applause of the whole army and carried to Férou dispatches in which Geffrard urged him to come and join him at the Quatre-Chemins, at the entrance to Les Cayes. Geffrard continued his march and reached Férou’s vanguard on the Bergeaud plantation, near the river of the Îlet. The two independent armies merged on the Charpentier plantation, raising cries of rapturous enthusiasm. All these warriors were old companions who had fought together under Rigaud; they had been scattered after the triumph of Toussaint Louverture; this was the first time they had seen one another since the fall of Rigaud. They shed abundant tears and embraced with deep emotion. Férou solemnly acknowledged the authority of Dessalines, whose name was nonetheless held in execration in the South. On this occasion he sacrificed his personal feelings to the cause of liberty; for had they remained divided, the Indigenous could not have triumphed over the common enemy. General Geffrard had attained the end Dessalines sought in sending him to the South. By presenting the general in chief to his fellow citizens in a favorable light, he calmed the great animosities that existed against him. Pétion, for his part, by submitting to the ascendancy of Dessalines, had dispelled the mistrust of the population of the West. So powerful over the masses is the influence of names. Thus the departments of the South, the Artibonite, the North and part of the West were subject to Dessalines; and the plains of the Cul-de-Sac and of Léogane, though in appearance under the command of Lamour Dérance, obeyed his orders. Only the mornes of Jacmel and of Petit-Goâve were in reality still subject to Lamour Dérance. Geffrard camped in the plain of Les Cayes and pushed his outposts almost to the gates of the town. The 86th of the line, 600 strong, into which the remnants of the 20th had been merged, a company of 120 Poles, and the national guards of Aquin, Saint-Louis and Cavaillon, together with that of the threatened town itself, made up the garrison of Les Cayes. These troops furnished a force of about 3,000 men. The anxiety of the French was great. Since Geffrard had entered the South, many of the Indigenous had fled the town. Murmurs were even heard against the authorities. General Laplume, urged on by the municipality, which was made up of colonists, resolved to drive the Indigenous out of the plain. On 6 March, in the morning, he ordered the Polish company to make a sortie. The Poles came upon the enemy at the barrier of Charpentier. Férou, who commanded there, was overthrown. Geffrard, who held Bergeaud, sent him a reinforcement of 200 men under the orders of Moreau, or Cocoherne. The Europeans, vigorously assailed, were driven back into the town, charged by the Indigenous cavalry. In this action the independents lost an officer of color, Raymond Benne, who met his death at the head of the cavalry.