Pétion enters Les Cayes, welcomed with greater enthusiasm than at Jérémie.

The President made his entry into Les Cayes on 9 July (1). He was welcomed again with an enthusiasm still greater than at Jérémie. He refused the canopy that the parish had caused to be brought out to meet him. He crossed the bridge modestly in the midst of the crowd that had hurried in from all the surrounding countryside. The town was spontaneously illuminated. And the next day, when he appeared on the parade ground, an immense cry of applause rose from the ranks of the garrison. The 13th demi-brigade, then commanded by Boudet, showed above all its pride at having had him for colonel: a great and noble corps, this 13th demi-brigade, which had the honor of drawing the sword first from the scabbard for the war of independence! Pétion, reviewing the ranks of the 13th and 17th demi-brigades and of the national guard, trod the turf of the parade ground with no lack of emotion. Suddenly he ordered a wheeling movement around a point whose importance no sign other than his presence would have marked. The troops formed a square. This point was the modest marble that covered the remains of Benjamin Ogé, his former lieutenant during the war against the English and the war of Toussaint and Rigaud (1).