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1802-03-10

Pétion, with the 13th, formed the head of Boudet’s division on its march against the Crête-à-Pierrot.

Haitian

Boudet, meanwhile, continues in the night of 19 to 20 ventôse (10 to 11 March) his march against the Crête-à-Pierrot. Pétion, with the 13th, formed the head of the division, whose vanguard was led by the adjutant-commandant d’Hénin. It was already the custom to let the colonial troops absorb the first musket shots, because they served as scouts for the white troops; the common belief that it was done to expose them there with perfidious INTENTIONS is false. Our soldiers understood in this only the danger to which they were particularly exposed; they complained in the middle of a march often hindered by the fire of ambushes. Then Pétion was heard, who had never loved any but the most perilous posts, stifling the murmurs of his companions and at last, impatient, saying to them in a low voice: « Wretches, are you not honored to march first? Be silent, and follow me (1). »

Source  ·  p. 30 Joseph Saint-Rémy (des Cayes), Pétion et Haïti: étude monographique et historique, tome 3 (Paris: chez l'auteur, 1855), p. 30; English translation, Rasanblaj.