Pétion wrote to Christophe against the mission of general Dartiguenave to the South, warning him of the trouble it could cause.

Port-au-Prince, 20 December (1) 1806.
General of Division Pétion, commanding the second division of the West, and member of the Constituent Assembly, to General in Chief Henry Christophe, provisional chief of the Government.

I have received, my general, the letter that you wrote me, and which General Dartiguenave was charged to deliver to me; this general has informed me of the mission with which you have charged him for the South, and has communicated to me, according to your orders, the instructions of which he is the bearer. As by your letter you invite me to aid him with my counsels relative to this mission, I thought it my duty to make known to him the bad effect that his presence in that part would produce at this moment; he himself agreed to it and has decided to inform you of our reflections, and to await your orders here.

In view of the confidence you show me, I must, my general, tell you the truth, and I am too much a friend of my country not to enlighten you on a step that could trouble its repose. General Gérin is the first who put himself at the head of the revolution that delivered us from tyranny; he did not hesitate to make the sacrifice of his family (1), exposed to the ferocity of Dessalines, to defend the cause of the people; this general, since the beginning of the revolution, has not ceased to fight for liberty, of which one could say he is the martyr; at this very moment he is taking every possible pains to maintain order and tranquillity. On seeing General Dartiguenave arrive, charged with a particular mission and clothed with the power of conferring commands, he will necessarily regard this step as a certain mark of the little confidence you have in him, and as a formed design to debase his authority in the eyes of those same men who have voluntarily ranged themselves under his command. The officers who concurred with this general in the overthrow of the tyrant would think they saw a disavowal of their conduct, and the fear of the consequences could reduce them to despair. It is my duty not to leave you ignorant that the effervescence is not entirely calmed in that part. All minds are strained toward the constitution, it is the balm that alone can heal all the wounds that anxiety brings forth: is it not prudent, my general, that we await this moment so much desired? I beg you to reflect yourself on the consequences that could derive from it: if a step, though innocent, were susceptible of interpretation, the least of the results would be to cause the government to lose the confidence of the people. Then harmony would be destroyed, distrust would be reborn, and the progress of good would be delayed in its march. Weigh in your wisdom, my general, all the reasons that I have just set before you, and I am persuaded that you will approve them; your own glory imperiously demands that you make the happiness of your fellow citizens, and you would miss this goal that should immortalize you.