Toussaint defends himself to Sabès and Gimont

Toussaint replied sharply: “You misjudge the nobility of my soul, citizen; I love my country too much to sacrifice its happiness to my ambition. General Leclerc presented himself in the colony as an enemy, and not as a governor lawfully sent by his nation. He summoned me to hand over authority to him as if I were a rebel placed by circumstances at the head of the affairs of the colony, as if I had declared myself independent of the France that I cherish. I made war only on the Captain General. Had I not previously received from the civil commission the title of general in chief of the colony? Was this title not confirmed to me by the First Consul? Was I to submit to the caprices of Bonaparte, surrounded by vile and cruel colonists, my personal enemies? Iron and fire would not cover the mornes and the plains with blood and ruins if General Leclerc had given me notice of his arrival before having begun hostilities; I would have yielded authority to him, and the war would not have broken out with all its furies. Was it not my duty to defend French territory when foreign flags appeared…

Rouzier tells this under the entry MARQUEY.