James McCune Smith
Hayti, he sent out his brother-in-law, General Leclerc, with 26 ships of war and 25,000 men.
Like Leonidas at Thermopylz, or the Bruce at Bannockburn, Toussaint determined to defend from thraldom his sea-girt isle, made sacred to liberty by the baptism of blood.
On the 28th of January, 1802, Leclerc arrived off the bay of Samana, from the promontory of which Toussaint, in anxious alarm, beheld for the first time in his life so large an armament. “We must all perish,” said he, “all France has come to Santo Domingo!” But this despondency passed away in a moment, and then this man, who had been a kindly-treated slave, prepared to oppose to the last that system which be now considered worse than death.
It is impossible, after so long a tax on your patience, to enter on a detailed narration of the conflict which ensued. The hour of trial served only to develop and ennoble the character of Toussaint, who rose, with misfortune, above the allurements of rank and wealth which were offered as the price of his submission; and the very ties of parental love he yielded to the loftier sentiment of patriotism.
On the 2d of February, a division of Leclerc’s army, commanded by General Rochambeau, an old planter, landed at Fort Dauphin, and ruthlessly murdered many of the inhabitants (freedmen) who, unarmed, had been led by curiosity to the beach, in order to witness the disembarkation of the troops.
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