Since writing my last letter, I have had an opportunity of attending the Commander in Chief upon an expedition, which remained a secret at head-quarters, until the morning after we left Port au Prince. Having dined at the government-house, we set off, a party of five, viz. the Commander in Chief, Colonel Grant, Major Gillespie, Dr. Jackson, and myself, escorted by a troop of hussars. In the evening we arrived at the Croix des Bouquets, a town situated in the plain of the Cul de Sac, about twelve miles from Port au Prince. Here the General was received by Colonel O’Gorman, and Major le Pine (two of the foreign officers in British pay), at the head of a party of the garrison drawn up at the gate of the fort. We were soon afterwards conducted to the residence of Monsieur le Curé, where the Commander in Chief was provided for the night—the rest of the party finding quarters in the town. Before we separated, orders were given to the escort, announcing that the General would be on horseback at gun-fire in the morning.
Colonel Grant and myself, being quartered in the same house, rose at five o’clock, and hastened to the Curé’s, where we found the hussars drawn up before the door, and the Commander in Chief mounting his horse. We were instantly on the march, and, soon after passing the outer gate of the town, the General mentioned the object of the expedition, viz. to witness the result of an attack, which he had ordered to be made upon a strong post of the brigands, in the mountains separating the valley of the Cul de Sac from the plain of Mirebalais; where they had maintained a commanding position for the last three or four years, to the great annoyance of our convoys, and of all persons possessing any property in that vicinity.
Upon this elevated point they had assembled to the number of eight or nine hundred; and had so strongly fortified themselves as to consider the position secure against any force which the British commander might be able to detach. A body of troops had been ordered to proceed in three columns, with a view of assailing them, in so many different directions at the same time. We advanced near to the mountains, and within sight of the brigand post, without hearing any signal, or seeing any of the troops. We remained therefore only a short time below the hills, and after being three hours on horseback returned to the Croix des Bouquets to wait despatches from the officer appointed to command the attack.
On arriving at Monsieur le Curé’s we found the breakfast-table spread with a copious repast, equally calculated for the hungry trooper, and for him who had quietly slumbered away his morning hours.
The lamentable revolution has robbed the Curé of his appropriate, and more distinguish-home—his late residence having been converted into a fort, and the house into a barrack: but the change, which has placed him in a more humble abode, has not deprived him of his disposition to promote the comfort of those who visit him, whether friends or strangers.
At the hour of dinner the plenteous board again displayed the bounty of the generous host; who provided an ample supply for a party of eighteen; our number being increased by some of the officers of the 21st dragoons, and others belonging to the garrison of the town.
Just as we were seated at table a dragoon arrived, announcing the action to have commenced, between our troops, and the brigands in the mountains; and, on looking out, the post was discovered to be in flames; which augured favorably for the attacking party.
We resumed our quarters at the Croix des Bouquets for the night, and on the following morning, escorted as before, returned to Port au Prince, where the General received despatches, informing him that the attack had succeeded to his wishes—the enemy being defeated, and the place in possession of our troops; but, we have to lament the loss of several brave men killed, and many wounded, the post having been defended with great obstinacy.
This expedition afforded me an opportunity of seeing the plain of the Cul de Sac, to the extent of sixteen or eighteen miles; and I am sorry to observe that it exhibits one vast and melancholy picture of devastation; a considerable part of the town of Croix des Bouquets being involved in the same destructive fate.
Before the revolution this fertile plain was one of the most improved spots in the West Indies, being, at that time, adorned with numbers of highly improved estates, handsome houses, rich gardens, and plenteous crops of sugar. Now it offers only the dismal marks of ruined greatness and beauty—displaying a grievous example of the evils which result from misguiding the passions of the ignorant by the abuse of a popular sentiment. If the people of France and the slaves of their colonies had been first taught to comprehend that true liberty consisted in the privilege of enjoying their own rights, not in the destruction of the rights of others, that enchanting term could never have been so perverted to the misery of mankind. To force unlimited freedom upon slaves, who had always been governed by terror, was to surrender every consideration of justice, policy, and discretion, to a mere pretence—to a high-sounding but hollow humanity. It was to let loose the tiger without having the power of again subduing him, and can only be regarded as the act of a set of madmen.
It is probable that the lately enviable plain of the Cul de Sac will soon revert to a wild forest, bearing no visible mark of its former cultivation; at present a naked chimney, part of a mill, the broken wall of a sugar-house, or some other ruin, lifts its head, here and there, above the aspiring thorn—some remains are likewise seen of the fine roads, the expensive aqueducts, and other improvements which enriched or embellished the teeming valley: but, unless the all-redeeming hand of industry shall resume its sway, the few remaining marks of its former influence will be speedily buried amidst the rapid vegetation of this prolific soil.