Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1862-07-31
WILL THE BLACKS F1GHTsa

ne IOl1OWlnE Is the tcStiIuODJ OF III
unwilling wtness-sa Frencha soldicrs s'' 81
-Liedtenantt General Baron Auphile de
la Croix was q adjstinguishsd officer Of the
French republican, army a part of which,
was detached byye Bonapart, under General I
Leclerc, to- Bring ST. ID Domingo. Under
French rule again. His -Memores., area
Observation-Disclosures, especially for their
details of military operations. -, xf..,fl
He states that the Lacks fought we'll, !
even in the early days of their instruction.
when they were mere revoted crowd
At the first symptoms ofnhesitation ION
the part of the soldiers sent Quito put
them down, they would throw themselves |.
with audacity upon the cannon, stuff their
arms into them. and at any expenee take
them. sFv bsidros5 sss - .zsos 81 1Essslssi
They never appeared as crowd of ex-
cited people engaged in a, revolt. but dis \
persed themselves in different bodies, each
one Of which had Instructions to converge
in such way Z as ITO envelope thcl
forces sent against them. When they
were dispersed, they still had sconstancy
enough to remain under arms. -..,..
The unorganized mulattoes in the south
Of ST. Domingo always knew how to gain
advantages. sOn the 1st and ID of Sep
temocr. 176l. body of O hundred 6iili-
busters and two hundred French troops
Of the line, with several pieces of canno n,
was routed at day break at the end of sue
cessful march. by a sustained fire of the
mulattoes, Of musketry alone, leaving one
hundred dead and wounded. ox5s-se-a ,s-7
In a subsequent action, when mulatto
general was on the point OF being over
thrown by the FIRE of twenty pieces Of ar
tilery. he was was saved by flank nfoye-
ment of another division sof mulatt oes.
who threw themselves upon. the pieces with
perfect abandonment. eXtinguished the fire,
and carried off one piece,
By turns victorious and defeated, the
muattoes never ceased to keep an armed
corps in the field. in the interesti7of their
cause. fa..-e t,t. .r-sfrr s-sss - ss,-f I
The defile called les Platons was attack
ed by three columns of French troops. num-
herring more than 10000 men, August
9th. 1892. The first column, not being
supported at the expected moment, wayer-
ed: it was composed of mulattoe under
Rignad (mulattoes fighting against the
blacks oftener than with them. II was
annihilated. though supported by regular
troops. The second column vast a little
later; il was also led by veteran troops
from the army of the Rhine. 1t was re-
ceived as the French and Bavarians were
received by Swiss and Tpselse; lively
musketry fire so decimated it, that it was
forced to retreat. Then it was vigorously
pursued, and lost 100 men, lieutenant
colonel and four officers.
The third column, with one piece Of ar
tillery. which was probaly an incurbrance,
hearing of these checks, attempted to ire-i
treat in order. 1t was too late. The chef
d ertllerie was killed at his piece. and all
the men who tried to prevent its capture.
The rout was complete. Two cannon and
ten wagon loads of provisions were aban
doned. The blacks pressed on, exploded
caissons. killed many, and the troops did
not rally until they were beneath the guns
Of Aux Cages.
| Rochambeau afterwards forced this de-
file and took an entrenched camp of the
negroes. In entrenching themselves they
had recourse to the knowledge oe the
whites, either French or Spanish, who ia
vored them.
Under Toussaint I'Overtiire the blacks
began to be disciplined. at was remarka-
BILE to see the Africans. half naked, with
musket and sabre, giving an example of
The severest discipline. They went out
for a campaign with nothing to eat but
maize, established themselves in towns.
without touching ANYTHING exposed for
sale in the shops. nor pillagmg the farmers
who brought things, to- market. Supple
and trembling before their officers, respect
full to citizens. they seemed only to wish
to obey the instict for liberty which was
inspired in them by Toussaint."ei '1iHSsai
SEhisswas at the period when theyabe-
gan. to,see clearly that n nothing but the
destruction Of the French could secure their
/ freedom. Toussaint's army was brigaded
and organized after the French fashion.
but was composed of only 20.650 men,
all of whom. but ], 500-chiefy mulattoes
were blacks. .,. 80 ts
His principal place of defense. where he
had stored great quantities of arms and
munitfons.s was Crete-a- Pierrot. % The
French thought they could take thy a.
coup de main. butwere repulsed. and it had
to be regularly invested-and approached
by slow and painful efforts IL was bom-
barded from three quarters for two whole
days; the garrison Of twelve hundred made
sorties with various success The French
lost 1000 men by these, and by the fire
from the entrenchments.. The blacks
knew how to throw up. new redoubts to
menace the French approaches. A second
attempt to carry the place cost Rochem-
beau 800 men. At length the garrison.
loosing less than half Its number. La
Croix SAYS; "The retreat. which the com
mandant dared to conceive and execute was
a remarkable feat Of arms. We surround
ed his post to the number of more than
IL, 900 men. He sased->himself., did not
lose half his garrison. and left US nothing
but his dead and wounded. This man
was quadroon. named Lamartinier. chef
da brigade, to whom nature had given
mind Of the strongest stamp. He was the
same man who headed the resistance of
Port au Prince against the divisions Of
Bondet, and who. in full coancil sof, war,
broke the head of Da Combe. command
ant of Artillery ,,,v.y -.,-.ss ~
Toussaint himself made one or two at
! facks unon the invesfin6 force and when