Donatien-Marie-Joseph de Vimeur, vicomte de Rochambeau, Philibert Franois Rouxel de Blanchelande, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Toussaint_Louverture&oldid=1146930811, Military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from May 2020, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using infobox military person with embed, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2021, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2020, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2022, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Davis, David Brion. Surviving documents show him participating in the leadership of the rebellion, discussing strategy, and negotiating with the Spanish supporters of the rebellion for supplies. In spite of this relative privilege, there is evidence that even in his youth Louverture's pride pushed him to engage in fights with members of the Petits-blancs (white commoner) community, who worked on the plantation as hired help. Moyse Louveture - Wikipedia [14] One of the slaves Louverture owned at this time is believed to have been Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who would go onto become one of Louverture's most loyal lieutenants and a member of his personal guard during the Haitian revolution. Other officers believed Napoleon's diplomatic proclamation, while some attempted resistance instead of burning and retreating.[128]. As the island's enslaved workers organized to burn plantations and kill many owners, Toussaint initially laid low. Louverture was then forced to capitulate and placed under house arrest on his property in Ennery. The gens de couleur libres strongly identified with Saint-Domingue, with a popular slogan being that while the French felt home in France, and the slaves felt home in Africa, they felt home on the island. In the report he eventually submitted he described Louverture as wilfully deceitful. Louvertures self-proclaimed heroism is illustrated by the following statement: Ive been fighting for a long time, and if I must continue, I can. What made Toussaint L Ouverture a good leader? [35] From being willing to bargain for better conditions of slavery late in 1791, he had become committed to its complete abolition. [122] Napoleon eventually decided to send an expedition of 20,000 men to Saint-Domingue to restore French authority, and possibly, to restore slavery as well. In his memoirs, written during his second exile, Napoleon explained this constitution as the final impetus for the expedition: Toussaint knew very well that in proclaiming his constitution, he had thrown away his mask and had drawn his sword out of its sheath forever.. A Look at the Trajectory of the Precursor of Independence of Haiti", Toussaint L'Ouverture: A Biography and Autobiography, "An eighteenth-century plan to invade Jamaica; Isaac Yeshurun Sasportas French patriot or Jewish radical idealist? The limp that had confined him to his bed during the Gonaves attack was thought to be feigned and Lleonart suspected him of treachery. Explains that bonaparte signed the peace treaties ending the french revolution in 1799. toussaint l'ouverture was recognized as a promising young leader for this slave rebel army.