336 



HAYTI. 



BEPUBLIC OF HAYTI. 



General of Division, VICTOBIN CHEV ALLIES, General-in- 

 Chief of the Popular A rmy. To the Committee of Jac~ 

 mel, and to the Military Authorities : 



SIBS : The people, worn out by the sanguinary ex- 

 actions of Saluave, have proclaimed his downfall. 

 You are invited to reunite for the carrying on of the 

 revolution, to labor with its members for the organi- 

 zation of a definite and regular government. 



The brave and loyal General Vil Lubin has been 

 proclaimed by the army Provisional President. 



That those who partake of our sentiments may 

 unite with us, .we request your attendance forthwith 



St S C afSy withe country ! V. CHEVALLIEK. 



GENERAL QPABTEBS OF CAMP OOE, Nov. 6, 1869, ) 

 And the sixty-sixth year of Independence. ) 

 Victor in Chevallier, General in- Chief of the Popular 

 Army, to the Army. 



SOLDIEBS : A new order of things has arisen. It is 

 time that the civil war which has decimated your 

 ranks and destroyed the vitality of the country was 

 ended. 



General Salnave is deposed from the presidency of 

 Hayti. From all parts his downfall is proclaimed. 

 You have made your voices heard you, who have 

 remained longest faithful to a chief in whose hands 

 you placed the destinies of your country, and who 

 has held them so cheap. 



Before the national will, Salnave has bowed his 

 head. If, forgetting the submission he owes to the 

 sovereign will of the people, he accedes not, it is 

 necessary that you, who have arms in your hands to 

 make the nationality respected, and to watch over 

 the safety of your countryit is necessary, I say, 

 that you impose on him obedience and submission. 



We are going to march, then, against Port au 

 Prince. Close your ranks. Press round your flags ; 

 they are the banners of order. Let him who remains 

 behind be proclaimed a traitor to his country. Yet 

 a few days, and this land, saturated with the blood 

 of our fathers, and which should never be over- 

 clouded by the actions of their descendants, by dis- 

 order, anarchy, and the phalanx of evils which accom- 

 pany them, shall again flourish under the shadow of 

 peace. 



Soldiers, cry with me, " Vive la paix et 1'ordrel 

 Vive la Constitution ! Vive la republique, une et in- 

 divisible et prospere ! V. CHEVALLIER. 



General Ohevallier was received with enthu- 

 siasm in Jacmel, and the day after, the 5th, 

 taking with him all the pickets that had 

 surrounded Jacmel for fourteen months, he 

 marched on to Port-au-Prince. Cape Hay- 

 tien was taken hy storm by the insurgents 

 on November 13th, and the war-vessels A. 

 Petion, Salnave, and Eouillone, in Cape Hay- 

 tien, were captured, so that Salnave was con- 

 fined to the city and vicinity of Port au Prince. 

 The revolutionists being now in the complete 

 possession of the northern part of the island, 

 made energetic preparations to attack Port au 

 Prince, where $4,000 Haytian paper-money 

 were worth one dollar in gold. 



The attack upon Port au Prince by the revo- 

 lutionists was commenced on the morning of 

 the 18th of December, at four o'clock. At that 

 hour the rebel steamers, three in number, made 

 their appearance in the harbor, and seized Sal- 

 nave's last vessel, the Terreur, lying at anchor. 

 Immediately after, General Brice landed with 

 about 1,200 men. An engagement followed, 

 and, after a sharp struggle, the insurgents car- 



ried the northern lines of the town. These 

 were held by General Brice until eleven o'clock 

 in the forenoon of the 19th, at which time he 

 received reinforcements. Salnave, growing 

 desperate, retired to the national palace, 

 whence he dispatched his trusty General Vil 

 Lubin, at the head of the guards, amounting 

 to four hundred men, to attack the insurgents. 

 They took with them a piece of ordnance, 

 which, for some time, made sad havoc in the 

 insurgent ranks, but which was eventually cap- 

 tured by a body of volunteers, fifty in number, 

 composed of gentlemen who had been ill- 

 treated by Salnave, and had joined Brice. Vil 

 Lubin, finding that the battle was lost, retreated 

 to the palace, whence he returned to impart 

 the unwelcome intelligence to his chief. From 

 the palace Vil Lubin returned to his command 

 at Fort Bezouton, and the fighting was con- 

 tinued at intervals during the day, the arsenal 

 and Fort St. Olair falling into the hands of 

 Brice before dark. On the morning of the 

 19th General Brice held a council of war, and 

 it was determined that Salnave should be at- 

 tacked in the palace. The fleet was ordered 

 to prepare for a bombardment, and the Ter- 

 reur was selected to fire on the palace. Sal- 

 nave, by this time, saw that to hold out any 

 longer would be useless, and he left, followed 

 by several of his generals, intending to go to 

 the American consulate. Before he had 

 mounted his horse, however, a shell from the 

 Terreur struck the throne-room, the most 

 magnificent apartment in the building, which 

 was consumed in a short time, and Salnave, 

 with a few followers, took the Petion ville road. 

 Just about this time fire was put to the north- 

 ern part of the town by Salnave's soldiers, but 

 Captain Salmon, of H. B. M. ship Defence, 

 with several of his officers and the crew of 

 that vessel, landed, and through their noble 

 exertions the conflagration was subdued, and 

 that part of the town was saved from being 

 entirely consumed. It appears that Salnave 

 had stowed away, in vaults at the palace, a 

 large quantity of ammunition. The shells fired 

 from the Terreur penetrated its vaults, caus- 

 ing several terrific explosions, and the palace 

 was utterly destroyed. Twelve houses in the 

 neighborhood were burned to the ground; 

 many more, in other parts of the same quarter 

 of the town were destroyed, and hundreds of 

 people have consequently been left without 

 homes. 



On the afternoon of the 19th a steamer 

 was despatched to 1'Archaie for Mssage Saget, 

 who arrived in the capital on the 20th, where 

 he was received with acclamations. A few 

 days after the taking of the city, Domingue, 

 the so-called President of the South, was sent 

 for, and a Provisional Government was formed. 

 This Government consists of Nissage Saget, 

 President ; Domingue, Vice-president ; General 

 F. Kameau, Minister of Finance and Commerce ; 

 Septimus Eameau, Minister of Justice ; and 

 General Brice, Minister of War. A decree was 



