André Rigaud

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André Rigaud - Leader of the mulatto revolt. Pure mulatto, son of a rich planter father and a Negress called Rose Bossy. He led a privileged life: educated in Bordeaux and a goldsmith by trade. Though he had money, he was always inclined towards the army. "He had joined the colours in France, and had fought in Guadeloupe and for the rebels in the American War of Independence."

Experience plus flair made him a "brilliant soldier" "Schoelcher says of him: 'Rigaud was one of those men whose worth is somewhat incomplete and who are unable to reach the heights. A participant in a revolution of helots who were breaking their chains, his great courage, and his intelligence from a military point of view made him powerful, but devoid of the qualities of a leader he could do nothing with that power. Furthermore, he did not have sufficient will-power to overcome the extreme violence in his character which never enabled him to be master of himself.

Narrow-minded, he never succeeded either in stifling the feelings of prejudice against the Negroes, whom he did not forgive, or against the whites for having the same feeling towards him and towards his class. He appears to have attributed his distress at having in him something of the Negro to an almost incredible childhood. "He was" says Madiou, "the son of a black and a white. He was very dark with crinkly hair. He always wore a wig of smooth haiir." Perhaps, it is true, the smooth-haired wig was connected with his immoderate love of pleasure. Madiou shows him as several times leaving his army at the beginning of the southern war to go to the coral islands and amuse himself by giving balls.' (Parkinson, page 57)

By 1796, "Rigaud was virtually dictator" in the south, while Toussaint Louverture held the north and Laveaux's favor. No Negroes rose above the rank of captain in his army. (Parkinson, p. 99)

Increasingly, Rigaud became jealous of Toussaint's successes and recognition. Seemingly unable to stop himself, he began turning every victory into defeat. After badly losing a final virulent set of conflicts beginning with 'the war of the knife,' Rigaud was ordered back to France. (Beard, pp.114-116)

There "he was received by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1801 with these words: 'General, I blame you for only one thing, not to have been victorious.'" (Kennedy, p. 140)

[NOTE: Kennedy lists his name as Benoit-Joseph Rigaud; p. 139; this is probably a mistake.--Stumax]

References

  • Beard, J. R. (John Relly) (1863). "Toussaint L'Ouverture: A Biography and Autobiography": Electronic Edition: Documenting the American South. http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/beard63/beard63.html
  • Kennedy, Roger G. (1989). Orders from France: The Americans and the French in a Revolutionary World, 1780-1820. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-394-55592-9.
  • Parkinson, Wenda (1978). This Gilded African. London: Quartet Books. ISBN 0-7043-2187-4