To Alexander Hamilton from Lewis Tousard, 6–9 September 1802
From Lewis Tousard1
Cap-Français [Santo Domingo], September 6–9, 1802. States that he has returned to General Charles Victor Emmanuel Leclerc’s staff in Santo Domingo.2 Describes Leclerc’s campaign to restore French rule on the island and replies to criticism in the United States of Leclerc’s conduct.3
ALS, Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress.
1. Tousard, a former captain of artillery in the French army, was an aide to the Marquis de Lafayette during the American Revolution and a lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army. After the war he served with the French forces in Santo Domingo until 1792 and then returned to France, where he was imprisoned. In 1793 he returned to the United States, and in 1795 he became a major in the United States Army. On May 26, 1800, Tousard received his commission as a lieutenant colonel and was named inspector of the artillery. He was honorably discharged from the Army on June 1, 1802.
2. Leclerc, the husband of Napoleon Bonaparte’s sister, Pauline, was the commanding officer of an army of thirty-three thousand men which successfully subdued the rebellion on Santo Domingo led by François Dominque Touissant L’Ouverture. See Rufus King to H, May 7, 1802, note 8. By November, 1802, nearly three-quarters of the army, including Leclerc, had died of yellow fever.
3. For examples of criticism of Leclerc, see the New-York Evening Post, April 9, 17, 29, May 8, 10, 1802.