A deceptive double-letter counterintelligence ploy backfired and lost the Spanish colony

Evidence

In the occupied Spanish portion of the island, Louverture’s brother Paul was in command. Toussaint sent him a letter ordering him to resist the French and to capture Kerverseau, the commander of the convoy sent by Leclerc to take Santo Domingo. He also gave the messengers a false letter ordering Paul to submit, so that if they were captured by the French they could show them this letter and prevent them from knowing Toussaint’s true intentions. The emissaries were captured, as Toussaint had feared. His ploy, however, failed. The French executed the men and, searching their bodies, found both letters. They passed them on to Kerverseau, who presented Paul Louverture with the false letter ordering him to submit. He followed what he thought were his brother’s orders, putting the entire Spanish colony in the hands of Leclerc’s troops. — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 946

Categorization

• STORYSTEM: A leader burying a forged-loyal letter among real orders, betting on which message interceptors would believe, is a ready-made narrative device for a spy or military fiction scene.