Christophe surrendered to Leclerc believing his star outshone Louverture’s fading one

Evidence

In mid-April, as battles with the French continued in the area, he made contact with Leclerc and indicated he would be willing to negotiate a surrender. … Why did Christophe, who had started the war against Leclerc by burning Le Cap in February, surrender in April? This remains a puzzle. In March the final peace treaty between Britain and France had been signed, and although the news of this was not officially proclaimed in Saint- Domingue until early May, it was probably already known through unofficial channels. This news may have affected Christophe’s decision. He may also have been tired of fighting, and unsure that his loyalty to Louverture would pay off in the end; in a mid-April letter to Christophe, a French officer had invited him to give up the “errant and vagrant” life he was leading as a rebel leader and abandon the cause of the “ambitious” Louverture. According to one recent account, Christophe, having been given assurances by General Leclerc, truly believed that Leclerc could “better guarantee his future and the liberty of his brothers than the former governor, whose star was fading.” — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 973

Categorization

• QUESTION: Dubois flags the real motive as ‘a puzzle’ — worth chasing the primary sources on Christophe’s April 1802 correspondence.
• XREF: connects to: Christophe’s defection and the Anglo-French peace pushed Louverture to negotiate surrender — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 975
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Christophe’s defection and the Anglo-French peace pushed Louverture to negotiate surrender — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 975