French envoys without troops could only govern the colony through Louverture’s cooperation

Evidence

Hédouville was in a delicate situation, however, as he had no French troops accompanying him. He disembarked at Santo Domingo, on the Spanish half of the island (which was nominally under the control of a few French administrators stationed there), presumably out of fear of the reception he would receive in Le Cap. During his stay there, the French officer François Kerverseau counseled Hédouville that the only way for him to carry out his mission was to secure the forces he lacked by creating an “intimate link” with Louverture. “With him, you can do everything; without him, nothing.” But Hédouville did not follow this advice. In 1798, as so many times before, metropolitan plans were undone in Saint-Domingue. — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 757

Categorization

• XREF: Kerverseau’s counsel echoes the pattern of armed black generals becoming indispensable power-brokers that France could not control; connects to the collapse of French authority this book charts.
• QUESTION: Why did Hédouville refuse the alliance even though he lacked any troop leverage? Foreshadows who he really serves.