Maitland negotiated with Louverture because he held the real power

Evidence

General Maitland knew of Hédouville’s arrival in the colony, but he also knew that although the agent had the “paper authority,” it was Louverture who held the real power. He therefore approached Louverture, rather than Hédouville, as he began to negotiate the British withdrawal. In late April Maitland made an offer to Louverture: in return for a guarantee of “good treatment” for the French planters in the areas under British control, and a promise not to destroy property in the region, he would evacuate peacefully. Louverture dutifully sent the proposals to Hédouville, who authorized his general to negotiate, ordering him to grant amnesty to all “former French” who had not emigrated and had not served in the British army. When Louverture signed a deal with Maitland, however, he stretched the amnesty beyond what Hédouville had ordered, applying it even to those who served in the militia in the areas that had been occupied by the British, as well as all those who had fought with the British but had abandoned them, even if they had done so quite recently. — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 759

Categorization

• XREF: Crystallizes the gap between ‘paper authority’ and actual power that recurs in histories of imperial decline.