Military commanders rejected British offers because they prized autonomous command over freedom

Evidence

Biassou “tried on the red jacket the British sent,” and seems to have been tempted to continue fighting Louverture. Under the British, however, he would have had to fight under the command of white officers, and would have had much less autonomy than he had under the Spanish. Ultimately Biassou, Jean-François, and many other officers among the auxiliaries chose instead to leave their homeland under the protection of the Spanish, who resettled them throughout their empire. — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 633

Categorization

• QUESTION: Why did Biassou, who pioneered slave revolt for freedom, refuse British freedom that came with subordination? Worth probing the tension between liberty and command authority.
• XREF: Parallel to how autonomy under Spanish command (choosing their own battles) mattered more than abstract freedom to the auxiliary chiefs — echoes of how Louverture himself balanced allegiances.