The Power and the Glory (19 page)

“Gentlemen,” Hyde said, addressing the two Americans, “I have the honor of introducing you to Sir Archibald Mason, captain of this ship.” The men bowed low to one another. “Before we set about our business,” Hyde continued, “might I offer you something to sip?”

“Coffee would be most welcome, Admiral,” Truxtun said.

“Coffee for me as well, sir,” Richard said, taking his cue from his commanding officer.

“I'm sorry, gentlemen, but coffee will simply not do for this occasion. May I recommend a glass of sherry? It's from Jerez de la Frontera and I can vouch for its quality. You accept? Excellent. Julian, make it so,” he instructed a second liveried servant who immediately set about pouring out portions of sherry from a square-sided cut-glass decanter. “Please, gentlemen, sit down. Make yourselves comfortable.

“Well, Captain Truxtun,” he went on in grand fashion when everyone was settled. “I believe congratulations are in order.”

“Congratulations? Why so, Admiral?”

“You will be pleased to learn that your Navy has taken its first prize: a French privateer by the name of
Croyable
, twelve guns. She has entered your service and has been renamed
Retaliation
. A rather fitting name, what?”

“Who took her?” Truxtun inquired immediately. “And where?” Although his interest had clearly been piqued, he kept his tone subdued.

Hyde consulted the documents he had brought from his writing desk. “Captain Stephen Decatur, off the coast of New Jersey. Near Egg Harbor, it says here.”

What Hyde was consulting, Richard had no doubt, was a British intelligence report.

“I know Captain Decatur,” Truxtun said. “He commands the sloop of war
Delaware
and has a son of the same name serving as a midshipman aboard
United States
. Admiral, if I may, it's critical for me to understand the circumstances of this engagement. Can you tell me if there was provocation? Did the French fire first?”

Hyde waited until the steward had finished placing a glass of sherry and a small pink napkin upon each of the mahogany side tables.

“That I don't know, Captain,” he said before adding, to ease Truxtun's look of disappointment, “but it matters naught in any event.” Truxtun's eyes narrowed as Hyde's toothy smile broadened. “I bring you good tidings, Captain,” he went on. “In early July, just as you were making ready to sail from Baltimore, your Congress declared your former treaty with France null and void. And that's not all. It also declared that the American Navy”—he glanced down to read verbatim from his notes—“is hereby authorized to engage any armed French vessel found within the jurisdictional limits of the United States—please listen carefully, Captain, here's the critical ruling—
or elsewhere on the high seas
. Elsewhere on the high seas, gentlemen,” he repeated with a triumphant smile. “You understand the implication of those words, do you not? They are tantamount to a declaration of war.” Hyde raised his glass. “So, gentlemen, here's to victory against our common enemy. Welcome to the good fight.”

“Here, here,” Captain Mason chimed in.

After the officers had consummated the toast, Truxtun glanced to his left. “Well, Mr. Cutler,” he said, “it seems we have received the orders we've been hoping for.”

“It would seem so, sir.”

“I assume you have confirmation of that authorization?” Truxtun inquired of Hyde.

“Right here on my lap, Captain. Right here on my lap. Along with several personal messages sent to you from your Mr. Stoddert. By reputation he is a man of few words, though it would seem he is somewhat more prolific with the pen. These are rather thick documents. The seals are not broken, as you can see for yourself. I have not read them.” He handed over the smooth leather dispatch packet. “By all means, take whatever time you require to verify whatever you wish. I shall not take offense.”

“That will not be necessary, Admiral.” Truxtun set the packet down against a leg of his chair. “Is there anything else you can tell me about the affairs of my country?” His tone carried more than a hint of irony.

Hyde deferred that question to
Queen'
s captain, who nodded and began to speak. Sir Archibald Mason's voice, to Richard's ear, seemed even more aristocratic than that of Admiral Hyde, if such a thing were possible.

“Are you aware, Captain Truxtun, of the Sedition Act passed by your Congress last month?”

“Sedition Act? No, I am not. I am aware of the Alien Act,” referring to an act of Congress passed during the height of anti-French hysteria. At its core, that legislation granted the president the right to deport anyone deemed dangerous to the United States.

“Oh, yes,
that
one,” Mason sniffed. “I say, I wish our Parliament had the decency to pass a law along those lines. We could sweep the land clean, eh? Send the frogs and the dagos back to where they belong, to make do in their own bloody ponds—those who manage to keep their wits about them. Not to mention their heads.” Admiral Hyde and Hugh Hardcastle echoed his cultured titter, as, after a pause, did the Americans. “Well, it seems,” he went on once the jollity had run its course, “that the party of John Adams seeks to deny citizens the right to criticize their government, no matter what the devil that government may decide to do. My God, what a concept! I must say, you chaps in the dominions
are
rather ingenious once you have your own ship. Our Whigs have much to learn from your Federalists.” He stated that last sentence emphatically, without a trace of humor.

“We have much to learn from each other,” Truxtun declared diplomatically. “Please accept my government's gratitude for the support Great Britain has given the United States in this matter, particularly as
it regards our mercantile trade. French raids against our shipping are beginning to fall off, and we have you to thank for that. We also thank you for the use of your naval base on Saint Kitts, where we are bound next.”

“Which we can legally do,” Mason interjected, “only because the United States and France are not
officially
at war, and because the United States and Great Britain are not
officially
allied against France.” He said this straight-faced, although the twinkle in his eye conveyed his opinion that the legal underpinnings of all this mattered naught.

“Yes, quite right, Captain,” Truxtun said, playing along. “Thank you for clarifying that point. In Saint Kitts we will be joining with American naval vessels soon to depart from Portsmouth. Five of our merchantmen shall accompany us there. The others, I presume, may remain in Kingston until safe passage can be arranged to other British ports?”

Admiral Hyde made a small gesture, a signal to the servant to dispense another round of spirits. “They are most welcome to remain here for as long as they wish, Captain. They are, after all, providing a most critical service to His Majesty's colonies in the West Indies.” Hyde shifted his not-inconsiderable weight. “Now then, if I may, I'd like to move on to the main topic we are here to discuss.” For the first time that afternoon, Hyde looked directly at Richard Cutler. “I am assuming, Lieutenant, that your captain has informed you of circumstances on Saint-Domingue?”

“He has, Admiral.”

“Might I trouble you for a summary of your understanding?”

Richard did so as best he could.

“Well done, Lieutenant,” Hyde said at its conclusion. “You certainly seem to have a grasp of the situation. Anything more to add, Captain?”

Truxtun shook his head. “Mr. Cutler has correctly summarized what I told him. My understanding is, however, that
you
have something more to add.”

“Yes, quite.” Hyde coughed delicately into a fist. “For starters, and what may come as a surprise to you, Mr. Cutler—I trust a pleasant one—you will not be alone in meeting with Toussaint L'Ouverture on Saint-Domingue. Captain Hardcastle will be accompanying you to represent British interests.”

Richard cast a sideways glance at his brother-in-law, who nodded slightly in reply.

“I am most pleased to hear it, Admiral. I hold Captain Hardcastle in the highest personal and professional esteem.”

“As indeed he holds you, Lieutenant. It was he who recommended you for this mission. He was quite adamant about it, I must say. His endorsement carried considerable weight, given his own experience with these islands. Plus, my father holds him in high regard,” Hyde concluded, as though that fact alone should be enough to decide the issue.

“Your mission is a critical one. Success means denying France the one naval base it retains in the Greater Antilles: Cap de Môle. Do you know of it? Ah, since you do, you can appreciate why denying France that base is the number-one concern of their lordships of the Admiralty. Their number-one concern thereby becomes
my
number-one concern. And success will bring us additional advantages.” He held up a finger. “Coming to terms with Toussaint means reopening trade with Saint-Domingue, trade that will benefit both our countries.” He held up a second finger. “Success also mitigates, if not eliminates, the threat of Negro uprisings on British-held islands and in the United States. I doubt Mr. Jefferson and his fellow slave owners suffer any delusions about the gravity of that threat.

“Success, however, depends on two critical assumptions. The first is that Toussaint L'Ouverture is a man we can trust. I must tell you that I am not yet satisfied on that score. I am, however, a man ever willing to consider new and superior information. The second assumption is that with our support Toussaint can defeat André Rigaud and his army of half-breeds. Understand: Rigaud holds Great Britain and the United States in equal contempt. He has made it quite clear that he will not treat with either of our governments under any circumstances. If he manages to defeat Toussaint, Saint-Domingue will remain our enemy for many years to come. By ‘our' I mean yours and mine, Mr. Cutler. And be aware that his primary source of arms is France.”

“
France
, sir?” Richard looked more confused than ever. “With respect, Admiral, is Toussaint not the lieutenant governor of Saint-Domingue?”

“He is indeed, as you rightly informed us a few moments ago.”

“And is he not also commander in chief of the French forces there?”

“He is.”

“Then, Admiral, why in heaven's name would France arm the enemy of the officer they have entrusted to defend their colony?”

Hyde nodded sympathetically. “I am pleased you asked that question, Mr. Cutler. It shows you are trying to wrestle with a situation that is difficult to bring to the mat and nigh impossible to hold down. The answer is, as you might suspect, rather elusive. You will not be surprised to learn that,
encore un fois
, France is playing on both sides of the wicket. Toussaint holds the upper hand at the moment, so the French act as though he's their man. But truth be told, André Rigaud is their man. It is on Rigaud that the French hang their hopes for maintaining Saint-Domingue as a French colony. Why? Because Toussaint seeks independence from France while Rigaud does not. Toussaint and Rigaud are engaged in a civil war, and it is a war in which England and America would logically support Toussaint L'Ouverture. Assuming, of course, that all else is equal. But
is
all else equal? That is what you and Captain Hardcastle must determine. Your mission is to gather sufficient facts to allow our governments to decide the proper course.”

As Richard reflected on that, Hugh Hardcastle said, “And bear in mind, Lieutenant, that Toussaint is himself no novice in the art of subterfuge. He professes loyalty to France at the same time he secretly communicates with your president and with British agents on Hispaniola. Why? Because he needs American supplies and because he can no longer abide British forces opposing him. What forces he has he must concentrate on what is being called the War of Knives. That name comes from Rigaud's nasty habit of putting captured Negroes to the knife, whether or not they are in uniform, and whether they be man, woman, or child. Toussaint's most trusted general, a man named Dessalines, is accused of retaliating in the same sort of way against captured mulattoes. Higher-ranking Negroes are dealt with differently, if not with more clemency. They are likely to be strapped over the mouth of a cannon and blown to bloody shreds.”

“This entire affair is really quite the ugly mess,” Mason volunteered. “It seems that no one on that blasted island trusts anyone, and who can blame them? The history of that wretched place is appalling. Everybody is using everybody else for his personal gain and advantage, ethics and honor be damned.”

Much like everywhere else, Richard thought. Aloud he said, “Admiral, are the French aware that Toussaint has requested assistance from the United States?”

Hyde gave him a rueful look. “That is a fair question, Lieutenant, but I am unable to give you a definitive answer.” He seemed disheartened
by a perceived chink in the armor of British intelligence. “As it goes to the crux of the matter, I would be most grateful if you and Captain Hardcastle could provide the answer to that question after meeting with General Toussaint.”

Truxtun asked, “What information can you give us on logistics, Admiral? When and where will this parley take place?”

“I can answer the ‘where.' It will take place on Île de la Gonâve, a rather large island west of Port-au-Prince, as I prefer to still call the colonial capital. We chose it for reasons of security. Toussaint has agreed to the location. We still have the ‘when' to determine. It should take another couple of months to hammer out the details. As soon as I have that information, I shall send word to Saint Kitts. Then, gentlemen, it will be good luck and Godspeed to our two emissaries.”