Orders to the Commandant at Fort de Joux Regarding Toussaint Louverture (October 27, 1802)

Administrative orders from the French Minister of Marine to the Commandant at Fort de Joux directing the systematic degradation of Toussaint Louverture: his watch and uniform were to be confiscated, he was to be given cheap clothing, addressed only as 'Toussaint' with his titles stripped, and permitted medical visits only when 'most indispensable.' The document is among the starkest records of the French state's deliberate effort to destroy Toussaint's dignity and identity before his death.