The Foreign Service Journal, February 2009

est uprising. As the proud Canal and his two young relatives staggered into the American’s home and sought pro- tection, Bassett’s best instincts took over. Knowing that Domingue’s army was probably just steps behind the weary, terrified men, he shut the door behind them, and invoked the deli- cate veil of protection that diplomatic immunity offered. After seeing to it that his new guests were given food, water, med- ical care and clothing, Bassett must have sat with his head in his hands thinking of how he would explain this to a displeased Sec. Fish. “It may be that the instinct for humanity got the better of me,” he wrote. “The men before me were not my personal friends. They had never visited my house before, nor I theirs. I had no merely personal interest in them,” he noted days later in a letter to the de- partment. As the minister resident began making discreet inquiries the next day, he learned that massive arrests were taking place throughout the city. Martial law was now in effect, and people were fleeing in every direction to stay alive. Calling on the palace, Bassett found emotions were raw. During the afternoon, the city’s dis- trict attorney, a close friend, warned Bassett that he should return home at once. Panicked, he fled and found hun- dreds of armed men outside his gates. More troops were on the way, and it was clear that the worst-kept secret in Haiti was at an end. Assured that everyone inside was safe, he returned to file a formal protest with the for- eign minister, who replied demand- ing to know the name of every refugee. Bassett politely refused and left, but he soon began to receive threats of violence against himself and his family. Despite further ef- forts by the diplomat to calm emo- tions, the threats intensified. The crisis dragged on for several days before Bassett was able to pen his first memo back to Washington. Re- flecting on all that was still unfolding, Bassett handwrote a 21-page despatch to Washington. The envoy remained optimistic that passions would eventu- ally cool, having dealt with numerous cases of refugees in the past. Still, things seemed different this time around. “I must confess,” he wrote to Sec. Fish, “that the presence of a thou- sand armed men around my country residence … with discontent stamped on their faces and Henry rifles in their hands, does not quite give the best pos- sible ground to my hope.” Not once asking about his minis- ter’s well-being or offering any words of support, Fish responded by berat- ing Bassett. He noted that the Hait- ian ambassador in Washington, Steph- an Preston, had been complaining about the refugees. Fish wanted simply to be rid of this problem as quickly as possible. However, he did not force his envoy to just hand over the refugees; to do so would be a capitulation to the Haitian demand, and American pres- tige required more. In his reply, despite incurring the wrath of his superiors in Washington, Bassett put all of his credibility on the line: “I am not unaware that the ground taken in my several despatches … may not be in accord with the re- quirements of public law … but cir- cumstances seemed to crowd in upon me without warning, and in such a way as to leave me almost no choice. Men maddened by passion, inflamed, 32 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 9 Bassett’s student photograph, c. 1855, Connecticut Normal School, Central Con- necticut State University.