Although Ferrand was personally liked, discontent began to brew in the
country. The inhabitants were loyal to Spain and chafed under foreign
rule; many believed there was danger of Haitian invasion so long as
the French remained; certain tax exactions stirred up animosity; and
the stories of Spain's resistance to Napoleon's aggressions inflamed
the spirits of the leading men. Conspiracies ensued, fomented
principally by a Cotui planter named Juan Sanchez Ramirez, who had
emigrated in 1803, but returned after four years of exile, and the
Spanish flag was formally raised in Seibo in October, 1808. Ferrand
immediately set out to quell the uprising and on November 7, 1808, met
Sanchez Ramirez at Palo Hincado, about two miles west of Seibo. He was
vigorously attacked by the revolutionists, his native troops deserted,
and his other troops were cut to pieces. Seeing that all was lost and
that all his work was ruined, Ferrand blew out his brains with
a pistol.
The revolutionists received assistance from the governor-general of
Porto Rico and from their former enemy Christophe, who had made
himself king of northern Haiti; a British squadron took Samana, the
only post held by the French outside of Santo Domingo City, and raised
the Spanish flag; and Sanchez Ramirez laid siege to the capital, where
the French general Barquier had assumed command, while British vessels
blockaded it by sea.
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