Ferrand, the French general in the Cibao, conceived the project of disobeying his orders to evacuate and of trying to hold Spanish Santo Domingo for France. Finding that Kerverseau was ready to capitulate, he determined to assume command himself, feeling sure that the French government would approve his action, if his plans were successful. He therefore marched to Santo Domingo City and after a few days' parleying deposed Kerverseau, placed him aboard a vessel that carried him to Mayaguez, in Porto Rico, and assumed the governorship. Dessalines did not long keep him waiting. Desiring to extend his authority over the whole island, and angered by an injudicious decree of Ferrand, which permitted the enslaving of Haitians of over fourteen years found beyond their frontier, he invaded the country with a horde of 25,000 men. The population of the border towns fled before him in terror, the very slaves remaining with their masters rather than join him. Victorious in an engagement on the Yaque river, he laid siege to the capital on March 5, 1805. In the meantime his lieutenant, Christophe, overran the Cibao, sacking the towns and committing horrors. Santiago was captured before the inhabitants had time to flee, and a large number were murdered by the savage invaders. The members of the municipal council were hung, naked, on the balcony of the city hall; the people who had sought refuge in the main church were put to the sword and their bodies mutilated; and the priest was burnt alive in the church, the furniture of the edifice constituting his funeral pyre.