[2] D'Esparbès was appointed governor of Santo Domingo in 1792 and accompanied three new civil commissars to the island, Léger-Félicité Sonthonax, Étienne Polverel and Jean-Antoine Ailhaud.
[2] The commissioners found that many of the white planters were hostile to the increasingly radical revolutionary movement and were joining the royalist opposition.
The commissioners announced that they did not intend to abolish slavery, but had come to ensure that free men had equal rights whatever their color.
[5] On 21 October 1792, the commissioners dismissed d'Esparbès and named the vicomte de Rochambeau governor general of Santo Domingo.
[4] D'Esparbès was accused of disloyalty on 4 February 1793, but was acquitted by the Revolutionary Tribunal on 27 April 1793 and withdrew from public life.