In the South and the West, from 1793 to 1798, Rigaud aided in Toussaint Louverture's decision to re-establish the plantation economy (albeit with paid labor as opposed to slave labor). Although Rigaud respected Louverture, the leading general of the former black slaves of the North and his superior rank in the French Revolutionary Army, he did not want to concede power in the South to him. Rigaud continued to believe in Saint-Domingue's race-based caste system, which put mulattoes just below whites and left blacks at the bottom, a belief that put him at odds with Toussaint. That led to the bitter "War of Knives" ("La Guerre des Couteaux") in June 1799, when Toussaint's army invaded Rigaud's territory. The Comte d'Hédouville, sent by France to govern the island, encouraged Rigaud's rivalry with Toussaint.