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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of the First West India Regiment, by 
+A. B. Ellis
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The History of the First West India Regiment
+
+Author: A. B. Ellis
+
+Release Date: September 14, 2009 [EBook #29984]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FIRST WEST INDIA REGIMENT ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven Gibbs, Jane Hyland and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE HISTORY
+
+OF THE
+
+FIRST WEST INDIA REGIMENT.
+
+
+THE HISTORY
+
+OF THE
+
+FIRST WEST INDIA
+REGIMENT.
+
+
+BY
+
+A.B. ELLIS,
+
+_Major, First West India Regiment._
+
+AUTHOR OF "WEST AFRICAN ISLANDS" AND "THE LAND OF FETISH".
+
+
+London:
+
+CHAPMAN AND HALL, LIMITED,
+
+HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
+
+1885.
+
+CHARLES DICKENS AND EVANS,
+
+CRYSTAL PALACE PRESS.
+
+
+
+
+I beg to return my best thanks to A.E. HAVELOCK, Esq., C.M.G.
+Administrator-in-Chief of the West African Settlements;
+Lieutenant-Colonel F.B.P. WHITE, of the 1st West India Regiment; V.S.
+GOULDSBURY, Esq., Administrator of the Gambia Settlements; A. YOUNG,
+Esq., Lieutenant-Governor of Demerara; F. EVANS, Esq., C.M.G., Assistant
+Colonial Secretary of the Gold Coast Colony; ALFRED KINGSTON, Esq., of
+the Record Office; and RICHARD GARNETT, Esq., of the British Museum, for
+the very valuable assistance which they have rendered me in the
+collection of materials for this Work.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+                                                                   PAGE
+    INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER                                                  1
+
+
+    CHAPTER I.
+
+    THE ACTION AT BRIAR CREEK, 1779--THE ACTION AT STONO
+    FERRY, 1779                                                          26
+
+
+    CHAPTER II.
+
+    THE SIEGE OF SAVANNAH, 1779--THE SIEGE OF CHARLESTOWN,
+    1780--THE BATTLE OF HOBKERK'S HILL, 1781                             33
+
+
+    CHAPTER III.
+
+    THE RELIEF OF NINETY-SIX, 1781--THE BATTLE OF EUTAW
+    SPRINGS, 1781--REMOVAL TO THE WEST INDIES                            43
+
+
+    CHAPTER IV.
+
+    THE EXPEDITION TO MARTINIQUE, 1793--THE CAPTURE OF
+    MARTINIQUE, ST. LUCIA, AND GUADALOUPE, 1794--THE
+    DEFENCE OF FORT MATILDA, 1794                                        53
+
+
+    CHAPTER V.
+
+    MALCOLM'S ROYAL RANGERS--THE EVACUATION OF ST. LUCIA,
+    1795                                                                 63
+
+
+    CHAPTER VI.
+
+    THE CARIB WAR IN ST. VINCENT, 1795                                   69
+
+
+    CHAPTER VII.
+
+    MAJOR-GENERAL WHYTE'S REGIMENT OF FOOT, 1795                         77
+
+
+    CHAPTER VIII.
+
+    THE CAPTURE OF ST. LUCIA, 1796                                       85
+
+
+    CHAPTER IX.
+
+    THE RELIEF OF GRENADA, 1796--THE REPULSE AT PORTO RICO,
+    1797                                                                 93
+
+
+    CHAPTER X.
+
+    THE DEFENCE OF DOMINICA, 1805                                       103
+
+
+    CHAPTER XI.
+
+    THE HURRICANE AT DOMINICA, 1806--THE REDUCTION OF ST.
+    THOMAS AND ST. CROIX, 1807--THE RELIEF OF MARIE-GALANTE,
+    1808                                                                117
+
+
+    CHAPTER XII.
+
+    THE CAPTURE OF MARTINIQUE, 1809--THE CAPTURE OF GUADALOUPE,
+    1810                                                                125
+
+
+    CHAPTER XIII.
+
+    THE EXPEDITION TO NEW ORLEANS, 1814-15                              141
+
+
+    CHAPTER XIV.
+
+    THE OCCUPATION OF GUADALOUPE, 1815--THE BARBADOS INSURRECTION,
+    1816--THE HURRICANE OF 1817                                         160
+
+
+    CHAPTER XV.
+
+    THE DEMERARA REBELLION, 1823                                        170
+
+
+    CHAPTER XVI.
+
+    THE BARRA WAR, 1831--THE HURRICANE OF 1831--THE COBOLO
+    EXPEDITION, 1832                                                    178
+
+
+    CHAPTER XVII.
+
+    THE MUTINY OF THE RECRUITS AT TRINIDAD, 1837                        188
+
+
+    CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+    THE PIRARA EXPEDITION, 1842--CHANGES IN THE WEST AFRICAN
+    GARRISONS--THE APPOLLONIA EXPEDITION, 1848                          208
+
+
+    CHAPTER XIX.
+
+    INDIAN DISTURBANCES IN HONDURAS, 1848-49--THE ESCORT TO
+    COOMASSIE, 1848--THE SHERBRO EXPEDITION, 1849--THE
+    ESCORT TO RIO NUNEZ, 1850                                           218
+
+
+    CHAPTER XX.
+
+    THE STORMING OF SABBAJEE, 1853--THE RELIEF OF CHRISTIANSBORG,
+    1854                                                                228
+
+
+    CHAPTER XXI.
+
+    THE TWO EXPEDITIONS TO MALAGEAH, 1854-55                            236
+
+
+    CHAPTER XXII.
+
+    THE BATTLE OF BAKKOW, AND STORMING OF SABBAJEE, 1855                248
+
+
+    CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+    CHANGES IN THE WEST AFRICAN GARRISONS, 1856-57--THE
+    GREAT SCARCIES RIVER EXPEDITION, 1859--FIRE AT NASSAU,
+    1859                                                                257
+
+
+    CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+    THE BADDIBOO WAR, 1860-61                                           265
+
+
+    CHAPTER XXV.
+
+    THE ASHANTI EXPEDITION, 1863-64                                     276
+
+
+    CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+    THE JAMAICA REBELLION, 1865                                         286
+
+
+    CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+    AFRICAN TOUR, 1866-70                                               298
+
+
+    CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+    THE DEFENCE OF ORANGE WALK, 1872                                    304
+
+
+    CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+    THE ASHANTI WAR, 1873-74                                            317
+
+
+    CHAPTER XXX.
+
+    AFFAIRS IN HONDURAS, 1874--THE SHERBRO EXPEDITION, 1875--THE
+    ASHANTI EXPEDITION, 1881                                            333
+
+
+    APPENDIX                                                            343
+
+    INDEX                                                               361
+
+
+
+
+MAPS.
+
+    1. ST. VINCENT                     _facing page 69_
+
+    2. GRENADA                                 "    93
+
+    3. DOMINICA                                "   103
+
+    4. MARTINIQUE                              "   125
+
+    5. GUADALOUPE                              "   133
+
+    6. THE GAMBIA SETTLEMENTS                  "   178
+
+    7. THE GOLD COAST                          "   215
+
+    8. BRITISH HONDURAS                        "   219
+
+    9. THE MELLICOURIE RIVER                   "   236
+
+    10. SWARRA CUNDA CREEK                     "   265
+
+    11. THE COUNTY OF SURREY, JAMAICA          "   287
+
+    12. ORANGE WALK                            "   305
+
+    13. THE ROUTE TO COOMASSIE                 "   319
+
+    14. BRITISH SHERBRO                        "   337
+
+
+THE HISTORY OF THE FIRST WEST INDIA REGIMENT.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
+
+
+At the present day, when our Continental neighbours are outvying each
+other in the completeness of their military organisations and the size
+of their armies, while in the United Kingdom complaints are daily heard
+that the supply of recruits for the British Army is not equal to the
+demand, it may not be out of place to draw the attention of the public
+to a source from which the army may be most economically reinforced.
+
+The principal difficulty experienced by military reformers in their
+endeavours to remodel the British Army on the Continental system, is
+that caused by the necessity of providing troops for the defence of our
+vast and scattered Colonial Empire. Without taking into consideration
+India, our European and North American possessions, a considerable
+portion of the army has to be employed in furnishing garrisons for the
+Cape Colony, Natal, Mauritius, St. Helena, the Bermudas, the West
+Indies, Burmah, the Straits Settlements, Hong Kong, etc.; which
+garrisons, though creating a constant drain on the Home Establishment,
+are notoriously inadequate for the defence of the various colonies in
+which they are placed; and the result is that, whenever a colonial war
+breaks out, fresh battalions have to be hurriedly sent out from the
+United Kingdom at immense expense, and the entire military machine is
+temporarily disarranged.
+
+In size, and in diversity of subject races, the British Empire may be
+not inaptly compared with that of Rome in its palmiest days; and we
+have, in a measure, adopted a Roman scheme for the defence of a portion
+of our dominions. The Romans were accustomed, as each new territory was
+conquered, to raise levies of troops from the subject race, and then,
+most politicly, to send them to serve in distant parts of the Empire,
+where they could have no sympathies with the inhabitants. In India we,
+like the Romans, raise troops from the conquered peoples, but, unlike
+them, we retain those troops for service in their own country. The
+result of this attempt to modify the scheme was the Indian mutiny.
+
+The plan of a local colonial army was, however, first tried in the West
+Indies. At the close of the last century, when the West India Islands,
+or the Plantations, as they were then called, were of as much importance
+to, and held the same position in, the British Empire as India does
+now, there was in existence a West India Army, consisting of twelve
+battalions of negro troops, raised exclusively for service in the West
+Indies.
+
+As India was gradually conquered, and the West India trade declined
+(from the abolition of the slave trade and other causes), the West India
+Colonies, by a regular process, fell from their former pre-eminent
+position. Each step in the descent was marked by the disbandment of a
+West India regiment, until, at the present day, two only remain in
+existence; and it is a matter of common notoriety that those two are
+principally preserved to garrison Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast Colony,
+British Honduras, and British Guiana--colonies the climates of which,
+experience has shown, are fatal to European soldiers, who are
+necessarily in time of peace, from the nature of their duties, more
+exposed to climatic influence than are officers. Economy was, of course,
+the cause of this continued process of reduction, for, until recently,
+such gigantic military establishments as those of Germany, Russia, and
+France were unheard of; and Great Britain was satisfied, and felt
+secure, with a miniature army, a paper militia, and no reserve. All this
+is now changed, and the necessity of an increase in our defensive power
+is admitted.
+
+These negro West India troops won the highest encomiums from every
+British commander under whom they served. Sir Ralph Abercromby in 1796,
+Sir John Moore in 1797, Lieutenant-General Trigge in 1801, Sir George
+Provost in 1805, Lieutenant-General Beckwith and Major-General Maitland
+in 1809 and 1810, all testified to the gallantry, steadiness, and
+discipline of the negro soldiers. Sir John Moore, speaking of the new
+corps in 1796, said "they are invaluable," and "the very best troops for
+the climate." To come to more recent times, in 1873 the 2nd West India
+Regiment bore for six months the entire brunt of the Ashanti attack, and
+had actually forced the invading army to retire across the Prah before
+the men of a single line battalion were landed. In fact, the efficiency
+of West India troops was, and is, unquestioned.
+
+This being so, it may be asked, why should not the present number of
+regiments composed of negro soldiers be increased for the purpose of
+garrisoning the colonies, especially those of which the climate is most
+prejudicial to English soldiers? This would not be a return to the
+former state of affairs, for when we had twelve negro regiments they
+were all stationed in the West Indies, whereas the essence of the
+present scheme is to send them on service in other colonies. Such an
+augmentation of our West India, or Zouave, regiments certainly appears
+politic and easy. I will also endeavour to show that it would be
+economical.
+
+Each West India battalion would take the place of a Territorial
+battalion now serving abroad. The latter would return to the United
+Kingdom, be reduced to the Home Establishment, and have from 300 to 400
+men passed into the Reserve. Repeat this process seven or eight times,
+and the services with the colours of between 2000 and 3000 European
+soldiers are dispensed with, the Reserve being increased by that number.
+In addition, negro soldiers being enlisted for twelve years' service
+with the colours, negro regiments on foreign service would not require
+those large drafts sent to white battalions to replace time-expired men,
+transport for which so swells the army estimates; while the negro being
+a native of the tropics, invaliding home would be reduced to a minimum.
+
+The pay of the black soldier is ninepence per diem, against a shilling
+per diem to the white, so that there would be some saving effected in
+that way. In fact, it has been calculated that for an annual addition to
+the army estimates of some £27,000, six new negro battalions, each 800
+strong, could be maintained; giving, on the one hand, an addition of
+4800 to our present military force, and on the other, an increased
+Reserve, and six more Territorial battalions in the United Kingdom,
+ready to hand on a European emergency. To this may be added the lives of
+scores of Englishmen yearly saved to their country.
+
+By the Territorial scheme now in force in Great Britain, an attempt has
+been made to localise corps on the German system, irrespective of the
+fact that Germany has no colonies, while those of Great Britain are most
+numerous. In Germany, in time of peace, each army corps is located in a
+district, from which it never moves, and in which the Reserve men,
+destined to complete the regiments to war strength, are compelled to
+live. Thus, when a general mobilisation takes place, the men are on the
+spot, and join the regiments in which they have already served. France
+has adopted this system, with the exception that army corps are not
+permanently located in districts, and the army thus localised is the one
+for European service only. For her colonies an entirely distinct army is
+maintained, composed of men specially enlisted for foreign service. In
+Great Britain we have neither adopted the German system nor the French
+modification of that system; but a scheme of localisation, with the
+main-spring of localisation removed, has been endeavoured to be grafted
+upon our old system, under which the regular army is sent on service in
+time of peace to distant portions of the globe. Should the mobilisation
+of an army corps be necessary in England, the Reserve men would, in a
+large number of cases, find the regiments in which they had formerly
+served, on foreign service. It would then be necessary to draft them
+into regiments to which they were strangers, in which they would take no
+interest, and where they would be unknown to their officers. On the
+other hand, should it be necessary to despatch suddenly six or seven
+battalions to India or the Cape, they have to be made up to a war
+strength from other corps, for they have been reduced to a skeleton
+establishment in order that men may be provided for the Reserve.
+
+Localisation, to be effectual, must be thorough; but it and the demands
+of foreign service are so incompatible that they cannot be efficiently
+combined. At the present time, neither is said to be in a satisfactory
+condition, and the Reserve, which was expected to have risen to a total
+of 80,000 men, consists of 32,000 only.
+
+Military reformers have long since arrived at the conclusion that if the
+British Army is to be maintained at such a footing as to give weight to
+the voice of Great Britain in the councils of Europe, we must have two
+distinct armies; namely, one for home service, ready for a European
+imbroglio, and a second to which the defence of the colonies can be
+entrusted. The objection to this has been, hitherto, the great expense,
+for it has always been taken for granted that this Colonial Army would
+consist of white soldiers; and the question of increased pay, supply of
+recruits, and periodical removal of men to the United Kingdom, over and
+above the cost of the Territorial Army, had to be considered. With negro
+troops, however, for the Colonial Army, this objection, if it does not
+entirely disappear, is reduced at least by three-quarters. Should it be
+tried on a small scale and found successful, there need be no reason why
+in time almost the whole of the Territorial battalions should not be
+withdrawn from foreign service. In this way localisation could be made a
+reality; and with such vast untouched recruiting grounds as our colonies
+offer, there can be no doubt as to the practicability of raising the
+negro regiments required. Such regiments might also partly compose the
+garrisons of Gibraltar, Malta, Cyprus, Aden, and Ceylon. There is,
+indeed, no reason, except the hatred of the Hindoo for the negro, why
+such regiments might not serve in India. As the negro would never
+coalesce with the natives of India, a new and entirely reliable force,
+indifferent to tropical heat, and not requiring a vast retinue of
+camp-followers, would be always at hand. Of course, negro battalions
+could never be employed in cold latitudes, for the negro suffers from
+cold in a manner which is incomprehensible even to Europeans who have
+passed the best part of their lives in the tropics. Instead of being
+braced by and deriving activity from the cold, he becomes languid and
+inert; and nothing but the rays of the sun can arouse him to any
+exertion. Even in West Africa, during the Harmattan season, natives may
+be observed in the early morning, hugging their scanty clothing around
+them and shivering with cold; while the ill-fated expedition to New
+Orleans showed what deadly havoc an inclement climate will play with
+negro troops.
+
+Next, as to the men of whom these negro regiments would be composed. It
+is too much the custom in Great Britain, in describing a man of colour,
+to consider that all has been said that is necessary when he is called a
+negro; yet there are as many nationalities, and as many types of the
+African race, as there are of the Caucasian. No one would imagine that a
+European was sufficiently described by the title of "white man." It
+would be asked if the individual in question were an Englishman,
+German, Frenchman, and so on; and the same kind of classification is
+necessary for the negro. On the western coast of Africa, the portion of
+the African continent from which North and South America and the West
+Indies obtained their negro population, there are at least twenty
+different varieties of the African race, distinct from each other in
+features and even in colour; and these are again subdivided into several
+hundred nations or tribes, each of which possesses a language, manners,
+and customs of its own.
+
+In the days of the slave-trade, the slave-dealers adopted certain
+arbitrary designations to denote from what portion of the coast their
+wares were obtained. For instance, slaves shipped from Sierra Leone and
+the rivers to the north and east of that peninsula, and who were
+principally Timmanees, Kossus, Acoos, Mendis, Foulahs, and Jolloffs,
+were called Mandingoes, from the dominant tribe of that name which
+supplied the slave-market. Negroes from the Gold Coast kingdoms of
+Ashanti, Fanti, Assin, Akim, Wassaw, Aquapim, Ahanta, and Accra were
+denominated Koromantyns, or Coromantees, a corruption of Cormantine, the
+name of a fort some sixteen miles to the east of Cape Coast Castle, and
+which was the earliest British slave-station on the Gold Coast.
+Similarly, slaves from the tribes inhabiting the Slave Coast, that is to
+say, Awoonahs, Agbosomehs, Flohows, Popos, Dahomans, Egbas, and Yorubas,
+were all termed Papaws; while those from the numerous petty states of
+the Niger delta, where the lowest type of the negro is to be found, were
+known as Eboes.
+
+Thousands of men of these tribes, and others too numerous to mention,
+were carried across the Atlantic and scattered at hap-hazard all over
+the West India Islands. At first tribal distinctions were maintained,
+but in the course of years, in each island they gradually disappeared
+and were forgotten; until at the present day a West India negro does not
+describe himself as a Kossu or a Koromantyn, but as a Jamaican, a
+Barbadian, an Antiguan, etc. It would naturally be supposed that as the
+West India Islands all received their slave population in the same
+manner, and that as in each there was the same original diversity of
+nationalities, subsequently blended together by intermarriages and
+community of wants and language, a West India negro of the present
+generation from any one island would be hardly distinguishable from one
+from any other. Nothing, however, would be further from the truth. Since
+the abolition of slavery, the conditions of life in the various islands
+have been so different--in some the dense population necessitating daily
+labour for an existence, while in others large uncultivated stretches of
+wood and mountain have afforded squatting grounds for the majority of
+the black population--that, in conjunction with diversity of climate,
+each group of islands is now populated with a race of negroes morally
+distinct _per se_. The difference between a negro born and bred in
+Barbados and one born and bred in Jamaica is as great as between an
+American and an Englishman, and the clannish spirit of the negro tends
+to increase that difference. At the present time the negro of Jamaica
+does not care to enlist in the 2nd West India Regiment, which is largely
+recruited in Barbados; and, in the same way, the Barbadian declines to
+serve in the 1st West India Regiment, because it is almost entirely
+composed of Jamaicans.
+
+While the negroes of the West Indies have thus lost all their tribal
+peculiarities in the natural course of progress and civilisation, those
+of West Africa have remained at a standstill; and there is to-day as
+much difference between the hideous and debased Eboe and the stately and
+dignified Mandingo, between the docile Fanti and the bloodthirsty
+Ashanti, as there was one hundred and fifty years ago. Civilising
+influences have made this contrast between the Africans and their West
+India descendants still more striking. The latter have, since the
+abolition of slavery, been living independent lives, in close contact
+with civilisation, and enjoying all the rights of manhood under British
+laws. From their earliest infancy they have known no language but the
+English, and no religion but Christianity; while the former are still
+barbarians, grovelling in fetishism, cursed with slavery, ignorant,
+debased, and wantonly cruel. The West India negro has so much contempt
+for his African cousin, that he invariably speaks of him by the
+ignominious title of "bushman." In fact, the former considers himself in
+every respect an Englishman, and the anecdote of the West India negro,
+who, being rather roughly jolted by a Frenchman on board a mail steamer,
+turned round to him and ejaculated, "I think you forget that we beat you
+at Waterloo," is no exaggeration.
+
+Just as the negro races of West Africa are distinct from one another,
+and the West India negro from all, so are the coloured inhabitants of
+both those parts of the world entirely distinct from the Kaffir tribes
+of South Africa; and a coalition between Galeka or Zulu inhabitants and
+West India troops would be as impossible as the fraternisation of a
+Territorial battalion with the natives of India. Apart, however, from
+the fact that negro troops could always be safely employed alone outside
+the colony in which they were bred, history has shown that the fidelity
+of West India soldiers is beyond question. Indeed it would be difficult
+to say what stronger ties there could be than those of sentiment,
+language, and religion, and the association from childhood with British
+manners, customs, laws, and modes of thought. When to these are added
+discipline, the habit of obedience, and that well-known affection for
+their officers and their regiment which is so particularly an attribute
+of the West India soldier, it must be acknowledged that the guarantees
+of fidelity are, with the single exception of race, at least as good as
+those of the linesmen.
+
+In India, the native army consists of men hostile to us by tradition,
+creed, and race, who consider their food defiled if even the shadow of a
+British officer should chance to fall across it, and assuredly it would
+be as safe a proceeding to garrison our colonies with English negroes as
+to garrison India with such men. Yet that is done at the present day,
+and excites no remark.
+
+The English-speaking negro of the West Indies is most excellent material
+for a soldier. He is docile, patient, brave, and faithful, and for an
+officer who knows how to gain his affection--an easy matter, requiring
+only justness, good temper, and an ear ready to listen patiently to any
+tale of real or imaginary grievance--he will do anything. Of course they
+are not perfect; they have their faults, like all soldiers, and when
+they chance to be commanded by an officer who is unnecessarily harsh, or
+who speaks roughly to them, they manifest their displeasure by passive
+obedience and a stubborn sullenness. English soldiers, on the other
+hand, under such circumstances, proceed to acts of insubordination, and
+it is for military judges to say which mode of expression they prefer.
+
+The West African negro does not appear to such advantage as a soldier.
+Although all the specimens, with the exception of the Sierra Leone
+negro, possess the first necessary qualification of personal courage,
+they are dull and stupid, and cannot be transformed into intelligent
+soldiers. It may be wondered why the Sierra Leonean, who alone among the
+West Africans is an English-speaking negro, should be worse than his
+more barbarian neighbours; but I believe the solution may be found in
+the fact that the large proportion of slaves landed in former days at
+Sierra Leone from captured slavers were so-called Eboes, from the tribes
+of the Niger delta; which tribes all ethnologists are agreed in
+describing as among the lowest of the African races, and which, it may
+be remarked, are even at the present day addicted to cannibalism. The
+West African soldier is a mere machine, who mechanically obeys orders,
+and never ventures, under any circumstances, to act or think for
+himself. Should an African be placed on sentry, he fulfils to the letter
+the orders read to him by the non-commissioned officer who posts him,
+but frequently entirely ignores their spirit. Sometimes this is
+productive of amusing incidents. For instance, some years ago, among the
+orders for the sentry posted at Government House, Sierra Leone, was one
+to the effect that no one was to be permitted to leave the premises
+after dark carrying a parcel. This order had been issued at the request
+of the Governor, to prevent pilfering on the part of his servants. One
+evening the Governor was coming out of his house with a small
+despatch-box, when, to his surprise, he was stopped by the sentry, an
+old African.
+
+"But I'm the Governor," said the astonished administrator, "and I had
+that order made myself. You mustn't stop me."
+
+"Me no care if you be Gubnor or not," replied the imperturbable African.
+"The corporal gib de order, and you no can pass." And Her Majesty's
+representative had to turn back and leave his despatch-box at home.
+
+The greatest objection to the African, however, is the strange fact that
+no amount of care or attention on the part of his instructors can ever
+make him a good or even a fair shot. In the 1st West India Regiment
+there are still a few Africans remaining, most of whom have from twelve
+to eighteen years' service; and who have annually expended their rounds
+without hitting the target more than once or twice during the whole
+musketry course. Give these men a rifle rested on a tripod, and tell
+them to align the sights upon some given mark, and they cannot do it.
+They will frequently aim a foot or two to the right or left of an object
+only a few yards distant. Every possible plan has been tried to make
+them improve, but all have equally failed; and, in consequence, Africans
+are not now enlisted. Still, although on account of this failing,
+African troops could never, in these days of long-range firing, meet
+Europeans in the field, a battalion of Africans would be quite good
+enough for bush fighting against an enemy like the Ashanti, a still
+worse marksman, and worse armed; or against tribes armed with the spear
+or assegai.
+
+Of course one reason of the African's dulness is that until he enlists,
+that is until he is from twenty-four to thirty years of age, he has
+never exercised his mind in any way; and the long years of mental
+idleness have produced a sluggishness which makes it extremely difficult
+for him to acquire anything new that requires thought. After enlisting,
+he picks up a species of unintelligible English, but that is the most
+that he can do. It is pitiful to see these men, some of them now old,
+struggling day after day, according to regulation, in the regimental
+school, to learn their letters. It is to them the greatest punishment
+that could be inflicted, and though they attend school for years, they
+rarely succeed in doing more than master the alphabet.
+
+In former days, whenever the cargo of a captured slaver was landed at
+Sierra Leone, a party from the garrison used to be admitted to the
+Liberated African Yard for the purpose of seeking recruits amongst the
+slaves. Many of the latter, pleased with the brilliant uniform, and
+talked over by the recruiting party, who were men specially selected for
+this duty on account of their knowledge of African languages, offered
+themselves as recruits. If medically fit, they were invariably accepted,
+though it must have been well known that they could not possibly have
+had any idea of the nature of the engagement into which they were
+entering. Some fifteen or twenty recruits being thus obtained, they were
+given high-sounding names, such as Mark Antony, Scipio Africanus, etc.,
+their own barbaric appellations being too unpronounceable, and then
+marched down in a body to the cathedral to be baptised. Some might be
+Mohammedans, and the majority certainly believers in fetish, but the
+form of requiring their assent to a change in their religion was never
+gone through; and the following Sunday they were marched into church as
+a matter of course, along with their Christian comrades. Although thus
+nominally christianised, they still remained at heart believers in
+fetish, for it is a remarkable fact that no adult West African has ever
+become a bonā-fide convert, and the missionaries have long since given
+up attempting to proselytise grown persons, reserving all their efforts
+for children. Holding, as they did, in great dread all fetish, or obeah,
+practices; usually someone amongst them, more cunning than the rest,
+professed an acquaintance with the supposed diabolical ritual; and
+gained influence with, and extorted money from, his more timid comrades.
+Officers now in the 1st West India Regiment can remember the time when,
+there being many Africans in the regiment, the feathers of parrots or
+scraps of rags might be found in the neighbourhood of the orderly room.
+Whenever this was the case, it was known that an African was about to be
+brought before his commanding officer for some neglect of duty or breach
+of discipline; and these fetishes had been placed there to induce the
+colonel to deal leniently with the offender. Ridiculous as this practice
+must seem to every educated person, it sometimes produced the most
+serious effects upon the credulous Africans; and I have heard old
+officers speak of instances, which came within their own knowledge, of
+soldiers who, having found old bones, broken pieces of calabashes, or
+glass, placed on their beds, immediately resigned themselves to death,
+saying that "fetish was thrown upon them," and in nine cases out of
+twelve, so certain were they that it was impossible to escape the coming
+doom, they positively frightened or worried themselves to death. The
+professors of fetishism likewise drove a good trade in amulets which
+rendered the wearer invulnerable. On one occasion at Sierra Leone, a
+young African who had been recently enlisted displayed with much pride a
+gri-gri or amulet which he wore on his wrist, and which, he asserted,
+rendered him invulnerable. His West India comrades laughed at him; and
+the African, indignant at the doubt thrown upon the efficacy of his
+charm, drew his knife, and, before he could be stopped, plunged it into
+his thigh to prove that he spoke the truth. His eyes were opened,
+unfortunately, too late; for though he was at once removed to the
+hospital, he died from the effects of this self-inflicted wound. In West
+India regiments the practice of fetish was made a military crime, and
+was severely punished. Sufferers or imaginary sufferers from fetishism,
+however, rarely complained to their officers, for they believed that the
+occult art practised by the professor was superior to any power held by
+man, and consequently, culprits were but seldom detected. With the
+disappearance of Africans from West India regiments, the offence of
+fetishism has, however, also disappeared.
+
+Military crime in West India regiments is of comparatively rare
+occurrence. Even when the 3rd West India Regiment was in existence,
+there was less in the three negro regiments than in one of the Line;
+while drunkenness is confined to the few black sheep who will be found
+in every body of men. Riots or disturbances between West India soldiers
+and the inhabitants of the towns in which they are quartered are unheard
+of, and in every garrison they receive the highest praise for their
+unvarying good and quiet behaviour. In fact they are merry,
+good-tempered, and orderly men, who do not wish to interfere with
+anyone; and, owing to their temperate habits, they are not led into the
+commission of offences by the influence of drink. Of course, the popular
+idea in Great Britain of the negro is that he is a person who commonly
+wears a dilapidated tall hat, cotton garments of brilliant hue, carries
+a banjo or concertina, and indulges in extraordinary cachinnations at
+the smallest pretext; but this is as far from the truth as the creature
+of imagination in the opposite extreme, evoked by the vivid fancy of
+Mrs. Beecher Stowe.
+
+The bravery of the West India soldier in action has often been tested,
+and as long as an officer remains alive to lead not a man will flinch.
+His favourite weapon is the bayonet; and the principal difficulty with
+him in action is to hold him back, so anxious is he to close with his
+enemy. It is unnecessary here to refer to individual acts of gallantry
+performed by soldiers of the 1st West India Regiment, they being fully
+set forth in the following history; but of such performed by soldiers of
+other West India regiments the two following now occur to me.
+
+Private Samuel Hodge, a pioneer of the 3rd West India Regiment, was
+awarded the Victoria Cross for conspicuous bravery at the storming of
+the Mohammedan stockade at Tubarcolong (the White Man's Well), on the
+River Gambia, on the 30th of May, 1866. Under a heavy fire from the
+concealed enemy, by which one officer was killed and an officer and
+thirteen men severely wounded, Hodge, and another pioneer named Boswell,
+chopped and tore away with their hands the logs of wood forming the
+stockade, Boswell falling nobly just as an opening was effected. Again,
+in 1873, during the Ashanti War--when it was reported, on the 5th of
+December, by natives at Yancoomassie Assin that the Ashanti army had
+retired across the Prah--two soldiers of the 2nd West India Regiment
+volunteered to go on alone to the river and ascertain if the report were
+true. On their return they reported all clear to the Prah; and said they
+had written their names on a piece of paper and posted it up. Six days
+later, when the advanced party of the expeditionary force marched into
+Prahsu, this paper was found fastened to a tree on the banks of the
+river. At the time that this voluntary act was performed it must be
+remembered that, on the 27th of November, the British and their allies
+had met with a serious repulse at Faisowah, through pressing too closely
+upon the retiring Ashantis; that this repulse was considered both by the
+Ashantis and by our native allies as a set-off against the failure of
+the attack on Abracampa; that the Houssa levy was in a state of panic,
+and no reliable information as to the position of the enemy was
+obtainable. It was under such circumstances that these two men advanced
+nearly sixteen miles into an (to them) unknown tract of solitary
+forest, to follow up an enemy that never spared life, and whose
+whereabouts was doubtful.
+
+Other qualifications apart, however, West India troops have proved
+themselves of the very greatest value on active service in tropical
+climates from the very fact that, being natives of the tropics, they can
+undergo fatigue and exposure that would be fatal to European soldiers.
+In campaigns in which both the West India and the European soldier are
+employed, all the hard and unpleasant work is thrown upon the former,
+and the publication in general orders of the thanks of the officer in
+command of the force is the only acknowledgment he receives; for
+newspaper correspondents, naturally anxious to swell the circulation of
+the journals they represent, while giving the most minute details of the
+doings of the white soldier, leave out in the cold his black comrade,
+who has few friends among the reading public of Great Britain.
+Occasionally, facts are even misrepresented. For instance, the defence
+of Fommanah, on the 2nd of February, 1874, which was really effected by
+a detachment of the 1st West India Regiment, was, in an account
+telegraphed to one London daily paper, attributed to the 23rd Regiment,
+of which corps there were only six or seven men in the place, and those
+in hospital.
+
+On the last occasion on which West India troops served with Line
+battalions, namely in the Ashanti War of 1873-74, West India soldiers
+daily marched twice and even three times the distance traversed by the
+white troops; and, south of the Prah, searched the country for miles on
+both sides of the line of advance, in search of carriers. It is not too
+much to say, that if the two West India regiments had not been on the
+Gold Coast, no advance on Coomassie would, that year, have been
+possible. In December, 1873, the transport broke down; there was a
+deadlock along the road; each half-battalion of the European troops was
+detained in the camp it occupied, and the 23rd Regiment had to be
+re-embarked for want of carriers. The fate of the expedition was
+trembling in the balance, and the control officers were unanimous in
+declaring that a further advance was impossible, and that the troops in
+front would have to return by forced marches. Prior to this, the want of
+transport had been felt to such an extent that the West India soldiers
+had been placed on half rations; a step, however, which was not followed
+by any diminution of work, which remained as hard as ever. In this
+emergency the two West India regiments, with the 42nd--to whom all
+honour be due--volunteered to carry supplies, in addition to their arms,
+accoutrements, and ammunition. They acted as carriers for several days,
+and moved such quantities of provisions to the front that the pressure
+was removed and a further advance made possible. Even if more carriers
+had been obtained from the already ransacked native villages, they could
+not have arrived in time, for the rainy season was fast approaching and
+the delay of a fortnight would have been fatal.
+
+There was a peculiar irony of fate in the expedition being thus relieved
+of its most pressing difficulties through the exertions of the West
+India regiments. It had been Sir Garnet Wolseley's original intention to
+take into Ashanti territory only the Rifle Brigade, the 23rd, and the
+1st and 2nd West India Regiments; and, on the arrival of the hired
+transport, _Sarmatian_, he wrote, on the 15th of December, that he did
+not propose landing the 42nd. In the course of the next three days,
+however, he changed his views, and, in his letter of the 18th December,
+gave as his reason: "I find that the one great obstacle to the
+employment of a third battalion of English troops, viz., the difficulty
+of transport, is as great in the case of a West India regiment. The West
+India soldier has the same rations as the European soldier, and a West
+India regiment requires, man for man, exactly the same amount of
+transport as a European regiment." The 42nd, therefore, was to be landed
+and taken to the front, while the 1st West India Regiment was to remain
+at Cape Coast Castle and Elmina as a reserve. Afterwards, when the
+transport failed, it was found that the West India soldier could do the
+work of the European on half rations, and carry his own supplies as
+well.
+
+West India regiments at the present day labour under many disadvantages.
+Owing to the two battalions having to furnish garrisons for colonies
+which really require three, they are alternately for one period of three
+years divided into three detachments, and for the next period of three
+years into six. No lieutenant-colonel of a West India regiment can ever
+see the whole of his regiment together. The largest number that, under
+present circumstances, he can ever have under him at any one station is
+four companies; and the most he can have under his actual command at any
+one time is six companies on board a troopship. Thus in a regiment there
+are sometimes three, and sometimes six, officers vested with the power
+of an officer commanding a detachment; and however conscientiously they
+may endeavour to follow out a regimental system, every individual has
+naturally a different manner of dealing with men, and a certain amount
+of homogeneousness is lost to the regiment as a whole.
+
+Endless correspondence is entailed, and sometimes questions have to
+remain open for months, until answers can be received from distant
+detachments. In small garrisons, also, drill becomes a mere farce; for,
+after the clerks, employed men, and men on guard and in hospital are
+deducted, there are perhaps only a dozen men or so left for parade. In
+spite of all these drawbacks the regiments still maintain a wonderful
+efficiency, and afford another proof of the soldierlike qualities of the
+West India negro.
+
+Another disadvantage is that a West India regiment is never seen in
+England, the British public knows nothing of such regiments, has no
+friends, relatives, or acquaintances in their ranks, and consequently
+takes no interest in them. Yet they are a remarkably fine body of men,
+and a picked battalion of the Guards would look small beside them if
+brigaded with them in Hyde Park. So little is known, that I have
+sometimes been asked if the officers of West India regiments are also
+black, and it is with a view to making the regiment to which I have the
+honour to belong better known to the public at large, that the following
+history has been written. There has been no attempt at descriptive
+writing, facts being merely collected from official documents, so that
+the authenticity of the narrative may be unquestionable.
+
+In order that the earlier chapters may be the more readily understood,
+it may be as well to state that, with the 1st West India Regiment, which
+was called into existence in the _London Gazette_ of the 2nd of May,
+1795, were incorporated two other corps; of which one, the Carolina
+Corps, had been in existence since 1779, while the other--Malcolm's, or
+the Royal Rangers--had been raised in January or February, 1795. It is
+from the Carolina Corps that the 1st West India Regiment derives the
+Carolina laurel, borne on the crest of the regiment.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE ACTION AT BRIAR CREEK, 1779--THE ACTION AT STONO FERRY, 1779.
+
+
+In the autumn of 1778, during the War of the American Independence, the
+British commanders in North America determined to make another attempt
+for the royal cause in the Southern States of Georgia and South
+Carolina, which, since the failure of Lord Cornwallis at the siege of
+Charlestown in July, 1776, had been allowed to remain unmolested. With
+this view they despatched Colonel Campbell, in November, from New York,
+with the 71st Regiment, two battalions of Hessians, three of Loyal
+Provincials,[1] and a detachment of Artillery, the whole amounting to
+about 3500, to make an attempt upon the town of Savannah, the capital of
+Georgia. Arriving off the mouth of the Savannah River on the 23rd of
+December, Colonel Campbell was so rapidly successful, that, by the
+middle of January, not only was Savannah in his hands, but Georgia
+itself was entirely cleared of American troops.
+
+It was about this time that the South Carolina Regiment, the oldest
+branch of the 1st West India Regiment, was raised. Numerous royalists
+joined the British camp and were formed into various corps;[2] and the
+South Carolina Regiment is first mentioned as taking part in the action
+at Briar Creek on the 3rd of March, 1779,[3] the corps then being,
+according to Major-General Prevost's despatch, about 100 strong. The
+action at Briar Creek occurred as follows:
+
+In the early part of 1779, General Prevost's[4] force was distributed in
+posts along the frontier of Georgia; Hudson's Ferry, twenty-four miles
+above Savannah, being the upper extremity of the chain. Watching these
+posts was the American general, Lincoln, with the main body of the
+American Army of the South, at Purrysburgh, about twenty miles above
+Savannah, and General Ashe, who was posted with about 2000 of the
+Militia of North and South Carolina and Georgia, at Briar Creek, near
+the point where it falls into the Savannah River.
+
+General Ashe's position appeared most secure, his left being covered by
+the Savannah with its marshes, and his front by Briar Creek, which was
+about twenty feet broad, and unfordable at that point and for several
+miles above it; nevertheless, General Prevost determined to surprise
+him. For the purpose of amusing General Lincoln, he made a show of an
+intention to pass the river; and, in order to occupy the attention of
+Ashe, he ordered a party to appear in his front, on the opposite side of
+Briar Creek. Meanwhile General Prevost, with 900 chosen men, made an
+extensive circuit, passed Briar Creek fifteen miles above the American
+position, gained their rear unperceived, and was almost in their camp
+before they discovered his approach. The surprise was as complete as
+could be wished. Whole regiments fled without firing a shot, and numbers
+without even attempting to seize their arms; they ran in their confusion
+into the marsh, and swam across the river, in which numbers of them were
+drowned. The Continental troops, under General Elbert, and a regiment of
+North Carolina Militia, alone offered resistance; but they were not long
+able to maintain the unequal conflict, and, being overpowered, were
+compelled to surrender. The Americans lost from 300 to 400 men, and
+seven pieces of cannon. The British lost five men killed, and one
+officer and ten men wounded.
+
+After this success, the British and American forces remained on opposite
+sides of the River Savannah, until the end of April, when General
+Lincoln, thinking the swollen state of the river and the inundation of
+the marshes was sufficient protection for the lower districts, withdrew
+his forces further inland, leaving General Moultrie with 1000 men at
+Black Swamp. By this movement Lincoln left Charlestown exposed to the
+British. General Prevost at once took advantage of this, and, on the
+29th of April, suddenly crossed the river, near Purrysburgh, with 2500
+men, among whom was the South Carolina Regiment, which had been
+considerably increased by accessions of loyalists and freed negroes.
+
+General Prevost advanced rapidly into the country, the militia under
+Moultrie, who had considered the swamps impassable, offering but a
+feeble resistance, and retiring hastily, destroying the bridges in their
+rear. On the 11th of May, the British force crossed the Ashley River a
+few miles above Charlestown, and, advancing along the neck formed by the
+Ashley and Cooper Rivers, established itself at a little more than
+cannon-shot from the city. A continued succession of skirmishes took
+place on that day and the ensuing night, and on the following morning
+Charlestown was summoned to surrender.
+
+Negotiations were broken off in the evening, much to the disappointment
+of the British general, who had been led to suppose that a large
+proportion of the inhabitants were favourable to the royal cause, and
+that the city would fall easily into his hands. He now found himself in
+a dangerous predicament. He was without siege guns, before lines
+defended by a considerable force of artillery, and flanked by shipping;
+he was involved in a labyrinth of creeks and rivers, where a defeat
+would have been fatal, and General Lincoln with a force equal, if not
+superior to his own, was fast approaching for the relief of the city.
+Taking all this into consideration, General Prevost prudently struck
+camp that night, and, under cover of the darkness, the direct line of
+retreat on Savannah being closed, returned to the south side of the
+Ashley River. From thence the army passed to the islands of St. James
+and St. John, lying to the southward of Charlestown harbour, and
+commencing that succession of islands and creeks which extends along the
+coast from Charlestown to Savannah.
+
+In these islands the army awaited supplies from New York, of which it
+was much in need; and, on the arrival of two frigates, it commenced to
+move to the island of Port Royal, which at the same time would afford
+good quarters for the troops during the intense heats, and, from its
+vicinity to Savannah, and its excellent harbour, was the best position
+that could be chosen for covering Georgia.
+
+Directly General Lincoln discovered what was taking place, he advanced
+to attack. St. John's Island is separated from the mainland by a narrow
+inlet, called Stono River, and communication between the mainland and
+the island was kept up by a ferry. On the mainland, at this ferry,
+General Prevost had established a post, consisting of three redoubts,
+joined by lines of communication; and, to cover the movement of the army
+to Port Royal Island, he here posted Lieutenant-Colonel Maitland with
+the 1st Battalion of the 71st Regiment, a weak battalion of Hessians,
+the North Carolina Regiment, and the South Carolina Regiment, amounting
+in the whole to about 800 men.
+
+On the 20th of June, General Lincoln made a determined attempt to force
+the passage, attacking with a force variously estimated at from 1200 to
+5000 men and eight guns. Lieutenant-Colonel Maitland's advanced posts,
+consisting of the South Carolina Regiment, were some distance in front
+of his works; and a smart firing between them and the Americans gave him
+the first warning of the approach of the enemy. He instantly sent out
+two companies of the 71st from his right to ascertain the force of the
+assailants. The Highlanders had proceeded only a quarter of a mile when
+they met the outposts retiring before the enemy. A fierce conflict
+ensued. Instead of retreating before superior numbers, the Highlanders
+persisted in the unequal combat till all their officers were either
+killed or wounded, of the two companies eleven men only returned to the
+garrison; and the British force was sadly diminished, and its safety
+consequently imperilled by this mistaken valour.
+
+The whole American line now advanced to within three hundred yards of
+the works, and a general engagement began, which was maintained with
+much courage and steadiness on both sides. At length the regiment of
+Hessians on the British left gave way, and the Americans, in spite of
+the obstinate resistance of the two Carolina regiments, were on the
+point of entering the works, when a judicious flank movement of the
+remainder of the 71st checked the advance; and General Lincoln,
+apprehensive of the arrival of British reinforcements from the island,
+drew off his men, and retired in good order, taking his wounded with
+him.
+
+The battle lasted upwards of an hour. The British had 3 officers and 19
+rank and file killed, and 4 officers and 85 rank and file wounded. The
+South Carolina Regiment had Major William Campbell and 1 sergeant
+killed, 1 captain, 1 sergeant, and 3 rank and file wounded.[5] The
+Americans lost 5 officers and 35 men killed, 19 officers and 120 men
+wounded.
+
+Three days after the battle, the British troops evacuated the post at
+Stono Ferry, and also the island of St. John, passing along the coast
+from island to island till they reached Beaufort in the island of Port
+Royal. Here General Prevost left a garrison under the command of
+Lieutenant-Colonel Maitland, and proceeded with the remainder of his
+force, with which was the South Carolina Regiment, to the town of
+Savannah.
+
+The heat had now become too intense for active service; and the care of
+the officers was employed in preserving their men from the fevers of the
+season, and keeping them in a condition for service next campaign, which
+was expected to open in October.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 1: De Lancey's Corps, the New York Volunteers, and Skinner's
+Corps.]
+
+[Footnote 2: "Annual Register," 1779, Beatson's "Memoirs," Gordon's
+"History of the American War," etc. etc.]
+
+[Footnote 3: Beatson's "Naval and Military Memoirs," vol. iv. p. 492.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Major-General Prevost had come from Florida and assumed
+command in January.]
+
+[Footnote 5: "Return of the killed, wounded, and missing at the repulse
+of the Rebels at Stono Ferry, South Carolina, June 20th, 1779."]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE SIEGE OF SAVANNAH, 1779--THE SIEGE OF CHARLESTOWN, 1780--THE BATTLE
+OF HOBKERK'S HILL, 1781.
+
+
+At the opening of the next campaign, although General Prevost had been
+obliged to retire from Charlestown and to abandon the upper parts of
+Georgia, yet, so long as he kept possession of the town of Savannah and
+maintained a post at Port Royal Island, South Carolina was exposed to
+incursions. The Americans, therefore, pressed the French admiral, Count
+D'Estaing, to repair to the Savannah River, hoping, by his aid, to drive
+the British from Georgia. D'Estaing, in compliance, sailed from Cape
+Franēois, in St. Domingo; and with twenty-two sail of the line and a
+number of smaller vessels, having 4800 French regular troops on board
+and several hundred black troops from the West Indies, appeared off the
+Savannah so unexpectedly that the _Experiment_, a British fifty-gun
+ship, fell into his hands. On the appearance of the French fleet, on
+September 9th, General Prevost immediately called in all his outposts
+in Georgia, sent orders to Lieutenant-Colonel Maitland, at Port Royal,
+to rejoin him at once, and exerted himself to strengthen the defences of
+the town of Savannah.
+
+For the first three or four days after the arrival of the fleet, the
+French were employed in moving their troops through the Ossabaw Inlet to
+Beaulieu, about thirteen miles above the town of Savannah. On the 15th
+of September, the French, with a party of American light horse, attacked
+the British outposts, and General Prevost withdrew all his force into
+his works.
+
+On the 16th, D'Estaing summoned the place to surrender.
+Lieutenant-Colonel Maitland's force had not yet arrived, the works were
+still incomplete, and General Prevost was desirous of gaining time; he
+consequently requested a suspension of hostilities for twenty-four hours.
+This was granted, and in that critical interval Lieutenant-Colonel
+Maitland, by the most extraordinary efforts--for one of General
+Prevost's messengers had fallen into the hands of the enemy, who had at
+once seized all the principal lines of communication--arrived with the
+garrison of Port Royal, and entered the town. Encouraged by this
+accession of strength, General Prevost now informed Count D'Estaing that
+he was resolved to defend the place to the last extremity. On the 17th,
+D'Estaing had been joined by General Lincoln with some 3000 men, which,
+with the French troops, raised the total besieging force to something
+over 8000. The besieged did not exceed 3000.
+
+The enemy spent several days in bringing up guns and stores from the
+fleet, and on the 23rd the besieging army broke ground before the town.
+On the 1st of October, they had advanced to within 300 yards of the
+British works. On the morning of the 4th of October, several batteries,
+mounting thirty-three pieces of heavy cannon and nine mortars, with a
+floating battery of sixteen guns on the river, opened fire on the town.
+For several days they played incessantly on the garrison, and there was
+continued skirmishing between the negroes of the Carolina regiments and
+the enemy.[6]
+
+On the morning of the 9th of October, the enemy, under a furious
+cannonade, advanced to storm in three columns, with a force of 3000
+French under D'Estaing in person, and 1500 Americans under Lincoln.
+General Prevost, in his despatch to Lord George Germain, dated Savannah,
+November 1st, 1779, says: "However, the principal attack, composed of
+the flower of the French and rebel armies, and led by D'Estaing in
+person, with all the principal officers of either, was made upon our
+right. Under cover of the hollow, they advanced in three columns; but
+having taken a wider circuit than they needed, and gone deeper in the
+bog, they neither came so early as they intended nor, I believe, in the
+same order. The attack, however, was very spirited, and for some time
+obstinately persevered in, particularly on the Ebenezer Road Redoubt.
+Two stand of colours were actually planted, and several of the
+assailants killed upon the parapet; but they met with so determined a
+resistance, and the fire of three seamen batteries, taking them in
+almost every direction, was so severe, that they were thrown into some
+disorder, at least at a stand; and at this most critical moment, Major
+Glasier, of the 60th, with the 60th Grenadiers and the Marines,
+advancing rapidly from the lines, charged (it may be said) with a degree
+of fury; in an instant the ditches of the redoubt and a battery to its
+right in rear were cleared.... Lieutenant-Colonel de Porbeck, of
+Weissenbach's, being field officer of the day of the right wing, and,
+being in the redoubt when the attack began, had an opportunity, which he
+well improved, to signalise himself in a most gallant manner; and it is
+but justice to mention to your lordships the troops who defended it.
+They were part of the South Carolina Royalists, the Light Dragoons
+(dismounted), and the battalion men of the 4th 60th, in all about 100
+men, commanded (by a special order) by Captain James, of the Dragoons
+(Lieutenant 71st), a good and gallant officer, and who nobly fell with
+his sword in the body of the third he had killed with his own hand."
+
+After their repulse from the Ebenezer Redoubt, the enemy retired, and, a
+few days afterwards, the siege was raised, the Americans crossing the
+Savannah at Zubly's Ferry and taking up a position in South Carolina,
+while the French embarked in their fleet and sailed away. During the
+assault the French lost 700 and the Americans 240 killed. The British
+loss was 55, four of whom belonged to the South Carolina Regiment, who
+were killed in the redoubt, where also Captain Henry, of that corps, was
+wounded.
+
+According to the "Journal of the Siege of Savannah," p. 39, the garrison
+of the redoubt in the Ebenezer Road was as follows:
+
+    28 Dismounted Dragoons.
+    28 Battalion men of the 60th Regiment.
+    54 South Carolina Regiment.
+    ---
+    110
+
+In the same work is the following: "Two rebel standards were once fixed
+on the redoubt in the Ebenezer Road; one of them was carried off again,
+and the other, which belonged to the 2nd Carolina Regiment, was taken.
+After the retreat of the enemy from our right, 270 men, chiefly French,
+were found dead; upwards of 80 of whom lay in the ditch and on the
+parapet of the redoubt, and 93 were within our abattis."
+
+The strength of the South Carolina Regiment at the termination of the
+siege was: 1 colonel (Colonel Innes), 1 major, 4 captains, 7
+lieutenants, 3 ensigns, 15 sergeants, 7 drummers, and 216 rank and file.
+
+Nothing of note took place in Georgia and South Carolina till January,
+1780, when Sir Henry Clinton arrived in the Savannah River with a force
+destined for the reduction of Charlestown. He had sailed from New York
+on the 26th of December, 1779, and, having experienced bad weather, put
+into the Savannah to repair damages. Sir H. Clinton selected a portion
+of General Prevost's force at Savannah to take part in the coming
+operations, and among the corps so selected was the South Carolina
+Regiment, which is shown in the return of troops at the capture of
+Charlestown as "joined from Savannah."
+
+On the 10th of February, the armament sailed to North Edisto, where the
+troops disembarked, taking possession of the island of St. John next day
+without opposition. On the 29th of March, the army reached Ashley River
+and crossed it ten miles above Charlestown; then, the artillery and
+stores having been brought over, Sir H. Clinton marched down Charlestown
+Neck, and, on the night of the 1st of April, broke ground at 800 yards
+from the American works. The garrison of the city consisted of 2000
+regular troops, 1000 North Carolina Militia, and the male inhabitants of
+the place.
+
+On the 9th of April, the first parallel was finished, and the batteries
+opened fire; and Charlestown finally capitulated, after an uneventful
+siege, on the 12th of May. In the "Return of the killed and wounded"
+during the siege, the South Carolina Regiment is shown as having had
+three rank and file wounded.
+
+Sir H. Clinton sailed from Charlestown on the 5th of June, leaving Lord
+Cornwallis in command. The latter meditated an expedition into North
+Carolina, and, for the preservation of South Carolina during his absence
+with the main body of the troops, he established a chain of posts along
+the frontier. One of these posts was at Ninety-six, and for its defence
+was detailed the South Carolina Regiment, under Colonel Innes, with
+Allen's corps, "the 16th and three other companies of Light
+Infantry."[7] Lieutenant-Colonel Balfour was then in command of the
+post, but was soon after relieved by Lieutenant-Colonel Cruger.
+
+The garrison of Ninety-six remained undisturbed till September, 1780,
+when, Lord Cornwallis having moved into North Carolina and occupied
+Charlotte, Georgia was almost denuded of troops; and an American leader,
+Colonel Clarke, took advantage of this to attack the British post at
+Augusta. Lieutenant-Colonel Brown, who commanded there with 150 men,
+finding the town untenable, retired towards an eminence on the banks of
+the Savannah, named Garden Hill, and sent intelligence of his situation
+to Ninety-six. Lieutenant-Colonel Cruger, with the 16th and the South
+Carolina Regiment, at once marched to his relief. Colonel Clarke, who
+had captured the British guns and was besieging the garrison of Garden
+Hill, upon being informed of Cruger's approach raised the siege, and,
+abandoning the guns which he had taken, retreated so hurriedly that,
+though pursued for some distance, he effected his escape.
+
+In the spring of 1781, Lord Cornwallis had again invaded North Carolina,
+and, having defeated the American general, Greene, at Guildford Court
+House, had continued his march towards Virginia, expecting the enemy to
+make every effort to prevent the army entering that state. General
+Greene, however, allowed Lord Cornwallis to pass on, and then, having
+assembled a considerable body of troops, made a sudden descent upon the
+British posts in South Carolina, where Lord Rawdon had been left in
+command. These posts were in a line from Charlestown by the way of
+Camden and Ninety-six, to Augusta in Georgia. Camden was the most
+important, and there Lord Rawdon had taken post with 900 men.
+
+On the 20th of April, 1781, General Greene appeared before Camden, which
+was a village situated on a plain, covered on the south by the Wateree,
+a river which higher up is called the Catawba; and below, after its
+confluence with the Congaree from the south, assumes the name of the
+Santee. On the east of it flowed Pinetree Creek; on the northern and
+western sides it was defended by a strong chain of redoubts, six in
+number, extending from the river to the creek. Lord Rawdon's force was
+so small that the approach of Greene to Camden necessitated the
+abandonment of the ferry on the Wateree, "although the South Carolina
+Regiment was on its way to join him from Ninety-six, and that was its
+direct course; he had, however, taken his measures so well as to secure
+the passage of that regiment upon its arrival three days after."[8]
+
+General Greene, whose force amounted to 1200 men, determined to await
+reinforcements before attacking, and on the 24th of April he retired to
+Hobkerk's Hill, an eminence about a mile north of Camden, on the road to
+the Waxhaws. Here Lord Rawdon resolved to attack him, and on the morning
+of the 25th, with 900 men, he marched from Camden, and, by making a
+circuit, and keeping close to the edge of the swamp, under cover of the
+woods, he gained the left flank of the Americans, where the hill was
+most accessible, undiscovered.
+
+The alarm was given, while the Americans were at breakfast, by the
+firing of the outposts, and at this critical moment a reinforcement of
+American militia arrived. So confident was General Greene of success
+that he ordered Lieutenant-Colonel Washington, with his cavalry, to turn
+the right flank of the British and to charge them in the rear, while
+bodies of infantry were to assail them in front and on both flanks.
+
+The American advanced parties were driven in by the British after a
+sharp skirmish, and Lord Rawdon advanced steadily to attack the main
+body of the enemy. The 63rd Regiment, with the volunteers of Ireland,
+formed his right; the King's American Regiment, with Robertson's corps,
+composed his left; the New York volunteers were in the centre. The South
+Carolina Regiment and the cavalry were in the rear and formed a
+reserve.[9]
+
+Such was the impetuosity of the British that, in the face of a
+destructive discharge of grape, they gained the summit of the hill and
+pierced the American centre. The militia fell into confusion, their
+officers were unable to rally them, and General Greene ordered a
+retreat. The pursuit was continued for nearly three miles. The Americans
+halted for the night at Saunders' Creek, about four miles from Hobkerk's
+Hill, and next day proceeded to Rugeley Mills, about twelve miles from
+Camden. After the engagement the British returned to Camden. The
+American loss was 300; the British lost 258 out of about 900 who were on
+the field.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 6: "The True History of the Siege of Savannah," published
+1780.]
+
+[Footnote 7: "The Campaigns of 1780 and 1781, in the Southern Provinces
+of North America," by Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton, London, 1787.]
+
+[Footnote 8: Tarleton, p. 461.]
+
+[Footnote 9: "Martial Register," vol. iii. p. 110.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE RELIEF OF NINETY-SIX, 1781--THE BATTLE OF EUTAW SPRINGS,
+1781--REMOVAL TO THE WEST INDIES.
+
+
+Lord Rawdon was not in a position to follow up his success at Hobkerk's
+Hill, and on the 3rd of May, 1781, Greene passed the Wateree, and
+occupied such positions as to prevent the garrison at Camden obtaining
+supplies. Generals Marion and Lee were also posted at Nelson's Ferry, to
+prevent Colonel Watson, who was advancing with 400 men, from joining
+Lord Rawdon, and Watson was obliged to alter his route. He marched down
+the north side of the Santee, crossed it near its mouth, with incredible
+labour advanced up its southern bank, recrossed it above the encampment
+of Marion and Lee, and arrived safely with his detachment at Camden on
+the 7th of May.
+
+Thus reinforced, Lord Rawdon determined to attack Greene, and, on the
+night of the 8th, marched from Camden with his whole force. Greene, who
+had been informed of this movement, passed the Wateree and took up a
+strong position behind Saunders' Creek. Lord Rawdon followed him and
+drove in his outposts, but, finding the position was too strong for his
+small force, he returned to Camden.
+
+Camden being too far advanced a post for Lord Rawdon to hold with the
+few troops at his disposal, he evacuated it on the 10th of May, and
+retired by Nelson's Ferry to the south of the Santee, and afterwards to
+Monk's Corner. In the meantime, attacks were made on the British posts
+in Georgia, Augusta itself being taken on the 5th of June, while the
+post of Ninety-six in South Carolina was closely invested by General
+Greene with the main American army in the Southern States.
+
+About this time, a change took place in the South Carolina Regiment.
+Lord Rawdon, in a letter to Lieutenant-General Earl Cornwallis, dated
+Charlestown, June 5th, 1781, speaks of the difficulty which he has
+experienced in the formation of cavalry, and goes on to say that the
+inhabitants of Charlestown having subscribed 3000 guineas for a corps of
+dragoons, out of compliment to those gentlemen "I have ordered the South
+Carolina Regiment to be converted into cavalry, and I have the prospect
+of their being mounted and completely appointed in a few days."
+
+On the 3rd of June, Lord Rawdon had received considerable reinforcements
+from England, and on the 9th he left Charlestown with about 2000 men,
+including the South Carolina Regiment in its new capacity, for the
+relief of Ninety-six. In their rapid progress over the whole extent of
+South Carolina, through a wild country and under a burning sun, the
+sufferings of the troops were severe, but they advanced with celerity to
+the assistance of their comrades. On the 11th of June, General Greene
+received notice of Lord Rawdon's march, and immediately sent Sumpter
+with the whole of the cavalry to keep in front of the British army and
+retard its progress. Lord Rawdon, however, passed Sumpter a little below
+the junction of the Saluda and Broad Rivers, and that officer was never
+able to regain his front.
+
+In the meantime, the Americans were pushing hard the garrison of
+Ninety-six; they were nearly reduced to extremities, and in a few days
+must have surrendered; but the rapid advance of Lord Rawdon left Greene
+no alternative but to storm or raise the siege. On the 18th of June, he
+made a furious assault upon the place; but, after a desperate conflict
+of nearly an hour, was compelled to retire. Next day he retreated,
+crossing the Saluda on the 20th, and encamping at Little River.
+
+On the morning of the 21st, Lord Rawdon arrived at Ninety-six, and the
+same evening set out in pursuit of Greene, who, however, retreated; and
+Rawdon, despairing of overtaking him, returned to Ninety-six. He now
+found it necessary to evacuate that position and contract his posts;
+and, having destroyed the works, he marched towards the Congaree. There,
+on the 1st of July, while out foraging, two officers and forty dragoons
+of the South Carolina Regiment were surrounded and taken prisoners by
+Lee's Legion. This blow sadly crippled Lord Rawdon, who was much in need
+of cavalry, and two days later he retreated to Orangeburgh.
+
+The summer heats now coming on, Lord Rawdon proceeded to England on sick
+leave, leaving Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart in command of the troops in
+South Carolina and Georgia. The new commander at once proceeded with the
+army to the Congaree, and formed an encampment near its junction with
+the Wateree.
+
+Towards the end of August, while Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart was expecting
+a convoy of provisions from Charlestown, he received information that
+General Greene, who had been reinforced and was now at the head of 2500
+men, was moving towards Friday's Ferry on the Congaree. The American
+cavalry was so numerous and enterprising that the expected convoy, then
+at Martin's, fifty-six miles from the British camp, would inevitably
+fall into their hands unless protected by an escort of at least 400 men;
+and Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart's force being too small to admit of so
+considerable a body being detached without risk, he determined to
+retreat by slow marches to Eutaw Springs, about sixty miles north of
+Charlestown, and meet the convoy on the way.
+
+General Greene followed the retiring British, and, on the 7th of
+September, arrived within seven miles of Eutaw Springs. Being there
+reinforced by General Marion and his corps, he resolved to attack next
+day. At six in the morning, two deserters from the American army entered
+the British camp, and informed Stuart of the approach of the enemy; but
+little credit was given to their report. At that time Major Coffin, with
+140 infantry and 50 of the South Carolina Regiment, was out foraging for
+roots and vegetables--the army having neither corn nor bread--in the
+direction in which the Americans were advancing. About four miles from
+the camp at Eutaw, that party was attacked by the American advanced
+guard and driven in with loss. Their return convinced Colonel Stuart of
+the approach of the enemy, and the British army was soon drawn up
+obliquely across the road on the height near Eutaw Springs.
+
+The firing began between two and three miles from the British camp. The
+British light parties were driven in on their main body, and the first
+line of the Americans attacked with great impetuosity. For a short time
+the conflicting ranks were intermingled, and the officers fought hand to
+hand. At that critical moment, General Lee, who had turned the left
+flank of the British, charged them in the rear. They were broken and
+driven off the field, their guns falling into the hands of the
+Americans, who eagerly pressed on their retreating adversaries.
+
+At this crisis, Colonel Stuart ordered a strong detachment to take post
+in a large three-storey brick house, which was in rear of the army on
+the right, while another occupied an adjoining palisaded garden, and
+some close underwood. The Americans made the most desperate efforts to
+dislodge them from their posts; but every attack was met with determined
+courage. Four pieces of artillery were brought to bear on the house, but
+made no impression on its solid walls, from which a close and
+destructive fire was kept up, as well as from the adjoining enclosure.
+Almost all the gunners were killed and wounded; and the guns had been
+pushed so near the house that they could not be brought off. Colonel
+Washington attempted to turn the British right, and charge them in rear;
+but his horse was shot under him, and he was wounded and made prisoner.
+After every attempt to dislodge the British from their position had
+failed, General Greene drew off his men, and retired to the ground which
+he had left in the morning. This conflict had lasted nearly four hours.
+The Americans lost 555, the British 693. The British kept their ground
+during the night, and next day began to retreat. About fourteen miles
+from the field of battle, Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart was met by a
+reinforcement, under Major McArthur, marching from Charlestown to his
+assistance. Thus strengthened, he proceeded to Monk's Corner.
+
+Eutaw Springs was the last engagement of importance in the southern
+provinces. The British soon retreated to a position on Charlestown Neck,
+and confined their operations to the defence of the posts in that
+vicinity; while in Georgia, the British force was concentrated at
+Savannah. The surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, in October,
+1781, and the subsequent peace negotiations, put an end to the
+hostilities in America.
+
+Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton says: "It is impossible to do justice to the
+spirit, patience, and invincible fortitude displayed by the commanders,
+officers, and soldiers during these dreadful campaigns in the Carolinas.
+They had not only to contend with men, and these by no means deficient
+in bravery and enterprise, but they encountered and surmounted
+difficulties and fatigues from the climate and the country, which would
+appear insuperable in theory and almost incredible in the relation. They
+displayed military and, we may add, moral virtues far above all praise.
+During renewed successions of forced marches, under the rage of a
+burning sun and in a climate at that season peculiarly inimical to man,
+they were frequently, when sinking under the most excessive fatigue, not
+only destitute of every comfort but almost of every necessary which
+seems essential to existence. During the greater part of the time they
+were totally destitute of bread, and the country afforded no vegetables
+for a substitute. Salt at length failed, and their only resources were
+water and the wild cattle which they found in the woods. About fifty
+men, in this last expedition, sunk under the vigour of their exertions
+and perished through mere fatigue."
+
+At the cessation of hostilities, the South Carolina Regiment and the
+Loyal American Rangers were removed to Jamaica, and as they are shown in
+the Jamaica Almanack for 1782 as being then in the island, they
+presumably arrived there about December, 1781. The South Carolina
+Regiment was probably dismounted, as it is shown as being stationed at
+Fort Augusta in Kingston harbour. At this time, the reinforcing of the
+West India Islands by provincial corps was considered most important,
+and in a letter to Sir Guy Carleton we find the following: "The object
+of reinforcing those islands is so important, that His Majesty wishes to
+have it understood that every provincial corps embarking for the West
+Indies shall immediately be put upon the British Establishment." It was,
+probably, on some such understanding that the two corps above mentioned
+proceeded from South Carolina; but the promise, if made, was never
+fulfilled, and neither of the two ever appeared in any Army List. The
+following is the list of officers of the South Carolina Regiment given
+in the Jamaica Almanack:
+
+    Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant--CAPTAIN LORD CHARLES
+    MONTAGU, 88th Regiment.
+
+    Major--JAMES BALMER.
+
+    Captains--G.C. MONTAGU, ROBERT PALMER, W. OLIPHANT, W. LOWE.
+
+    Lieutenants.
+
+    R. MARSHALL.
+    J. CARDEN.
+    H. RUDGLEY.
+    M. RAINFORD.
+    H. CRADDOCK.
+    D. M'CONNELL.
+    P. SERGEANT.
+    J.P. COLLINS.
+    -- ODONNELL.
+    A. CLERK.
+    J. PETRIE.
+    -- SMITH.
+
+    Ensigns.
+
+    W. SPLAIN.
+    -- BELL.
+    -- SMITH.
+    J. KENT.
+    -- FARQUHAR.
+    B. MEIGHAN.
+    -- THOMAS.
+
+The South Carolina Regiment remained in Jamaica until the general
+disbandment of the provincial corps in 1783. The lieutenant-colonel
+commandant was given an independent company, and the whites, both
+officers and men, were pacified with grants of land. The black troopers,
+however, were a source of difficulty. These troopers, some of whom were
+originally free, while some had been purchased by the British
+Government, were in those days of slavery something of a "white
+elephant" in a large slave-holding colony like Jamaica. The planters,
+fearful of the consequences of the example to their slaves of a free
+body of negroes who had served as soldiers, agitated for their removal
+from the island, but, on the other hand, no other island was willing to
+receive them. There is no trace of how the difficulty was finally
+settled, but in a letter, dated War Office, June 15th, 1783, signed R.
+Fitzpatrick, and addressed to Major-General Campbell, commanding in
+Jamaica, the receipt of his letter concerning the disbandment of the
+provincial troops in the island is acknowledged, and the removal of "the
+blacks of the South Carolina Regiment" to the Leeward command approved
+of.
+
+Some time, then, in September, 1783, the black troopers were removed to
+the Leeward Islands, and in the "Monthly Return of His Majesty's Forces
+in the Leeward and Charibee Islands, under the command of
+Lieutenant-General Edward Mathew," we find them formed into a corps,
+with a body of black artificers, who had served in South Carolina at the
+sieges of Charlestown and Ninety-six, and thirty-three black pioneers
+who had been included in the surrender of Yorktown. The following is the
+state of this corps:
+
+    RETURN OF THE BLACK CORPS OF DRAGOONS, PIONEERS, AND ARTIFICERS.
+
+    A. Captains.
+    B. 1st Lieutenants.
+    C. 2nd Lieutenants.
+    D. Sergeants Present.
+    E. Drummers and Trumpeters Present.
+    F. Present, fit for duty.
+    G. Sick in Quarters.
+    H. Sick in Hospital.
+    I. On Command.
+    J. Total.
+    K. Total of the Whole.
+
+    +------------+----------------+-----------+---+---+-------------------+---+
+    |            |                | Officers  |   |   |  Effective Rank   |   |
+    |            |                | Present.  |   |   |    and File.      |   |
+    |Where       |                +---+---+---+   |   +-------------------+   |
+    |Stationed.  | Companies.     | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K |
+    +------------+----------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
+    |Grenada     | Capt. Mackrill | 1 | - | - |  3| 1 | 25| 7 | 10| 23| 65| 70|
+    |St. Vincent | Capt. Anderson | 1 | - | 1 | 14| 5 | 46| 4 |  -|138|188|209|
+    |Grenada     | Capt. Millar   | 1 | - | - |  3| - | 19| 4 |  4| 19| 46| 50|
+    +------------+----------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
+    |            | Total          | 3 | - | 1 | 20| 6 | 90| 15| 14|180|299|329|
+    +------------+----------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
+
+The officers of this corps were, according to Bryan Edwards, vol. i. p.
+386, taken from the regular army, and the companies were commanded by
+lieutenants of regulars, having captains' rank. Artificers, it may be as
+well to observe, were sappers and miners. The Royal Engineers at about
+this date consisted of various companies of Artificers; later on they
+were called Sappers and Miners; and, finally, Royal Engineers.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE EXPEDITION TO MARTINIQUE, 1793--THE CAPTURE OF MARTINIQUE, ST.
+LUCIA, AND GUADALOUPE, 1794--THE DEFENCE OF FORT MATILDA, 1794.
+
+
+In February, 1789, all three companies of the "Black Corps of Dragoons,
+Pioneers, and Artificers" were stationed in Grenada, and from that date
+until June, 1793, they are shown in every monthly return, with a
+strength varying from 279 to 268, and an increase of four first
+lieutenants.
+
+In February, 1793, the news of the French declaration of war was
+received in the West Indies, and orders were soon after transmitted from
+England to the Commander-in-Chief in the Windward and Leeward Islands to
+attempt the reduction of the French islands. Tobago was taken on the
+17th of April without much trouble, the majority of the planters in that
+island being English; and an attack on Martinique was next meditated.
+The whole of the British force in the West Indies was known and
+acknowledged to be inadequate to the reduction of that island; but such
+representations had been spread throughout the army, concerning the
+disaffection of the greater part of the inhabitants of all the French
+islands towards the Republican Government lately established, as to
+create a very general belief that the appearance of a British armament
+before the capital of Martinique would alone produce an immediate
+surrender. Major-General Bruce, on whom the chief command of the troops
+had devolved, was assured by a deputation from the principal planters of
+the island that "a body of 800 regular troops would be more than
+sufficient to overcome all possible resistance."
+
+These representations induced Major-General Bruce, in conjunction with
+Admiral Gardner, to undertake an expedition; and the troops having been
+embarked at Grenada in the men-of-war, the armament arrived off Cape
+Navire, Martinique,[10] on the 11th of June, 1793. There the general met
+the officer commanding the French Royalists, and, as the latter proposed
+an attack upon the town of St. Pierre, the 21st Regiment was landed at
+Cape Navire on the 14th, and there posted, to enable the Royalists to
+concentrate in the neighbourhood of St. Pierre, where the remainder of
+the British force joined them on the 16th. "The British troops consisted
+of the Grenadiers, Light Infantry, and Marines from the fleet, with the
+Black Carolina Corps, amounting in all to about 1100 men."[11] The
+Royalists were said to number 800.
+
+On the afternoon of the 17th, the enemy made an attack, but were driven
+back by the pickets, with the loss of one officer and three men killed
+on the part of the British. An attack on the two batteries which
+defended St. Pierre was planned for the morning of the 18th, but failed,
+owing to the want of discipline on the part of the Royalists.
+Major-General Bruce says: "The morning of the 18th was the time fixed
+for the attack, and we were to move forward in two columns, the one
+consisting of the British troops, the other of the French Royalists; and
+for this purpose the troops were put in motion before daybreak; but,
+unfortunately, some alarm having taken place amongst the Royalists, they
+began, in a mistake, firing on one another, and their commander being
+severely wounded on the occasion, the whole body, refusing to submit to
+any of the other officers, retired to the post from which they had
+marched."
+
+This conduct showed the general that no reliance could be placed on the
+Royalists, and that the attack on St. Pierre, if carried out at all,
+would have to be done by the British troops alone, whose numbers were
+not equal to the task. He, consequently, ordered the troops to return to
+their former positions, and on the 19th they re-embarked. As to have
+left the Royalists in Martinique would only have been to leave them to
+be massacred by the Republicans, those unfortunate people were embarked
+on the 19th and 20th, and the 21st Regiment being taken on board at
+Cape Navire on the 21st, the expedition returned to Grenada.
+
+It may be wondered whence came the Black Carolina Corps mentioned by
+Major-General Bruce, but it is evident that by that designation the
+Black Corps of Dragoons, Pioneers, and Artificers was locally known; for
+in the monthly return, dated May 1st, 1794, the "state" of the corps is
+headed, "Return of the Black Carolina Corps," and the title, "Black
+Corps of Dragoons, Pioneers, and Artificers" ceases, from that date, to
+be used in any official document. The strength of the corps in that
+return is 258 of all ranks.
+
+The failure of Major-General Bruce's attempt on Martinique induced the
+British Ministers to send out an armament under Sir Charles Grey for the
+reduction of all the French West India Islands; and, until the arrival
+of this force at Barbados, in January, 1794, the Black Carolina Corps
+remained quietly in garrison at Grenada. The troops from the various
+islands--and amongst them all three companies of that corps--were
+collected at Barbados during the remainder of January, and, on the 4th
+of February, the expeditionary force, 6085 strong, set sail from
+Carlisle Bay. The army, in three divisions, landed at three separate
+points in Martinique; the first at Gallion Bay, on the northern side of
+the island, on the evening of the 5th of February; the second at Cape
+Navire, nearly opposite on the south, on the 8th of February; and the
+third at Trois Rivičres, towards the south-east. The British were so
+rapidly successful that, by the 17th of February, the whole of the
+island, except the two fortresses of Bourbon and Fort Royal, were in
+their hands. The services of the Black Carolina Corps up to that date
+are not known in detail, but the return of killed and wounded shows the
+Dragoons as having had one rank and file killed.
+
+On the 20th of February, Forts Bourbon and Fort Royal were completely
+invested, and the pioneers and artificers of the Carolina Corps were
+busily engaged on the siege works. On the north-east side the army broke
+ground on the 25th of February; and on the western side, towards La
+Caste, fascine batteries were erected with all possible expedition. By
+the 16th of March, the advanced batteries were pushed to within 500
+yards of Fort Bourbon, and 200 yards of the enemy's nearest redoubt. On
+the 20th of March, the fortress of Fort Royal was carried by Captain
+Faulkner, of the _Zebra_; and General Rochambeau at once sent a flag
+from Fort Bourbon offering to capitulate. The terms were accordingly
+adjusted on the 23rd, and on the 25th, the garrison, reduced to 900 men,
+marched out prisoners of war.
+
+Martinique being now entirely conquered, Sir Charles Grey left there, as
+a garrison under General Prescott, five regiments, and one company of
+the Carolina Corps; and proceeded, on the 31st of March, with the
+remainder of the force to the attack of St. Lucia. That island had no
+means of defence against so considerable an invading force; and, on the
+4th of April, the British colours were hoisted on the chief fortress of
+Morne Fortune; the garrison, consisting of 300 men, having surrendered
+on the same terms of capitulation that had been granted to General
+Rochambeau. The 6th and 9th Regiments, with a company of the Carolina
+Corps, being left as a garrison for St. Lucia, Sir Charles Grey returned
+to Martinique, and commenced his preparations for an expedition to
+Guadaloupe.[12]
+
+Guadaloupe really consists of two islands, separated from each other by
+a narrow arm of the sea, called La Rivičre Salée, which is navigable for
+vessels of fifty tons. The eastern island, or division, which is flat
+and low-lying, is called Grandeterre; while the western, which is rugged
+and mountainous, is named Basseterre.
+
+On the 8th of April, the troops, with the remaining company of the
+Carolina Corps, sailed from Fort Royal, Martinique; and, about one
+o'clock in the morning of the 11th, a landing was effected at Grosier
+Bay. Before daybreak on the 12th, the fort of La Fleur d'Épée was
+carried by assault, and the greater part of the garrison put to the
+sword. Fort St. Louis, the town of Point ą Pitre, and a new battery upon
+Islet ą Cochon being afterwards abandoned, the possession of Grandeterre
+was complete. The reduction of Basseterre was effected on the 21st of
+the same month; and the company of the Carolina Corps, with other
+troops, being left in garrison in Guadaloupe, the general returned to
+Martinique.
+
+The British, however, were not permitted to remain long in peaceable
+possession of their most recent conquest; for on the 3rd of June, a
+considerable French armament arrived off Point ą Pitre. Fort Fleur
+d'Épée was taken by storm, and the place not being tenable after this
+loss, the British crossed over to Basseterre. Several prisoners were
+taken by the French, and amongst them were some of the Carolina Corps,
+for in the return of that corps for February, 1795, dated March 1st,
+there is the following note: "Some of the corps are prisoners at Point ą
+Pitre, but their number cannot be ascertained." In a later return,
+however, we find that they consisted of one sergeant and eight rank and
+file.
+
+On the 2nd of July, the British made an ineffectual attempt to recover
+Point ą Pitre, and soon after established their head-quarters at
+Berville, in Basseterre. The camp at Berville was invested in September,
+and on the 6th of October it was compelled to capitulate. Thus the whole
+of Guadaloupe, with the exception of Fort Matilda, situated above the
+town of Basseterre, and which was still held by a British garrison, was
+recovered by the French. At the surrender of Berville, 300 French
+Royalists, who were in the British camp, were massacred by the orders of
+Victor Hugues, the French commander.
+
+Fort St. Charles, Basseterre, had been rechristened Fort Matilda by the
+British on its surrender on the 21st of April, 1794, and against it
+Victor Hugues now moved all his forces. The fort was commanded by
+Lieutenant-General Prescott with a garrison of 610 men, including the
+company of the Carolina Corps which had come to Guadaloupe. General
+Prescott, in his despatch, dated "On board H.M.S. _Vanguard_, at sea,
+December 11th, 1794," says: "To enter into a minute detail of the siege,
+which commenced on the 14th of October, and terminated by evacuating it
+on the 10th of December, would not only too much occupy your time, but
+might be deemed equally unnecessary. It may be sufficient to remark that
+on entering the fort I found it totally out of repair, the materials
+composing the wall-work thereof being of the worst kind, and having
+apparently but little lime to cement them properly. By the middle of
+last month the works were very much injured by the daily and frequent
+heavy fire of the enemy, and almost all the carriages of our guns
+rendered useless. These were in general in a very decayed state, but
+even the new ones for the brass mortars that were made during the siege
+gave way from the almost incessant fire we kept up; so that upon the
+whole, what from the nature of our defences and the small number of our
+garrison, we were in a very unfit state to resist the very vigorous
+exertions of our enemy, who began to prepare additional forces about the
+20th of last month, but who, from a number of causes, and especially
+from heavy and continued rains, could not open their new batteries till
+the 6th of this month. On that day they began to fire from twenty-three
+pieces of cannon, four of which were thirty-six-pounders, and the rest
+twenty-four-pounders, and from eight mortars, two of thirteen inches and
+two of ten. The fire was very heavy and continued all day and night, and
+by it all the guns on the Gallion bastion were dismounted, and the
+bastion itself a heap of ruins. Every day after this grew worse until
+the 9th, on the evening of which day I went into the ditch accompanied
+by the engineer, when we were both but too well convinced of the
+tottering state of the works from the Gallion along the curtain, and
+indeed the whole, from the east to the north-east. I could not hesitate
+a moment about the necessity of evacuating the fort. I therefore sent
+off immediately to Rear-Admiral Thompson, who commanded the detachment
+of the squadron left for our protection, to acquaint him with the
+necessity of evacuating the fort next evening, and to request that he
+would have the boats ready to take off the garrison at seven o'clock. I
+kept this my design a profound secret until half-past six o'clock of the
+evening of the 10th, when I arranged the march of the garrison.... The
+embarkation continued with little or no interruption, and was happily
+completed about ten o'clock at night, without its being discovered by
+the enemy, who continued firing as usual on the fort till two or three
+o'clock on the morning of the 11th, as we could plainly perceive from
+the ships. My satisfaction was great at having thus preserved my brave
+garrison to their king and country."
+
+During the siege of Fort Matilda, the Carolina Corps lost 1 killed and 3
+wounded, 2 of whom afterwards died of their wounds. In the "State of the
+Garrison of Fort Matilda, as embarked on the 10th of December, 1794,"
+the strength of the company of the Carolina Corps is shown as 1 captain,
+1 lieutenant, 4 sergeants, and 30 rank and file. After the evacuation,
+this company was stationed at Martinique; so that at the close of the
+year 1794, two companies were in that island, and one in St. Lucia.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 10: See map.]
+
+[Footnote 11: Major-General Bruce's despatch.]
+
+[Footnote 12: See map.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+MALCOLM'S ROYAL RANGERS--THE EVACUATION OF ST. LUCIA, 1795.
+
+
+In the commencement of the year 1795, a new corps was raised in the West
+Indies, which was sometimes called Malcolm's Corps, sometimes Malcolm's
+Rangers, and at others the Royal Rangers. It first appears in the
+"Monthly Return of His Majesty's Forces in the Windward, Leeward, and
+Caribee Islands," dated the 1st of May, 1795, as follows:
+
+    ROYAL RANGERS, COMMANDED BY CAPTAIN MALCOLM, 41ST REGIMENT.
+
+    A: Capt. Commandant.
+    B: Captains.
+    C: 1st Lieutenants.
+    D: 2nd Lieutenants.
+    E: Sergeants Present.
+    F: Drummers Present.
+    G: Present fit for Duty.
+    H: In Hospital.
+    I: In Quarters.
+
+    +-------------+---------------+---+---+------------------------+
+    |             | Commissioned  |   |   |Effective Rank and File.|
+    |             | Officers.     |   |   |                        |
+    |             +---+---+---+---+   |   +-----+-----+----+-------+
+    |             |   |   |   |   |   |   |     | Sick and |       |
+    |  Stations.  |   |   |   |   |   |   |     | Wounded. |       |
+    |             |   |   |   |   |   |   |     +-----+----+       |
+    |             | A | B | C | D | E | F |  G  | H   | I  | Total.|
+    +-------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+-----+-----+----+-------+
+    | Martinico   | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 149 | 28  | 27 |  204  |
+    +-------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+-----+-----+----+-------+
+
+This officer is mentioned by Bryan Edwards, vol. iii. p. 452:
+"Lieutenant Malcolm, of the 41st Grenadiers, was appointed Town Major"
+(of St. Pierre, Martinique, in 1794) "in consideration of his
+distinguished conduct and active services at the head of a body of
+riflemen, which was composed of two men selected from each company of
+the 1st Battalion of Grenadiers. We shall have occasion to mention this
+officer afterwards."
+
+This body of riflemen, raised during the operations in Martinique, in
+March, 1794, must, if the above statement of its formation be correct,
+have been European, for there were no black troops employed in the
+reduction of that island, except the Carolina Corps. The corps of
+riflemen is not shown in any return, and it is probable that at the
+termination of the active operations the men rejoined their respective
+battalions. The Royal Rangers, shown in the return of the 1st of May,
+1795, were black; for Sir John Vaughan, in a letter dated Martinique,
+April 25th, 1795, which gives an account of the operations in St. Lucia
+in that month, says: "The flank companies of the 9th Regiment and the
+black corps under Captain Malcolm were the troops engaged." These Royal
+Rangers, then, were almost certainly entirely distinct from the "body of
+riflemen," and the success which had attended Captain Malcolm's efforts
+with the first body probably led to his being employed in raising the
+second, about February or March, 1795. In the month of April, 1795, one
+company of this corps, numbering 121 of all ranks, was in St. Lucia,
+and the other company, 112 strong, in Martinique.
+
+Victor Hugues, having succeeded in ousting the British from Guadaloupe,
+commenced, early in 1795, active measures for the recovery of the other
+islands that had been wrested from France in the previous year, and the
+plan which was first ripened appears to have been that against St.
+Lucia.[13] "No official and scarcely any other accounts of the event are
+to be found, but the invasion of this colony appears to have been
+effected about the middle of February.... Nor can the strength of the
+invading force be now ascertained. That force was probably few in
+number, and stolen into the island in small bodies, and under cover of
+the night. Aided, however, by an insurrection of the slaves, people of
+colour, and democratical whites, it was sufficient to wrest from us the
+whole of the colony, with the exception of the two posts of the Carenage
+and the Morne Fortune."[14]
+
+Affairs remained in this situation till about the middle of April, when
+Brigadier-General Stewart resumed active operations, in the hope of
+recovering the lost ground. On the 14th of that month, he suddenly
+disembarked near Vieux Fort, with a force consisting of a portion of the
+6th and 9th Regiments, the company of the Carolina Corps which had
+remained in the island since its capture in 1794, and one company of the
+new corps of Malcolm's Rangers; and, after two days' skirmishing, that
+town was abandoned by the French on the 16th, and immediately taken
+possession of by the British, the enemy falling back upon Souffriere,
+their chief stronghold.
+
+"Resolved to follow up his blow, General Stewart advanced against
+Souffriere. Undismayed, however, by their recent defeats, the
+Republicans had collected together a very formidable force, for the
+defence of their main position. On his march, the British general was
+suddenly attacked by a division which had been placed in ambush, and it
+was not till after a severe struggle that the enemy were driven back."
+
+Sir John Vaughan, in a despatch dated Martinique, April 25th, 1795,
+says: "He was attacked by the enemy upon his march on the 20th instant,
+who had formed an ambuscade. The flank companies of the 9th Regiment,
+and the Black Corps under Captain Malcolm, were the troops engaged. The
+enemy, after a severe conflict, were driven back. Captain Malcolm, and
+Captain Nesbitt of the 9th, were wounded, after behaving in a most
+gallant manner."
+
+On the 22nd of April, the troops reached the neighbourhood of
+Souffriere, near to which, on the mountainous ground, the attack was
+made. The contest continued warmly for seven hours, and though the
+greatest exertions were made by the British, they were finally compelled
+to retreat to Choiseul, with a loss of 30 killed, 150 wounded, and 5
+missing. In the four days' fighting between the 14th and the 22nd of
+April, Malcolm's corps lost 48 out of a total of 121.[15] At Choiseul
+the troops embarked and returned to Vieux Fort, and thence to Morne
+Fortune and the Carenage, which General Stewart considered his force
+strong enough to hold until the arrival of reinforcements.
+
+Two months passed away without the occurrence of any event worthy of
+notice. Sickness, in the meantime, was making great ravages amongst the
+British, one-half of whose force was generally unfit for service. The
+enemy, on the other hand, were daily gaining fresh accession of
+strength. From Guadaloupe arms and other supplies were frequently
+transmitted; and though some of the vessels fell into the hands of the
+British cruisers, many more of them reached their destination in safety.
+The French now began to act decisively. They first reduced Pigeon
+Island, and, on the 17th of June, made themselves masters of the Vigie.
+On this last post the communication between the Carenage and Morne
+Fortune depended, and the enemy now prepared for a general assault upon
+the latter. As, in the weak condition of the garrison, it would have
+been imprudent to await the meditated attack, Brigadier-General Stewart
+determined to evacuate the position; and, on the evening of the 18th,
+the whole of the troops embarked on board H.M.S. _Experiment_,
+undiscovered by the enemy, and proceeded to Martinique.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 13: Bryan Edwards.]
+
+[Footnote 14: See map.]
+
+[Footnote 15: Return of the killed, wounded, and missing in the actions
+on the following days, of the troops under the command of
+Brigadier-General Stewart, in the island of St. Lucia.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+14th of April, 1795.
+
+Royal Rangers--1 sergeant, 5 rank and file, wounded.
+
+15th of April.
+
+Royal Rangers--2 rank and file, killed; 1 sergeant, 4 rank and file,
+wounded.
+
+20th of April.
+
+Royal Rangers--6 rank and file, killed; 1 captain, 1 sergeant, and 18
+rank and file, wounded.
+
+22nd of April.
+
+Carolina Corps--1 rank and file, wounded.
+
+Royal Rangers--4 rank and file, killed; 5 rank and file, wounded.
+
+Names of the Officers killed and wounded.
+
+Captain Robert Malcolm, of the Royal Rangers, wounded.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE CARIB WAR IN ST. VINCENT, 1795.
+
+
+Some little time before the arrival, at Martinique, of the company of
+Malcolm's Rangers from St. Lucia, the company of that corps which had
+remained in the former island had been despatched, with the 3rd
+Battalion of the 60th Regiment, to St. Vincent. Since the month of
+March, 1795, that island had been devastated by a war between the
+Caribs, assisted by the French, and the British garrison. This war had
+been carried on with varying success, and the most horrible atrocities
+on the part of the Caribs, until the end of May, when the
+Commander-in-Chief, Sir John Vaughan, went over to St. Vincent from
+Martinique, to satisfy himself as to the state and military wants of the
+colony; and, finding the enemy strongly posted within a short distance
+of the town of Kingston itself, immediately on his return to Martinique
+despatched the above-mentioned reinforcement, which arrived at St.
+Vincent in the beginning of June.
+
+The principal position of the enemy was at the Vigie This post was
+situated on a ridge, forming the south-west side of the valley of
+Marriaqua, and consisted of three small eminences of different heights;
+that nearest the sea, though the lowest, being the most extensive of
+them all, and that to the fortifying of which they had paid the most
+attention.
+
+Lieutenant-Colonel Leighton, commanding the troops in St. Vincent, on
+being reinforced, determined to carry into execution a long meditated
+attack upon the Vigie. Accordingly, on the night of the 11th[16] of
+June, the troops marched through the town, and halted about ten o'clock
+at Warawarrow River, within four miles of the Vigie. The force was
+composed of detachments from the 46th and 60th Regiments, the company of
+Malcolm's Rangers, the St. Vincent Rangers, almost all the southern and
+windward regiments of the militia, and a small party of artillery. At
+Warawarrow River the troops were divided into three columns; and the
+third was further divided into small bodies to hold the passes at Calder
+Ridge, and prevent the escape of the enemy.
+
+Just before daybreak, the westernmost redoubt, which overlooked the road
+coming from Kingston, was attacked and carried almost without
+opposition, the enemy retiring to their principal stronghold. The
+grenadiers and Malcolm's Corps had in the meantime forced their way
+through the bush on Ross Ridge, and being met by the light company,
+which had kept along the road, the whole of the British advanced against
+the third and strongest redoubt. At the upper end of the road a deep
+trench had been dug, which obstacle for some little time delayed the
+guns; but, by great exertions they were lifted up a bank eight or ten
+feet in height, and then opened fire.
+
+For some time the enemy returned the British fire with great spirit.
+About eight o'clock, however, they beat a parley, and sent out a flag of
+truce to propose terms, which were refused. The troops were now led to
+the assault, and in a short time carried the works, which were defended
+by the French from Guadaloupe, the Caribs having retired early in the
+morning, and escaped to the windward portion of the island. "Never did
+troops display greater gallantry than did the British, militia, and
+rangers on this occasion."[17] The British killed and wounded amounted
+to 30; 250 of the enemy are said to have fallen. In the redoubts were
+taken three four-pounders and sixteen or seventeen swivels.
+
+At the close of the action, Malcolm's and the St. Vincent Rangers were
+sent out to scour the valley of Marriaqua, and destroy the huts of the
+Caribs. This service they effectually accomplished before nightfall,
+having killed and taken prisoners many of the fugitives, and driven the
+remainder into Massirica.
+
+A detachment of the 60th being left in the Vigie Lieutenant-Colonel
+Leighton, on the morning of the 13th of June, marched with the remainder
+of the troops, by several routes, towards the Carib district. So little
+opposition was made to their march, the enemy constantly falling back
+from ridge to ridge, that on the afternoon of the 16th they reached
+Mount Young, from which the Caribs fled with such haste that they left
+standing their houses, in all of which considerable quantities of corn
+were found. This carelessness of the enemy provided the British with a
+very welcome shelter. It was fortunate, also, that they had not
+attempted to dispute the hills and passes; for, had they done so, the
+troops would have suffered greatly, seven men, even as it was, having
+expired on the march from fatigue alone.
+
+As soon as Mount Young was in our possession, the troops were busily
+employed in spreading devastation through the Carib district. In Grand
+Sable and other parts of the country, many houses were burned, and more
+than 200 pettiaugres and canoes destroyed. Several hundred slaves were
+also sent out, under the protection of military detachments, to dig up
+and destroy the provisions of the enemy. On the 4th of July, a
+detachment of the 46th and Malcolm's Rangers took, after a sharp action,
+the enemy's post at Chateaubellair, near Walliabon, with a loss of 14
+killed and 39 wounded of the 46th, and 2 killed and several wounded of
+Malcolm's.
+
+The evacuation of St. Lucia by Brigadier-General Stewart was, however,
+as far as St. Vincent was concerned, attended by fatal consequences.
+The proximity of the former island enabled the French unceasingly to
+pour in new reinforcements to their Carib allies in St. Vincent; and,
+towards the end of August, a small British post which had been
+established at Owia was surprised by a detachment from St. Lucia, and
+the whole of the guns and large quantities of supplies captured.
+
+Encouraged by this success, Victor Hugues resolved to endeavour to wrest
+St. Vincent from the British, as he had already wrested Guadaloupe and
+St. Lucia; and, in the middle of September, he landed in St. Lucia with
+a force of some 800 men. These, embarked in four vessels, which escaped
+the _Thorn_ and _Experiment_, the British ships of war on the station,
+landed at Owia Bay, St. Vincent, on the morning of the 18th of
+September; and the force of the enemy was now so vastly superior to that
+of the British, that it became impossible for the latter to retain their
+advanced positions.
+
+Orders were at once sent to Lieutenant-Colonel Leighton to abandon Mount
+Young without delay, and retire to the vicinity of Kingston. They were
+carried into execution on the night of the 19th. Having destroyed their
+supplies and left their lights burning in their huts as usual, to
+deceive the enemy, the troops were silently put in motion. They reached
+Biabou the next evening, and, bringing in the detachment which was there
+quartered, reached Zion Hill on the 21st; being then distributed among
+the posts in the neighbourhood.
+
+The retreating British were speedily followed by the Caribs and French,
+who drove off the cattle from several estates, and finally took up a
+position on Fairbairn's Ridge, by which the communication was cut off
+between Kingston and the Vigie. The detachment of the 60th at the latter
+post being short of supplies, Lieutenant-Colonel Ritche, of the 60th,
+with 200 of that corps and 150 of the St. Vincent Rangers, was detached
+to escort the necessary stores. His division had nearly reached its
+destination when it fell in with the enemy; a sharp action ensued,
+victory was on the eve of declaring for the British, when, struck by an
+unaccountable panic, they suddenly gave way and fled in all directions.
+The supplies fell into the hands of the enemy, and a number of the mules
+were killed.
+
+The news of this terrible disaster spread dismay through Kingston, for
+it was thought that the enemy would at once attack all the British
+posts. It was resolved to at once abandon the Vigie; and to facilitate
+this step, Brigadier-General Myers, with the 46th and Malcolm's Rangers,
+marched from Dorsetshire Hill, and posted himself opposite the enemy, as
+if threatening an attack. This movement had the desired effect. The
+enemy called in all the detachments which invested the Vigie, and thus
+enabled the officer commanding that post to retreat at night through
+heavy rain to Calliaqua, and thence proceed to Kingston in boats.
+
+While the troops were using the utmost exertion to strengthen the posts
+in the neighbourhood of Kingston, an unexpected reinforcement arrived
+from Martinique, on the 29th of September. It consisted of the 40th,
+54th, 59th, and 2nd West India Regiments,[18] into which latter the St.
+Vincent Rangers were at once drafted. Major-General Irving also came
+over from Martinique to assume the command.
+
+The first effect produced by the arrival of this succour, was the
+retiring of the enemy from their advanced position on Fairbairn's Ridge
+to the Vigie, where they now collected the whole of their strength. From
+this post Major-General Irving determined to dislodge them; and, on the
+night of the 1st of October, the troops marched for that purpose. One
+column, consisting of 750 men, under Lieutenant-Colonel Strutt, marched
+by the high road and took post upon Calder Ridge, on the east of the
+Vigie, about three in the morning. A second column, consisting of 900
+men, under Brigadier-General Myers, crossed the Warawarrow River, and
+detached one party to proceed round by Calliaqua, and another to move up
+the valley, and climb the heights near Joseph Dubuc's. With this last
+force was Malcolm's Corps; and, to gain the point to which they were
+directed, it was necessary to cross a deep rivulet and ascend a steep
+hill covered with bushes and wood. In doing this it suffered a heavy
+loss, both of officers and men, from the enemy, who fired upon it almost
+in security under shelter of the bushes. The British, however, still
+pressed on, and at length arrived on the top of the Marriaqua or Vigie
+Ridge. During the ascent of the hill, Malcolm's Corps lost one man
+killed and two wounded.
+
+In the meantime, the remainder of the second column were struggling in
+vain to reach the summit of the same ridge; at a point where the enemy
+had strongly occupied a thick wood, and thrown up a small work. Though
+the opposing forces were within fifty paces of each other, not an inch
+of ground was won on either side. Firing commenced at seven in the
+morning, and was kept up till nightfall. All this time the British were
+exposed to a violent tropical downpour of rain, which rendered the
+abrupt declivity so slippery that it was almost impossible to maintain a
+foothold on it; and, finding he could make no impression on the enemy,
+the general, about 7 p.m., gave orders for the troops to retire.
+
+During the night, the enemy, from some unknown cause, abandoned the
+Vigie, and that so hastily that they left behind them, undestroyed, both
+guns and ammunition. They continued their retreat till they reached the
+windward part of the island, and the British in their turn advanced. For
+the remainder of the year, the troops were employed in circumscribing,
+within as narrow limits as possible, the French and their Carib allies;
+and, though great hardships were endured, no engagement worthy of note
+took place.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 16: Coke; Bryan Edwards says the 8th.]
+
+[Footnote 17: Coke.]
+
+[Footnote 18: See next chapter.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+MAJOR-GENERAL WHYTE'S REGIMENT OF FOOT, 1795.
+
+
+The terrible mortality which thinned the ranks of the British troops in
+the West Indies, induced the British Ministers to think of reinforcing
+the army with men better calculated to resist the influence of the
+climate. The West India Governors were instructed, therefore, in 1795,
+to bring forward in their respective legislatures a project for raising
+five black regiments, consisting of 500 men each, to become a permanent
+branch of the military establishment. There were already several black
+corps in existence, for Mr. Dundas, during a debate in the House of
+Commons on the West India Expedition, on the 28th of April, 1795, said
+that "the West India Army of Europeans and Creoles consisted of 3000
+militia and 6000 blacks."[19]
+
+These black corps were distributed amongst the various islands, and
+were the Carolina Corps, Malcolm's or the Royal Rangers, the Island
+Rangers (Martinique), the St. Vincent Rangers, the Black Rangers
+(Grenada), Angus' Black Corps (Grenada), the Tobago Blacks, and the
+Dominica Rangers. Some of them, notably the Carolina Corps, Malcolm's
+Corps, and the St. Vincent Rangers,[20] were paid by the Imperial
+Government, and were consequently Imperial troops; although none of the
+corps appeared in any Army List, nor were appointments thereto and
+promotions therein notified in the _London Gazette_.
+
+The five black regiments, now proposed to be raised, were to be in
+addition to those small black corps already in Imperial pay, and which
+were to be blended into three permanent regiments. Consequently, in the
+Army List dated March 11th, 1796, showing the state of the army in
+1795,[21] we find the following eight corps, indexed under the heading
+of "Regiments raised to serve in the West Indies:"
+
+    Whyte's Regiment of Foot     (Carolina and Malcolm's Corps).
+    Myers'       "       "       (St. Vincent Rangers).
+    Keppell's    "       "       (probably the Dominica Rangers).
+    Nicoll's     "       "       }
+    Howe's       "       "       }
+    Whitelock's  "       "       }(the five new regiments).
+    Lewes'       "       "       }
+    Skerrett's   "       "       }
+
+
+Major-General Whyte's regiment was called into existence by the
+_Gazette_ of the 2nd of May, 1795; Major-General John Whyte, from the
+6th Foot, being appointed colonel. On the 20th of May, Major Leeds
+Booth, from the 32nd Foot, was appointed lieutenant-colonel; and other
+officers were rapidly gazetted to it. On the 8th of August, Captain
+Robert Malcolm, of the 41st Foot, was promoted major in Whyte's
+regiment. The following is the list of officers appointed to the
+regiment in 1795:
+
+    MAJOR-GENERAL WHYTE'S REGIMENT OF FOOT.
+
+    Rank.      Name.                 Rank in the Regt.         Army.
+
+    Colonel    John Whyte            April 24, 1795    M.G., Feb. 26, 1795
+    Lt.-Col.   Leeds Booth             May 20, 1795
+    Major      Robert Malcolm          July 1, 1795    Lieut.-Col.,
+                                                         Oct. 5, 1795
+    Capts.     James Abercrombie         "      "      Major, March 1, 1794
+               Edward Cotter             "      "
+               Francis Costello          "      "
+               Alan Hampden Pye          "      "
+               Ralph Wilson              "      "
+               Thomas Cunninghame        "      "
+        (C.)   William Powell         Aug. 24, 1795
+               Thomas Deane           Sept. 1, 1795
+               ..............
+               ..............
+               ..............
+               ..............
+
+    Lieuts.    Ross Gillespie          July 1, 1795    Dec. 20, 1794
+               Henry Maxwell             "      "      March 8, 1795
+               David Butler              "      "
+               Benjamin Chadwick         "      "
+               James Reid                "      "
+               James Stewart             "      "
+               James Sutherland          "      "
+               James Calder              "      "
+               Andrew Coghlan         Aug. 24, 1795    Sept. 14, 1792
+               Henry Goodinge         Sept. 1, 1795
+               Thos. Page            Sept. 16, 1795
+               ..............
+               (11 vacancies)
+               ..............
+    Ensigns    William Graham          July 1, 1795
+               James Cassidy              "     "
+               -- McShee                  "     "
+               -- Lightfoot               "     "
+               -- M'Callum                "     "
+               -- Froggart                "     "
+               -- McLean                  "     "
+               R.W. Atkins                "     "
+               John Egan                  "     "
+               James Reed                 "     "
+    (Cornet)   W. Connor                  "     "
+               -- Crump                   "     "
+               John Morrison              "     "
+               Donald M'Grace             "     "
+               William Reid               "     "
+               -- Dalton              Sept. 1, 1795
+               Thomas Byrne               "     "
+               C.B. Darley            Sept. 9, 1795
+               Christ. Thos. Roberts   Oct. 5, 1795
+               ..............
+               ..............
+               ..............
+    Adjutant   ..............
+    Qrmr.      -- McWilliam           Nov. 18, 1795
+    Surgeon    -- Bishop              June 10, 1795
+    Chaplain   ..............
+
+It was intended that each of these regiments raised for service in the
+West Indies should have a cavalry troop, and in the _London Gazette_ are
+the following:
+
+MAJOR-GENERAL WHYTE'S REGIMENT OF FOOT.
+
+    August 1, 1795     Lieutenant--Powell, from the 8th Foot, to be
+                         Lieutenant of Cavalry.
+
+    August 29          Lieutenant--Powell, Lieutenant of Cavalry, to be
+                         Captain of Cavalry.
+
+    July 11            Acting Adjutant--Connor, from Lieutenant-Colonel
+                         McDonnel's regiment, to be Cornet.
+
+But this idea was soon abandoned, and in 1797 the cavalry troop
+disappeared.
+
+The 1st West India Regiment (for so it was at once styled in the West
+Indies, although in the Army List and the _London Gazette_, the
+designation "Major-General Whyte's Regiment of Foot" was not
+discontinued until February, 1798) first appears in the "Monthly Return
+for the Windward, Leeward, and Caribee Islands," in September, 1795, as
+follows:
+
+    A: Colonel.
+    B: Lieut.-Colonel.
+    C: Majors.
+    D: Captains.
+    E: Lieutenants.
+    F: Ensigns.
+    G: Chaplain.
+    H: Adjutant.
+    I: Quarter-Master.
+    J: Surgeon.
+    K: Mate.
+    L: Sergeants Present.
+    M: Drummers Present.
+    N: Present, fit for duty.
+    O: Sick.
+    P: Recruiting.
+    Q: Total.
+
+    +-----------------+---------+-----------------------+--+--+----------+
+    |                 |         |  Officers Present.    |  |  |          |
+    |                 |         +-------------+---------+  |  |Effective |
+    |                 |         |Commissioned.| Staff.  |  |  |Rank&File.|
+    |     Regiments   |Stations.+-------------+---------+  |  +----------+
+    |     or Corps.   |         |A|B|C|D|E | F|G|H|I|J|K| L| M| N|O|P| Q |
+    +-----------------+---------+-+-+-+-+--+--+-+-+-+-+-+--+--+--+-+-+---+
+    |Maj.-Gen. Whyte's|Martinico|-|-|-|3| 1| 5|-|-|1|-|-| 6| 6|43|4|4| 51|
+    |                 |         | | | | |  |  | | | | | |  |  |  | | |   |
+    |Brig.-Gen. Myers'|Martinico|1|-|-|2| 1| 1|-|-|1|-|-| 5| 6|41|5|5| 51|
+    +-----------------+---------+-+-+-+-+--+--+-+-+-+-+-+--+--|--+-+-+---+
+    |                 |Total.   |1|-|-|5| 2| 6|-|-|2|-|-|11|12|84|9|9|102|
+    +-----------------+---------+-+-+-+-+--+--+-+-+-+-+-+--+--+--+-+-+---+
+
+and the following note is, in the same Return, appended to the state of
+the company of the "Black Carolina Corps," which was in Grenada; the
+other two companies having remained in Martinique since their removal
+there from St. Lucia at the end of April, 1795. "This corps has been
+reformed, and fifty of the men, who were fit for service, have been
+drafted into the 1st New West India Regiment. When the remainder of the
+corps can be collected together, it is possible a few more may be found
+fit for service."
+
+Major-General Whyte's, or the 1st West India Regiment, remained at
+Martinique, without any further accession to its strength than these
+fifty men from the Carolina Corps, till December, 1795.
+
+In the "Muster Roll of His Majesty's 1st West India Regiment of Foot,
+for 183 days, from the 25th of June to the 24th of December, 1795,
+inclusive," the list of officers is given as already shown. Captain
+James Abercrombie, Lieutenants David Butler, Benjamin Chadwick, and
+James Sutherland are shown as "drowned on passage," and the following
+note is added: "Some few of the dates of enlistments and enrolments of
+the non-commissioned officers and drummers may not probably be quite
+exact, and some others may have been engaged in England not down on the
+muster roll, all the regimental books, attestation papers, etc., having
+been left in possession of the paymaster, Brevet-Major Abercrombie (no
+adjutant at that time being appointed), who was lost in December or
+January last on board the _Robert and William_ transport, No. 44, on
+the voyage to this country." The non-commissioned officers and drummers
+were Europeans, one sergeant and three corporals being shown as "sick
+and absent in England" in this roll; and, in the next, a drummer is
+similarly shown. The roll is signed by Leeds Booth, Lieutenant-Colonel;
+Ed. S. Cotter, Captain and Paymaster; and Thomas Holbrook, Acting
+Adjutant. The following is the proof table:
+
+    A: Colonel.
+    B: Lieut.-Colonel.
+    C: Major.
+    D: Captains.
+    E: Lieutenants.
+    F: Cornets.
+    G: Ensigns.
+    H. Adjutant.
+    I. Chaplain.
+    J. Quartermaster.
+    K. Surgeon.
+    L. Mate.
+    M. Sergeants.
+    N. Corporals.
+    O. Drummers.
+    P. Privates.
+
++--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
+|              | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P |
++--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
+|Present       | - | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | 1 |  5| - | - | 1 | - | - | 10| - | 12|  9|
+|Absent        | 1 | - | 1 | 8 | 6 | - | 13| - | - | - | 1 | - |  7| 3 |  3| 27|
+|Non-effective | - | - | - | 5 | 7 | - |  5| - | - | 1 | - | - |  5| 8 |  5| 13|
++--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
+|  Total.      | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14| 14| 1 | 23| - | - | 2 | 1 | - | 22| 11| 20| 49|
++--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
+
+Although it was intended that the privates of West India regiments
+should be black, yet, apparently, white men were not prohibited from
+serving in the ranks; for, in later muster rolls, two or three privates
+are shown as "enrolled in England," and one of these is afterwards shown
+as "transferred to 60th." A volunteer, David Scott, who joined 29th May,
+1797, was also promoted ensign in November of that year. These
+enrolments of Europeans only occur in the first three years of the
+regiment's existence, and negro privates were available for promotion
+to, at least, the rank of corporal very early; for a Private John
+Lafontaine, who was promoted corporal, is shown in the muster roll
+terminating December 24th, 1796, as "claimed as a slave." The pay of a
+private in a West India regiment was then sixpence per diem.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 19: In the Account of the Extraordinary Expenditure of the
+Army, from 25th December, 1795, to 6th December, 1796, is the following:
+
+    On account of pay for sundry black corps for the
+      year 1795, raised for service in the West Indies     £10,120 12 9
+
+    On account of ditto for the year 1796                   60,095 10 3
+                                                           ------------
+                                                           £70,216  3 0
+]
+
+[Footnote 20: "The military force in St. Vincent consists at present of
+a regiment of infantry and a company of artillery, sent from England;
+and a black corps raised in the country, but provided for, with the
+former, on the British Establishment, and receiving no additional pay
+from the island."--Bryan Edwards, vol. i. p. 428.]
+
+[Footnote 21: The Army List for 1795 is dated January 1st.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE CAPTURE OF ST. LUCIA, 1796.
+
+
+In January, 1796, the company of Malcolm's Royal Rangers that was at St.
+Vincent was moved to St. Christopher; the other company still remained
+at Martinique, and both, in April, 1796, were selected to take part in
+the expedition to St. Lucia. "That island could then muster for its
+defence about 2000 well-disciplined black soldiers, a number of less
+effective blacks, and some hundred whites, who held positions both
+naturally and artificially strong, and were plentifully supplied with
+artillery, ammunition, and stores. The post on which the Republicans
+chiefly confided for their defence was that of Morne Fortune. It is
+situated on the western side of the island, between the rivers of the
+Carenage and the Grand Cul de Sac, which empty their waters into bays
+bearing the same name. Difficult of access by nature, it had been
+rendered still more so by various works. In aid of this they had also
+fortified others of the mornes, or eminences, in its vicinity. The whole
+of this position, embracing a considerable extent of ground, it was of
+the utmost importance to invest closely, with as little delay as
+possible, that the enemy might not escape into the rugged country of the
+interior, and thus be in a condition to carry on a protracted and
+harassing war, which experience had already more than once proved to be
+highly detrimental to an unseasoned invading force.
+
+"To accomplish this desirable purpose, the British general determined to
+direct his troops on three points, two of them to the north, and the
+third to the south of Morne Fortune. The first division was to land most
+to the north, in Longueville Bay, covered by several vessels, which were
+intended to silence the batteries on Pigeon Island. Choc Bay was the
+spot where the centre division was to be put on shore; and the third was
+to disembark at Ance la Raye, some distance to the southward of the
+hostile post."[22]
+
+The fleet with the troops destined for the attack of St. Lucia, under
+Sir Ralph Abercromby, sailed from Carlisle Bay, Barbados, on the 22nd of
+April, and anchored in Marin Bay, Martinique, on the evening of the
+23rd, where Malcolm's Rangers joined the force, sailing for St. Lucia on
+the 26th. The troops arrived off that island on the evening of the same
+day, and 1700 men, under the command of Major-General Campbell,
+composing the first division, were immediately landed in Longueville
+Bay; without encountering any further opposition than a few shots from
+the battery on Pigeon Island, the fire of which was speedily silenced by
+that of the ships.
+
+A strong current had driven the transports so far to the leeward that it
+was not practicable to land the centre division till the following
+morning. Major-General Campbell was meanwhile on his march, and his
+progress was only feebly opposed by about 500 of the enemy, who
+ultimately retired from Angier's Plantation to Morne Chabot, and allowed
+him to effect a junction with the centre division. The current having
+acted still more powerfully on the vessels which conveyed the third
+division, under Brigadier-General Morshead, two or three days elapsed
+before the disembarkation in Ance la Raye could be entirely executed.
+The troops at length took up their appointed station, and thus held
+Morne Fortune invested on its southern side.
+
+To complete the investment on the northern quarter it was necessary to
+obtain possession of Morne Chabot, which was one of the strongest posts
+in the vicinity of Morne Fortune. At midnight of the 27th, therefore,
+two columns, under Brigadier-Generals Moore and Hope, were despatched to
+attack the Morne on two opposite sides; and, by this means, not only to
+carry the position, but likewise to prevent the escape of the troops by
+which it was defended. This plan, the complete success of which would
+have materially diminished the strength of the Republican force, was in
+part rendered abortive by a miscalculation of time. The column of
+Brigadier-General Moore, consisting of seven companies of the 53rd
+Regiment, 100 of Malcolm's Rangers, and 50 of Lowenstein's,[23] advanced
+by the most circuitous route; while Brigadier-General Hope, with 350 men
+of the 57th, 150 of Malcolm's Rangers, and 50 of Lowenstein's, took the
+shorter road. Misinformed by the guides, Brigadier-General Moore's
+column fell in, an hour and a half sooner than it had expected, with the
+advanced picket of the enemy, who were thus put on their guard. At the
+moment when they were discovered, the troops, in consequence of the
+narrowness of the road, were marching in single file, and to halt them
+was impossible. In this state of things their leader resolved not to
+give his opponents time to recollect themselves, but to fall on them
+with his single division. The spirit of the soldiers fully justified the
+gallant resolution of their commander. Having been formed as speedily as
+the ruggedness of the ground would admit of, they proceeded to the
+assault. The Republicans made a stubborn resistance, but it was an
+unavailing one, as they were finally driven from the Morne with
+considerable loss. Nevertheless, as the second column did not arrive
+till the combat was over, the fugitives succeeded in making good their
+retreat. On the following day the victors also occupied Morne
+Duchasseaux, which is situated in rear of Morne Fortune.
+
+In the hope of obtaining some advantage to counterbalance this
+misfortune, the enemy, on the 1st of May, made a brisk attack on the
+advanced post of grenadiers commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel MacDonald,
+of the 55th Regiment. They were, however, repulsed with much slaughter,
+though not till forty or fifty men, and several officers, were killed or
+wounded on the side of the British, among them being Captain Coghlan,
+1st West India Regiment, attached to the 48th Regiment, who was wounded.
+
+At the south side of the Morne Fortune the enemy had erected batteries,
+which precluded any vessels from entering into the bay of the Grand Cul
+de Sac. To open this bay to our fleet was an object of much importance,
+as at present it was necessary to convey the artillery and stores from a
+great distance, which could not be done without the previous labour of
+opening roads through an almost impracticable country. It was,
+therefore, resolved to make an attempt on these batteries. The principal
+attack was to be conducted by Major-General Morshead, whose division, in
+two columns, was to pass the river of the Grand Cul de Sac; the columns
+of the right at Cools, and that of the left at the point where the
+waters of the stream are discharged into the bay. To second this force,
+Brigadier-General Hope, on the night of the 2nd of May, was to advance
+from Morne Chabot with 350 men of the 42nd Regiment, the light company
+of the 57th, and part of Malcolm's Rangers, the whole being supported by
+the 55th Regiment, which was posted at Ferrands. A part of the squadron
+was likewise to lend its assistance, by keeping up a cannonade on the
+works of the enemy. Before the time arrived for putting this plan into
+execution, Major-General Morshead was taken ill, and the command
+devolved upon Brigadier-General Perryn. No change, however, took place
+in the arrangements which had been formed.
+
+"At dawn of day, the division under Brigadier-General Hope began to
+accomplish its part of the service by carrying the battery Seche, which
+was situated within a short distance of the works of Morne Fortune. The
+assailants suffered so little in the assault, that they would scarcely
+have had anything to regret, had it not been for the fall of the gallant
+Lieutenant-Colonel Malcolm.[24] On the south side of the Morne, and at
+the extremity of the line of attack, Colonel Riddel, who led the column
+of the left, made himself master of the battery of Chapuis, and
+established himself there. Had the remainder of the project been as well
+executed, the proposed object would have been completely attained.
+Unfortunately, however, from some unexplained cause, the division which
+was the connecting link of the whole, that which was entrusted to
+Brigadier-General Perryn, did not perform its allotted part, by crossing
+the river at Cools. The consequence of this was that the victorious
+columns were left insulated, and would have been exposed to no trivial
+danger, had the enemy felt a sufficient reliance upon their own strength
+to incite them to act with the requisite promptitude and vigour.
+Painful, therefore, as it was to retire before a routed foe, the British
+troops were compelled to abandon the batteries which they had won, and
+to fall back upon their original stations. The ships at the same time
+returned to their former anchorage. Our loss on this occasion was 105
+men; of whom only a very few were among the slain."
+
+The Vigie was now the only post occupied by the enemy in the vicinity of
+Morne Fortune, and this was attacked by the 31st Regiment on the night
+of May 7th; the assault, however, being repulsed with a loss of 200 men.
+The main position was now invested by regular siege works, and the task
+which the British had to perform was attended with no small difficulty.
+"The country itself was of the most inaccessible kind, the chain of
+investment was ten miles in extent, all the roads that were necessary
+were to be made, of carriages there were none, horses were scarce, and
+the Republicans had been industrious in availing themselves of all the
+natural obstacles to our progress, and in creating as many others as
+their ingenuity could contrive." Malcolm's Corps rendered good service
+on these works, and the men being better able to stand the fatigue and
+exposure than Europeans, were constantly employed.
+
+By May 16th, the first parallel was completed, and on the morning of the
+24th, the 27th Regiment, supported by the 53rd and 57th, succeeded in
+effecting a lodgment within 500 yards of the fort. The Governor,
+acknowledging that further resistance was futile, demanded a suspension
+of hostilities; terms of surrender were agreed upon, and on May 26th,
+2000 men marched out as prisoners of war. One hundred pieces of
+ordnance, ten vessels, and large stores of ammunition fell into the
+hands of the British.
+
+Sir Ralph Abercromby sailed from St. Lucia on the 4th of June to the
+relief of Grenada and St. Vincent, leaving Brigadier-General Moore for
+the pacification of the first island with the 31st, 44th, 38th, and 55th
+Regiments, O'Meara's corps of Rangers,[25] and the German Yagers.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 22: Bryan Edwards.]
+
+[Footnote 23: Lowenstein's Rangers were Europeans. They were afterwards
+drafted into the 60th.]
+
+[Footnote 24: Return of killed, wounded, and missing, in the attack made
+on the enemy's batteries, May 3rd, 1796. Lieutenant-Colonel Malcolm's
+Rangers: 3 rank and file, killed; 2 rank and file, wounded; 2 captains,
+1 lieutenant, 7 rank and file, missing. Lieutenant-Colonel Malcolm dead
+of his wounds. The names of the officers of Malcolm's returned missing,
+not known.]
+
+[Footnote 25: Raised in 1796. This corps became the 12th West India
+Regiment in 1799.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE RELIEF OF GRENADA, 1796--THE REPULSE AT PORTO RICO, 1797.
+
+
+Grenada, like St. Vincent, had been ravaged by the French and insurgent
+slaves since March, 1795, and the relief of that island was one of the
+first cares of Sir R. Abercromby. On leaving St. Lucia, the division of
+the troops intended for Grenada was ordered to rendezvous at Cariacou,
+one of the Grenadines; there Sir Ralph Abercromby met Major-General
+Nicolls, then commanding in Grenada, and arranged with him the general
+plan of operations. Before, however, those operations are described, it
+will be necessary to go back to the month of March, 1796, when a company
+of the Carolina Corps arrived in Grenada from Martinique, with
+detachments from the 8th, 63rd, and 3rd Regiments, under Major-General
+Nicolls.
+
+Shortly before the arrival of this reinforcement, the French and
+insurgents had compelled the British to evacuate Pilot Hill, in the
+neighbourhood of Grenville, and had taken up a strong position at Port
+Royal. On the 23rd of March, Major-General Nicolls landed to the south
+of Port Royal; during the night the guns were got in position, and at
+daybreak opened on the enemy's works. The post occupied by the enemy was
+a hill of very steep ascent, particularly towards the summit, upon which
+a fort was constructed, and furnished with four six-pounders and some
+swivels. The first object of the British commander was to gain a
+position between the enemy and the open country, and thus leave them no
+alternative but to surrender at discretion, or precipitate themselves
+over a high cliff; but they had established themselves so strongly to
+protect their right that this failed. In the meantime two large vessels
+full of troops to reinforce the enemy arrived in the bay under Port
+Royal, from Guadaloupe; and Brigadier-General Nicolls found it necessary
+to storm the enemy's post without further delay. The troops employed in
+this service were detachments from the 3rd, 29th, and 63rd Regiments,
+under Brigadier-General Campbell; at the same time, 50 men of the 88th,
+with the company of the Carolina Corps, Colonel Webster's Black Rangers,
+and Angus' Black Corps, moved against the enemy's right flank, to
+dislodge some strong parties which were posted on the heights.
+
+Owing to the difficult nature of the ground, it was nearly two hours
+before the latter column could reach the enemy, when a heavy fire
+commenced on both sides. The ascent was steep and difficult, encumbered
+with rocks and loose stones and covered with dense bush. From the summit
+of the ridge the enemy poured in a destructive fire, to which the
+British could only reply at a great disadvantage, and, after losing
+heavily, the column commenced to retire. Observing this retrograde
+movement, Major-General Nicolls sent the 8th Regiment in support and
+ordered Brigadier-General Campbell to proceed to the assault of the
+redoubt.
+
+Repulsed at the first attempt the troops again pushed on, at length
+gained the summit of the ridge, drove the enemy into their redoubt and
+scrambled in after them through the embrasures. The enemy then fled in
+all directions, some threw themselves down the precipices, whilst others
+tried to escape down the hill through the thick underwood; but there was
+so heavy a fire kept up on them from above by the British that they were
+forced to attempt to escape along a valley, where they were charged by a
+detachment of the 17th Light Dragoons, and cut to pieces. The British
+loss consisted, in killed and wounded, of 110 Europeans and 40 of the
+various black corps. The Carolina Corps lost one man killed and six
+wounded.
+
+Affairs were thus situated when the fall of St. Lucia enabled Sir R.
+Abercromby to send reinforcements to Grenada. The troops, with whom were
+Malcolm's Rangers, disembarked at Palmiste, on the 9th June, while
+Brigadier-General Campbell, with the troops already in the island,
+advanced from the windward side to take the enemy in rear. Captain
+Jossey, the commandant of the French troops at Goyave, near Palmiste,
+seeing that resistance must be unavailing, surrendered that post, with
+those of Mabouia and Dalincourt; but Fedon, the leader of the insurgent
+slaves, who knew he could expect no mercy, retired at the head of about
+300 men to two strong and almost unapproachable positions, called Morne
+Quaquo and Ache's Camp, or Forźt Noir, in the mountains of the interior.
+
+In these recesses he did not despair of being able to tire out his
+pursuers; but Major-General Nicolls did not give him time to throw any
+additional obstacles in the way of the troops. On the 18th of June he
+despatched against him, from opposite quarters, two divisions, under
+Brigadier-General Campbell and Count d'Heillemer; while
+Lieutenant-Colonel Gledstanes was posted with the 57th Regiment at the
+head of Grand Roy Valley, and the grenadiers of the 38th Regiment, with
+the Carolina Corps and Malcolm's Rangers, advanced against a post which
+the enemy had at the head of Beau Séjour Valley. The dispositions were
+so admirably carried into effect, that the whole of the enemy's posts
+were captured, nearly at the same moment, on the morning of the 19th.
+"Many of the blacks were slain upon the spot, and the remainder were
+promptly hunted down in the woods by detachments of the military. No
+quarter was given to these ruffians, nor was any deserved by them, their
+last efforts having been marked by a foul and wanton murder. When they
+saw that their position at Morne Quaquo, which they had regarded as
+impregnable, was on the eve of being forced, they led out twenty white
+prisoners, stripped them, tied their hands behind them, and put them to
+death. It was impossible, after having witnessed this act of baseness
+and cruelty, that anything short of their extermination should satisfy
+the victors."[26]
+
+Fedon, and a number of his followers, escaped to the woods; what became
+of the former was never known, but the black corps were employed up to
+December, 1796, in hunting down and capturing the stragglers, and it was
+not until the end of that month that peace was entirely restored to
+Grenada.
+
+Whyte's, or the 1st West India, Regiment had remained at Martinique
+without any addition to its strength during the operations in St. Lucia
+and Grenada. It had, however, according to the muster rolls for 1796,
+transferred, on the 24th of March of that year, four sergeants and nine
+corporals to Malcolm's Rangers, probably in anticipation of the speedy
+drafting of the whole of that corps into its own ranks. In the Monthly
+Returns of troops for March and April, 1796, Malcolm's Royal Rangers are
+shown as "under orders for drafting into the 1st West India Regiment,"
+and in the May Return the corps ceases to be shown separately, and has
+no "state" of its own. As we have seen, however, it continued to act
+separately in St. Lucia in April and May, and in Grenada from June to
+December; and it was not until its return to Martinique on the 28th of
+December, 1796, that the drafting was finally completed. Of the
+Carolina Corps all the men fit for service were collected at Martinique,
+the remainder being formed into an invalid company at Grenada. It may be
+thought that the process of forming the 1st West India Regiment was
+being carried on very slowly, but it was more rapid than that of any
+other West India Regiment, except the 2nd; while the 3rd, even on the
+24th of December, 1797, had no non-commissioned officers, no privates,
+and only two drummers.
+
+No military event worthy of note took place in the year 1797, in which
+the Carolina Corps or the 1st West India Regiment took part, except the
+expedition to Porto Rico, in which the pioneers of the former corps were
+engaged. Sir Ralph Abercromby, with a force of 3000 men, sailed from
+Martinique on the 8th of April, and, after a delay at St. Christopher's,
+for the purpose of procuring pilots and guides, reached Porto Rico on
+the 17th and anchored off Cangrejos Point. Next day the troops
+disembarked, and, after a slight skirmish with the enemy, took up a
+position before the town. The siege continued for a fortnight without
+the British making any appreciable progress, while the force of the
+enemy, originally larger than that of the besiegers, was receiving
+continual accessions from various parts of the island. Sir Ralph
+Abercromby, therefore, determined to abandon the attempt, and the troops
+were accordingly re-embarked on the 30th of April.
+
+In March, 1797, one company of the Carolina Corps that was at
+Martinique, 78 strong, was drafted into the 1st West India Regiment;
+and, on the return of the expedition from Porto Rico, the remaining
+company (Pioneer) was also drafted, and the Carolina Corps ceased to
+exist.
+
+The following is the list of the officers who were serving in the 1st
+West India Regiment in 1797, and it may be observed that so many changes
+had taken place that, out of 43 officers who were gazetted to the
+regiment in 1795, only 22 were left in 1797:
+
+    Rank.        Name.          Rank in Regiment.          Army.
+
+    Colonel    John Whyte        April 24, 1795      M.-G., Feb. 26, 1795.
+    Lt.-Col.   Leeds Booth         May 20, 1795
+    Major      Charles Miller     Nov. 30, 1796
+    Captains   Edward Cotter       July 1, 1795
+               Francis Costello    July 1, 1795
+               William Powell     Aug. 24, 1795
+               A.A. Nunn           Feb. 2, 1797      November 17, 1795.
+               Robert Brown        June 1, 1797      September 30, 1796.
+               James Maitland     July 23, 1797
+               James Stewart      July 24, 1797
+    Lieuts.    William Graham     Nov. 30, 1796
+               James Cassidy       Dec. 1, 1796
+               -- M'Shee           Dec. 2, 1796
+               -- Lightfoot        Dec. 3, 1796
+               -- M'Callum         Dec. 4, 1796
+               -- Froggart         Dec. 5, 1796
+               -- M'Lean           Dec. 6, 1796
+               John Egan           Dec. 8, 1796
+               James Reed          Dec. 9, 1796
+               W.J. Speed         Jan. 11, 1797
+               -- Connor          March 1, 1797
+               William Reid       March 2, 1796
+               Thomas Byrne       March 3, 1796
+               J.C. Roberts        July 1, 1796
+               John C. M'Kay       July 2, 1796
+    Ensigns    Donald M'Grace      July 1, 1795
+               -- Dalton          Sept. 1, 1795
+               C.B. Darley        Sept. 9, 1795
+               -- Horsford         July 1, 1797
+               David M'William     July 2, 1797
+               Morgan O'Meara      July 3, 1797
+               Charles Marraud     July 4, 1797
+               Niel Campbell       July 5, 1797
+    Adjutant   Thomas Holbrooke  April 17, 1796
+    Qtrmastr.  -- M'William       Nov. 18, 1795
+    Surgeon    John Lindsay       Dec. 25, 1796
+
+During the active operations of the year 1796 the West India colonists
+had offered no objection to the scheme of raising five new black
+regiments, but, in 1797, when the question of providing for them was
+brought before the various Legislatures, the plan met with the most
+determined opposition. When, on the 17th of January, Governor Ricketts
+communicated it to the House of Assembly in Barbados, and requested the
+concurrence of that House, the Speaker, Sir John Gay Alleyne,
+immediately rose and moved:
+
+"That the design of five regiments, etc. (as expressed in the message),
+will, as far as such a design is likely to affect this island, prove
+rather the means of its destruction than its defence."
+
+This resolution was carried, with two others, without a dissenting
+voice.
+
+"The Assembly of Jamaica was no less decided and unanimous in its
+opposition to the measure. It refused to make any provision whatever
+for the subsistence of the 6th West India Regiment, which was commanded
+by Lieutenant-Colonel Whitelocke. In this decision it was sanctioned by
+the general voice of the white population. Meetings were held in almost
+every parish of the island, in all of which the scheme of raising black
+corps was heavily censured, as being, in the first place, unnecessary,
+the negroes being already compellable to serve in case of emergency;
+and, in the second place, as being of a nature to produce ultimately,
+and perhaps at no distant period, the most destructive effects to the
+persons and the property of the colonial proprietors."[27]
+
+The British ministers were reluctant to abandon that which appeared to
+be a cheap and ready mode of recruiting in the western hemisphere, and
+consequently persevered in their project, even increasing the number of
+West India regiments in 1799 to twelve. That the fears of the colonists
+were groundless time soon showed. In 1801, at St. Martin's, the 8th West
+India Regiment, "composed of new negroes, who had never before faced a
+foe, behaved with the utmost gallantry." In 1803, the 3rd West India
+Regiment did good service at the capture of St. Lucia, as did the 6th at
+the reduction of Surinam in 1804. In 1809, at the Saintes, where the 3rd
+and 8th West India Regiments were engaged, "the black troops
+distinguished themselves by their discipline and valour." How the 1st
+West India Regiment remained true to its colours the succeeding chapters
+will show.[28]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 26: Bryan Edwards.]
+
+[Footnote 27: Bryan Edwards.]
+
+[Footnote 28: It is true that the 8th West India Regiment mutinied at
+Dominica, in 1802, but it was under conditions which, to a certain
+extent, extenuated it. For more than six months the men had been
+defrauded of their pay. Being utterly uneducated and all new negroes,
+they were ignorant of the proper methods of obtaining redress, and
+consequently showed their resentment by violence.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE DEFENCE OF DOMINICA, 1805.
+
+
+The 1st West India Regiment remained stationed at Fort Edward,
+Martinique, during the whole of 1797, and up to the month of December,
+1798; its strength at no time during this period being above 350 men. In
+December, 1798, it was removed to St. Lucia, six companies being
+quartered at Vieux Fort and two at Maboya, in the same island. The
+strength then was 343, and the "state" shows 157 as wanting to complete
+the establishment. The regiment remained at St. Lucia until July, 1801,
+when it was moved to Port Royal, Martinique. In January, 1802, two
+companies were detached to St. Vincent, and, in July, the remainder of
+the regiment, with the exception of one company that remained in
+Martinique, followed them to that island, from whence a company was soon
+afterwards detached to Antigua. In October, these detachments rejoined
+head-quarters, but, in April, 1803, two other companies were sent to
+Grenada. In May, 1804, the regiment, with the exception of one company
+at Grenada and another sent to St. Vincent, was moved to Dominica. In
+this year the establishment of West India regiments was increased from
+500 to 1000 men; and in December, 1804, the strength was 618.
+
+The rupture of the Treaty of Amiens had, in 1803, led to fresh conflicts
+in the West Indies, in which, however, the 1st West India Regiment had
+taken no share; but in the spring of 1805, while it was still stationed
+at Dominica, the light company being with the 46th Regiment at Morne
+Bruce, and the remainder of the regiment (except the two detachments) at
+Prince Rupert's, its turn for active service came.
+
+On the 22nd of February of that year, the island was attacked by a
+French combined naval and military force, under Admiral Missiessy and
+General La Grange, which force had been despatched from France specially
+for the reduction of Dominica. The enemy's flotilla consisted of the
+following vessels:
+
+                      Guns.
+    Majestueuse       120
+    Magnanime          74
+    Suffren            74
+    Jemmappes          74
+    Lion               74
+    Armide             44
+    Gloire             44
+    Infatigable        44
+    Lynx               16
+    Actéon             16
+                      ---
+                      580
+
+The French regular troops employed were:
+
+    26th Regiment                 1600
+    2nd Battalion Piedmontese     2000
+    Dismounted Cavalry             250
+    Artillery                      250
+    Detachments of Corps           500
+                                  ----
+                                  4600
+
+Exclusive of the marines of the various ships.
+
+The enemy's force sailed from Martinique on the afternoon of February
+21st, 1805; and, flying the British flag, arrived off Dominica between 3
+and 4 a.m. on February 22nd. The British commander-in-chief,
+Brigadier-General Prevost, deceived by the colours of the ships, sent
+the captain of the fort, an artillery officer, on board the
+_Majestueuse_, to conduct the supposed British admiral and his fleet to
+a safe anchorage.[29] Shortly afterwards the boats pushed off with the
+troops, and the squadron changed its colours to French.
+
+Directly this was perceived, the grenadier company of the 46th, with the
+light company of the 1st West India Regiment (107 rank and file), under
+Captain O'Connell, and a company of militia, marched from the garrison
+at Morne Bruce to Point Michell, about three miles distant. At this spot
+the enemy concentrated, and effected a landing under a heavy fire from
+the fleet. Two thousand eight hundred troops having been landed at the
+extremity of a cape within a short distance of Point Michell, they
+advanced towards that place in column of subdivisions, the only
+formation which the restricted space would admit, the point being
+bounded by inaccessible heights on the right, and a broken and rugged
+shore on the left.
+
+The two companies of the 46th and the light company of the 1st West
+India Regiment were posted behind the walls of some ruined buildings in
+the village of Point Michell, which afforded excellent cover, and where
+they were entirely sheltered from the fire of the enemy's shipping;
+while the French had to advance on a narrow front, entirely exposed to
+their fire.
+
+The attack commenced about 5 a.m. Four times the enemy were led to the
+assault, and as many times they were repulsed. At about 6.30 a.m. the
+remainder of the 46th and some local militia arrived, and the struggle
+continued; but not without loss on our side, Major Nunn and Captain
+O'Connell, 1st West India Regiment, being wounded, the former mortally,
+and four men killed. At last, the enemy, finding all his endeavours to
+force the position were ineffectual, landed the remainder of his troops
+to leeward of the town of Roseau, on the British right, and attacked
+Fort Daniel, a small redoubt mounting a six-pounder gun, and defended by
+2 artillerymen, and 1 sergeant and 5 men of the 1st West India Regiment.
+These were all made prisoners in the work, which the enemy had attacked
+with 500 men. Brigadier-General Prevost then retired with the militia to
+the heights of Woodbridge Estate; and, the British right being now
+turned, the regulars, some 200 in number, who had been so gallantly
+defending the left, retired to effect a junction with the garrison at
+Fort Rupert, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Broughton, 1st West India
+Regiment. This was effected by Captain O'Connell, although wounded, in
+four days, by the mountain paths, while Brigadier-General Prevost
+arrived at the same place by the Carib Trail.[30]
+
+In the meantime the town of Roseau had been set on fire, and the whole
+of it destroyed, except a few small houses belonging to free negroes.
+The French, after blowing up the fortifications, embarking some guns and
+spiking others, re-embarked; taking with them such of their prisoners as
+were regulars, and levying a contribution of £5500 upon the inhabitants,
+and on February 27th the force set sail for Guadaloupe.
+
+The French in their attack on Point Michell had lost over 300 men, and
+in selecting that spot for landing they had displayed a most astonishing
+ignorance of the locality, for, if a force had at once been put ashore
+between Point Michell and Fort Young at Roseau, the British could hardly
+have ventured upon a serious defence. The loss sustained by the British
+regulars was 21 killed, 21 wounded, and 8 prisoners. The loss of the
+militia is not stated, but was considerable, the French accounts fixing
+it at 200.
+
+The following despatch addressed to Earl Camden, K.G., one of His
+Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, by Lieutenant-General Sir
+William Myers, Bart., commanding the troops in the Windward and Leeward
+Islands, gives the official account of this affair:
+
+                                          "BARBADOES, _March 9th, 1805_.
+
+    "MY LORD,
+
+    "I have the honour to enclose to your Lordship a copy of a despatch
+    from Brigadier-General Prevost, dated Dominica, 1st of March, 1805.
+    The details contained therein are so highly reputable to the
+    Brigadier-General and the small portion of troops employed against
+    so numerous an enemy, that I have great satisfaction in recommending
+    that their gallant exertions may be laid before His Majesty.
+
+    "The zeal and talent manifested by the Brigadier-General upon this
+    occasion, it is my duty to present for the Royal consideration, and
+    at the same time I beg to be permitted to express the high sense I
+    entertain of the distinguished bravery of His Majesty's troops and
+    the militia of the colony employed on that service.
+
+    "The vigorous resistance which the enemy have experienced, and the
+    loss which they have sustained in this attack, must evince to him,
+    that however inferior our numbers were on this occasion, British
+    troops are not to be hostilely approached with impunity; and had not
+    the town of Roseau been accidentally destroyed by fire, we should
+    have little to regret, and much to exult in.
+
+    "Your Lordship will perceive by the Returns that our loss in men,
+    compared to that of the enemy, is but trifling; but I have sincerely
+    to lament that of Major Nunn, of the 1st West India Regiment, whose
+    wound is reported to be of a dangerous kind; he is an excellent man,
+    and a meritorious officer.
+
+                                             "I have, etc.,
+                                                 (Signed) "W. MYERS,
+                                                    "Lieutenant-General."
+
+    "Copy".               "HEAD QUARTERS, PRINCE RUPERT'S,
+                                "DOMINICA, _March 1st, 1805_.
+    "SIR,
+
+    "About an hour before the dawn of day on the 22nd ultimo, an alarm
+    was fired from Scot's Head, and soon after a cluster of ships was
+    discovered off Roseau. As our light increased, I made out five large
+    ships, three frigates, two brigs, and small craft under British
+    colours, a ship of three decks carrying a flag at the mizen. The
+    frigates ranging too close to Fort Young, I ordered them to be fired
+    on, and soon after nineteen large barges, full of troops, appeared
+    coming from the lee of the other ships, attended and protected by an
+    armed schooner, full of men, and seven other boats carrying
+    carronades. The English flag was lowered, and that of the French
+    hoisted.
+
+    "A landing was immediately attempted on my left flank, between the
+    town of Roseau and the post of Cachecrow. The light infantry of the
+    1st West India Regiment were the first to march to support Captain
+    Smart's company of militia, which throughout the day behaved with
+    great gallantry; it was immediately supported by the grenadiers of
+    the 46th Regiment. The first boats were beat off, but the schooner
+    and one of the brigs coming close on shore to cover the landing,
+    compelled our troops to occupy a better position in a defile leading
+    to the town. At this moment I brought up the grenadiers of the St.
+    George's Regiment of militia, and soon after the remainder of the
+    46th Regiment, and gave over to Major Nunn these brave troops with
+    orders not to yield to the enemy one inch of ground. Two
+    field-pieces (an amuzette and a six-pounder) were brought into
+    action for their support under the command of Sergeant Creed of the
+    46th Regiment, manned by additional gunners and sailors. These guns,
+    and a twenty-four-pounder from Melville battery, shook the French
+    advancing column by the execution they did.
+
+    "I sent two companies of St. George's Militia, under the command of
+    Lieutenant-Colonel Constable, and a company of the 46th, to prevent
+    the enemy from getting into the rear of the position occupied by
+    Major Nunn.
+
+    "On my return I found the _Majestueuse_, of 120 guns, lying opposite
+    to Fort Young, pouring into the town and batteries her broadsides,
+    followed by the other seventy-fours and frigates doing the same.
+
+    "Some artillery, several captains of merchantmen with their sailors,
+    and the militia artillery, manned five twenty-four-pounders and
+    three eighteens at the fort, and five twenty-fours at Melville
+    battery, and returned an uninterrupted fire; from the first post
+    red-hot shot were thrown. At about 10 o'clock, a.m., Major Nunn,
+    most unfortunately for His Majesty's service, whilst faithfully
+    executing the order I had given him, was wounded, I fear mortally.
+
+    "This did not discourage the brave fellows. Captain O'Connell, of
+    the 1st West India Regiment, received the command and a wound almost
+    at the same time; however, the last circumstance could not induce
+    him to give up the honour of the first, and he continued on the
+    field animating his men and resisting the repeated charges of the
+    enemy until about one o'clock, when he obliged them to retire from
+    their position with great slaughter. It is impossible for me to do
+    justice to the merit of that officer; you will, I doubt not,
+    favourably report his conduct to His Majesty, and at the same time
+    that of Captain James of the 46th Regiment, and Captain Archibald
+    Campbell, who commanded the grenadiers of that corps.
+
+    "Foiled and beat off on the left, the right flank was attempted, and
+    a considerable force was landed near Morne Daniel. The regulars, not
+    exceeding 200, employed on the left in opposing the advance of three
+    columns, consisting of upwards of 2000 men, could afford me no
+    reinforcement; I had only the right wing of the St. George's
+    Regiment of militia to oppose them, of about a hundred men. They
+    attacked with spirit, but unfortunately the frigates had stood in so
+    close to the shore to protect this disembarkation, that after
+    receiving a destructive fire, they fell back and occupied the
+    heights of Woodbridge Estate. Then it was that a column of the enemy
+    marched up to Morne Daniel, and stormed the redoubt defended by a
+    small detachment, which, after an obstinate resistance, they
+    carried. On my left, Captain O'Connell was gaining ground,
+    notwithstanding a fresh supply of troops and several field-pieces,
+    which had been brought on shore by the enemy. I now observed a large
+    column climbing the mountains to get in his rear.
+
+    "The town, which had been for some time in flames, was only
+    protected by a light howitzer and a six-pounder to the right,
+    supported by part of the light company of the St. George's Regiment.
+    The enemy's large ships in Woodbridge Bay, out of the reach of my
+    guns, my right flank gained, and my retreat to Prince Rupert's
+    almost cut off, I determined on one attempt to keep the sovereignty
+    of the island, which the excellent troops I had, warranted. I
+    ordered the militia to remain at the posts, except such as were
+    inclined to encounter more hardships and severe service; and Captain
+    O'Connell, with the 46th Regiment, under the command of Captain
+    James, and the light company of the 1st West India Regiment, were
+    directed to make a forced march to Prince Rupert's. I then allowed
+    the President to enter into terms for the town of Roseau; and then
+    demanded from the French general that private property should be
+    respected, and that no wanton or disgraceful pillage should be
+    allowed; this done, only attended by Brigade-Major Prevost, and
+    Deputy Quartermaster-General Hopley, of the militia forces, I
+    crossed the island, and in twenty-four hours, with the aid of the
+    inhabitants and the exertions of the Caribs, I got to this garrison
+    on the 23rd. After four days' continued march through the most
+    difficult country, I might almost say, existing, Captain O'Connell
+    joined me at Prince Rupert's, himself wounded, and bringing in his
+    wounded, with a few of the Royal Artillery, and the precious
+    remainder of the 46th and the 1st West India Light Company.
+
+    "I had no sooner got to the fort than I ordered cattle to be driven
+    in, and took measures for getting a store of water from the river
+    and the bay. I found my signals to Lieutenant-Colonel Charles
+    Broughton, of the 1st West India Regiment, made from Roseau soon
+    after the enemy had landed, had been received, and that in
+    consequence he had made the most judicious arrangements his garrison
+    would allow for the defence of this important post.
+
+    "On the 25th, I received the summons[31] I have now the honour to
+    transmit, from General of Division La Grange, and without delay sent
+    the reply[32] you will find accompanying it.
+
+    "On the 27th the enemy's cruisers hovered about the Head; however,
+    the _Centaur's_ tender, _Vigilante_, came in and was saved by our
+    guns. I landed Mr. Henderson, her commander, and crew, to assist in
+    the defence we were prepared to make.
+
+    "As far as can be collected, the enemy had about 4000 men on board,
+    and the whole of their force was compelled to disembark before they
+    gained one inch of ground.
+
+    "I entrust this despatch to Captain O'Connell, to whom I beg to
+    refer you. His services entitle him to consideration. I am much
+    indebted to the zeal and discernment of Fort-Adjutant Gualy, who was
+    very accessary to the due execution of my orders.
+
+    "I cannot pass unnoticed the very soldierlike conduct of Lieutenant
+    Wallis, of the 46th Regiment, to whom I had entrusted the post of
+    Cachecrow, or Scot's Head. On perceiving our retreat he spiked his
+    guns, destroyed his ammunition, and immediately commenced his march
+    to join me at Prince Rupert's with his detachment. Nor that of
+    Lieutenant Schaw of the same corps, who acted as an officer of
+    artillery and behaved with uncommon coolness and judgment while on
+    the battery, and great presence of mind in securing the retreat of
+    the additional gunners belonging to the 46th Regiment. On the 27th,
+    after levying a contribution on Roseau, the enemy re-embarked, and
+    hovered that day and the next about this post. This morning, the
+    French fleet is seen off the south end of Guadaloupe, under easy
+    sail.
+
+    "Our loss--you will perceive by the returns I have the honour to
+    transmit--was inconsiderable when compared with that of the enemy,
+    which included several officers of rank and about 300 others.
+
+                                           "I have, etc.,
+                                           (Signed)      "GEORGE PREVOST.
+
+    "Lieutenant-General Sir William Myers,
+          "Bart., etc., etc., etc.
+
+    "P.S.--As I find I cannot spare Captain O'Connell from the duty of
+    this garrison, I must refer you to the master of a neutral vessel,
+    who has engaged to deliver this despatch."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Extract from Minutes of the House of Assembly, Dominica, dated Roseau,
+2nd May, 1805:
+
+"Resolved, that the Committee of Public Assembly be instructed to write
+to England for a monument to be erected to the memory of Major Nunn, of
+the 1st West India Regiment, who gallantly fell on Feb. 22nd, 1805.
+
+"Resolved, that the thanks of this House be presented to Captain
+O'Connell, of the 1st West India Regiment, and that the sum of one
+hundred guineas be appropriated for the purchase of a sword for him.
+
+"Resolved, that the thanks of this House be presented to the officers,
+non-commissioned officers, and privates of the 1st West India Regiment,
+for their gallant conduct on the same occasion."
+
+Similar sentiments were expressed, and conveyed to the regiment, at a
+meeting held on May 23rd, 1805, at the London Tavern, Lord Penrhyn
+president.
+
+Captain O'Connell was promoted to Major, 5th West India Regiment, and
+Lieutenant Winkler to Captain, vice O'Connell.
+
+Return of the killed and wounded in the actions of the 22nd of February,
+1805, at Point Michell, Morne Daniel, and Roseau, in the island of
+Dominica.
+
+1st West India Regiment--9 rank and file, killed; 1 field officer, 1
+captain, and 8 rank and file, wounded.
+
+For its services on this occasion the 1st West India Regiment was
+permitted to inscribe the word "Dominica" on its colours.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 29: This does not appear in Brigadier-General Prevost's
+letter, but is mentioned in that of General La Grange.]
+
+[Footnote 30: "During a continued march of four days, through an
+exceedingly difficult country, that brave officer (Captain O'Connell)
+did not leave behind even one of his wounded men."--BRYAN EDWARDS.]
+
+[Footnote 31: A summons to surrender.]
+
+[Footnote 32: A refusal.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE HURRICANE AT DOMINICA, 1806--THE REDUCTION OF ST. THOMAS AND ST.
+CROIX, 1807--THE RELIEF OF MARIE-GALANTE, 1808.
+
+
+In 1806, Dominica was visited by a terrific hurricane, from which the
+1st West India Regiment suffered some loss. On the afternoon of the 9th
+of September the sky became totally overcast, and masses of clouds
+gathered over the island. About 7 p.m. a tremendous thunderstorm
+commenced, accompanied by violent gusts of wind, which increased in
+strength, until by 10 p.m., every vessel in the harbour, to the number
+of sixteen, was either sunk or driven ashore. The rain fell in such
+torrents that the whole of the barracks on Morne Bruce, where a
+company-of the 1st West India Regiment was stationed, and nearly the
+whole of those on Morne Cabot, were carried away, and three men of the
+1st West India Regiment were killed, and several injured. Every house
+from the River Mohaut to Prince Rupert's was overthrown, and the town of
+Portsmouth was laid in ruins. In Roseau, 131 persons were killed or
+wounded, the greatest mischief being there caused by the overflowing of
+the river, which inundated the town in all directions, every house which
+obstructed its passage being swept away by the torrent. "No pen," says a
+witness of the scene, "can paint the horrors of that dreadful night! The
+tremendous noise occasioned by the wind and rain--the roaring of the
+waters, together with the shock of an earthquake, which was sensibly
+felt about midnight--the shrieks of the poor sufferers crying out for
+assistance--the terror of those who in their houses heard them, and
+dared not open a door or window to give succour, and who momentarily
+expected to share the same fate, formed a scene which can hardly be
+conceived, and is still more difficult to be described."
+
+The regiment remained stationed at Dominica until the month of April,
+1807, when it was removed to Barbados, with the exception of four
+companies which had been detached to Grenada and Tobago, and which soon
+after rejoined head-quarters at Barbados.
+
+In this year also, the establishment of West India regiments was
+augmented by a second lieutenant-colonel, Major Samuel Huskisson, from
+the 8th Foot, being appointed the second lieutenant-colonel of the 1st
+West India Regiment by the _Gazette_ of the 2nd of June.
+
+A war having broken out with Denmark, the British Ministers, early in
+September, 1807, sent out orders to the Commander of the Forces in the
+West Indies, to reduce the Danish islands of St. John, St. Thomas and
+Saint Croix, and the 1st West India Regiment, with the other troops
+stationed at Barbados, embarked in men-of-war under General Bowyer, on
+the 15th of December, to proceed on this duty. On the 19th of December
+the expedition reached Sandy Point, Saint Christopher's, and receiving
+some troops from that garrison, sailed again the same day; arriving at
+St. Thomas, where it was joined by reinforcements from Antigua and
+Grenada, on the 21st. A summons to surrender was at once sent to the
+Governor, Von Scholten, the terms of which he accepted next day, and
+surrendered the islands of St. Thomas and St. John with their
+dependencies. A small garrison of the 70th Regiment being left at St.
+Thomas, the 1st division of the troops, in which was included the 1st
+West India Regiment, sailed on the evening of the 23rd for Saint Croix.
+The expedition arrived off the town of Frederickstadt on the 24th; and
+the Governor having capitulated on the 25th, the troops were landed, and
+the forts and batteries taken possession of, a royal salute being fired
+as the British colours were hoisted. Next night, the garrison and town
+of Christianstadt, on the other side of the island, were also occupied.
+The 1st West India Regiment during this expedition was commanded by
+Major Nathaniel Blackwell; and after the surrender of Saint Croix, it at
+once returned to Barbados. In January, 1808, three companies were
+detached from Barbados to Antigua, and one to Tobago; the detachment at
+Antigua rejoining head-quarters in October of the same year.
+
+The next service seen by the regiment was at Marie-Galante,[33] in 1808.
+Deseada and Marie-Galante, the former a few miles to the north-east, and
+the latter a few miles to the south-east of Guadaloupe, had been
+captured by Captain Selby and a naval force in March, 1808. Deseada, the
+French Governor of Guadaloupe allowed to remain unmolested; but
+Marie-Galante was so good a privateer station, and its loss also brought
+the British so much more nearly in contact with him, that he determined
+to try to recover it.
+
+The attempt was made on the 23rd of August, by Colonel Cambriel, who,
+with about 200 men in seventeen boats stole over from Guadaloupe and
+landed near Grand Bourg. They were preparing to attack the battery when
+they were espied from the _Circe_; thirty of whose seamen hurried on
+shore, threw themselves into the battery before the French could reach
+it, and gave them such a warm reception as to compel them to retreat.
+The enemy's boats were seized by the _Circe_, and the escape of the
+French being thus cut off, they retired to the centre of the island.
+Intelligence of their landing was forwarded to General Beckwith, at
+Barbados, who lost no time in sending Lieutenant-Colonel Blackwell[34]
+with three companies of the 1st West India Regiment against them.
+
+The following is Lieutenant-Colonel Blackwell's report to General
+Beckwith:
+
+                                         "GRAND BOURG, MARIE-GALANTE,
+                                     "_Sept. 4th, 1808_.
+
+    "SIR,
+
+    "I have the honour to inform you that the troops which you were
+    pleased to place under my command arrived here, in H.M. Ship
+    _Captain_, on the 29th of August; and finding from Captain Pigot,
+    commander of this island, that the French troops were strongly
+    posted within three miles of Grand Bourg, I was immediately landed
+    with the three companies of the 1st West India Regiment; and having
+    obtained an increase of my force, of about 140 marines, and some
+    sailors, together with a six-pounder, from the army schooner
+    _Maria_, I lost no time in fulfilling the instructions I received
+    from you.
+
+    "I have now much satisfaction in reporting, that after a pursuit of
+    the enemy for five days and nights, and having during that period
+    had four engagements with him, in each of which he was repulsed, and
+    obliged to make most precipitate retreat, leaving behind him arms,
+    ammunition, etc., at every different post that had been attacked,
+    and at one place in particular, nine mariners (who had been taken
+    prisoners on the first landing of the enemy), and at another, a
+    brass six-pounder, which had only arrived from Guadaloupe two days,
+    and which was found spiked; by constantly marching and harassing
+    him, we found, on coming within one hundred yards of his front
+    yesterday morning, that he was willing to surrender, and sending out
+    a flag of truce, I granted the following terms: 'That the French
+    troops might march out from the ground they then occupied with the
+    honours of war, but that they should lay down their arms in front of
+    the troops, and surrender themselves as prisoners of war, and that
+    all prisoners taken since their arrival in the island should be
+    immediately returned.' I was, however, much astonished to find that
+    Colonel Cambriel, who had commanded the army, was not present when
+    they surrendered, but I have since understood that he had quitted it
+    the morning previous, and had returned to Guadaloupe, but I have
+    some reason to imagine he is still in this island.
+
+    "The field-piece I had taken from the army schooner became useless
+    after the first day, from the tract of the country the enemy led us
+    over; I therefore sent it back to Grand Bourg, and at the same time
+    I directed fifty marines to occupy the post of Delosses, three miles
+    from town, which kept up the communication with the interior of the
+    island.
+
+    "In our several attacks, it gives me pleasure to say that we have
+    had only two privates wounded, one of them since dead. The loss on
+    the part of the enemy I have not ascertained, but imagine it to have
+    been considerable. I am sorry to mention to you that a gentleman
+    from Antigua, of the name of Brown, being a prisoner of war, was in
+    rear of the enemy's picket when attacked on the evening of the 2nd
+    instant, and received a mortal wound. The force which has been
+    brought from Guadaloupe I have not yet exactly found out, but from
+    all accounts must have been above 200 rank and file.
+
+    "From the return I send herewith, you will find that 162 privates
+    have laid down their arms, and there are at present many who have
+    been sick dispersed through the country. The inhabitants that joined
+    were very considerable. I believe their number amounted to from four
+    to five hundred....
+
+    "I have likewise to return my best thanks to all the officers,
+    non-commissioned officers, and privates who were under my command,
+    for the cheerfulness with which they went through the long and
+    harassing marches, and I think it is a duty incumbent upon me to
+    mention to you their extreme good conduct since they have been in
+    the field.
+
+    "I have the honour to be, etc.,
+      (Signed)      "NATH. BLACKWELL,
+                  "Lieut.-Colonel 4th W.I. Regiment."
+
+    "Return of prisoners who surrendered on the 3rd of September, 1808: 4
+    captains, 8 lieutenants, 162 rank and file, 1 staff.
+
+    "Return of arms, ammunition, and accoutrements taken and destroyed from
+    30th August to 3rd September: 1 field-piece, 450 firelocks, 200 belts
+    and pouches, and 24 kegs of ball-cartridge.
+
+    "Ammunition for field-piece not ascertained."
+
+On this occasion was captured the drum-major's staff of the French 26th
+Regiment (now in the possession of the 1st West India Regiment), bearing
+the motto: "La République Franēaise une et indivisible. Battalion
+26me," and surmounted by the cap of Liberty.
+
+Of the companies of the regiment employed on this service, one was the
+grenadier company under Captain Cassidy, another the light company under
+Captain Winkler, and the third a battalion company under Lieutenant
+Nixon. On the return of the detachment to Barbados it was formed up on a
+garrison parade at St. Ann's on the right of the regiment; and
+Lieutenant-General Beckwith, after thanking Lieutenant-Colonel Blackwell
+and the officers and men engaged for their meritorious exertions,
+presented the former with a sword.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 33: See map of Guadaloupe.]
+
+[Footnote 34: Major Nathaniel Blackwell, 1st West India Regiment, was,
+by the _Gazette_ of May 24th, 1808, promoted Lieutenant-Colonel of the
+4th West India Regiment, for his services at the reduction of the Danish
+West India Islands. At this time he had not yet joined his new corps.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE CAPTURE OF MARTINIQUE, 1809[35]--THE CAPTURE OF GUADALOUPE, 1810.
+
+
+The 1st West India Regiment continued doing duty at Barbados until
+January 27th, 1809, when eight companies joined the expedition against
+the Island of Martinique.
+
+The interception, in the summer of 1808, of some despatches from the
+Governor of Martinique to the French Ministry asking for supplies and
+additional troops, and describing the condition of the island as almost
+defenceless, first directed the attention of the British Government to
+the reduction of this French colony. Preparations for the attack began
+at Barbados in November, 1808, the expedition assembled at Carlisle Bay,
+Barbados, in January, 1809, and on the 28th of that month the force
+sailed for Martinique.
+
+The expeditionary force was under the command of Lieutenant-General
+Beckwith, and consisted of two divisions, each of two brigades, the 1st
+Division being commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir George Prevost, and
+the 2nd Division by Major-General Maitland. The 1st West India Regiment
+was included in the 1st Division. Six battalion companies, with the 13th
+and 8th Regiments, formed the 2nd Brigade under Brigadier-General
+Colville; while the grenadier company (Captain Winkler), with the 7th,
+23rd, and a light battalion, in which latter was the light company, 1st
+West India Regiment, formed the 1st Brigade, under Brigadier-General
+Hoghton.
+
+On the 30th of January the expedition arrived off the Island of
+Martinique, and on the evening of the 31st the troops disembarked, the
+1st Division landing at Malgré Tout, Bay Robert, and the 2nd near St.
+Luce and Point Solomon on the opposite side of the island.
+
+The 1st Division marched the same night to De Manceaux Estate. The roads
+were in a wretched condition from the rains, and the horses being done
+up from the length of time which they had been on board ship, the troops
+were obliged to drag the guns themselves. After a short rest the force
+continued its march to Papin's, which it reached at midnight. Here the
+main body of the 1st Division halted for the night, while the grenadier
+company of the 1st West India Regiment, with the 7th Regiment, pushed on
+to the heights on De Bork's Estate.
+
+On the day following they were joined by the 23rd and the light
+infantry battalion, and advanced to the heights of Morne Bruno, the
+French skirmishers falling back slowly before them, while keeping up a
+smart fire. From this point the grenadier company, 1st West India
+Regiment, advanced with the 7th, the 23rd being in support, against the
+French position on the heights of Desfourneaux.
+
+The enemy, under General De Hondelot, were well placed on the crest of
+the ridge, with a mountain torrent in their front, and a strong force of
+artillery drawn up on their left flank. The flank companies of the 7th
+were ordered to turn the French right, while the light battalion, with
+which was the light company, 1st West India Regiment, moved against his
+left, and the grenadiers of the 1st West India Regiment, with the
+remainder of the 7th, advanced against the centre. The troops rushed
+forward, fording the stream under a heavy fire, and attacking the enemy,
+who was greatly superior in numbers, with the bayonet, drove him from
+his position.
+
+From this point, with the co-operation of the 2nd Brigade, the French
+were beaten back to the heights of Surirey, where they made a determined
+stand, but by a brilliant charge, the British carried the hill, and
+forced them to take shelter under the guns of their redoubts.[36]
+
+The troops encamped for the night on the position which they had won,
+while the enemy took up a second position, strengthened by two redoubts
+connected by an entrenchment.
+
+Next morning, February 2nd, the British made a movement to turn the
+French right, and, being much annoyed by the enemy's advanced redoubt,
+the light battalion and the 7th Regiment were ordered to take it. They
+were repulsed with considerable loss, but, on the following night, the
+2nd division of the British having come up, the enemy abandoned the work
+and spiked the guns, retiring with all his force to Fort Bourbon, or
+Desaix.
+
+While the 1st Division had thus been engaged at Morne Bruno and Surirey,
+the 2nd had been equally successful. Upon landing at St. Luce, a
+detachment of the Royal York Rangers took possession of the battery at
+Point Solomon, on the south side of Fort Royal Bay, thus securing a safe
+anchorage for the fleet. The same corps then pushed on and invested
+Pigeon Island, a small fortified island which commanded the anchorage in
+the upper part of the bay, and which had to be captured before any
+attempt could be made against the formidable fortresses of Bourbon and
+Fort République. Batteries were erected on Morne Vanier, from which
+Pigeon Island was shelled with such success that the garrison
+surrendered.
+
+The way being now open for the fleet, preparations were commenced for
+the capture of Fort Bourbon. It was decided to attempt to take the place
+by storm, and on February 4th, the 1st Division, which, under Sir
+George Prevost, had marched over from Surirey, advanced to the assault,
+the grenadier companies forming the "forlorn hope." The fire from the
+enemy's guns was, however, so heavy and well-directed that the attempt
+failed, notwithstanding the most conspicuous gallantry on the part of
+the British, and the troops retired with a loss of 330 killed and
+wounded, the grenadier company of the 1st West India Regiment having
+suffered heavily.
+
+General Villaret, the French commander, supposing Fort Bourbon to be
+impregnable, abandoned Fort République, leaving in it 4 mortars and 38
+heavy guns, and collected his entire force, some 3000 in number, in Fort
+Bourbon. Being well supplied with food and ammunition, he resolved
+quietly to wait in the citadel; confident that the British army would
+gradually melt away from the sickness caused by the heavy rains, which
+had now set in and fell incessantly. On the 7th February a British force
+entered by night the abandoned Fort République; and, though the work was
+furiously bombarded from Fort Bourbon, in two days the guns which had
+been left in the fort were unspiked and the fire returned. In the
+meantime other batteries had been in course of construction, and by
+February 18th Fort Bourbon was completely invested.
+
+The enemy were then summoned to surrender, but General Villaret
+declaring that he would rather bury himself under the ruins of the
+citadel, the bombardment commenced. The British batteries, six in
+number, opened fire simultaneously at 3.30 p.m. on Sunday, February
+19th, and the fire was hotly returned. At Colville's battery, where were
+four companies of the 1st West India Regiment, the brushwood in front of
+the guns was set on fire, and was only extinguished with much
+difficulty, and a terrific fire was kept up on both sides. On February
+20th the enemy ceased firing during the whole day, recommencing again on
+February 21st; but on the 22nd a shell from our batteries having blown
+up the magazine, the enemy sent out terms of capitulation. These were
+rejected, but on the 24th the place surrendered; the garrison, 2700 in
+number, became prisoners of war, and three eagles remained as trophies
+in the British hands.
+
+The following general orders were issued during this brilliant campaign:
+
+1. Morne Bruno, February 3rd, 1809.--"The benefit the advanced corps,
+under Lieutenant-General Sir George Prevost, have produced to His
+Majesty's service, from the gallant and successful attack made upon
+Morne Bruno and the heights of Surirey, on the 1st instant, by the 1st
+Brigade of the army and the light battalion, under Brigadier-General
+Hoghton, demands from the Commander of the Forces a reiteration of his
+acknowledgments, and his assurance to the brigadier-general, and to the
+commanding officer of the Royal Fusiliers, of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers,
+and of the light battalion, also to the officers, non-commissioned
+officers, and soldiers of those regiments, that he will not fail to lay
+their meritorious exertions before the King. The exertions of all the
+corps engaged yesterday were conspicuous; and, although the state of the
+works possessed by the enemy did not admit of their being carried by the
+bayonet, which rendered it the general's duty to direct the corps
+employed to retire, they manifested a spirit and determination which,
+when tempered by less impetuosity, will lead to the happiest results."
+
+2. February 27th, 1809.--"The grenadier company, with a detachment of
+the battalion of the 1st West India Regiment, who were engaged with the
+enemy both on the 1st and 2nd of February, 1809, having been omitted to
+be mentioned in the general orders of February 3rd, referring to those
+operations, the Commander of the Forces takes the present occasion to
+acknowledge their services. From the day of the regiment landing, to
+that of the enemy's surrender, it served with the greatest credit under
+all the disadvantages to which a West India regiment is exposed. The
+hard and severe work is generally performed by them, which the European
+soldiers could not undergo from the climate."
+
+During this campaign the 1st West India Regiment was commanded by
+Lieutenant-Colonel Tolley; and, in token of its services, it was
+permitted to retain two brass side-drums and five battle-axes, which it
+had captured from the enemy.
+
+The 1st West India Regiment continued to serve in Martinique till the
+17th of May, 1809, when the head-quarters and six companies were removed
+to the Island of Trinidad. There they remained until the month of
+December following, when an expedition was formed for the reduction of
+Guadaloupe.
+
+Since the expulsion of the British in 1794, that island had enjoyed a
+period of tranquility; its armament had been considerably increased
+under successive governors, slavery had been re-established, and its
+harbours swarmed with privateers, which preyed upon British commerce.
+The incessant annoyance and loss to our trade caused by these vessels,
+was a strong incentive for a descent upon the island. Added to this, it
+was a colony of considerable importance to France; the mother country
+depending, in a great measure, upon it for colonial produce.
+
+The British army was assembled at Prince Rupert's Bay, Dominica, where,
+on the 22nd of January, 1810, the flank companies of the 1st West India
+Regiment joined. The force was under the command of Lieutenant-General
+Sir George Beckwith, and was thus composed:
+
+    1ST DIVISION--MAJOR-GENERAL HISLOP.
+
+                                {Light Companies of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th,
+    3rd Brigade--Brig.-General  {  6th, and 8th West India Regiments    500
+      Maclean                   {90th Foot                              500
+                                {8th West India Regiment                400
+
+                                {Battalion made up of 13th and 63rd
+    4th Brigade--Brig.-General  {  Regiments                            600
+      Skinner                   {York Light Infantry Volunteers         200
+                                {4th West India Regiment                400
+
+    2ND DIVISION--BRIGADIER-GENERAL HARCOURT.
+
+                                {Light infantry                         500
+    1st Brigade--Brig.-General  {15th Foot                              300
+      Harcourt                  {3rd West India Regiment                400
+
+                                {Grenadiers of the 1st, 4th, and 8th
+    2nd Brigade--Brig.-General  {  West India Regiments                 300
+      Barrow                    {25th Foot                              600
+                                {6th West India Regiment                350
+
+    RESERVE.
+
+                                {Grenadiers                             300
+    5th Brigade--Brig.-General  {Royal York Rangers                     900
+      Wale                      {Royal Artillery                        300
+                                {Military Artificers                    100
+
+On the 23rd of January the fleet sailed from Dominica, the 2nd Division
+being ordered to proceed to the Saintes, to prepare for disembarking
+near Basseterre, while the 1st Division and the Reserve made for the
+north-eastern quarter of that part of Guadaloupe which is called
+Cabesterre.
+
+The light infantry battalion of the 3rd Brigade effected its landing at
+9 a.m. on the 28th of January, without opposition, at the Bay of St.
+Marie; and immediately possessed itself of the heights, so as to cover
+the disembarkation of the remainder of the 1st Division and the Reserve.
+The whole of the troops were landed about half-an-hour after noon, and
+the light infantry battalion was ordered forward as the advance guard of
+the division. It reached the village of Marigot about sunset, and
+crossing the river (called Rivičre des Pčres Blancs), halted in the
+mountains in the most advantageous position for maintaining itself
+during the night. The remainder of the division encamped at Marigot.
+The troops had marched this day with three days' cooked provisions in
+their havresacks. The Reserve remained at St. Marie to cover the landing
+of munitions and supplies.
+
+On the 29th of January, the troops were under arms an hour before
+daylight, and the light battalion, being again pushed to the front,
+reached Bannaniers by sunset. There the division encamped for the night,
+while the light companies of the 1st and 3rd West India Regiments were
+ordered to possess themselves of the strong pass of Lacasse, above the
+British position.
+
+On the same day, the 29th, the 2nd Division, after making a feint of
+disembarking at Trois Rivičres to draw off the attention of the enemy,
+proceeded in the ships to the western side of the island.
+
+On the 30th of January, at daybreak, the 1st Division again advanced.
+Between 9 and 10 a.m. the light battalion, which was still leading,
+descended the heights on the side of Trois Rivičres, and coming up with
+the rear of a detachment of the enemy, dispersed it after a short
+conflict. Pursuing its march it reached the open ground, or savannah, at
+Loriols Trois Rivičres about 11 a.m., and there halted to allow the
+column to come up.
+
+The enemy's position was now in front, and consisted of a line of
+redoubts and entrenchments on the commanding heights of Petrizel.
+Major-General Hislop at once made his dispositions for an attack on the
+following morning; the light battalion moving to the left, and the 4th
+Brigade, with the remainder of the 3rd, extending along the heights to
+the right. In the execution of this order, the light battalion,
+advancing along the high road towards the enemy's position, alarmed him
+to such a degree as to induce him to open fire from all his batteries
+and entrenched lines, not only from Petrizel, but also from his post at
+Dolé; from which he kept up for some time an incessant fire, without
+doing any other injury than killing one man, and wounding another. The
+troops took up their positions in the meantime without further
+inconvenience. Towards the close of the evening numbers of the enemy
+were seen ascending the mountains above their works at Petrizel. The
+heat this day had been excessive, and the country through which the
+troops marched exceedingly difficult, the strong pass of Trou au Chien
+lying in their way. The night closed in with heavy rain.
+
+On the 31st, at daylight, not a soul was to be seen near the enemy's
+works; and, it having been ascertained that they were evacuated, the
+light company of the 1st West India Regiment was ordered to march at
+noon and take possession.
+
+The 1st Division remained halted during the 1st of February, and on the
+2nd, the light battalion, as advanced guard of the 4th Brigade, was
+ordered to march, by a very difficult ascent, to the centre of the
+Palmiste heights; while the remainder of the 3rd Brigade moved to the
+right of the same heights, by an easier route. The troops bivouacked on
+the heights for the night.
+
+While these operations had been going on, the 2nd Division had, at 10
+a.m. on the 30th of January, disembarked at a bay to the northward of
+the village of Les Vieux Habitans and about three leagues to the north
+of the town of Basseterre. The troops gained the heights above the
+village after a slight skirmish, and encamped on the ground for the
+night. During the two succeeding days the 2nd Division was employed in
+bringing up guns to a height near Post Bellair.
+
+By the combined movements of the two divisions, General Ernouf, the
+French commander, was now, by the night of the 2nd of February, hemmed
+in at the extremity of the island between the sea and the British army.
+He had judiciously chosen his position, which was naturally strong, and
+which he had strengthened by all the artificial means in his power. He
+was posted on heights, his left supported by the mountains of Matouba,
+and every accessible point of his line covered by abattis and stockaded
+redoubts. In his front was a river, the passage of which, exceedingly
+difficult in itself, was rendered much more so by a detachment of troops
+stationed behind abattis. The ground also, between the river and the
+heights, was bushy and full of rugged rocks, and of course highly
+unfavourable to the march of the assailants.
+
+It was on the 3rd of February that the British troops were put in motion
+to dislodge him from his advantageous position. The 1st Division, soon
+after dawn, descended the north side of Palmiste, passed the river
+Gallion, and under a heavy fire from a battery at the bridge of Vozičre,
+formed on the opposite heights, taking up a position so as to intercept
+the communication between the town of Basseterre and the enemy's camp.
+The 2nd Division had, during the night of the 2nd, pushed forward the
+grenadiers of the 2nd Brigade and a detachment of the 6th West India
+Regiment to occupy the ridge Beaupčre St. Louis, on the upper part of
+which the strong post of Bellair was situated. On the morning of the 3rd
+the enemy perceived what had been done, and moved out in force to
+dislodge the British. The 1st Brigade was immediately ordered up in
+support; but, before it could gain the heights, a smart action had taken
+place, and it only arrived in time to complete the defeat of the enemy.
+In this engagement the grenadier company of the 1st West India Regiment
+lost 2 rank and file killed, Captain Cassidy and 9 rank and file
+wounded. During the remainder of the day the troops of the 2nd Division
+were moved up to Bellair, and the whole army remained on the ground
+during the night.
+
+Next morning, the 4th, the British advanced to the final assault of the
+position. The 1st Division was charged with the operations on the right,
+while the task of turning the left was entrusted to Brigadier-General
+Wale with the Reserve. At dawn of day the light company of the 1st West
+India Regiment and the York Light Infantry were ordered to advance to
+the enemy's post at the bridge of Vozičre. For some time they were
+unseen, but a picket of the enemy, moving along the opposite side of the
+ravine, discovered them; and, opening fire, a general discharge soon
+followed, in the face of which the British rushed forward and carried
+the work. Almost at the same moment, Brigadier-General Wale, who, with
+the Reserve, had forded the Gallion River, and under a heavy fire
+ascended the heights, carried the enemy's works on the left; and General
+Ernouf's situation had become so critical, that he at once hoisted flags
+of truce in the works which he still retained at Matouba.
+
+On the 5th of February, the terms of capitulation were signed, the
+French marching out with military honours, and becoming prisoners of
+war. The British loss was 52 officers and men killed, 250 wounded, and 7
+missing. The French lost 600 killed, and 2000 prisoners. Captain H.
+Downie, of the 1st West India Regiment, was mentioned in despatches for
+gallantry at the storming of the work at the bridge of Vozičre.
+
+The following general order was published, dated Beau Vallon,
+Guadaloupe, 6th Feb., 1810: "The enemy are now prisoners of war, to be
+sent to England, and not to serve until duly exchanged. Thus through the
+exertions and general co-operation of the fleet and the army, has been
+effected the important conquest of this colony in nine days from the
+landing of the 1st Division. The Commander of the Forces returns his
+public thanks to the officers of all ranks for their meritorious
+exertions, and to the non-commissioned officers and soldiers for the
+cheerfulness with which they have undergone the fatigues of a march,
+difficult in its nature, through the strongest country in the world, and
+the spirit which they have manifested upon all occasions to close with
+the enemy."
+
+In this campaign, it may be observed, all the hard work had fallen to
+the lot of the 1st Division, and especially to that of the light
+infantry battalion of the 3rd Brigade, which had, by forced marches,
+moved across the whole breadth of the island, from St. Marie to the
+neighbourhood of Basseterre, over a wild and broken country, in six
+days.
+
+For their services at the capture of Guadaloupe, Captains Cassidy and
+Winkler were appointed brigade-majors at Trinidad and Grenada
+respectively; and the words "Martinique" and "Guadaloupe" were inscribed
+on the colours of the regiment, "as a mark of royal favour and
+approbation of its gallant conduct at the capture of those islands in
+1809 and 1810."
+
+On the completion of this service the flank companies rejoined
+head-quarters at Trinidad, as did the two companies detached at
+Martinique and the two at Barbados. The whole regiment was then
+stationed in Trinidad, seven companies being at St. Joseph's and three
+at Orange Grove. This arrangement lasted until March, 1814, when the
+head-quarters and four companies were moved to Martinique, four
+companies to St. Lucia, and two to Dominica.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 35: This island had been restored to France by the Treaty of
+Amiens.]
+
+[Footnote 36: The grenadier company of the 1st West India Regiment lost
+1 rank and file, killed; 1 drummer, 18 rank and file, wounded; 1
+subaltern, missing.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE EXPEDITION TO NEW ORLEANS, 1814-15.
+
+
+In July, 1814, the 1st West India Regiment was removed to Guadaloupe,
+except two companies detached to St. Martin's and Marie-Galante, and
+remained so stationed until it was selected to take part in the
+expedition to New Orleans.
+
+In June, 1812, the United States of America had declared war against
+Great Britain, Washington had been captured by the British on July 24th,
+1813, and the war had been carried on with varying success until towards
+the close of the year 1814. In October of that year an expedition to New
+Orleans was decided upon; the force was to rendezvous at Negril Bay,
+Jamaica, and for that place the 1st West India Regiment embarked at
+Point ą Prčne, Guadaloupe, on November 14th, 1814. Lieutenant-Colonel
+Whitby, who had for the first time joined the regiment on the previous
+day, was then in command.
+
+The assembly of the fleet, and the concentration of troops at a point
+so near to their own coast, had aroused the suspicions of the Americans;
+and the treachery of an official in the garrison office at Jamaica
+enabled them to receive positive information as to the aim and
+destination of the expedition. This official communicated the
+intelligence to an American trader residing in Kingston, and the latter
+at once sailed in a coasting schooner for Pensacola; where General
+Jackson, who commanded the United States army of the South, was on the
+point of marching to the relief of St. Mary's, then being attacked by a
+naval force under Rear-Admiral Cockburn. The American general, upon
+learning of the proposed expedition, at once marched to the Mississippi,
+concentrated a force of 13,000 men in and around New Orleans, and threw
+up works on either side of the river to defend the passage in the
+neighbourhood of the town.
+
+On the 26th of November, 1814, the British fleet, under the command of
+Vice-Admiral Sir A. Cochrane, having on board a force of some 5000 men
+under Major-General Keane, sailed from Negril Bay and arrived off the
+Chandeleur Islands near the entrance of Lake Borgne, on December 10th.
+
+"To reduce the forts which command the navigation of the Mississippi was
+regarded as a task too difficult to be attempted, and for any ships to
+pass without their reduction seemed impossible. Trusting, therefore,
+that the object of the enterprise was unknown to the Americans, Sir
+Alexander Cochrane and General Keane determined to effect a landing
+somewhere on the banks of Lake Borgne, and pushing directly on, to take
+possession of the town before any effectual preparation could be made
+for its defence. With this view the troops were removed from the larger
+into the lighter vessels, and these, under convoy of such gun-brigs as
+the shallowness of the water would float, began on the 13th to enter
+Lake Borgne."[37]
+
+The Americans, however, being well acquainted with what was taking
+place, opposed the passage of the lake with five large cutters, each
+armed with six heavy guns, and these were immediately attacked by the
+smaller craft of the British. Avoiding a serious engagement, they
+retired into the shoal water where they could only be attacked by boats,
+and owing to the delay in getting together a sufficiently powerful
+flotilla, it was not till the 15th that they were captured, and the
+navigation of the lake cleared. The vessels of a lighter draught having
+all run aground in a vain endeavour to pass up the lake, the troops were
+embarked in boats to carry them up to Pine Island, a distance of thirty
+miles.
+
+"To be confined for so long a time as the prosecution of this voyage
+would require, in one posture, was of itself no very agreeable prospect;
+but the confinement was but a trifling misery when compared with that
+which arose from the change in the weather. Instead of a constant
+bracing frost, heavy rains, such as an inhabitant of England cannot
+dream of, and against which no cloak could furnish protection, began. In
+the midst of these were the troops embarked in their new and straitened
+transports, and each division, after an exposure of ten hours, landed
+upon a small desert spot of earth, called Pine Island, where it was
+determined to collect the whole army, previous to its crossing over to
+the main.
+
+"Than this spot it is scarcely possible to imagine any place more
+completely wretched. It was a swamp, containing a small space of firm
+ground at one end, and almost wholly unadorned with trees of any sort or
+description. The interior was the resort of waterfowl; and the pools and
+creeks with which it was intercepted abounded in dormant alligators.
+
+"Upon this miserable desert the army was assembled, without tents or
+huts, or any covering to shelter them from the inclemency of the
+weather.... After having been exposed all day to the cold and pelting
+rain, we landed upon a barren island, incapable of furnishing even fuel
+enough to supply our fires. To add to our miseries, as night closed, the
+rain generally ceased, and severe frosts set in, which, congealing our
+wet clothes upon our bodies, left little animal warmth to keep the limbs
+in a state of activity; and the consequence was, that many of the
+wretched negroes, to whom frost and cold were altogether new, fell fast
+asleep and perished before morning."
+
+By December 21st the whole army was collected at Pine Island, and next
+day it was formed into three brigades, the 1st West India Regiment with
+the 21st and 44th Regiments composing the 2nd Brigade. The 1st West
+India Regiment, which had left Negril Bay 500 strong, was now so reduced
+by mortality and sickness that barely 400 men were in a condition to
+take the field. The cold was intense, and, considering the latitude, 29°
+N., almost incredible. It appears that when the regiment left Jamaica no
+attempt was made to furnish the men with warm clothing, and their
+sufferings from this cause, they being all natives of the tropics, can
+be better imagined than described. During the voyage the regiment had
+been much scattered in small craft, where the soldiers were obliged to
+sleep on deck, exposed to the torrents of rain which fell by day and to
+the frosts that came on at night; and, being unaccustomed to the
+severity of an American winter, large numbers of them died from cold and
+exposure, the 5th West India Regiment suffering equally with the 1st.
+
+On December 22nd, the 1st Brigade (1600 strong) left Pine Island in
+boats to proceed to Bayou Catalan, a small creek eighty miles distant,
+which ran up from Lake Ponchartrain, through the middle of an extensive
+swamp, to within ten miles of New Orleans. Next day it landed at the
+mouth of the creek and advanced along an overgrown footpath on the
+banks of a canal, its movements being concealed by the tall reeds of the
+swamp. After being delayed by several small streams, it finally emerged
+from the morass, and entering the cultivated portion of the district
+took up a position across the main road from Proctorsville to New
+Orleans, the Mississippi being on its left and the swamp on its right.
+
+The exhausted troops, without any camp equipment, encamped for the night
+on the position. They were not, however, allowed to enjoy a long period
+of rest. Late in the evening a large schooner was observed stealing up
+the river, until she arrived opposite the bivouac fires around which the
+men were asleep; and before it could be ascertained whether she was a
+friend or foe, a broadside of grape swept through the camp. Having no
+artillery with them, and no means of attacking this formidable
+adversary, the troops sheltered themselves behind a bank. The night was
+as dark as pitch, and the only light to be seen was the flash of the
+enemy's guns as he continued to pour broadside after broadside into the
+camp. To add to the miseries of the condition of the British it began to
+rain heavily, and the earth, barely raised above the level of the river,
+became a vast puddle of slime, in which the soldiers were compelled to
+lie down to avoid the iron showers of grape that tore through the air.
+
+In the meantime the 2nd Brigade, with the 1st West India Regiment, had
+embarked in the remainder of the boats from Pine Island, about ten
+hours after the departure of the 1st Brigade, and after being exposed to
+an incessant downpour of rain during the night of December 22nd, had
+arrived at the mouth of the Bayou Catalan at nightfall on the 23rd. In
+the stillness of the night the sound of the guns of the schooner as she
+opened fire on the 1st Brigade were distinctly heard, and the troops,
+stimulated to fresh exertions, hurried on to the assistance of their
+comrades. As they drew nearer to the camp, the roll of musketry was
+heard, for the enemy had brought up a force of 5000 men from New
+Orleans, thinking to overwhelm the solitary 1st Brigade in the dark, and
+had unexpectedly opened a semicircle of fire upon it. The 2nd Brigade
+pushed on, and arrived just in time to prevent the Americans turning the
+British right, which, owing to their local knowledge, they had partially
+succeeded in doing. Coming up the canal bank, the 2nd Brigade in their
+turn took the enemy in flank, and a hand-to-hand conflict took place
+along the whole line, the British fighting with the energy of despair in
+the darkness and depths of the wood, and trusting to the bayonet alone.
+At last, about 3 a.m. on the 24th, the enemy retired, beaten off at all
+points.
+
+The losses in the night's engagement, and the deaths from cold and
+exposure that had occurred during the passage from Pine Island, had so
+thinned the already attenuated ranks of the 1st West India Regiment,
+that on the morning of the 24th, only 16 sergeants and 240 rank and
+file were available for duty. The officers serving with them were Major
+Weston, Captains Isles and Collins, Lieutenants McDonald, Morgan,
+Miller, Magee, Pilkington, McKenzie, and Dalomel.
+
+Notwithstanding the repulse which the Americans had experienced, the
+schooner continued to annoy our troops. She had anchored in the river
+beyond musket range, and, from that safe distance, continued to pour
+round-shot and grape into the camp, which had been increased on the
+evening of the 24th by the arrival of the 3rd Brigade, consisting of the
+93rd and the 5th West India Regiment. On December 25th, Captain Collins,
+1st West India Regiment, was killed by a shot from one of her guns, and
+there were several other casualties in the regiment. On that day,
+however, Sir Edward Pakenham, who had been sent out from England to
+assume the command, arrived, bringing some guns with him. During the
+night a battery was quietly thrown up opposite the schooner, and at
+daybreak a heavy cannonade was opened on her with red-hot shot. Before
+long she was set on fire, and blew up, while another vessel, which had
+come to her assistance, was compelled to cut and run up the river.
+
+The main obstacle to an advance being now removed, Sir Edward Pakenham
+divided the army into two columns. The right column, commanded by
+Major-General Gibbs, consisted of the 4th, 21st, 44th, and 1st West
+India Regiments; the left, under Major-General Keane, was composed of
+the 85th, 93rd, 95th, and 5th West India Regiments.
+
+In the meantime the American general had occupied a position facing the
+British, with the Mississippi on his right, and an impenetrable morass
+on his left, covering New Orleans, and rendering an advance on that town
+impossible, until his position had been carried by a front attack. The
+ground thus occupied, about 1000 yards in breadth, had been fortified so
+as to be almost impregnable. Three deep parallel ditches had been dug
+across the whole front; in rear of these was a strong loop-holed
+palisade, and several batteries had been erected so as to bring a
+cross-fire to bear upon the level plain, across which the British would
+have to advance to the assault. The right flank of the enemy was further
+protected by a strong work thrown up on the right bank of the
+Mississippi, which effectually prevented our gun-boats turning the
+position, should they succeed in entering the river.
+
+The night of December 26th was spent in continual alarms. Small bodies
+of American riflemen would creep down upon the pickets under cover of
+the darkness, and, firing upon the sentries, prevent the main body from
+obtaining any sleep. "Scarcely had the troops lain down, when they were
+aroused by sharp firing at the outposts, which lasted only till they
+were in order, and then ceased; but as soon as they had dispersed, and
+had once more addressed themselves to repose, the same cause of alarm
+returned, and they were again called to their ranks. Thus was the night
+spent in watching, or at best in broken and disturbed slumbers, than
+which nothing is more trying, both to the health and spirits of an
+army."
+
+At daybreak on the 27th, the pickets were withdrawn, and the British
+formed in order of attack. The right column took post near the skirts of
+the morass, throwing out skirmishers half-way across the plain to meet
+the American riflemen, while the left column drew up upon the road. It
+was a clear, frosty morning, and in this formation the troops advanced,
+the enemy's skirmishers slowly falling back before them.
+
+After an advance of about four miles the American position was sighted,
+and the British were saluted by a heavy cannonade from the batteries and
+shipping. "Scarce a ball passed over or fell short of its mark, but all
+striking full into the midst of our ranks, occasioned terrible havoc.
+The shrieks of the wounded, therefore, the crash of firelocks, and the
+fall of such as were killed, caused at first some little confusion; and
+what added to the panic was, that from the farm-houses beside which we
+stood bright flames suddenly burst forth. The Americans, expecting this
+attack, had filled them with combustibles for the purpose; and directing
+against them one or two guns, loaded with red-hot shot, in an instant
+set them on fire. The scene was altogether very sublime. A tremendous
+cannonade mowed down our ranks, and deafened us with its roar; whilst
+two large chāteaux and their out-buildings almost scorched us with the
+flames, and blinded us with the smoke which they emitted."
+
+The troops having formed line, advanced to storm the enemy's works. The
+right column, after a sharp and victorious skirmish with an advanced
+body of the enemy, arrived at the edge of the marsh, through which it
+endeavoured in vain to penetrate. At the same time the left column
+reached the first ditch, or canal, and, being unable to cross it, there
+halted, the men endeavouring to shelter themselves from the enemy's fire
+in a wet ditch about knee-deep. The troops being unable to close with
+the enemy, Sir Edward Pakenham ordered them to retire. This was effected
+by battalions, the last corps moving off about noon; and by nightfall
+the army was encamped about two miles from the former camping-ground,
+and the same distance from the enemy's position.
+
+The 28th, 29th, and 30th, were occupied in bringing up guns from the
+fleet, on which duty the two West India Regiments and the seamen were
+employed. Major Weston and Lieutenant Magee, 1st West India Regiment,
+died from exposure and fatigue while engaged in this work.
+
+During the night of the 31st, six batteries, mounting in all 30 pieces
+of heavy cannon, were completed, at a distance of some 300 yards from
+the American lines, and at dawn the artillery duel commenced. During the
+whole of the day a heavy cannonade continued, till, towards evening,
+the British ammunition began to fail, and the fire in consequence to
+slacken. The fire of the Americans, on the other hand, increased; and,
+landing a number of guns from their vessels, they soon compelled the
+British to abandon their works. The enemy made no attempt to secure the
+guns, and during the night they were removed.
+
+Sir Edward Pakenham now decided to send a portion of his force across
+the river to attack the fort on the right bank and turn its guns upon
+the main position, whilst the remainder should at the same time make a
+general assault along the whole entrenchment. "But before this plan
+could be put into execution, it would be necessary to cut a canal across
+the entire neck of land from the Bayo de Catiline to the river, of
+sufficient depth and width to admit of boats being brought up from the
+lake. Upon this arduous undertaking were the troops immediately
+employed. Being divided into four companies, they laboured by turns, day
+and night.... The fatigue undergone during the prosecution of this
+attempt no words can sufficiently describe; yet it was pursued without
+repining, and at length, by unremitting exertions, they succeeded in
+effecting their purpose by the 6th of January."
+
+On January 1st H.M.S. _Vengeur_ arrived off the Chandeleur Islands with
+a convoy of transports, containing the 7th and 43rd Regiments, under
+Major-General Lambert, and these two battalions, each 800 strong, joined
+the army on the evening of January 6th. Next day the final arrangements
+were made. Colonel Thornton, with the 85th, the marines, and a body of
+seamen, in all 1400 men, were to cross the river immediately after dark,
+seize the batteries on the right bank, and at daylight commence firing
+on the enemy's line, which at the same moment was to be attacked by the
+remainder of the army. Major-General Keane, with the 95th, the light
+battalion, and the 1st and 5th[38] West India Regiments, was to attack
+the enemy's right, Major-General Gibbs, with the 4th, 21st, 44th, and
+93rd, force the left, whilst Major-General Lambert was to hold the 7th
+and 43rd in reserve.
+
+In accordance with this scheme, Colonel Thornton at nightfall moved his
+force down to the brink of the river, but no boats had arrived. Hour
+after hour elapsed, and then at last only a sufficient number to
+transport 350 men made their appearance. With this small force Colonel
+Thornton determined to make the attempt, and pushed off. The loss of
+time which had occurred was however fatal, for day began to break before
+the boats had crossed the river, and though the troops carried the
+batteries by assault, after a short but obstinate resistance, the alarm
+had already been carried to the main body of the enemy, and they were
+thoroughly prepared for defence.
+
+The capture of the works on the right bank had, however, really made the
+front attack upon the American lines unnecessary; for the passage of the
+river now being clear, the armed boats from the canal could have passed
+up the stream and taken the whole of the position in rear. Had this been
+done, the American general would inevitably have been obliged to abandon
+his defences, falling back upon New Orleans, and we should have obtained
+possession of his formidable position without the loss of a man.
+Major-General Pakenham, however, still persevered in his original
+intention, and ordered the assault to take place.
+
+There had been so much mismanagement, that the advance, which should
+have taken place at dawn, did not commence till some time after
+daylight. The officer, whose duty it was to have prepared fascines for
+the purpose of filling the ditches, had neglected his work; and, at 2
+a.m., the hour at which he had been directed to have them ready, not one
+was made.[39] Eventually an insufficient number were got together, but
+"the 44th, which was appointed to carry them, had either misunderstood
+or neglected their orders, and now headed the column of attack, without
+any means being provided for crossing the enemy's ditch, or scaling his
+ramparts."
+
+"The indignation of our brave leader on this occasion may be imagined,
+but cannot be described. Galloping towards Colonel Mullens, who led the
+44th, he commanded him instantly to return for the fascines and ladders,
+but the opportunity of planting them was lost; and, though they were
+brought up, it was only to be scattered over the field by the frightened
+bearers, for our troops were by this time visible to the enemy. A
+dreadful fire was accordingly opened upon them, and they were mowed down
+by hundreds while they stood waiting for orders."
+
+The word being given to advance, the other regiments rushed on to the
+assault. On reaching the first ditch a horrible scene of carnage ensued;
+the few fascines that were thrown down floated away; there were no
+ladders, and the men, crowding to the edge of the ditch in the hope of
+closing with the enemy, fell in heaps. Many threw themselves into the
+water, and endeavoured to struggle across, but were shot down, or
+drowned. On the right, Major-General Keane's column had, though reduced
+to half its strength, succeeded in passing the ditches near their
+junction with the marsh, and pushed on desperately to the palisade. But
+to scale this obstacle without ladders was no easy matter. Some few,
+indeed, by climbing upon their comrades' shoulders succeeded in entering
+the works, but only to be at once shot down; while those who remained
+outside were exposed to a flanking fire that swept them down by scores.
+The two West India regiments distinguished themselves by their desperate
+valour, so much so, indeed, as to win encomiums from the American
+general, Jackson.
+
+On the left there had been a slight success, the 21st Regiment having
+stormed and taken a three-gun battery; but they were not supported, and
+the enemy, forcing their way into the work, retook it with great
+slaughter. In vain was the most obstinate courage displayed, the British
+were beaten off at all points.
+
+"Sir Edward saw how things were going, and did all that a general could
+do to rally his broken troops. Riding towards the 44th, which had
+returned to the ground, but in great disorder, he called out to Colonel
+Mullens to advance; but that officer had disappeared, and was not to be
+found. He therefore prepared to lead them himself, and had put himself
+at their head for that purpose, when he received a slight wound in the
+knee from a musket-ball, which killed his horse. Mounting another, he
+again headed the 44th, when a second ball took effect more fatally, and
+he dropped lifeless into the arms of his aide-de-camp."
+
+Major-Generals Keane and Gibb were, almost at the same moment, borne off
+the field severely wounded. "All was now confusion and dismay. Without
+leaders, ignorant of what was to be done, the troops first halted and
+then began to retire; till finally the retreat was changed into a
+flight, and they quitted the ground in the utmost disorder. But the
+retreat was covered in gallant style by the reserve. Making a forward
+motion, the 7th and 43rd presented the appearance of a renewed attack,
+by which the enemy were so much awed that they did not venture beyond
+their lines in pursuit of the fugitives."
+
+The British loss in this action was over 1000 killed; while the
+Americans stated their total loss to be 8 killed and 14 wounded. The 1st
+West India Regiment had 5 rank and file killed, 2 sergeants and 16 rank
+and file wounded. The following officers were wounded: Captain Isles,
+Lieutenants McDonald and Morgan, Ensigns Miller and Pilkington; and all,
+with the exception of Ensign Miller, severely so. Lieutenants McKenzie
+and Dalomel, the only remaining officers of the regiment with the
+expedition, were publicly thanked by Major-General Lambert for the
+courage which they had displayed, and the able manner in which they had
+withdrawn the remnant of their corps from the enemy's palisades.
+
+The capture of New Orleans being now despaired of in the shattered
+condition of the force, a retreat was determined upon. As it was
+impossible, without great risk, to return to the fleet by the route by
+which the army had come--there not being sufficient boats to embark more
+than a third of the force at a time--it was decided to make a road from
+the firm ground to the water's edge, a distance of many miles, through
+the very centre of a morass, where human foot had never before trodden.
+The difficulties experienced in making this road were immense. Sometimes
+for miles together no firm soil could be found, nor trees to furnish
+brushwood, and all that could be done was to lay down bundles of reeds
+on the morass. Nor were the enemy idle; there was constant skirmishing
+at the outposts, and a continual fire was kept up on the camp from a
+six-gun battery mounted on the bank of the river.
+
+After nine days' incessant toil the road was completed; the sick and
+wounded were first removed, then the baggage and stores, and on January
+17th, the infantry alone remained in the camp. On the evening of the
+18th it also began its retreat. Leaving the camp-fires burning as if no
+movement were taking place, battalion after battalion stole away in the
+darkness in the most profound silence. Marching all night over the
+fragile road of reeds, through which the men sank knee-deep into the
+mud, the army reached the borders of the lake at dawn. Boats were in
+readiness, and regiment after regiment embarked and set sail for the
+fleet, the only loss being the capture of a boat containing two officers
+and forty men of the 14th Light Dragoons.
+
+After remaining a few days at the Chandeleur Islands, the naval
+commander decided, in concert with Major-General Lambert, to make an
+attack on Mobile, and the fleet accordingly proceeded to that place. On
+February 12th, Fort Bowyer, which commanded the entrance to the harbour,
+surrendered, and a British garrison being left in the citadel, the fleet
+retired to Isle Dauphin, West Florida. Hostilities were then terminated
+by a treaty of peace, and the 1st West India Regiment returned to
+Barbados, where early in March, Brigade-Majors Cassidy and Winkler
+rejoined from the West India staff. The former succeeded to the
+majority, vice Weston, deceased.[40]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 37: "The Campaigns of the British Army at Washington and New
+Orleans," by an Officer.]
+
+[Footnote 38: According to Major-General Lambert's despatch to Earl
+Bathurst, the 5th West India Regiment was to cross the river with
+Colonel Thornton.]
+
+[Footnote 39: This officer was afterwards dismissed the service.]
+
+[Footnote 40: The British force employed in this expedition has been
+thus estimated:
+
+    14th Dragoons                           295
+    Royal Artillery                         570
+    Sappers and Miners                       98
+    4th Foot                                747
+    21st Foot                               800
+    44th Foot                               427
+    85th Foot                               298
+    93rd Foot                               775
+    95th Foot                               276
+    1st and 5th West India Regiments       1040
+    Seamen and Marines                     1200
+    Staff Corps                              57
+                                           ----
+                                           6583
+    7th Foot   }  arrived on January 6th  { 750
+    43rd Foot  }                          { 820
+                                           ----
+                                           8153
+
+Out of the ten officers who accompanied the regiment on this ill-fated
+expedition one was killed, two died from exposure, and five were
+wounded.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE OCCUPATION OF GUADALOUPE, 1815--THE BARBADOS INSURRECTION, 1816--THE
+HURRICANE OF 1817.
+
+
+A few months after the disastrous expedition to New Orleans, and while
+the 1st West India Regiment was still stationed at Barbados, an
+expedition was formed by Lieutenant-General Sir James Leith, commanding
+the forces in the Windward and Leeward Islands, against the Island of
+Guadaloupe, the Governor of which, Admiral Comte de Linois, a staunch
+Bonapartist, had thrown off his allegiance to Louis XVIII., when the
+news of the escape of Napoleon from Elba had reached the West Indies,
+and had, on June 18th, 1815, proclaimed the latter Emperor. On the
+formation of this expedition, Captain Winkler, 1st West India Regiment,
+was appointed to the staff.
+
+The fleet with the troops from Barbados, among whom were 400 picked men
+of the 1st West India Regiment, under Major Cassidy, attached to the 2nd
+Brigade, commanded by Major-General Murray, sailed from Carlisle Bay,
+Barbados, on the 31st of July, while other troops from St. Lucia,
+Martinique, and Dominica, rendezvoused at the Saintes. The force from
+Barbados anchored in the Bay of St. Louis, Marie-Galante, on the 2nd of
+August; but it was not until the night of the 7th that the troops from
+the Leeward were all assembled at the Saintes.
+
+The internal state of Guadaloupe and the season were both so critical
+that Sir James Leith determined to attack at once; and on the morning of
+the 8th the whole fleet stood towards the Ance St. Sauveur. It was the
+intention of the general to attack in three columns, each of one
+brigade, but the scarcity of boats and the heavy surf necessitated that
+each brigade, should disembark in succession.
+
+A portion of the 1st Brigade being landed without opposition at Ance St.
+Sauveur, and ordered to drive the enemy from the broken ground and
+ravines about Trou au Chien and Petit Carbet, the fleet dropped down to
+Grand Ance, where the principal attack was to be made. There, after the
+enemy's batteries had been silenced by the fleet, the 2nd Brigade, with
+the remainder of the 1st, were landed; and after a short but sharp
+skirmish with a body of the enemy, advanced with the bayonet and drove
+him from his position at Petrizel. The approach of night put an end to
+further advance, and the troops bivouacked on the ground they had won.
+
+Next morning, the 9th, at daybreak, the troops advanced in two columns.
+The 1st Brigade moved upon and occupied Dolé, while the 2nd Brigade
+marched by difficult mountain paths upon the left of Morne Palmiste, by
+Petrizel, and by this turning movement compelled the enemy to withdraw
+his posts and retreat to Morne Palmiste by noon. While this had been
+taking place the 3rd Brigade had disembarked in the vicinity of Bailiff,
+to leeward of Basseterre, and after a short struggle had occupied that
+capital.
+
+In the afternoon of the 9th, the 1st and 2nd Brigades converged upon
+Morne Palmiste, and clambering up the rugged and bush-covered heights,
+compelled the enemy, after the exchange of a few shots, to evacuate his
+works and retire to Morne Houel, where he had eight guns in position.
+
+While the British were still occupying the defences on Morne Palmiste,
+intelligence was brought to Sir James Leith that the French Commander of
+Grandeterre, with the whole of his available force, was moving in rear
+of the 1st and 2nd Brigades to endeavour to form a junction with the
+main body of the enemy at Morne Houel. The detachment of the 1st West
+India Regiment was at once despatched to reinforce the rear-guard, and
+to occupy in force all the passes of the Gallion, a river running
+through a formidable ravine at the foot of Morne Palmiste. The troops
+from Grandeterre being thus cut off, endeavoured to form a junction by
+unfrequented paths through the woods; but, being met at every point by
+the skirmishers of the 1st West India Regiment, who searched the woods
+in every direction, they were compelled to abandon the attempt and
+retire at dusk.
+
+The night closed in with torrents of rain, and the British, having been
+told off in columns in readiness to attack the formidable position of
+Morne Houel at daybreak next morning, bivouacked on the ground, without
+shelter, and drenched to the skin. About 11 p.m., the Comte de Linois
+sent a messenger to propose terms of surrender; but nothing being
+definitely settled, the troops were put in motion at daybreak on the
+10th. As they drew near to the works, however, the French hoisted the
+British flag on Morne Houel in token of surrender, and the position was
+occupied without resistance. This success put an end to the active
+operations.
+
+The British loss in this, the third invasion of Guadaloupe, amounted to
+16 killed and 40 wounded. The 1st West India Regiment suffered no loss.
+
+The following general order was issued, dated Head-Quarters, Government
+House, Basseterre, Guadaloupe, 10th August, 1815: "The Commander of the
+Forces congratulates the army on the conquest of Guadaloupe being
+accomplished, and desires the generals and other officers, and the
+troops employed on that important service, to accept his best thanks for
+the gallant, zealous, and active manner in which they have compelled the
+enemy to surrender.
+
+"It is certainly a matter of gratifying reflection to the troops
+employed, not only that a colony of such importance should be placed
+under the British flag, but that the exertions of the army have, in two
+days, defeated all the preparations and force of the enemy; thus
+sheltering the peaceable inhabitants from a formidable and sanguinary
+system of revolutionary violence which had been practised against their
+persons and property, and which threatened the entire destruction of
+social order.
+
+"Lieutenant-General Sir James Leith will not fail to represent the
+steadiness and good conduct of the troops to H.R.H. the
+Commander-in-Chief."
+
+Guadaloupe, however, was not at once reduced to a state of tranquility.
+A number of French soldiers, who had deserted previous to the surrender
+of the island, took refuge in the woods, whence they carried on a
+desultory and ferocious war against the British posts. The 1st West
+India Regiment, being composed of men better able to support the
+hardships of a guerilla war, carried on in a country naturally
+difficult, during the height of the tropical rains, was continually
+employed against these insurgent bands, and several men were killed and
+wounded in unknown and forgotten skirmishes.
+
+Major Cassidy and Captain Winkler were each presented with a sword of
+honour by the major-general; and the order of the Fleur de Lys was
+transmitted to them by Louis XVIII., for their services in Guadaloupe.
+
+Major Cassidy and the detachment of the 1st West India Regiment,
+remained in Guadaloupe until the 10th of October, 1815, on which day
+they embarked for Barbados, arriving at that island on the 26th. The
+regiment being then very much below its strength, on account of the
+heavy losses which it had sustained during the expedition to New
+Orleans, it was determined to transfer the majority of the privates who
+remained to the 3rd, 4th, 6th and 8th West India Regiments, and reform
+the regiment from a body of some 700 American negroes, who, in the late
+war with the United States, had served with the British, and had been
+temporarily organised as Colonial Marines.
+
+On the 14th of December, the skeleton of the regiment embarked in H.M.S.
+_Niobe_ for Bermuda, where the Colonial Marines were then stationed, and
+arrived at St. George's on the 9th of January, 1816. It was only then
+discovered that the number of men with whom it was intended to reform
+the regiment, did not exceed 400; most of whom were of but poor
+physique, and, moreover, unwilling to engage. At first the authorities
+determined to force these men to enlist, but ultimately the whole plan
+was abandoned; and the skeleton of the regiment left Bermuda on the 18th
+of March to return to the West Indies. It arrived at Barbados on the 1st
+of April; and the men who had already been transferred being sent back
+to it, the corps was completed with drafts from the late disbanded
+Bombor Regiment.
+
+This was effected in time to enable the 1st West India Regiment to take
+a very active part in the suppression of an alarming insurrection of
+slaves, which broke out suddenly at Barbados on Easter Sunday, the 14th
+of April, 1816. "The revolt broke out in St. Philip's parish, shortly
+after sunset, and it extended, in the two following days, to the
+parishes of Christ Church, St. John and St. George. A conflagration upon
+a high ridge of copse-wood called Bishop's Hill, in the parish of St.
+Philip's, was the first signal. Shortly after, the canes upon eight or
+nine of the surrounding estates were set on fire. Some few of the rebels
+were furnished with fire-arms, and a scanty supply of ammunition, and
+the remainder were armed with swords, bludgeons, and such rude weapons
+as they had been able to procure. Their approach was announced by the
+beating of drums, the blowing of shells, and other discordant sounds.
+They demolished the houses of the overseers, destroyed the sugar works,
+and fired the canes.... Sixty estates were more or less damaged, many of
+them to a considerable amount."[41]
+
+As soon as the news reached Bridgetown, martial law was proclaimed, the
+1st West India Regiment was at once ordered to march, and the militia of
+the island were called out. Major Cassidy, who was in command of the 1st
+West India Regiment, found the rebels occupying a position on the
+heights of Christ Church, on Grazett's Estate, a dense mob of half-armed
+slaves crowning the summits of the low hills. He endeavoured to parley
+with them, but without success; and an advance being ordered, the 1st
+West India Regiment stormed the heights, and at the point of the bayonet
+drove the rebels from their position. Not a shot was fired by the
+regiment on this occasion, Major Cassidy being anxious to save bloodshed
+as much as possible; but a large body of the slaves offered a furious
+resistance, closing with and aiming blows at the soldiers with their
+rude weapons, and endeavouring to wrench the muskets from their hands,
+so that a considerable number of the insurgents were thus killed and
+wounded. This resistance only lasted for a few minutes, and the slaves,
+broken and dispirited, fled in all directions; only to be hunted down
+and fired upon by the militia all over the disaffected portions of the
+island. The 1st West India Regiment took no part in the pursuit and the
+capture or slaughter of the fugitives, this duty being left to the
+European militia, who, if the author of "Remarks on the Insurrection in
+Barbados"[42] may be believed, were guilty of many excesses.
+
+By the planters this revolt was attributed to the introduction of the
+Slave Registry Bill into the British Parliament, and it was discovered
+that several free men of colour, who had for several months previous
+attended nocturnal meetings of slaves on the estates where the
+insurrection began, had told the slaves that a law was being passed in
+England to make them free, and that as the King was giving them their
+freedom the King's troops would not be employed against them.
+
+Amongst other articles taken from the rebels by the 1st West India
+Regiment was a flag bearing the figure of a general officer (supposed to
+be intended for the King), placing a crown in the hands of a negro who
+had a white woman on his arm. Beneath these figures was the following
+motto: "Brittanie are happy to assist all such friends as
+endeavourance." In the struggle on Christ Church heights the regiment
+lost one man killed and seventeen wounded.
+
+The following general order was issued, dated August 26th, 1816:
+"Colonel Codd, in communicating the following letters conveying the
+thanks of the Members in Council and House of Assembly at Barbados to
+himself and the officers, non-commissioned officers, and men employed
+during the late insurrection of slaves, feels it his duty to specify the
+commanding officer and corps whose good conduct on that occasion he has
+already reported in his official despatch to the Commander of the
+Forces, namely, Major Cassidy and the 1st West India Regiment."
+
+In November, 1816, the regiment was removed from Barbados and
+distributed amongst the following islands:
+
+    Head-quarters. The Grenadier, Light, and 1 Company at Antigua = 3
+                                  2 Companies at St. Christopher  = 2
+                                  1 Company at Montserrat         = 1
+                                  2 Companies at St. Lucia        = 2
+                                  2 Companies at Dominica         = 2
+                                                                   --
+                                                                   10
+
+Lieutenant-Colonel Whitby commanded at head-quarters.
+
+Nothing of note occurred till October, 1817, when, on the 21st of that
+month the Island of St. Lucia was visited with a most violent hurricane
+in which the Governor, Major-General Seymour, was so severely injured
+that he died a few days afterwards; and Brevet-Major Burdett, 1st West
+India Regiment (then commanding the garrison), together with his wife,
+child, and servants, was killed by the fall of his house and buried
+under its ruins. The distress that the troops endured was great. The
+whole of the buildings on Morne Fortune and Pigeon Island, with the
+exception of the magazine and tanks, were levelled with the ground, and
+the fragments, together with the men's clothing and equipment, carried
+off by the wind to the woods about Morne Fortune. The hurricane had
+struck the island so rapidly that, although an order to evacuate the
+barracks was given at once, the men had barely time to escape from the
+buildings before they fell with a crash. The town of Castries was laid
+in ruins, and twelve vessels that were in harbour were driven ashore.
+When the hurricane abated, the killed and wounded were moved under the
+parapet of Fort Charlotte and temporary shelter erected from the ruins.
+
+In January, 1819, when Lieutenant-Colonel J.M. Clifton retired, the
+second lieutenant-colonelcy in the regiment was abolished. In May of
+that year the head-quarters and three companies were moved to Barbados,
+two companies remaining at Antigua, two at St. Lucia, two at Dominica,
+and one at Tobago.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 41: Bryan Edwards.]
+
+[Footnote 42: Published in London in 1816.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE DEMERARA REBELLION, 1823.
+
+
+On the 25th of October, 1821, the establishment of the 1st West India
+Regiment was reduced from ten to eight companies, which were thus
+distributed:
+
+    Head-quarters and 3 Companies at Barbados.
+                      1 Company at Demerara.
+                      1    "    "  St. Lucia.
+                      1    "    "  Dominica.
+                      1    "    "  Antigua.
+                      1    "    "  Tobago.
+                     --
+                      8
+
+No change took place in this distribution until 1823, when the light
+company rejoined the head-quarters at Barbados, from Tobago.
+
+In August, 1823, an alarming insurrection broke out among the slaves in
+the district of Mahaica, on the east coast of Demerara. The first notice
+of the impending rising was communicated, on the morning of the 18th of
+August, by a mulatto servant, to Mr. Simpson, of Plantation Reduit (now
+Plantation Ogle), a place distant some six miles from Georgetown. The
+servant stated that all the negroes on the coast plantations would rise
+that night; and Mr. Simpson at once proceeded with the intelligence to
+Georgetown, warning the various planters at their habitations _en
+route_. The Governor appeared to doubt the reliability of the
+information, but called out a troop of burgher horse, and proceeded with
+a portion of it to Plantation Reduit. There a considerable body of
+negroes, armed with cutlasses, sticks, and a few muskets, was met; and,
+after a short parley with them, which led to no result, the Governor
+returned at once to Georgetown, and called upon the officer commanding
+the troops for assistance.
+
+A detachment of the 21st Regiment, and No. 8 Company of the 1st West
+India Regiment, the whole being under the command of Captain Stewart, of
+the latter corps, at once marched up the coast; while the militia of
+Georgetown was called out and patrolled the town. A body of the rebels,
+who had with them as prisoners several Europeans, was met near
+Wittenburg Plantation. On the approach of the troops the slaves opened a
+desultory fire, which did no damage, and a volley being returned, they
+dispersed in all directions. The force under Captain Stewart then
+proceeded further up the coast, encountering and dispersing other
+parties of slaves.
+
+Next day, the 19th of August, martial law was proclaimed, for nearly all
+the negroes employed upon the coast estates had risen and were
+overrunning the country, capturing every European they met. Continually
+dispersed by the troops, they reassembled again, and, after being
+repulsed by a detachment of the 21st in an attack upon the post of
+Mahaica, a body of some 2000 of the better-armed slaves collected
+together and began to advance on Georgetown. By this time another
+detachment of the 21st Regiment had come up from Georgetown, under the
+command of Lieutenant-Colonel Leahy of that corps, who joined the troops
+already in the field, and moved with his whole force against this more
+formidable body of insurgents. Proceeding past pillaged houses and
+destroyed bridges, the troops at last fell in with the rebels, and
+Lieutenant-Colonel Leahy, after reading a proclamation that had been
+issued by the Governor, warned them that if they did not disperse the
+men would open fire. After waiting for some time, the order to advance
+was given, and the slaves at once commenced firing. This was returned by
+the troops, and after a conflict of a few minutes' duration the rebels
+fled in all directions.
+
+This was the last occasion on which the slaves assembled in any
+considerable force, but a constant skirmishing was kept up along the
+whole line of the coast; and two companies of the 1st West India
+Regiment, which were despatched from Barbados when the news of the
+insurrection reached there, and arrived at Demerara on the 26th of
+September, were actively employed in assisting to restore tranquility
+in the colony and in the apprehension of the ringleaders of the
+rebellion. Captain Chads, Lieutenants Strong and Lynch, and Ensign
+Brennan were the officers who were serving with these two companies.
+
+The following general order was published, dated Head-quarters, Camp
+House, 17th December, 1823:
+
+"Major-General Murray has great satisfaction in communicating to the
+troops and militia within this colony the following extracts from
+letters from Lord Bathurst, and the Commander of the Forces, Sir Henry
+Ward, the former conveying the approbation of His Majesty, and the
+latter that of His Royal Highness, the Commander-in-Chief, for their
+conduct during the late insurrection. The Commander-in-Chief takes this
+opportunity of again returning his thanks to the officers and troops for
+the uniform support he has received from the former, and for the good
+conduct of the latter, during the late operations; by these means alone
+have those services been accomplished which have occasioned His
+Majesty's flattering marks of approbation."
+
+Extract (No. 1) of a letter from the Right Honourable Lord Bathurst, to
+His Excellency Sir John Murray:
+
+                              "Downing Street, 23rd October, 1823.
+
+    "I have received your several despatches, as per margin, reciting
+    the series of events that had occurred from the first intimation
+    received by you on the 18th of August last, of a disposition towards
+    insurrectionary movements on the part of the slave population in
+    the District of Mahaica, and concluding with an account of the
+    general termination of the revolt, which had yielded to the prompt
+    and judicious measures of remonstrance and resistance offered by
+    you, and which you represent to have been so admirably enforced by
+    the civil and military authorities under your command. With respect
+    to those measures, I have laid them before His Majesty, and they
+    have received his most gracious approbation, which you will convey
+    to the officers, both civil and military, who have so distinguished
+    themselves on this occasion."
+
+Extract (No. 2) of a letter from His Royal Highness the
+Commander-in-Chief, to Sir Henry Ward, K.C.B., commanding the Windward
+and Leeward Islands:
+
+    "I have received your further despatch reporting to His Lordship the
+    issue of this revolt, so satisfactorily and judiciously terminated
+    by the prompt and vigorous measures taken by Major-General Murray,
+    and the exemplary zeal, discipline and good conduct of the 21st
+    Regiment, the 1st West India Regiment, and the Militia, which
+    entitle officers and men to the greatest credit."
+
+Ensign Miles, of the 1st West India Regiment, the only officer serving
+with No. 8 Company under Captain Stewart, died a few days after the
+termination of the rebellion, of fever produced by fatigue and exposure
+in hunting down the rebel leaders.
+
+In February, 1824, the Court of Policy passed a vote of thanks, and
+conferred a gift of 200 guineas on the regiment, to be expended in the
+purchase of plate, as a mark of the high estimation in which the
+inhabitants of the colony held the services of Captain Stewart and his
+detachment.
+
+                                           "KING'S HOUSE, DEMERARA,
+                                                "_19th July, 1824_.
+
+    "SIR,
+
+    "I have the honour to enclose to you for the information of Captain
+    Stewart and the detachment of the 1st West India Regiment, which
+    served with so much credit to itself under his command during the
+    late revolt in this Colony, the accompanying resolution of the
+    Honourable Court of Policy, expressive of the sense entertained by
+    the Court of that officer's conduct, and that of the officers and
+    men placed under him during that distressing period.
+
+                                          "I have, etc.,
+                                                "JOHN MURRAY,
+                                                     "Major-General.
+
+    "To Major Capadose,
+    "Commanding Detachment, 1st West India Regiment."
+
+    "Extract from the Minutes of the Proceedings of the Honourable Court of
+    Policy of the Colony and dependant Districts of Demerara and Essequibo,
+    at an extraordinary and adjourned meeting held at the Court House,
+    George Town, Demerara, on Tuesday, the 13th of January, 1824.
+
+    "The Court of Policy, feeling anxious to mark its sense of the eminent
+    service performed, in the late unhappy revolt, by the troops composing
+    the garrison, as well as by the Militia of the United Colonies, take
+    the opportunity afforded it by the cessation of Martial Law, to express
+    its highest approbation of, and to return its warmest thanks to His
+    Excellency the Commander-in-Chief for the able and judicious measures
+    adopted by him, which succeeded in putting a speedy termination to a
+    Revolt, in its nature most serious and alarming....
+
+    "The steady and soldierlike conduct of the detachment of the 1st West
+    India Regiment commanded by Captain Stewart, the Court cannot too
+    highly estimate; and it begs, as a testimony of its lasting regard, to
+    be allowed to present to the Mess, through Captain Stewart, the sum of
+    two hundred guineas, to be laid out in plate."
+
+    On the 25th of October, 1824, the three companies stationed at Demerara
+    were removed to Barbados, where they arrived on the 2nd of November.
+    The following brigade order was published at Demerara prior to the
+    embarkation of the detachment:
+
+    "The detachment of the 1st West India Regiment under Major Capadose,
+    will embark on board the _Sovereign_ at half-past six on Monday
+    morning, the 25th instant, and the transport will proceed to Barbados
+    with the evening tide of that day.
+
+    "The Major-General commanding the district cannot allow these excellent
+    troops to embark without expressing to them his approbation of their
+    excellent conduct and discipline, and his cordial wishes for their
+    health and good fortune. The unremitting attention of Major Capadose in
+    the command of the detachment, and of Brevet-Major Gillard, Captain
+    Hemsworth, and Lieutenant Strong, in that of their respective outposts,
+    have given the Major-General unqualified satisfaction, and he requests
+    those officers to accept his thanks."
+
+The distribution of the regiment was now as follows: 5 companies at
+Barbados, 1 at St. Lucia, 1 at Dominica, and 1 at Antigua, and this was
+continued till the 21st of February, 1825, when the head-quarters, with
+4 companies, embarked on board the _Sovereign_ transport, and proceeded
+to the Island of Trinidad, to relieve the 3rd West India Regiment,
+ordered to be disbanded. The head-quarters landed at Port of Spain,
+Trinidad, on February 23rd, and were quartered at Orange Grove Barracks,
+being removed to San Josef Barracks on May 1st, 1828.
+
+In April, 1826, a second lieutenant-colonelcy was re-established in the
+regiment, Major Henry Capadose being promoted Lieutenant-Colonel,
+without purchase, on the 22nd of that month.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+THE BARRA WAR, 1831--THE HURRICANE OF 1831--THE COBOLO EXPEDITION, 1832.
+
+
+In 1826, owing to the difficulty found in obtaining a sufficiency of
+recruits in the West Indies, it was decided to send a company of the 1st
+West India Regiment to Sierra Leone, there to be stationed as a
+recruiting company, the recruits to be sent to the head-quarters of the
+regiment as opportunities occurred. The recruiting company embarked at
+Trinidad on the 17th of April, 1826, in the _Duke of York_ brigantine,
+and proceeded to Dominica, where it was transhipped to the _Jupiter_
+transport. Captain Myers proceeded in charge of it to England, where it
+was inspected by Major-General Sir James Lyon, and it finally arrived at
+Sierra Leone on August 16th, 1826. Captain Myers having obtained sick
+leave in England, Captain Stewart, Lieutenant Brennan, and Ensign
+Russell, were the officers who had charge of the company.
+
+The recruiting was so successfully carried on, that on July 9th, 1827,
+73 recruits joined the head-quarters of the regiment at Trinidad; on
+December 27th, 1828, 182; and on February 28th, 1829, 39; the last being
+volunteers from the Royal African Corps. In 1829, Captain Evans and
+Lieutenant Montgomery proceeded to Sierra Leone to join the recruiting
+company.
+
+The recruiting company continued being occupied with its peace duties
+until the year 1831, when the Barra War broke out. Towards the end of
+September, 1831, the Lieutenant-Governor of the Gambia Settlements sent
+an urgent despatch for assistance to the Governor of Sierra Leone. The
+news arrived at the latter place on October 1st, and on the 4th a force
+under Captain Stewart, 1st West India Regiment, consisting of
+detachments from the recruiting companies of the 1st and 2nd West India
+Regiments, from the Sierra Leone Militia, and from the Royal African
+Corps, sailed for the Gambia in H.M. brig _Plumper_, and the _Parmilia_
+transport. The events which led to this movement were as follows:
+
+In August, 1831, disturbances having occurred amongst the Mandingoes[43]
+living in the neighbourhood of Fort Bullen, Barra Point, Ensign Fearon,
+of the Royal African Corps, by direction of Lieutenant-Governor Rendall,
+had proceeded with thirty men of his corps and a few pensioners, on the
+night of August 22nd, to the stockaded town of Essaw, or Yahassu, the
+capital of Barra, to demand hostages from the king. At Essaw this small
+force was attacked by a large body of Mandingoes, and compelled to
+retire to Fort Bullen, to which place the victorious Mandingoes
+advanced, completely investing it on the land side. The day following,
+Ensign Fearon, having lost twenty-three men out of his little force,
+evacuated the work, which was in an almost defenceless condition, and
+retired across the river to the town of Bathurst. After this defeat the
+chiefs of the neighbouring Mohammedan towns sent large contingents of
+men to the King of Barra; several thousand armed natives were collected
+at a distance of three miles only from Bathurst, and that settlement was
+in such imminent danger that the Lieutenant-Governor was compelled to
+send to Sierra Leone for assistance.
+
+On November 9th the reinforcements arrived in the Gambia, and found Fort
+Bullen still in the hands of the natives, who fortunately had confined
+themselves to making mere demonstrations, instead of falling upon the
+settlement, which lay entirely at their mercy. On the morning of
+November 11th a landing was effected at Barra Point by the force,
+consisting of 451 of all ranks, under cover of a heavy fire from H.M.
+brig _Plumper_ (Lieutenant Cresey), the _Parmilia_ transport, and an
+armed colonial schooner. The enemy, estimated at from 2500 to 3000
+strong, were skilfully covered from the fire of the shipping by the
+entrenchments which they had thrown up, and from which, as well as from
+the shelter of the dense bush and high grass, they poured in a heavy
+and well-sustained fire upon the troops who were landing in their front.
+Notwithstanding all disadvantages, however, the British pushed on, and,
+after an hour's hard fighting, during which the enemy contested every
+inch of ground, they succeeded in driving them from their entrenchments
+at the point of the bayonet, and pursued them for some distance through
+the bush. The British loss in this action was 2 killed, 3 officers[44]
+and 47 men wounded.
+
+The next few days were occupied in landing the guns, and placing Fort
+Bullen in a state of defence; and at daybreak on the morning of November
+17th the entire force marched to the attack of Essaw, the king's town,
+leaving the crew of H.M. brig _Plumper_, under Lieutenant Cresey, in
+charge of Fort Bullen.
+
+On approaching the vicinity of the town the troops deployed into line,
+and, the guns having been brought to the front, a heavy fire was opened
+on the stockade. This was kept up for five hours, and was as vigorously
+returned by the enemy from their defences, with artillery and small
+arms. The rockets were brought to bear as soon as possible, and the
+first one thrown set fire to a house in the town; but the buildings
+being principally composed of "swish," and the natives having taken the
+precaution of removing the thatched roofs of the greater number, the
+rockets produced but little effect, as they could do no injury to the
+walls. Towards noon some of the enemy were observed leaving the rear of
+the town, and shortly afterwards a very superior force of natives
+appeared in the bush on the British right, threatening an attack in
+flank. A second body was also observed making a lengthened detour on the
+left, apparently with the intention of attacking the British rear. The
+men's ammunition being almost exhausted, and the artillery fire, though
+well sustained, having produced no effect upon the strong stockades
+which surrounded the town, it was deemed prudent to retire, and the
+force was accordingly withdrawn to Benty Point, having suffered a loss
+during the day of 11 killed and 59 wounded. Lieutenant Leigh, of the
+Sierra Leone militia, and 5 men subsequently died of their wounds.
+
+On December 7th, Lieutenant-Colonel Hingston, Royal African Corps,
+arrived with reinforcements and assumed the command. Immediately upon
+this accession to the British strength, the King of Barra notified his
+desire to open negotiations, and, terms being proposed which he
+accepted, a treaty was finally concluded and signed at Fort Bullen on
+January 4th, 1832. The detachment of the recruiting company, 1st West
+India Regiment, returned to Sierra Leone on the conclusion of the war.
+
+In the West Indies, the detachment of the 1st West India Regiment
+stationed at Barbados, had, in 1831, suffered from a violent hurricane
+which visited that island on the 10th of August of that year. The
+barracks and hospitals at St. Ann's were completely ruined, 36 men of
+various corps were killed, and a commissariat officer, with three of his
+children, and his entire household, entombed in the ruins of his house.
+
+An officer of the garrison, who gives an account of this hurricane,[45]
+says: "Describe the appearance of our barracks, I really cannot. This I
+can say, in truth, that in no part of the world, a more beautiful range
+of buildings, or on a more liberal scale or appropriate site, could have
+been found. The establishment was complete in all respects for every
+branch of a small army. It was the depōt of our West India military
+possessions. Well--in two hours during this awful night almost every
+building in the garrison was destroyed.... What a moment was that, when,
+thanks be to Heaven, the gale in some degree abated. The officers crept
+out one after the other, and the scene that followed can be compared
+only to that which one sees and feels after an action--who has
+escaped?--who is dead?... The first person I found wounded was Mrs.
+Brocklass, the lady of an officer of the 1st West India Regiment, who,
+with three fine children, finding the roof over them falling, hastened
+from under it. She had the misfortune to be knocked down by some
+shingles, received a blow on the head, and had two or three ribs broken;
+the children fortunately escaped: her husband was on duty in a most
+perilous situation.... The huts which were the quarters of the married
+people of the 1st West India Regiment were blown to pieces, and four men
+and one woman severely injured. The north building of the men's new
+barracks accommodated the left wing of the 36th Regiment, besides which
+a detachment of the 1st West India Regiment was quartered on the ground
+floor. None of the latter were hurt, but two men of the 36th were
+killed. The greater part of the spacious galleries was carried away,
+some of the arches that supported them fell, and many were very much
+broken. None of the roof remains that will ever be of service."
+
+Towards the end of the year 1832, numerous complaints were made by
+native traders who were in the habit of trading to the Sherbro and the
+adjacent territories, that they were molested and their goods plundered
+by a marauding party of Mohammedan Acoos, who had established themselves
+in the vicinity of the Ribbie River. These Acoos were liberated
+Africans, that is, slaves who had been set free from captured slavers at
+Freetown, Sierra Leone, and had, contrary to the regulations then in
+force, clandestinely left the Colony.
+
+A party of volunteers, having been despatched to gather information
+concerning these rebels, ascertained that they had been joined by other
+parties of marauders, and had established themselves at a place called
+Cobolo, on the northern bank of the Kates, or Ribbie River. The manager
+of the Waterloo District also reported various outrages and depredations
+committed by this band.
+
+On December 13th, 1832, the Hastings company of volunteers, with that of
+Waterloo, marched from the village of Waterloo towards Cobolo, distant
+by road some thirty miles, with orders to capture and bring in the
+leaders of the rebels. Next morning, as this force was approaching
+Cobolo, the Acoos, who were concealed in the bush, fired upon the head
+of the column, and the volunteers at once, and without firing a shot,
+turned and ran in the greatest confusion; nor did they recover from
+their panic till they had reached Waterloo. The Acoos pursued the
+fugitives for some little distance, and killed seven of their number.
+
+The rising, originally trivial, had now, through the shameful behaviour
+of the volunteers, become serious. The news of the defeat spread with
+great rapidity among the unruly tribes on the frontier of the Colony;
+and a Mohammedan priest, proclaiming himself a prophet, placed himself
+at the head of the movement. The Governor acted with promptitude; and
+recognising the great danger of delay, despatched, on December 17th, all
+the available men from the garrison of Sierra Leone, under
+Lieut.-Colonel Hingston, Royal African Corps. The recruiting company of
+the 1st West India Regiment accompanied the force, under the command of
+Lieut. W. Montgomery, 1st West India Regiment.
+
+The troops proceeded to Waterloo in boats, and were there joined by the
+Wellington company of the Sierra Leone militia, and the Hastings company
+of volunteers. At the same time, H.M. brig _Charybdis_ (Lieut. Crawford)
+was sent with the York company of volunteers to the mouth of the Ribbie
+River, with orders for the seamen and marines to ascend the river in
+boats, co-operate with Lieut.-Colonel Hingston's column, and cut off the
+retreat of the rebels.
+
+Lieut.-Colonel Hingston's force marched from Waterloo on December 18th,
+and, halting for the night at Bangowilli, about twenty miles from the
+former village, advanced towards Cobolo next morning at daybreak. The
+march was unusually fatiguing, and for many miles the troops had to move
+through rush beds and mangrove swamps, frequently up to the hips in mud
+and water. On emerging upon the dry ground near Cobolo the report of
+fire-arms was heard in front, and scouts being thrown forward, it was
+learned that the Kossoos, which tribe had suffered most from the
+predatory propensities of the rebels, had taken up arms and were then
+engaged in attacking Cobolo. The troops at once pushed on, and a few
+minutes after their arrival on the scene, the Acoos, completely routed,
+fled in all directions, many being killed and a great number drowned
+while endeavouring to escape across a neighbouring creek.
+
+The British force remained at Cobolo for four days, daily sending out
+small parties in pursuit of the dispersed rebels. By one of these
+parties Oji Corri, the leader of the movement, was shot down; and the
+rebellion being at an end the troops returned to Freetown, Sierra Leone,
+on December 28th; a detachment of the 2nd West India Regiment, under
+Lieutenant Lardner, being left at Waterloo to watch the movements of the
+Mohammedan Acoos in the neighbouring villages.
+
+Lieutenant Montgomery, 1st West India Regiment, died at Freetown of
+fever, on April 9th, 1833, and this event left the recruiting company
+without an officer of the corps until the arrival in Sierra Leone of
+Captain Hughes on November 29th, 1834.
+
+In the West Indies one company had been removed from the head-quarters
+at Trinidad to Tortola in May, 1834, and this detachment was, in
+January, 1836, moved to St. Vincent.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 43: The Mandingoes are a warlike Mohammedan tribe, inhabiting
+the territory inland from the Gambia River to Sierra Leone.]
+
+[Footnote 44: Captain Berwick, Royal African Corps; Lieutenant Lardner,
+2nd West India Regiment; and Captain Hughes, Gambia Militia.]
+
+[Footnote 45: An account of the fatal hurricane by which Barbados
+suffered in 1831, published at Bridgetown, Barbados, 1831.
+
+"DETACHMENT 1ST WEST INDIA REGIMENT.
+
+"Return of the men killed and wounded during the late hurricane, 15th
+August, 1831:
+
+"Killed--Henry Read, private.
+
+"Wounded--4 privates.
+
+    (Signed) "H. BROCKLASS, Lieut., 1st W.I. Regt."
+
+]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE MUTINY OF THE RECRUITS AT TRINIDAD, 1837.
+
+
+On April 1st, 1836, the 1st West India Regiment was increased from eight
+to ten companies, and recruits being obtained with difficulty, the
+Government commenced the injudicious practice of enrolling the slaves,
+disembarked from captured slavers, in the West India regiments. In
+September of that year the slaves from two slavers which had been
+captured off Grenada by H.M.S. _Vestal_, 112 in number, were drafted
+into the 1st West India Regiment. Similarly, in January, 1837, 109; on
+May 20th, 112; and on May 21st, 93 slaves, recently disembarked from
+slavers captured by H.M.S. _Griffon_ and _Harpy_, were sent to the
+regiment. Thus, in the years 1836-7, 426 such slaves were received, 314
+of them in the year 1837 alone.
+
+The formality of asking these men whether they were willing to serve was
+never gone through, many of them did so unwillingly; and it must be
+remembered that they were all savages in the strictest sense of the
+word, entirely unacquainted with civilisation, and with no knowledge of
+the English language. The majority of them were natives of the Congo and
+of Great and Little Popo, two towns on the western frontier of Dahomey;
+and it may be here remarked that the negroes of these districts have
+maintained their reputation for ultra-barbarism even to the present day.
+
+The only result to be anticipated from such a wholesale drafting of
+savages into a regiment was a mutiny, and every inducement to mutiny
+appears to have been afforded them. Instead of dividing them
+proportionately between the head-quarters and the detachments, they were
+nearly all kept at the former; and but three weeks before the actual
+rising, as if to further remove all check, 100 rank and file, all old
+soldiers, were sent from Trinidad and distributed between St. Lucia and
+Dominica. Thus, on June 18th, 1837, the day of the mutiny, with the
+exception of the band, officers servants, and mess-waiters, all the men
+at San Josef's barracks, Trinidad, were slaver recruits. The ringleader
+of the movement was one Dāaga, or Donald Stewart, and the following
+account of him, and of the mutiny, is taken from Kingsley's "At Last":
+
+"Donald Stewart, or rather Dāaga, was the adopted son of Madershee, the
+old and childless king of the tribe called Paupaus,[46] a race that
+inhabit a tract of country bordering on that of the Yarrabas.[47] These
+races are constantly at war with each other.
+
+"Dāaga was just the man whom a savage, warlike, and depredatory tribe
+would select for their chieftain, as the African negroes choose their
+leaders with reference to their personal prowess. Dāaga stood six feet
+six inches without shoes. Although scarcely muscular in proportion, yet
+his frame indicated in a singular degree the union of irresistible
+strength and activity.... He had a singular cast in his eyes, not quite
+amounting to that obliquity of the visual organs denominated a squint,
+but sufficient to give his features a peculiarly forbidding appearance;
+his forehead, however, although small in proportion to his enormous
+head, was remarkably compact and well formed. The whole head was
+disproportioned, having the greater part of the brain behind the ears;
+but the greatest peculiarity of this singular being was his voice. In
+the course of my life I never heard such sounds uttered by human organs
+as those formed by Dāaga. In ordinary conversation he appeared to me to
+endeavour to soften his voice--it was a deep tenor: but when a little
+excited by any passion (and this savage was the child of passion) his
+voice sounded like the low growl of a lion, but when much excited it
+could be compared to nothing so aptly as the notes of a gigantic brazen
+trumpet.
+
+"Dāaga having made a successful predatory expedition into the country
+of the Yarrabas, returned with a number of prisoners of that nation.
+These he, as usual, took bound and guarded towards the coast to sell to
+the Portuguese. The interpreter, his countryman, called these Portuguese
+'white gentlemen.' The white gentlemen proved themselves more than a
+match for the black gentlemen; and the whole transaction between the
+Portuguese and the Paupaus does credit to all concerned in this
+gentlemanly traffic in human flesh.
+
+"Dāaga sold his prisoners, and under pretence of paying him, he and his
+Paupau guards were enticed on board a Portuguese vessel: they were
+treacherously overpowered by the Christians, who bound them beside their
+late prisoners, and the vessel sailed over 'the great salt water.'
+
+"This transaction caused in the breast of the savage a deep hatred
+against all white men; a hatred so intense that he frequently, during
+and subsequent to the mutiny, declared he would eat the first white man
+he killed; yet this cannibal was made to swear allegiance to our
+sovereign on the Holy Evangelists, and was then called a British
+soldier.
+
+"On the voyage the vessel on board which Dāaga had been entrapped was
+captured by the British. He could not comprehend that his new captors
+liberated him: he had been overreached and trepanned by one set of white
+men, and he naturally looked on his second captors as more successful
+rivals in the human, or rather inhuman, Guinea trade; therefore, this
+event lessened not his hatred for white men in the abstract.
+
+"I was informed by several of the Africans who came with him, that when,
+during the voyage, they upbraided Dāaga with being the cause of their
+capture, he pacified them by promising that when they should arrive in
+white man's country he would repay their perfidy by attacking them in
+the night. He further promised that if the Paupaus and Yarrabas would
+follow him, he would fight his way back to Guinea. This account was
+fully corroborated by many of the mutineers, especially those who were
+shot with Dāaga; they all said the revolt never would have happened but
+for Donald Stewart, as he was called by the officers; but Africans who
+were not of his tribe called him Longa-longa, on account of his height.
+
+"Such was the extraordinary man who led the mutiny I am about to relate.
+
+"A quantity of captured Africans having been brought hither from the
+islands of Grenada and Dominica, they were most imprudently induced to
+enlist in the 1st West India Regiment. True it is, we have been told
+they did this voluntarily; but it may be asked, if they had any will in
+the matter, how could they understand the duties to be imposed on them
+by becoming soldiers, or how comprehend the nature of an oath of
+allegiance, without which they could not, legally speaking, be
+considered soldiers? I attended the whole of the trials of these men,
+and well know how difficult it was to make them comprehend any idea
+which was at all new to them by means of the best interpreters
+procurable.
+
+"To the African savage, while being drilled into the duties of a
+soldier, many things seem absolute tyranny which would appear to a
+civilised man a mere necessary restraint. To keep the restless body of
+an African negro in a position to which he has not been accustomed; to
+cramp his splay feet, with his great toes standing out, into European
+shoes made for feet of a different form; to place a collar round his
+neck, which is called a stock, and which to him is cruel torture; above
+all, to confine him every night to his barracks--are almost
+insupportable. One unacquainted with the habits of the negro cannot
+conceive with what abhorrence he looks on having his disposition to
+nocturnal rambles checked by barrack regulations.
+
+"Formerly the 'King's man,' as the black soldier loved to call himself,
+looked (not without reason) contemptuously on the planter's slave,
+although he himself was after all but a slave to the State; but these
+recruits were enlisted shortly after a number of their recently imported
+countrymen were wandering freely over the country, working either as
+free labourers, or settling, to use an apt American phrase, as
+squatters; and to assert that the recruit, while under military
+probation, is better off than the free Trinidad labourer, who goes where
+he lists and earns as much in one day as will keep him for three days,
+is an absurdity. Accordingly, we find that Lieutenant-Colonel Bush, who
+commanded the 1st West India Regiment, thought that the mutiny was
+mainly owing to the ill-advice of their civil, or, we should rather say,
+unmilitary countrymen. This, to a certain degree, was the fact; but, by
+the declaration of Dāaga and many of his countrymen, it is evident that
+the seeds of the mutiny were sown on the passage from Africa.
+
+"It has been asserted that the recruits were driven to mutiny by hard
+treatment of their commanding officers. There seems not the slightest
+truth in this assertion; they were treated with fully as much kindness
+as their situation would admit of, and their chief was peculiarly a
+favourite of Colonel Bush and the officers, notwithstanding Dāaga's
+violent and ferocious temper often caused complaints to be brought
+against him.
+
+"On the night of the 17th of June, 1837, the people of San Josef were
+kept awake by the recruits, about 280 in number, singing the war-song of
+the Paupaus. This wild song consisted of a short air and chorus. The
+tone was, although wild, not inharmonious, and the words rather
+euphonious. As near as our alphabet can convey them, they ran thus:
+
+    "Dangkarrée
+    Au fey
+    Oluu werrei
+    Au lay.
+
+which may be rendered almost literally by the following couplet:
+
+    "Air by the chief: 'Come to plunder, come to slay.'
+    "Chorus by followers: 'We are ready to obey.'
+
+"About three o'clock in the morning, their war-song (highly
+characteristic of a predatory tribe) became very loud, and they
+commenced uttering their war-cry. This is different to what we conceive
+the Indian war-whoop to be; it seems to be a kind of imitation of the
+growl of wild beasts, and has a most thrilling effect.
+
+"Fire was now set to a quantity of huts built for the accommodation of
+African soldiers to the northward of the barracks, as well as to the
+house of a poor black woman called Dalrymple. These burnt briskly,
+throwing a dismal glare over the barracks and picturesque town of San
+Josef, and overpowering the light of the full moon, which illumined a
+cloudless sky. The mutineers made a rush at the barrack-room and seized
+on the muskets and fusees in the racks. Their leader, Dāaga, and a
+daring Yarraba named Ogston, instantly charged their pieces--the former
+of these had a quantity of ball cartridges, loose powder, and ounce and
+pistol balls, in a kind of gray worsted cap. He must have provided
+himself with these before the mutiny. How he became possessed of them,
+especially the pistol balls, I never could learn; probably he was
+supplied by his unmilitary countrymen; pistol balls are never given to
+infantry. Previous to this Dāaga and three others made a rush at the
+regimental store-room, in which was deposited a quantity of powder. An
+old African soldier, named Charles Dixon, interfered to stop them, on
+which Maurice Ogston, the Yarraba chief, who had armed himself with a
+sergeant's sword, cut down the faithful African. When down, Dāaga said
+in English, 'Ah, you old soldier, you knock down.' Dixon was not Dāaga's
+countryman, hence he could not speak to him in his own language. The
+Paupau then levelled his musket and shot the fallen soldier, who groaned
+and died. The war-yells, or rather growls, of the Paupaus and Yarrabas
+now became awfully thrilling as they helped themselves to cartridges;
+most of them were fortunately blank, or without ball. Never was a
+premeditated mutiny so wild and ill-planned. Their chief, Dāaga, and
+Ogston, seem to have had little command of the subordinates, and the
+whole acted more like a set of wild beasts who had broken their cages,
+than men resolved on war.
+
+"At this period, had a rush been made at the officers' quarters by one
+half (they were more than 200 in number), and the other half surrounded
+the building, not one could have escaped. Instead of this they continued
+to shout their war-song, and howl their war-notes; they loaded their
+pieces with ball cartridge or blank cartridge and small stones, and
+commenced firing at the long range of white buildings in which Colonel
+Bush and his officers slept. They wasted so much ammunition on this
+useless display of fury that the buildings were completely riddled. A
+few of the old soldiers opposed them and were wounded, but it
+fortunately happened that they were, to an inconceivable degree,
+ignorant of the right use of fire-arms--holding their muskets in their
+hands when they discharged them, without allowing the butt-end to rest
+against their shoulders or any part of their bodies.[48] This fact
+accounts for the comparatively little mischief they did in proportion to
+the quantity of ammunition thrown away.
+
+"The officers[49] and sergeant-major[50] escaped at the back of the
+building, while Colonel Bush and Adjutant Bentley came down a little
+hill. The colonel commanded the mutineers to lay down their arms, and
+was answered by an irregular discharge of balls, which rattled amongst
+the leaves of a tree under which he and the adjutant were standing. On
+this Colonel Bush desired Mr. Bentley to make the best of his way to St.
+James's Barracks[51] for all the disposable force of the 89th Regiment.
+The officers made good their retreat, and the adjutant got into the
+stable where his horse was. He saddled and bridled the animal while the
+shots were coming into the stable, without either man or beast getting
+injured. The officer mounted, but had to make his way through the
+mutineers before he could get into San Josef, the barracks standing on
+an eminence above the little town. On seeing the adjutant mounted, the
+mutineers set up a thrilling howl, and commenced firing at him. He
+discerned the gigantic figure of Dāaga (alias Donald Stewart), with his
+musket at the trail: he spurred his horse through the midst of them;
+they were grouped, but not in line. On looking back he saw Dāaga aiming
+at him; he stooped his head beside his horse's neck, and effectually
+sheltered himself from about fifty shots aimed at him. In this position
+he rode furiously down a steep hill leading from the barracks to the
+church, and was out of danger. His escape appears extraordinary: but he
+got safe to town, and thence to St. James's, and in a short time,
+considering it is eleven miles distant, brought out a strong detachment
+of European troops; these, however, did not arrive till the affair was
+over.
+
+"In the meantime a part of the officers' quarters was bravely defended
+by two old African soldiers, Sergeant Merry and Corporal Plague. The
+latter stood in the gallery near the room in which were the colours; he
+was ineffectually fired at by some hundreds, yet he kept his post, shot
+two of the mutineers, and, it is said, wounded a third. Such is the
+difference between a man acquainted with the use of fire-arms and those
+who handle them as mops are held.
+
+"In the meantime Colonel Bush got to a police station above the
+barracks, and got muskets and a few cartridges from a discharged
+African soldier who was in the police establishment. Being joined by the
+policeman, Corporal Craven, and Ensign Pogson, they concealed themselves
+on an eminence above, and, as the mutineers (about 100 in number)
+approached, the fire of muskets opened on them from the little ambush.
+The little party fired separately, loading as fast as they discharged
+their pieces; they succeeded in making the mutineers change their route.
+
+"It is wonderful what little courage the savages in general showed
+against the colonel and his little party, who absolutely beat them,
+although but a twenty-fifth of their number, and at their own tactics,
+_i.e._ bush fighting.
+
+"A body of mutineers now made towards the road to Maraccas, when the
+colonel and his three assistants contrived to get behind a silk-cotton
+tree, and recommenced firing on them. The Africans hesitated, and set
+forward, when the little party continued to fire on them; they set up a
+yell, and retreated down the hill.
+
+"A part of the mutineers now concealed themselves in the bushes about
+San Josef Barracks. These men, after the affair was over, joined Colonel
+Bush, and, with a mixture of cunning and effrontery, smiled as though
+nothing had happened, and as though they were glad to see him; although,
+in general, they each had several shirts and pairs of trousers on,
+preparatory for a start to Guinea, by way of Band de l'Est.
+
+"In the meantime the San Josef militia were assembled to the number of
+forty. Major Giuseppi and Captain and Adjutant Rousseau, of the second
+division of militia forces, took command of them. They were in want of
+flints, powder, and balls; to obtain these they were obliged to break
+open a merchant's store; however, the adjutant so judiciously
+distributed his little force as to hinder the mutineers from entering
+the town or obtaining access to the militia arsenal, wherein there was a
+quantity of arms. Major Chadds and several old African soldiers joined
+the militia, and were by them supplied with arms.
+
+"A good deal of skirmishing occurred between the militia and detached
+parties of the mutineers, which uniformly ended in the defeat of the
+latter. At length Dāaga appeared to the right of a party of six at the
+entrance of the town; they were challenged by the militia, and the
+mutineers fired on them, but without effect. Only two of the militia
+returned the fire, when all but Dāaga fled. He was deliberately
+reloading his piece, when a militia-man, named Edmond Luce, leaped on
+the gigantic chief, who would have easily beat him off, although the
+former was a strong young man of colour, but Dāaga would not let go his
+gun; and, in common with all the mutineers, he seemed to have no idea of
+the use of the bayonet. Dāaga was dragging the militia-man away, when
+Adjutant Rousseau came to his assistance, and placed a sword to Dāaga's
+breast. Doctor Tardy and several others rushed on the tall negro, who
+was soon, by the united efforts of several, thrown down and secured. It
+was at this period that he repeatedly exclaimed, while he bit his own
+shoulder, 'The first white man I catch after this I will eat him.'
+
+"Meanwhile about sixteen of the mutineers, led by the daring Ogston,
+took the road to Arima, in order, as they said, to commence their march
+to Guinea; but fortunately the militia of that village, composed
+principally of Spaniards, Indians, and Sambos, assembled. A few of these
+met them and stopped their march. A kind of parley (if intercourse
+carried on by signs could be so called) was carried on between the
+parties. The mutineers made signs that they wished to go forward, while
+the few militia-men endeavoured to detain them, expecting a
+reinforcement momently. After a time the militia agreed to allow them to
+approach the town; as they were advancing they were met by the
+Commandant, Martin Sorzano, Esq., with sixteen more militia-men. The
+Commandant judged it imprudent to allow the Africans to enter the town
+with their muskets full-cocked, and poised ready to fire. An interpreter
+was now procured, and the mutineers were told that if they would retire
+to their barracks the gentlemen present would intercede for their
+pardon. The negroes refused to accede to these terms; and while the
+interpreter was addressing some, the rest tried to push forward. Some of
+the militia opposed them by holding their muskets in a horizontal
+position, on which one of the mutineers fired, and the militia returned
+the fire. A mźlée commenced, in which fourteen mutineers were killed
+and wounded. The fire of the Africans produced little effect: they soon
+took to flight amid the woods which flanked the road. Twenty-eight of
+them were taken, amongst whom was the Yarraba chief, Ogston. Six had
+been killed, and six committed suicide by strangling and hanging
+themselves in the woods. Only one man was wounded among the militia, and
+he but slightly, from a small stone fired from a musket of one of the
+Yarrabas.
+
+"The quantity of ammunition expended by the mutineers, and the
+comparatively little mischief done by them, was truly astonishing. It
+shows how little they understood the use of fire-arms. Dixon was killed,
+and several of the old African soldiers were wounded, but not one of the
+officers was in the slightest degree hurt.
+
+"I have never been able to get a correct account of the number of lives
+this wild mutiny cost, but believe it was not less than forty, including
+those slain by the militia at Arima, those shot at San Josef, those who
+died of their wounds (and most of the wounded men died), the six who
+committed suicide, the three who were shot by sentence of the
+court-martial, and one who was shot while endeavouring to escape
+(Satchell).
+
+"A good-looking young man, named Torrens, was brought as prisoner to the
+presence of Colonel Bush. The colonel wished to speak to him, and
+desired his guards to liberate him; on which the young savage shook his
+sleeve, in which was a concealed razor, made a rush at the colonel, and
+nearly succeeded in cutting his throat. He slashed the razor in all
+directions until he made an opening; he rushed through this: and
+notwithstanding that he was fired at, and, I believe, wounded, he
+effected his escape, was subsequently retaken, and again made his escape
+with Satchell, who after this was shot by a policeman.
+
+"Torrens was retaken, tried, and recommended to mercy. Of this man's
+fate I am unable to speak, not knowing how far the recommendation to
+mercy was attended to.[52] In appearance he seemed the mildest and
+best-looking of the mutineers, but his conduct was the most ferocious of
+any. The whole of the mutineers were captured within one week of the
+mutiny, save this man, who was taken a month after.
+
+"On the 19th of July, Donald Stewart, otherwise Dāaga, was brought to a
+court-martial. On the 21st, William Satchell was tried. On the 22nd, a
+court-martial was held on Edward Coffin; and on the 24th one was held on
+the Yarraba chief, Maurice Ogston, whose country name was, I believe,
+Mawee. Torrens was tried on the 29th.
+
+"The sentences of these courts-martial were unknown until the 14th of
+August, having been sent to Barbados in order to be submitted to the
+Commander-in-Chief. Lieutenant-General Whittingham, who approved of the
+decision of the courts, which was that Donald Stewart (Dāaga), Maurice
+Ogston, and Edward Coffin, should suffer death by being shot; and that
+William Satchell should be transported beyond seas during the term of
+his natural life. I am unacquainted with the sentence of Torrens.
+
+"Donald Stewart, Maurice Ogston, and Edward Coffin were executed on the
+16th of August, 1837, at San Josef Barracks. Nothing seemed to have been
+neglected which could render the execution solemn and impressive; the
+scenery and the weather gave additional awe to the melancholy
+proceedings. Fronting the little eminence where the prisoners were shot
+was the scene where their ill-concerted mutiny commenced. To the right
+stood the long range of building on which they had expended much of
+their ammunition for the purpose of destroying their officers. The rest
+of the panorama was made up of an immense view of forest below them, and
+upright masses of mountains above them. Over these, heavy bodies of mist
+were slowly sailing, giving a sombre appearance to the primeval woods
+which, in general, covered both mountains and plains. The atmosphere
+indicated an inter-tropical morning during the rainy season, and the sun
+shone resplendently between dense columns of clouds.
+
+"At half-past seven o'clock the condemned men asked to be allowed to eat
+a hearty meal, as they said persons about to be executed in Guinea were
+always indulged with a good repast. It is remarkable that these unhappy
+creatures ate most voraciously, even while they were being brought out
+of their cell for execution.
+
+"A little before the mournful procession commenced, the condemned men
+were dressed from head to foot in white habiliments trimmed with black;
+their arms were bound with cords. This is not usual in military
+executions, but was deemed necessary on the present occasion. An attempt
+to escape on the part of the condemned would have been productive of
+much confusion, and was properly guarded against.
+
+"The condemned men displayed no unmanly fear. On the contrary, they
+steadily kept step to the Dead March which the band played; yet the
+certainty of death threw a cadaverous and ghastly hue over their black
+features, while their singular and appropriate costume, and the three
+coffins being borne before them, altogether rendered it a frightful
+picture; hence it was not to be wondered at that two European soldiers
+fainted.
+
+"The mutineers marched abreast. The tall form and horrid looks of Dāaga
+were almost appalling. The looks of Ogston were sullen, calm, and
+determined; those of Coffin seemed to indicate resignation.
+
+"At eight o'clock they arrived at the spot where three graves were dug;
+here their coffins were deposited. The condemned men were made to face
+to westward; three sides of a hollow square were formed, flanked on one
+side by a detachment of the 89th Regiment and a party of artillery,
+while the recruits, many of whom shared the guilt of the culprits, were
+appropriately placed in the line opposite them. The firing party were a
+little in advance of the recruits.
+
+"The sentence of the courts-martial and other necessary documents having
+been read by the fort adjutant, Mr. Meehan, the chaplain of the forces,
+read some prayers appropriated for these melancholy occasions. The
+clergyman then shook hands with the three men about to be sent into
+another state of existence. Dāaga and Ogston coolly gave their hands;
+Coffin wrang the chaplain's hand affectionately, saying, in tolerable
+English, 'I am now done with the world.'
+
+"The arms of the condemned men, as has been before stated, were bound,
+but in such a manner as to allow them to bring their hands to their
+heads. Their nightcaps were drawn over their eyes. Coffin allowed his to
+remain, but Ogston and Dāaga pushed theirs up again. The former did this
+calmly; the latter showed great wrath, seeming to think himself
+insulted; and his deep, metallic voice sounded in anger above that of
+the provost-marshal, as the latter gave the words, 'Ready! present!' But
+at this instant his vociferous daring forsook him. As the men levelled
+their muskets at him, with inconceivable rapidity he sprang bodily
+round, still preserving his squatting posture, and received the fire
+from behind; while the less noisy, but more brave, Ogston, looked the
+firing-party full in the face as they discharged their fatal volley.
+
+"In one instant all three fell dead, almost all the balls of the firing
+party having taken effect.[53] The savage appearance and manner of Dāaga
+excited awe. Admiration was felt for the calm bravery of Ogston, while
+Edward Coffin's fate excited commiseration.
+
+"There were many spectators of this dreadful scene, and amongst others a
+great concourse of negroes. Most of these expressed their hopes that
+after this terrible example the recruits would make good soldiers."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The foregoing account is identical with that in the regimental records,
+with the exception that the Yorubas are not in the latter credited with
+so large a share in the mutiny. According to Colonel Bush's account, the
+greater majority of the mutineers were Popos, Congos, and Eboes; the
+Yorubas who took part in it being very few in number. On the other hand,
+both Sergeant Merry and Corporal Plague, who defended the officers'
+quarters against the recruits, were Yorubas.
+
+It is, perhaps, needless to add, that after this no more wholesale
+draftings of slaves into the regiment took place.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 46: Now spelt Popos.]
+
+[Footnote 47: The Yorubas are a warlike Mohammedan tribe living in and
+around Lagos. The Houssa Constabulary is largely recruited from them.]
+
+[Footnote 48: This is the manner in which West African savages usually
+fire, and it is dictated by motives of sound prudence, for the
+Birmingham muskets with which they are supplied by British traders are
+so unsafe (the barrel not uncommonly being made of old iron piping), and
+the charges of powder used are so immense, that the bursting of a piece
+is looked upon as an ordinary occurrence; and when firing they like to
+keep their muskets as far removed from their bodies as possible. The
+majority of the mutineers fired in this manner, because, having been
+less than three weeks in the regiment, they had not yet been drilled
+with arms.]
+
+[Footnote 49: All young ensigns just arrived from England to join the
+regiment.]
+
+[Footnote 50: Sergeant-Major D. Cantrell. He had been the first to give
+the alarm.]
+
+[Footnote 51: Eleven miles distant from San Josef.]
+
+[Footnote 52: Torrens was sentenced to death, but, at the intercession
+of Colonel Bush, the sentence was commuted to imprisonment for life.]
+
+[Footnote 53: The firing party was furnished by the 1st West India
+Regiment.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+THE PIRARA EXPEDITION, 1842--CHANGES IN THE WEST AFRICAN GARRISONS--THE
+APPOLLONIA EXPEDITION, 1848.
+
+
+On the 7th of December, 1837, the head-quarters of the 1st West India
+Regiment embarked at Trinidad for St. Lucia, leaving one company at St.
+James' in the former island; and, after a detention of ten days in
+quarantine at Pigeon Island, landed on the 24th of December at Gros
+Islet, St. Lucia, and occupied Morne Fortune Barracks and Fort. The
+detachments were stationed in Tobago, Demerara, and St. Vincent.
+
+In the early part of the year 1839, the strength of the regiment being
+very much above its establishment, owing to the large drafts of recruits
+from Sierra Leone, Lieutenant-General Sir S.F. Whittingham issued an
+order, dated February 1st, authorising an augmentation to twelve
+companies. On the 1st of July of the same year the regiment was further
+increased to thirteen companies, it being notified at the same time that
+it was to be considered only a temporary arrangement, as the surplus
+over 1000 men were eventually to form another corps.
+
+On December 7th, 1839, the head-quarters of the regiment proceeded from
+St. Lucia to Demerara, to relieve the 76th Regiment, which was suffering
+heavily from the prevailing epidemic of yellow fever, arriving at the
+latter colony, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Capadose, on
+December 13th. The distribution of the regiment was then: Head-quarters
+and 2 companies at Demerara, 3 companies at Barbados, 1 at Trinidad, 1
+at Tobago, 1 at St. Lucia, 1 at St. Vincent, 1 at Grenada, 1 at
+Dominica, and 1 at Antigua.
+
+By Horse Guards order of the 1st of July, 1840, the Royal African Corps
+and the three supernumerary companies of the 1st West India Regiment
+were formed into one corps, and designated the 3rd West India Regiment;
+the 1st West India Regiment remaining at the ordinary establishment of
+ten companies.
+
+New colours were presented to the regiment at Demerara on May 24th,
+1841.
+
+In September and October of the same year a violent epidemic of yellow
+fever broke out in Demerara, and the mortality amongst the men of the
+52nd Regiment was so alarming that that corps was moved to Berbice, and
+the entire duties of the garrison fell upon the 1st West India Regiment.
+The whole of the officers of the 52nd Regiment occupying the west wing
+of the Georgetown Barracks fell victims to this dreadful scourge, as
+did Captain French and Lieutenants de Winton and Archdale of the 1st
+West India Regiment.
+
+On the 11th of January, 1842, a detachment of the regiment, consisting
+of two lieutenants (Bingham and Wieburg), two sergeants and twenty-seven
+rank and file, left Georgetown, Demerara, by direction of the
+Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies (Lord John Russell), to
+proceed to Pirara, on the south-western frontier of British Guiana, and
+expel a party of Brazilians who had for some time encroached on British
+territory. The country through which the party had to pass was
+unexplored and almost unknown, and the duties were most arduous. It was
+intended to reach Pirara by ascending the Essequibo and Rypumani Rivers,
+and, to effect this, a particular description of boat, locally called
+_corials_, had to be built, each capable of holding eight men, including
+the Indians who paddled. During the journey seventy-three rapids or
+falls were crossed, in most instances the _corials_ being unladen and
+the stores carried above the falls; and it was not until February 12th
+that Lieutenant Bingham's party reached a point on the Rypumani, eleven
+miles from Pirara. Next day they took possession of the village of
+Pirara, which they found occupied by a detachment of Brazilian troops
+who had been quietly sent over the border. Having selected and fortified
+a position, and raised temporary shelter for his men, Lieutenant
+Bingham--as the Brazilian commander declined to withdraw--despatched
+Lieutenant Bush, 1st West India Regiment, who had accompanied the party
+as a volunteer, to Georgetown for further instructions. That officer
+arrived there on March 11th, and on April 19th he again started with a
+small reinforcement under Ensign Stewart. This second party reached
+Pirara on May 21st, and found the detachment all well, but half-starved,
+as the Brazilians refused to sell them anything, and the stores had been
+some time exhausted. However, on the arrival of the reinforcement the
+Brazilian troops considered it advisable to withdraw across the
+frontier; and, with the exception of a few occasional night forays made
+by half-breeds and Indians in the pay of the Brazilians, the detachment
+met with no further opposition.
+
+In 1843 it was decided to make an alteration in the system under which
+the West Coast of Africa was continuously garrisoned by the 3rd West
+India Regiment, and to remove that corps to the West Indies. The West
+African garrisons were to be composed of two companies from each of the
+three West India regiments; and, in accordance with this scheme, two
+companies of the 1st West India Regiment, under Captain L.S. O'Connor,
+embarked at Barbados for Sierra Leone on March 22nd, 1843, arriving at
+the latter place in the month of May of the same year. Early in 1844 the
+3rd West India Regiment left West Africa for the Bahamas, and the two
+companies of the 1st West India Regiment, with one of the 3rd West India
+Regiment, composed the garrison of Sierra Leone, while that of the
+Gambia consisted of two companies of the 2nd West India Regiment and
+one of the 3rd. This arrangement was almost at once upset by the
+necessity of furnishing a garrison for the Gold Coast, over which the
+Crown had, in 1843, resumed jurisdiction, as it was suspected that the
+Government of the merchants, which had been established at Cape Coast
+Castle since 1831, connived at the maintenance of the slave trade; and,
+in January, 1844, one captain, two subalterns, and 100 men of the 1st
+West India Regiment left Sierra Leone for the Gold Coast.
+
+In the same year, two companies of the regiment, under the command of
+Captain Robeson, proceeded from Demerara to Jamaica, disembarking there
+on June 1st. This was the first occasion on which any portion of the
+corps was stationed in that island.
+
+On the 25th of February, 1845, the head-quarters, with the Grenadier and
+No. 8 Companies, embarked at Demerara in the _Princess Royal_ transport,
+and sailed for Jamaica, to relieve the head-quarters of the 2nd West
+India Regiment ordered to Nassau, disembarking at Port Royal on March
+6th. The distribution of the regiment was then as follows: The
+Grenadier, No. 1, No. 8, and the Light Company in Jamaica,[54] No. 5 at
+Demerara, No. 2 at Trinidad, No. 3 at Dominica, No. 6 at Grenada, No. 4
+at Sierra Leone, and No. 7 at Cape Coast Castle. During the last six
+months of this year (1845) over 300 recruits joined the head-quarters
+from West Africa.
+
+In 1846, No. 5 Company was removed from Demerara to Tobago, and the
+detachments at Dominica and Grenada rejoined head-quarters in Jamaica,
+where No. 2 and No. 5 Companies also rejoined on the 16th of December,
+1847.[55]
+
+In the beginning of the year 1848, the King of Appollonia, a state on
+the western frontier of the Gold Coast Colony, closed the roads leading
+to Cape Coast Castle, stopped all trade, and maltreated several British
+subjects. Messengers were sent to him by the Lieutenant-Governor
+demanding explanation and redress, with no other result than the
+detention and imprisonment of the messengers; and matters were at last
+brought to a crisis by the murder of the French Commandant of Assinee
+and his boat's crew, the pillaging of Dutch canoes at Axim, and the
+capture of some Dutch subjects.
+
+The only force Mr. Winniett, the Lieutenant-Governor of the Gold Coast,
+had at his disposal was No. 7 Company of the 1st West India Regiment,
+then commanded by Lieutenant E.H. Bingham; but, with the assistance of
+some influential merchants, he succeeded in raising an expeditionary
+force of from 4000 to 5000 natives. On the 24th of March, 1848, the
+Lieutenant-Governor marched, with half the native levies and the company
+of the 1st West India Regiment, from Cape Coast Castle to the then Dutch
+settlement of Axim, 120 miles distant from Cape Coast and about twenty
+miles from Atemboo, or Attaambu, the King of Appollonia's chief town and
+residence. By the 3rd of April the whole force was concentrated at Axim,
+and on the 6th, at 5 a.m., it moved onwards towards Appollonia.
+
+The country consisting of impenetrable forest, the force had to march
+from Axim to Appollonia along the sandy beach; and there were the mouths
+of two considerable rivers to be crossed. The first river, the Ancobra,
+was reached at 6 a.m.; and, although a very heavy sea was breaking on
+the bar, the passage of the stream was commenced in canoes, which had
+been brought from Axim for that purpose. The first detachment consisted
+of the native allies, and, as soon as the canoes gained mid-stream,
+several hundred armed Appollonians appeared on the further bank, and
+opened fire on them as they came within range. Several natives were
+struck, and three of the canoes being upset the remainder returned to
+the bank they had just left.
+
+It being found impracticable to induce the native auxiliaries to make a
+further attempt to force the passage, this duty devolved upon the
+company of the 1st West India Regiment, which the Lieutenant-Governor
+had originally intended holding in reserve; and, under cover of a fire
+from two rocket-troughs, it crossed the river in the canoes, driving the
+Appollonians, in spite of a smart resistance, into the bush. The
+remainder of the force then passed over, several natives being drowned
+in the surf during the passage; and at 10 a.m. they pushed on, reaching
+the Appollonian village of Asantah about 1 p.m. This place was found to
+be deserted, and here the force encamped for the night.
+
+Next morning at daybreak a further advance was made, and about 6 a.m.
+the Abmoussa River--or, rather, Lagoon--was reached. A very heavy and
+dangerous surf was breaking on the bar, and the dense bush on the
+further bank, which grew close down to the water's edge, was observed to
+be full of armed men.
+
+The company of the 1st West India Regiment was again called upon to lead
+the way, and the men, embarking in the canoes, paddled out into the
+breakers. A continued and furious fusillade was at once opened by the
+concealed enemy upon the men, who were unable to reply, as their
+attention was entirely occupied in keeping the canoes from capsizing.
+Fortunately, the Appollonians fired wildly, and their powder was of bad
+quality; for, although almost every man of the detachment was struck by
+slugs or fragments of iron, only eleven were wounded, and those
+slightly. A canoe was, however, unhappily upset, and two men beaten
+against the rocks and drowned. The company formed up on landing, and
+advanced steadily through the bush against the enemy, who offered but a
+feeble resistance and soon retired altogether. One man was shot dead
+while stepping ashore, an ambushed native firing at him at the distance
+of a few feet only. The native allies now passed over, and the march was
+continued. Parties of the enemy were observed hovering round the flanks,
+but no attack was made, and at 3 p.m. a halt was ordered at the village
+of Barcoo.
+
+The force was here divided into two parts, of which one, consisting
+entirely of natives, was to move through the bush and prevent the king
+escaping inland; while the other, consisting of the company of the 1st
+West India Regiment with the remainder of the native allies, was to
+march along the beach and attack the town in front. This movement would
+probably have been successful, had the division of natives performed the
+duty allotted to them; but, being fired upon by some ambushed
+Appollonians, they refused to proceed further, and when the company of
+the 1st West India Regiment reached Atemboo, they found it entirely
+deserted.
+
+The success which had so far attended the expedition, however, produced
+such an effect upon the native mind that, on March 9th, the principal
+chiefs of Appollonia came in to Atemboo to make submission; and, as it
+was reported that the king was in hiding in the immediate neighbourhood,
+parties were sent out in search of him. On the 18th his wives and family
+were captured to the westward, near the old fort, and the day following,
+a party of the 1st West India Regiment brought in a body of 121 men, all
+heavily manacled with irons weighing from fifty to ninety pounds, and
+who had been intended to be sacrificed at an approaching "custom." Two
+of these men thus unexpectedly saved from a horrible death volunteered
+to point out where the king was concealed, and some men of the regiment
+being sent out under their guidance, succeeded in capturing him in his
+hiding-place, in the midst of a mangrove swamp.
+
+The object of the expedition being accomplished by the capture of the
+king, the force moved back to Axim, on the 21st of March, and, on the
+evening of the same day, the Lieutenant-Governor, with the captive king
+and the company of the 1st West India Regiment, embarked on board the
+merchant brig _Governor_, arriving at Cape Coast Castle on the 24th.
+
+Lieutenant-Governor Winniett in his despatch says: "I cannot speak too
+highly of the detachment of the 1st West India Regiment. During its
+march of more than 120 miles, sometimes through very bad roads, and
+under the powerful rays of the sun, the crossing of five rivers, and
+other circumstances of disadvantage, no complaints were heard, neither
+was a man seen in a state of intoxication during the campaign. Mr.
+Bingham, the officer commanding the detachment, was most active in
+executing all orders entrusted to his care, and I have great pleasure in
+bringing him under your Lordship's notice."
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 54: The companies in Jamaica were detached thus: No. 1, No. 8,
+and Grenadier Company at Up Park Camp. The Light Company between Port
+Antonio and Montego Bay.]
+
+[Footnote 55: The distribution in Jamaica then was:
+
+    Grenadier, Light, No. 2,   } at Up Park Camp.
+      and No. 5 Companies      }
+                No. 1, at Spanish Town.
+                No. 8, at Port Royal.
+                No. 3, at Falmouth       }   To occupy posts vacated
+                No. 6, at Lucea          }     by the 38th Regiment.
+
+]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+INDIAN DISTURBANCES IN HONDURAS, 1848-9--THE ESCORT TO COOMASSIE,
+1848--THE SHERBRO EXPEDITION, 1849--ESCORT TO RIO NUNEZ, 1850.
+
+
+While No. 7 Company had thus been engaged on the Gold Coast, the
+quinquennial relief for the West African garrisons had sailed from the
+West Indies, No. 2 and No. 5 Companies, 1st West India Regiment, having
+embarked at Jamaica on February 21st, 1848. They arrived at Sierra Leone
+in April, and No. 5 Company being there landed to relieve No. 4, No. 2
+proceeded to Cape Coast Castle to relieve No. 7. The two relieved
+companies rejoined the head-quarters at Jamaica on July 2nd, 1848. No. 8
+Company having been sent to Nassau in February, and the light company in
+July, while No. 1 had been despatched to Honduras in May, the
+distribution of the regiment in August, 1848, was as follows: 2
+companies in West Africa, 2 at Nassau, 1 in Honduras, and 5 in Jamaica.
+
+No. 1 Company had been sent to Honduras in reply to an urgent appeal for
+a reinforcement from the Honduras Government, that colony being
+threatened with the horrors of an Indian war. In 1847 a war broke out
+between the Yucatecans and the Indians, and caused much anxiety to the
+British colony, whose strict neutrality satisfied neither of the
+contending parties. The Yucatecans, being driven out of the southern
+portion of Yucatan, took refuge in our territory, and raids and
+reprisals were frequent between them and the Santa Cruz Indians. In 1848
+the town of Bacalar, situated on the shores of a lake, about twenty
+miles from the northern frontier of British Honduras, was captured by
+the Indians, and the fugitives, streaming into the colony, spread alarm
+amongst the colonists. It was at this time that reinforcements were
+applied for, and No. 1 Company, under Major Luke Smyth O'Connor,
+despatched from Jamaica.
+
+On arriving at Belize the company was at once moved up to the Hondo, and
+towards the end of May a portion of it proceeded on escort duty with a
+British commissioner to Bacalar to endeavour to arrange a peace. That
+town had been the scene of the most frightful atrocities, and the
+streets were found strewn with the dead bodies of men, women, and
+children. Negotiations failing, the escort returned to the Hondo.
+
+Collisions now became frequent between the Yucatecans and the Indians,
+and our northern border became a rallying point for both sides. The
+small British force was continually harassed by alarms and forced
+marches taken to prevent violation of British territory, until towards
+the close of 1848, it being rumoured that the Indians intended to cross
+the Hondo and sack Belize, it was withdrawn from the north for the
+protection of that town. Additional reinforcements were now asked for,
+and on March 29th, 1849, No. 4 Company, under Captain Meehan, embarked
+at Jamaica for Honduras.
+
+In January, 1849, No. 1 Company had again advanced to the Hondo, and
+were within a few miles of Chac Creek on that river, when the sanguinary
+struggle between the Yucatecans and Indians took place. Hearing the
+sound of firing the troops marched to the spot, and finding the Indians
+employed in roasting the dead bodies of the defeated Yucatecans, were
+only with the utmost difficulty restrained from attacking them. But the
+most strict orders had been given for the preservation of British
+neutrality, and nothing could be done. Indeed, the Indians were
+themselves well aware of the advantages which they derived from our
+neutrality, and were exceedingly careful not to come into contact with
+the British; even going so far as on one occasion to shoot a chief and
+flog six men, who had been accused of committing an outrage across the
+Hondo.
+
+In March, 1849, Major O'Connor visited Bacalar to endeavour to make
+peace, but without success; and the two companies of the regiment
+remained stationed on the Hondo, amid the same scenes of horror, until
+February, 1852, when they rejoined head-quarters at Jamaica.
+
+To return to the companies in West Africa. In September, 1848, Mr.
+Winniett, the Lieutenant-Governor of the Gold Coast, received
+instructions from the Secretary of State for the Colonies to proceed on
+a mission to Coomassie, the capital of the Ashanti kingdom, for the
+purpose of establishing friendly relations between Great Britain and
+that power. Captain Powell, 1st West India Regiment, was then in command
+of No. 2 Company, stationed at Cape Coast Castle, and he, with
+forty-eight men of the regiment, accompanied the Lieutenant-Governor as
+an escort.
+
+The mission left Cape Coast Castle on the 28th of September, 1848,
+crossed the River Prah on October 4th, and on the 8th reached the
+village of Karsi, about two miles from Coomassie. There the party halted
+to prepare for the entry into the capital, and, at noon, the King's
+messengers having informed them that everything was in readiness for
+their reception, they proceeded towards Coomassie.
+
+Captain Powell says: "At a distance of about a mile from the town, a
+party of messengers with gold-handled swords of office, arrived with the
+king's compliments. After halting for a short time, we proceeded to the
+entrance of the first street, and then formed in order of procession,
+the escort leading. Presently a party of the king's linguists, with four
+large state umbrellas, ensigns of chieftainship, came up to request us
+to halt for a few minutes under the shade of a large banyan tree in the
+street, to give the king a little more time to prepare to receive us.
+After a brief delay of about twenty minutes, during which a large party
+of the king's soldiers fired a salute about a hundred yards distant from
+us, we moved on to the market-place, where the king and his chiefs were
+seated under their large umbrellas, according to the custom of the
+country on the reception of strangers of distinction. They, with their
+numerous captains and attendants occupied three sides of a large square,
+and formed a continuous line about 600 yards in length, and about ten
+yards in depth. After we had passed along about three-fourths of the
+line, we found the king surrounded by about twenty officers of his
+household, and a large number of messengers with their gold-handled
+swords and canes of office. Several very large umbrellas, consisting of
+silk velvet of different colours, shaded him and his suite from the sun.
+These umbrellas were surmounted by rude images, representing birds and
+beasts, overlaid with gold; the king's chair was richly decorated with
+gold; and the display of golden ornaments about his own person and those
+of his suite was most magnificent. The lumps of gold adorning the wrists
+of the King's attendants, and many of the principal chiefs, were so
+large that they must have been quite fatiguing to the wearers. We
+occupied about an hour in moving in procession from the banyan tree,
+where we had rested on entering the town, to the end of the line
+prepared for our reception; after which we proceeded to an open space
+at some distance from the market-place, and there took our seats. At
+3.15 p.m. the chiefs commenced moving in procession before us, and this
+lasted until 6 p.m. Those whom we had first saluted in the market-place
+passed us first. Each chief was preceded by his band of rude music,
+consisting chiefly of drums and horns, followed by a body of soldiers
+under arms, and shaded by a large umbrella. The king was preceded by
+many of the officers of his household, and his messengers with the
+gold-handled swords, etc. etc. When he came opposite the governor, and
+received our military salute, he stopped, and approaching him took him
+cordially by the hand. After the king, other chiefs, and a large body of
+troops, passed in due order; and at 6 p.m. the ceremony closed."
+
+At 9.30 a.m. on October 26th, 1848, the mission left Coomassie on its
+return journey to the coast, and arrived at Cape Coast Castle on
+November 4th. This was the first occasion on which a British Governor,
+or a body of regular troops, had ever visited Coomassie.
+
+In March, 1849, a further change took place in the distribution of the
+regiment in the West Indies, No. 7 Company, under Captain R. Hughes,
+proceeding to Nassau from Jamaica. There were thus the head-quarters and
+3 companies in Jamaica, 3 in Nassau, 2 in Honduras, and 2 in West
+Africa.
+
+In June, 1849; the Acting Governor of Sierra Leone found that the state
+of affairs in Sherbro, a low-lying tract of country some seventy-five
+miles to the southward of Sierra Leone, imperatively called upon the
+British to take steps for putting an end to the war which for a long
+time had been carried on between the rival chiefs of the Caulker family,
+and had utterly paralysed trade. H.M.S. _Alert_ and _Adelaide_ were to
+be employed, but as a military force was required to proceed with the
+naval one, the under-mentioned force embarked in the Colonial steamer
+_Pluto_ on the 18th of June: Captain Grange, Lieutenant Jones, and 45
+men of the 1st West India Regiment, and 44 men of the 3rd West India
+Regiment. The expedition arrived at Yawrey Bay, at the mouth of the
+Cockboro River, on the 19th of June, when a stockaded fort was shelled
+and destroyed by the _Adelaide_. The expedition then proceeded to
+Bendoo, and after some delay, owing to the difficulty in inducing the
+chiefs to come in, returned to Yawrey Bay on the 29th, where
+negotiations were held and a treaty of peace between the Government and
+rival chiefs signed. The detachments rejoined at Freetown, Sierra Leone,
+on July 7th.
+
+On the 29th of November, 1849, Lieutenant Tunstall and 34 men of No. 2
+Company of the 1st West India Regiment, left Cape Coast Castle and
+proceeded to Appollonia in canoes, in aid of the civil power. After an
+absence of three weeks, during which they endured great hardships from
+exposure and fatigue, they rejoined their detachment at Cape Coast.
+
+In the beginning of the year 1850, the Rio Nunez was in such a disturbed
+state as to necessitate the Governor of Sierra Leone taking steps for
+the protection of British subjects there. Some influential chiefs of the
+river having also besought the intervention of the Government to restore
+peace, commissioners were appointed, and as war was actually being
+carried on at the time, a military force was detailed to accompany them.
+This force consisted of Lieutenant Searle and 33 men of the 1st West
+India Regiment and Captain Prendergast and 34 men of the 3rd West India
+Regiment, and it embarked in H.M.S. _Teazer_ on the 22nd of February,
+1850. The _Teazer_ arrived at the Rio Nunez on the 24th, and proceeded
+up the river to Ropass, a town some distance up the stream, where the
+commissioners landed with the escort. A "palaver" was held at this place
+on March 1st, the rival chieftains being attended by large bodies of
+armed men, but no satisfactory arrangement was arrived at, and next day
+the commissioners and troops proceeded to Walkariah, a town higher up
+the river. Here matters were finally amicably settled, and the party
+returned to Sierra Leone on March 9th.
+
+In the West Indies there had been little change since 1849, except that
+on the 13th of February, 1851, the head-quarters and two companies were
+removed from Up Park Camp to Spanish Town; and a detachment consisting
+of half a company, under Ensign Cave, was sent to Turk's Island in
+December, 1851. This latter rejoined head-quarters in Jamaica in
+January, 1852; and in February, No. 1 and No. 4 Companies, under Captain
+Robeson, rejoined from Honduras. In the same year, however, they again
+went on detachment: No. 1, under Captain Grange, to St. Christopher's,
+and No. 4, under Lieutenant Imes, to Barbados. The distribution of the
+regiment in September, 1852, was thus: the Grenadier, No. 3 and No. 6
+Companies, at Jamaica; the Light, No. 7 and No. 8 Companies, at Nassau,
+No. 4 at St. Christopher's, No. 1 at Barbados, No. 5 at Sierra Leone,
+and No. 2 at Cape Coast Castle.
+
+In February, 1852, Major L. Smyth O'Connor, 1st West India Regiment, had
+arrived at Sierra Leone and assumed command of the troops in West
+Africa, and finding in May that the company on the Gold Coast was
+reduced by deaths to only 50 rank and file, he recommended that it
+should be recalled to Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast Corps, then almost
+completed, being quite sufficient for the garrison of the Gold Coast.
+
+In September, 1852, Major O'Connor was appointed Governor of the Gambia,
+and as by Horse Guards letter of September 20th, 1852, "it was
+considered expedient that he should continue invested with the command
+of the troops on the West Coast of Africa, and move the head-quarters
+to the Gambia," this was done in October, 1852.
+
+The War Office having approved of Major O'Connor's recommendation, No. 2
+Company, 50 strong, arrived at Sierra Leone from Cape Coast Castle on
+March 20th, 1853.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+THE STORMING OF SABBAJEE, 1853--THE RELIEF OF CHRISTIANSBORG, 1854.
+
+
+On March 23rd, 1853, No. 3 and No. 6 Companies, under Captain A.W.
+Murray and Lieutenant Upton, embarked at Port Royal, Jamaica, in the
+troopship _Resistance_, for the relief of the West African garrisons. On
+May 17th, the _Resistance_ arrived at the Gambia with four out of the
+six companies forming the relief for the detachments of the three West
+India regiments, and reinforcements being urgently required for the
+suppression of a hostile movement amongst the Mohammedans at Sabbajee,
+they were landed.
+
+On the 25th of May, Lieutenant-Colonel O'Connor prepared to take the
+field with a force of 603 men, consisting of 463 of the 1st, 2nd, and
+3rd West India Regiments, 35 pensioners, and 105 of the Gambia Militia.
+A field battery, consisting of 2 six-pounder field-guns and 2 howitzers,
+was also organised. On the 30th May, the brigade marched from Bathurst
+to Josswung, a distance of eight miles, where a camp was formed; and on
+June 1st, the force advanced to the attack of Sabbajee.[56]
+
+Sabbajee was one of the oldest Marabout towns in Combo, and boasted the
+possession of the largest mosque in that portion of Africa. The town,
+more than a mile in circumference, was surrounded by a strong stockade,
+double ditches, and outward abattis; and the inhabitants, who could
+muster 3000 fighting men, were, from their predatory and warlike habits,
+the dread of the surrounding country.
+
+On approaching the town, a strong body of the enemy was observed
+stationed round the mosque, while the stockade was lined with men. A
+portion of the stockade presented the appearance of having been removed,
+but had in reality only been laid lengthwise, so as to form a very
+formidable obstacle; while a deep trench dug in rear was crowded with
+men, who, in perfect security, could fire upon the advancing British,
+should they fall into the trap which had been laid for them, and attempt
+to carry the town at this point.
+
+The force was drawn up in three divisions: the 1st West India Regiment,
+under Captain A.W. Murray, forming the centre division; the 2nd West
+India Regiment, under Captain Anderson, the right; and the 3rd West
+India Regiment, under Captain Brabazon, the left. At about four hundred
+yards from the stockade the field battery opened fire, and with such
+precision that after a few rounds the roof of the mosque and those of
+the adjacent houses were in flames. Observing the disorder caused
+amongst the enemy by the burning of their sacred building,
+Lieutenant-Colonel O'Connor determined to seize the opportunity, and
+storm.
+
+The right and left divisions extended in skirmishing order, the centre
+remaining in column, and the whole advanced to the assault. The enemy
+kept up a heavy fire from the loop-holes of their stockade, over which
+the green flag was flying; but at the same moment the three divisions,
+which had in advancing formed a crescent, rushed at the stockade at
+three different points, and, clambering over, got at the enemy with the
+bayonet. This was more than they could stand, and abandoning their
+stockade, they fled down the streets and escaped through sally-ports in
+the rear of the town.
+
+A strong body of fanatics, however, still held the mosque, the fire in
+the roof of which they had succeeded in extinguishing, and, amid the
+beating of war-drums and cries of "Allah" from the priests, kept up a
+smart fire upon the troops as they entered the large central square in
+which the mosque stood. To have stormed the building would have involved
+great sacrifice of life; the men, therefore, were directed to occupy the
+houses enclosing the square, and open fire, until the rockets could be
+brought into play.
+
+The second rocket fired whizzed through the roof of the mosque, the
+defenders of which, however, only increased their drumming and shouts of
+defiance, for they were secure in their belief of the local tradition,
+which said that the mosque was impregnable and indestructible. In a very
+few minutes flames began to appear on the roof, and, though the enemy
+worked hard to extinguish it, it rapidly increased, until the mosque was
+untenable. Dozens of the fanatics blew out their brains rather than
+surrender, while others threw themselves out of the windows and
+passages, and rushed sword in hand, in a state of frenzy, upon the
+British. The coolness and steadiness of the troops was, however, more
+than a match for the mad rage of the Mandingoes, who were shot down one
+after another, until the whole of the defenders of the mosque were
+killed or made prisoners. The remainder of the enemy, who fled at the
+storming of the stockade, had taken refuge in the neighbouring woods,
+and, the object of the engagement being accomplished by the capture of
+the town, they were not pursued.
+
+The stockade and mosque being destroyed, the force left Sabbajee on June
+4th, and returned to Josswung, where, by an arrangement with the King of
+Combo, a portion of that kingdom, including the town of Sabbajee, was
+ceded to the British.
+
+The mosque was a singularly strong building, and for a day and a half
+resisted every effort to pull it down, being eventually reduced to
+ruins by blasting the walls with bags of gunpowder. It consisted of a
+large central hall, with walls made of baked clay, three feet in
+thickness, and an external corridor running round the whole
+circumference of the inner apartment. The roof, conical in shape, was
+supported by six masonry pillars.
+
+As the Gambia was still in an unsettled state, Lieutenant-Colonel
+O'Connor deemed it prudent to increase its garrison at the expense of
+that of Sierra Leone. No. 6 Company of the 1st West India Regiment was
+therefore detained at Bathurst, and on June 8th, No. 3 Company, under
+Captain Murray, proceeded in the _Resistance_ to Sierra Leone. On
+arriving at that station, on June 17th, Captain Murray assumed the
+command of the troops.
+
+No. 2 Company embarked at Sierra Leone for Jamaica on June 22nd,
+arriving at Kingston on August 5th. On October 18th the _Resistance_
+returned from the West Indies with the remaining companies destined for
+the quinquennial relief, and No. 5 Company, embarking in her on October
+22nd, reached Jamaica on November 25th. The West African garrisons were
+now as follows: At the Gambia, one company of the 1st West India
+Regiment, two of the 2nd, and one of the 3rd; at Sierra Leone, one of
+the 1st West India Regiment, and one of the 3rd.
+
+In the West Indies the following changes had taken place: Nos. 7 and 8
+Companies had been moved in August from Nassau to Barbados and Dominica
+respectively, and, in July, the light company had proceeded from Nassau
+to Jamaica. In December, 1853, the distribution of the regiment was then
+as follows: 4 companies at Jamaica, 2 at Barbados, 1 at Dominica, 1 at
+St. Christopher's, 1 at Sierra Leone, and 1 at the Gambia.[57]
+
+In September, 1854, the inhabitants of Christiansborg, a Danish
+settlement on the Gold Coast four miles from Accra, which had been
+recently purchased by the British, rose in rebellion against the
+Colonial authorities. The only armed force then on the Gold Coast
+consisted of the Gold Coast Artillery, recruited from amongst the Fanti
+tribes, and this body the rebels blockaded in the Castle of Christiansborg.
+On the outbreak of the rebellion, the Lieutenant-Governor of the Gold
+Coast at once sent to Sierra Leone for assistance; and, on the 12th of
+October, the following detachments embarked at Sierra Leone in H.M.S.
+_Britomart_ and _Ferret_: Lieutenant Strachan and 33 men of the 1st West
+India Regiment, Captain Rookes and 46 men of the 2nd West India
+Regiment, Lieutenant Haneahan and 31 men of the 3rd West India Regiment.
+From the Gambia were also despatched in the Colonial steamer _Dover_, on
+the 24th of October: Ensign Anderson and 25 men of the 1st, Captain
+Mockler and 70 men of the 2nd, and Lieutenant Hill and 23 men of the 3rd
+West India Regiment.
+
+The troops from Sierra Leone and the Gambia arrived at Christiansborg on
+the 27th of October and the 7th of November respectively. Several small
+skirmishes had taken place between the Gold Coast artillery and the
+rebels without either side gaining any material advantage; but, on the
+arrival of the reinforcement from Sierra Leone, the siege was raised,
+and the natives retired inland to some villages on the plain behind
+Christiansborg. There, like all undisciplined bodies, they gradually
+melted away; the chiefs, finding their followers abandoning them, were
+compelled to ask for terms; and directly negotiations were opened, the
+detachments of the three West India regiments re-embarked to return to
+Sierra Leone, sailing from Christiansborg on the 12th of November.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 56: See map.]
+
+[Footnote 57: This year, 1853, appears to have been particularly
+unhealthy in the West Indies, to judge from the following inscription,
+taken from an intramural monument in Kingston Cathedral Church:
+
+TO THE MEMORY OF THE FOLLOWING:
+
+Capt. Robt. Mostyn, 3rd W.I.R., died of yellow fever, at Nassau,
+Bahamas, 23rd July, 1853, ęt. 27.
+
+Ensign John Alex. Gordon Pringle, 3rd W.I.R., died of yellow fever at
+Kingston, Jamaica, 31st July, 1853, ęt. 21.
+
+Assist.-Surg. Walter William Harris, 1st W.I.R., attached to 3rd W.I.R.,
+died at Up Park Camp, of yellow fever, 4th Aug., 1853, ęt. 24.
+
+Lieut. John Maryon Wilson, 3rd W.I.R., died at Up Park Camp, of yellow
+fever, 13th Aug., 1853, ęt. 22.
+
+Eliza Chancellor Wilson, wife of the above, died at Up Park Camp, of
+yellow fever, 5th Sept., 1853, ęt. 22.
+
+Cath. Elizabeth, wife of Lieut. Wm. Hen. Wilson Hawtayne, 3rd W.I.R.,
+died of yellow fever at Nassau, Bahamas, 9th Aug., 1853, ęt. 23.
+
+Asst.-Surg. Gideon Jas. Wm. Griffith, 3rd W.I.R., died of yellow fever
+at Lucia, 26th Aug., 1853, ęt. 23.
+
+Also, Selina Maria, wife of Capt. C.S.H. Hingston, 3rd W.I.R., died at
+Up Park Camp, 11th April, 1854, ęt. 23.
+
+    Erected by the officers of the 1st and 3rd W.I. Regts.
+
+]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+THE TWO EXPEDITIONS TO MALAGEAH, 1854 AND 1855.
+
+
+The troops that had been despatched from Sierra Leone and the Gambia for
+the relief of Christiansborg, returned to Sierra Leone, in H.M.S.
+_Prometheus_, on the 25th of November, 1854, and in consequence of the
+hostile attitude assumed by the chiefs of the Mellicourie and Scarcies
+Rivers, and the outrages committed by natives on mercantile factories in
+those rivers, the Governor of Sierra Leone decided to detain the
+contingent which had been sent from the Gambia, in order to have a
+sufficient force to overawe the chief of Malageah, the principal
+offender, and compel him to sign a treaty of trade. With this view,
+accordingly, detachments of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd West India Regiments,
+numbering in all 401 officers and men, under the command of Captain
+Rookes, 2nd West India Regiment, embarked in H.M.S. _Prometheus_ and
+_Dover_, on the 2nd of December, and sailed for the Mellicourie River,
+on which the town of Malageah is situated. The officers of the 1st West
+India Regiment who accompanied the expedition were Captain R.D.
+Fletcher, Lieutenant Connell, Lieutenant Strachan, and Ensign Anderson.
+
+On December 4th, the expedition arrived off Malageah, and the
+river-banks having been reconnoitred, Captain Heseltine, of H.M.S.
+_Britomart_, who had been appointed diplomatic agent with powers to
+negotiate, directed a landing to be made. The troops disembarked, and
+meeting with no opposition, advanced on the town, seizing and occupying
+the mosque and the king's house, while a second body took possession of
+all the approaches to the town. By these means, a party of some 200
+chiefs and Marabouts, who filled the mosque, were surrounded.
+
+In the meantime, the 1st Division, under Captain R. D'Oyley Fletcher,
+1st West India Regiment, had proceeded to a creek to the eastward of the
+town, which they ascended in the boats of the _Britomart_, and then
+crossing by bye-paths through the swamp and bush to the back of the
+town, where they dispersed a body of 150 natives armed with rifles and
+muskets, they joined the main body before the mosque.
+
+Negotiations were opened by the diplomatic agent, and continued for
+about half-an-hour; when, as it was noticed that the Marabouts were
+gradually leaving the mosque and all going in one direction, a
+reconnoitring party of ten men, under Lieutenant F.J. Connell, 1st West
+India Regiment, was sent to the northern side of the town. Lieutenant
+Connell, on reaching the town gate, found from 1800 to 2000 natives
+armed with fire-arms, spears, bows and arrows, formed in a semicircle,
+from eight to ten deep, facing the small picket that had been there
+posted. The whole of the main body, with the seamen and marines, was at
+once ordered up, and took up a position on the plateau to the north of
+the town, facing the natives, while a detached party occupied the walls
+and gates. At first there was a disposition on the part of the natives
+to resist this movement, but it was so rapidly executed that they were
+taken by surprise, and, losing cohesion, they soon after gradually
+dispersed.
+
+The king, Bamba Mima Lahi, now signified his desire to come to terms,
+promised to comply with all demands, and to pay one thousand dollars as
+a fine for his offences. The force accordingly re-embarked, the object
+of the expedition having been effected without bloodshed, and returned
+to Sierra Leone on December 6th. The following letter may be of
+interest:
+
+                                  "H.M.S. BRITOMART,
+                                  "_Sierra Leone, December 6th, 1854._
+
+    "SIR,
+
+    "In bringing back the troops that have been embarked on board the
+    _Prometheus_ and landed at Malageah, and who, whilst afloat, have
+    been under my command, I beg to bear testimony to their quiet,
+    orderly, and zealous conduct, both afloat and ashore, where, had it
+    not been for the above good qualities, collision would have been
+    inevitable.
+
+    "To Captains Rookes, Mockler, and Fletcher, and the officers of the
+    force, I beg to return my sincere thanks for their zealous and
+    active co-operation; further comment on my part would be
+    presumptuous.
+
+                                 "A. HESELTINE,
+                                    "Commander and Senior Naval Officer.
+
+    "Lieutenant-Colonel Foster,
+      "Commanding troops."
+
+On the 14th of December, the Gambia contingent sailed for the Gambia in
+the Colonial steamer _Dover_, and the garrison of Sierra Leone remained
+at its ordinary strength of three companies.
+
+In May, 1855, as the King of Malageah had not observed the stipulations
+of the treaty that had been forced upon him, and had not paid the fine
+of one thousand dollars, the Acting Governor of Sierra Leone, a
+gentleman of colour, determined to take steps for his punishment. On the
+21st of May, accordingly, he sent for Captain R. D'Oyley Fletcher, 1st
+West India Regiment, who was then in command of the troops, and informed
+him that it was his intention to send a force of 150 men, that very day,
+to burn the town of Malageah, and, if possible, capture the king. He
+added that the troops would proceed in H.M.S. _Teazer_, then lying in
+the harbour.
+
+Captain Fletcher, in reply, said that he could not approve of the
+proposed arrangements; that since a force of 400 men had been deemed
+necessary to extract a promise from the king, it was, to say the least,
+injudicious to endeavour to force him to fulfil that promise with only
+150 men. He stated that at the last expedition more than 2000 armed
+natives had been seen, and he considered it inadvisable to proceed to
+actual hostilities without a force proportionate to the duty to be
+performed. He further suggested that the expedition should be delayed
+for two or three days, so that the detachments of the 2nd West India
+Regiment might be brought in from Waterloo and the Banana Islands, and
+the whole garrison employed on the duty. The Acting Governor overruled
+these objections, insinuated that Captain Fletcher was actuated by fears
+for his personal safety, and finally peremptorily ordered the force he
+had mentioned to embark.
+
+In consequence, on the evening of May 21st, Captain Fletcher, Lieutenant
+Strachan, Lieutenant Wylie, and 69 men of the 1st West India Regiment,
+with Lieutenants Keir and Beazley and 79 men of the 3rd West India
+Regiment, embarked on board the _Teazer_. Lieutenant Vincent, 2nd West
+India Regiment, was attached to the 1st for duty, and
+Deputy-Assistant-Commissary-General Frith and Surgeons Marchant and
+Bradshaw accompanied the troops.
+
+The _Teazer_ arrived off Benty Point, at the mouth of the Mellicourie
+River, on the morning of May 22nd, and, after a delay of a few hours, in
+consequence of the difficulty in crossing the bar, the expedition
+arrived off Malageah.
+
+Lieutenant-Commander Nicolas, of the _Teazer_, and Mr. Dillet, the
+Acting Governor's private secretary, had been appointed commissioners,
+and, by their direction, the troops disembarked about 10 a.m. A flag of
+truce was flying on the king's house, and, as he showed a disposition to
+come to terms, the commissioners determined to depart from their
+instructions, and make an attempt to settle the affair without having
+recourse to force. They accordingly informed the king that if he would
+pay the fine his town would be spared; and they granted him one hour for
+this purpose, warning him that if at the expiration of that time the
+money was not forthcoming, the town would be shelled.
+
+Two hours having passed without any communication having been received
+from the king, the _Teazer_ at noon opened fire, and the troops advanced
+on the town, covering their flanks with skirmishers. This advance would
+have been unnecessary had the _Teazer_ been supplied with rockets; but
+there being none, the men were obliged to set fire to the houses. It
+would be difficult to imagine a worse-planned expedition.
+
+The troops gained the central square of the town, and, in compliance
+with the written instructions, set fire to the mosque, the king's house,
+and other principal buildings; and ultimately the whole town appeared to
+be in flames. The left division, under Lieutenant Vincent, was exposed
+to a desultory fire, during the whole of these operations, from the
+enemy concealed in the bush; and large numbers of natives were observed
+gathering on the plateau to the north of the town. As it seemed
+impossible that any portion of the town could escape the conflagration,
+and as the heat from the burning buildings was intense, the troops
+retired to the river bank, and embarked in the _Teazer's_ boats.
+Scarcely had the seamen dipped their oars into the water, to pull out
+into the stream, than a volley was poured into the boats from the dense
+bush which grew close down to the edge of the water; and the ambushed
+enemy then commenced firing rapidly, but fortunately with so little
+precision that the troops succeeded in reaching mid-stream with a loss
+of only five wounded.
+
+The boats continued their course to the ship, and the troops
+re-embarked. The town was still in flames, but they were gradually
+subsiding, and before nightfall were entirely extinguished, leaving a
+considerable portion of the town still unconsumed. The commissioners,
+upon this, decided, as it was too late to land again that day, to drop
+down the river as far as Benty Point for the night, and to return next
+morning to complete the work of destruction. Captain Fletcher then
+objected to any second landing being made, pointing out that the whole
+country was now alarmed, and that the people of Malageah would be
+reinforced by those of Fouricariah (a populous town further up the
+river), and that quite enough had been done to punish the king. The
+commissioners agreed with his views, but decided that their orders were
+so peremptory that they could not, without running the risk of censure,
+leave the river until the entire town had been destroyed.
+
+At 5.30 a.m. on May 23rd, the _Teazer_ left Benty Point, and steaming up
+the river, anchored off Malageah, in which the ruins were still
+smouldering. The vessel was so ill-provided with munitions of war that
+hardly any shell remained from the previous day. What little there was,
+was thrown amongst the houses to endeavour to fire them, and the attempt
+being unsuccessful, it became necessary to land the men. The dense bush
+around the town having been well searched with grape and canister to
+clear it of any lurking enemy, the troops, 135 in number, were landed on
+the bank of the mangrove creek running inland towards the town, and no
+enemy appearing, they advanced to set fire to the buildings that had
+hitherto escaped destruction.
+
+The advanced guard of thirty men, with whom were Lieutenant-Commander
+Nicolas and Mr. Dillet, who had landed to point out which houses it was
+most important to thoroughly destroy, had only advanced some two hundred
+yards from the bank of the creek, when they were received with a
+murderous discharge of musketry from the enemy concealed in the bush.
+Almost the whole of the advanced party were shot down in this one
+volley, twenty men being killed on the spot, and Lieutenant-Commander
+Nicolas and Mr. Dillet severely wounded. The main body, seventy-five in
+number, under Captain Fletcher, at once hurried up to prevent the
+wounded falling into the hands of the barbarous natives, and behaved
+with great gallantry, for though falling thick and fast under the
+tremendous fire which the concealed enemy--to the number of several
+hundreds--poured into them from a distance of ten or twelve yards, they
+held their ground until the wounded had been safely conveyed to the
+boats.
+
+Scarcely had this been accomplished than the rear-guard of thirty men,
+under Lieut. Keir, 3rd West India Regiment, was attacked by a large
+number of natives who had moved through the bush, and actually succeeded
+in cutting off our men from the boats. The enemy advanced with great
+determination into the open, thinking to overwhelm this small party, and
+they were only driven back into the bush by repeated volleys and a final
+charge with the bayonet.
+
+By this time fully one-third of the men who had landed having been
+killed, and a great number wounded, the order was given to retire, which
+was done steadily, the ground being contested inch by inch. At this time
+Company Sergeant-Major Scanlan, of the 3rd West India Regiment, and six
+men who were covering the retreat, fell, the former mortally wounded;
+and some of the bolder of the natives, rushing out of their concealment,
+seized Deputy-Assistant-Commissary Frith, and dragged him away into the
+bush, where he was barbarously murdered in cold blood. Scanlan was
+lying in the narrow path, his chest riddled with bullets, when the chief
+fetish priest of the place, to encourage the natives to make further
+efforts, sprang upon a ruined wall in front of him, and began dancing an
+uncouth dance, accompanying it with savage yells and significant
+gestures to the dying man. He paid dearly for his rashness, however, for
+Scanlan, collecting his strength for a last supreme effort, seized his
+loaded rifle, which was fortunately lying within reach, and discharged
+it at the gesticulating savage, who threw up his arms and fell dead. The
+next moment Scanlan was surrounded by a horde of infuriated barbarians,
+and his body hacked into an undistinguishable mass.
+
+The troops, sadly diminished in number, at last reached that portion of
+the mangrove creek where they had left the boats. Of these there had
+been originally but two, and one having at the commencement of the
+action been used to convey Lieutenant-Commander Nicolas and Mr. Dillet,
+under the charge of Surgeon Bradshaw, to the ship, one only remained for
+the men to embark in. The tide having fallen, this was lying out near
+the entrance of the creek, separated by an expanse of reeking mud from
+the shore. The men, seeing their last chance of safety cut off, threw
+themselves into the mud, in which many sank and were no more seen. Some
+few, however, succeeded in floundering along, half wading and half
+swimming, until they reached her, and climbed in. She was, however, so
+riddled with bullets, that she filled and sank almost immediately.
+
+Captain Fletcher, Lieutenant Wylie, Lieutenant Strachan, and Lieutenant
+Vincent, with some thirty men, endeavoured to make a last stand upon a
+small islet of mud and sand, near the left bank of the creek; but
+Lieutenant Wylie was shot dead almost at once, and Lieutenant Vincent,
+being shot through the body, jumped into the water, to endeavour to swim
+to the ship. In a few seconds seventeen men had fallen out of this
+devoted band, and the survivors, plunging into the creek, swam down
+towards the river. The natives lined the banks in crowds, keeping up a
+heavy fire upon the men in the water; and Captain Fletcher and
+Lieutenant Strachan, who were the last to leave the shore, only reached
+the _Teazer_ by a miracle, they having to swim more than half a mile to
+reach her.
+
+As the last of the survivors gained the vessel, the natives, between two
+and three thousand in number, lined the banks of the river, brandishing
+their weapons and uttering shouts of defiance; and the heads of several
+of the killed, horribly mutilated, were held out towards the ship on
+spears, amidst cries of exultation. All the ammunition for the
+_Teazer's_ guns having already been expended in shelling the town and
+clearing the bush, it was impossible to reply to the enemy, and the
+vessel proceeded slowly down the river, returning to Sierra Leone next
+day.
+
+The casualties of this day were as follows: The 1st West India Regiment,
+out of 62 men who landed, lost 38 killed and 3 wounded. The 3rd West
+India Regiment, out of 73 men who landed, lost 46 killed and 8 wounded.
+Total, 95 killed and wounded, out of a force of 135 men.
+
+The casualties amongst the officers were nearly equally heavy. Out of
+the ten Europeans who were under fire, three, namely Lieutenant Wylie,
+1st West India Regiment, D.A.C.G. Frith and C.S.M. Scanlan were killed;
+and three, Lieutenant Vincent, 2nd West India Regiment,
+Lieutenant-Commander Nicolas, and Mr. Dillet, severely wounded.
+
+It was learned afterwards that the reason so large a force was assembled
+at Malageah was that it was the time for the annual gathering of the
+river tribes, to hear the laws read by the Alimani. This circumstance
+ought of course to have been known to the Acting Governor, who was well
+acquainted with the customs of the people. The Imperial Government held
+him responsible for this defeat, and, in November, 1855, he was relieved
+of his post, and charged "with having, when Acting Governor, on the 21st
+of May, 1855, without authority, and upon insufficient grounds, sent an
+expedition against the Moriah chiefs in the Mellicourie River, beyond
+the Colony, with orders to burn or destroy the town of Malageah, planned
+without foresight or judgment, disastrous in its termination, and
+disgraceful to the British power," and was suspended from his office of
+Queen's Advocate and from his seat at the Council Board.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+THE BATTLE OF BAKKOW, AND STORMING OF SABBAJEE, 1855.[58]
+
+
+The company of the 1st West India Regiment stationed at the Gambia was
+the next to see active service, but fortunately under circumstances less
+disastrous than had fallen to the lot of the company at Sierra Leone.
+
+In June, 1855, the inhabitants of Sabbajee again began to exhibit signs
+of lawlessness; and, early in July, an influential Mohammedan of that
+town, named Fodi Osumanu, sent an armed party to the British settlement
+at Josswung to seize a woman, whose husband he had already placed in
+confinement in Sabbajee itself. In consequence of this outrage a warrant
+was issued for the apprehension of Fodi Osumanu, and, as a precautionary
+measure, the constables despatched to put the warrant in force were
+accompanied by a small party of the 2nd West India Regiment, under
+Lieutenant Armstrong, 3rd West India Regiment.
+
+They arrived at Sabbajee on the morning of July 16th, and at first Fodi
+Osumanu offered no opposition to his arrest; but, on gaining the central
+square of the town, he endeavoured to break away from the police, and,
+upon this signal, the Mandingoes rushed upon the British from every
+street and alley. Nothing but the coolness and steadiness displayed by
+both officers and men, saved the whole from destruction. Forming square,
+they retreated steadily out of the town, repulsing the repeated attacks
+of the natives, and retired in good order to Josswung, and thence to the
+military post at Cape St. Mary's. In effecting this, two men were
+killed, and the Queen's Advocate, Lieutenant Davis, 2nd West India
+Regiment, and Lieutenant Armstrong were wounded, the latter so severely
+as to render amputation of the right arm necessary.
+
+Intelligence of this occurrence being carried to Bathurst in a few
+hours, the Governor, Lieutenant-Colonel L. Smyth O'Connor, 1st West
+India Regiment, at once called out all the available force of the
+Colony; and, aware that every half-hour was of importance, as the
+inhabitants of Sabbajee were receiving reinforcements from the
+disaffected Mandingo towns of Jambool, Burnfut, and Cunju, and had
+already burned and pillaged Josswung, he marched the same day. The force
+consisted of 120 men of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd West India Regiments, with
+120 of the Royal Gambia Militia; and, on arriving at Cape St. Mary's, on
+the evening of July 16th, it was joined by 26 pensioners of the West
+India regiments. The officers of the 1st West India Regiment present
+were Lieutenant-Colonel O'Connor, Lieutenant E.F. Luke, and Lieutenant
+Henderson.
+
+Early next morning the whole force marched towards Sabbajee, meeting
+with no resistance until it arrived at the wood of Bakkow. To reach
+Sabbajee it was necessary to pass through this wood, a jungle of dense
+tropical vegetation, only traversable by a single bush path some five
+feet in breadth, and, before entering this defile, Colonel O'Connor
+wisely ordered rockets to be thrown amongst the trees, with a view to
+ascertaining if they covered any concealed enemy.
+
+Hardly had the first rocket fallen than the wood appeared alive with
+men, who, from every bush and tree, opened a destructive fire upon the
+British. This was promptly and steadily replied to by the detachments of
+the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd West India Regiments, which were in the van, and
+the action became general. The militia were drawn up in two bodies, one
+acting as a support to the regulars, and the other as a reserve; and the
+latter, shortly after the commencement of the engagement, retreated
+without orders, and without firing a shot. The party of militia in
+support, as soon as they observed the flight of the reserve, fell back
+hurriedly in great confusion, nor could their officers nor the Governor
+himself succeed in stopping them, and both parties of militia retired
+upon Cape St. Mary's, abandoning their wounded.
+
+The detachments of the West India regiments still held their ground; but
+at the end of half an hour, as it was manifestly impossible, with the
+now greatly reduced numbers, to force the passage of the wood, and as
+the enemy were observed extending in large numbers round both flanks so
+as to threaten the line of retreat, the order was given to retire upon
+Cape St. Mary's. This was effected in good order, the victorious natives
+following the retreating force for more than two miles, and keeping up
+an incessant fire. The combined detachments suffered in this affair a
+loss of twenty-three killed and fifty-three wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel
+O'Connor was himself severely wounded in the right arm and left
+shoulder.
+
+The news of this repulse was received with the greatest consternation at
+Bathurst, which was entirely denuded of troops and quite at the mercy of
+the rebellious Mandingoes. Preparations for defence were at once
+undertaken, all the reliable natives, principally persons in the employ
+of the Government or of the merchants, in all some 200 in number, were
+armed, and a vessel was despatched to the neighbouring French settlement
+of Goree to seek assistance. The Mandingoes, fortunately, made no
+attempt to follow up their success, and the chiefs of British Combo
+having volunteered their aid to the Government, a number of their men
+were armed, and on July 29th some sharp skirmishing took place between
+them and the Mandingoes in the neighbourhood of Bakkow, in which the
+Combos lost twenty-five killed, but without reaping any success.
+
+On the afternoon of July 30th, the French brig-of-war _Entreprenant_,
+Captain Villeneuve, arrived, bringing with her eighty men, which was all
+the disposable force the French Governor of Goree had at his command;
+and all preparations being completed by the night of August 3rd, the
+combined British and French force marched from Cape St. Mary's next
+morning at daybreak. The French had brought with them three
+twelve-pounder field-guns, which, with a 4-2/5-inch howitzer, and three
+rocket-troughs in the possession of the British, were formed into a
+battery under the command of Lieutenant Morel, of the French marine
+artillery. The force was further increased by an irregular contingent of
+some 600 loyal natives.
+
+As on the former occasion, no opposition was encountered until arriving
+at the wood of Bakkow, where the enemy showed in great force, and opened
+a heavy fire from the shelter of the forest. The irregular contingent,
+supported by the detachments of the 1st and 2nd West India Regiments,
+replied to the enemy's fire in a most effective manner; but so
+determined was the resistance, that the Mandingoes, when silenced in our
+front, taking advantage of the cover afforded by the high grass and
+clumps of monkey-bread trees, made repeated attacks on the flanks, and
+even at one time threatened the rear. Shell and rockets were thrown
+into the wood, and the village of Bakkow, which was occupied by the
+enemy, was burned; but it was not until after two hours' obstinate
+fighting, in the course of which the detachments of the 1st and 2nd West
+India Regiment had four times to repulse flank attacks with the bayonet,
+that the passage could be forced.
+
+The wood being traversed, the force debouched upon the plain of
+Sabbajee, a sandy level, covered with a scanty growth of Guinea grass
+and dotted with clumps of dwarf palm. The guns were at once placed in
+position for breaching the stockade, and fire was opened with wonderful
+precision. A few rounds only had been expended, when a large body of
+natives from the disaffected and neighbouring town of Burnfut made a
+sudden and determined onslaught on our flank, charging furiously forward
+with brandished scimetars. This was met by a party of French marines and
+the detachments of the 1st and 2nd West India Regiments, who, after
+firing a volley at a very close range, charged gallantly with the
+bayonet and speedily routed the enemy, who took refuge in a neighbouring
+copse. Being ordered to dislodge them from this cover, the detachments
+of the 1st and 2nd West India Regiments advanced in skirmishing order,
+and after a short but sharp conflict, drove them out on the further
+side.
+
+After a bombardment of an hour and a half, seeing that the enemy
+extinguished the thatched roofs of their houses as fast as they were
+ignited, and that the ammunition was becoming exhausted,
+Lieutenant-Colonel O'Connor determined to carry the stockade by storm.
+The detachments of the West India regiments formed up in the centre, a
+division of French marines being on either flank, and the whole dashed
+forward to the assault in the face of a tremendous fire of musketry that
+was opened throughout the entire length of the loop-holed stockade. In a
+few seconds the troops were under the stockade, which was composed of
+the stout trunks of trees, standing some eighteen feet high, and braced
+on the inner side by cross-beams. A temporary check was here experienced
+(the men having no ladders for escalading), during which the Mandingoes
+kept up a close fire from their upper tier of loop-holes, while others
+crouching in the ditch in rear hewed and cut at the feet and legs of the
+troops through the apertures in the stockade on a level with the ground.
+The check was, however, of short duration, for the British opened fire
+on the enemy through their own loop-holes, and drove them back, while
+others, clambering over the rough defences, effected an entrance.
+
+After this, the Mandingoes offered but a feeble resistance, and soon
+fled into the open from the further side of the town. Here they were
+pursued and shot down by the irregular contingent, who had been sent to
+cut off their retreat as soon as it was seen that the stockade was
+carried. The enemy's loss during the assault was exceedingly heavy, the
+ditch in rear of the stockade, and in which they were principally
+sheltered, being full of dead. The loss of the combined force, exclusive
+of irregulars, was seventeen killed and thirty-one wounded.
+
+Inside the stockade the 1st West India Regiment captured two
+kettledrums, of which one was a war-drum, and the other a death-drum,
+that is to say, a drum that is only beaten when an execution is taking
+place. These drums, consisting of polished hemispherical calabashes, of
+a diameter of about thirty inches at the drum-head, are now in the
+possession of the regiment.
+
+The following letter, referring to these operations, which terminated
+with the capture of Sabbajee, was published in general orders at the
+Gambia, on the 26th of October, 1855:
+
+                                                "HORSE GUARDS,
+                                                "_Sept. 6th, 1855._
+
+    "SIR,
+
+    "The General Commanding-in-Chief having had before him the
+    despatches which were addressed to the Adjutant-General on July 30th
+    and 6th ultimo, giving an account of the proceedings, from the 16th
+    July to the 4th August last, of the force under your command against
+    the Mohammedan rebel town of Sabbajee, which was eventually taken by
+    assault at the point of the bayonet, I am directed to assure you of
+    Lord Hardinge's satisfaction at the perusal of those despatches, and
+    that he considers the gallantry and steadiness displayed by the
+    troops on this occasion, and the judgment with which they were
+    directed by you, to be deserving of high praise.
+
+    "His Lordship further desired that the expression of his sentiments
+    might be communicated accordingly to yourself and to all the troops
+    concerned.
+
+                                      "I have, &c.,
+
+                                             (Signed) "C. YORKE,
+                                                "Military Secretary.
+
+    "Lieut.-Colonel O'Connor,
+      "1st West India Regiment,
+    "Commanding troops, Western Coast of Africa."
+
+
+In the West Indies nothing of importance had occurred, and no change of
+station had taken place, since December, 1853. In this year, however
+(1855), No. 8 Company rejoined head-quarters at Jamaica from Dominica,
+and No. 1 was moved from St. Christopher to Demerara. The distribution,
+then, at the close of 1855, was: No. 2, No. 5, No. 8, the Grenadier and
+Light Companies at Jamaica, No. 7 and No. 4 at Barbados, No. 1 at
+Demerara, No. 3 at Sierra Leone, and No. 6 at the Gambia.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 58: See map.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+CHANGES IN THE WEST AFRICAN GARRISONS, 1856-57--THE GREAT SCARCIES RIVER
+EXPEDITION, 1859--FIRE AT NASSAU, 1859.
+
+
+In January, 1856, it was determined to make a further change in the mode
+of garrisoning the settlements on the West Coast of Africa, and the
+following letter was issued on the subject:
+
+                                                "HORSE GUARDS,
+                                                "_2nd January, 1856_.
+
+    "In obedience to orders from the Secretary of State, War Department,
+    the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief is pleased to direct that
+    instead of the detachments to the western coast of Africa being
+    furnished, as at present, by two companies from each of the West
+    India regiments, the settlements in that part will be garrisoned by
+    a wing composed of six companies, to be furnished in succession by
+    each of the West India regiments.
+
+    "At the next relief the 1st West India Regiment will furnish six
+    companies accordingly, each company made up and kept effective to
+    100 rank and file, the force to be distributed as at present, viz.:
+
+      "Gambia             3 Companies.
+      "Sierra Leone       3 Companies.
+
+    "The remaining four companies of the 1st West India Regiment will be
+    stationed at Jamaica, as a depōt to receive and train recruits, and
+    maintain the efficiency of the companies on the coast of Africa."
+
+In anticipation of this change, and as recent events at the Gambia and
+Sierra Leone had shown the necessity for an increase in the strength of
+the detachments, No. 2 Company of the 1st West India Regiment, under
+Captain W.J. Chamberlayne, embarked at Jamaica for Africa in the _Sir
+George Pollock_ on February 19th, 1856. It arrived in the Gambia on
+April 1st, and detachments to McCarthy's Island, 179 miles up the River
+Gambia, and to Fort Bullen, were at once furnished from it.
+
+No other change in the distribution of the regiment took place in this
+year, with the exception that No. 5 Company, under Captain R. Hughes,
+was moved from Jamaica to Barbados in December.
+
+In January, 1857, No. 1 Company from Demerara, and Nos. 4 and 7 from
+Barbados, embarked on board the troopship _Perseverance_, for Africa,
+under the command of Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Clarke, and Captains
+Hughes and Macauley, arriving at Sierra Leone on February 28th.
+
+Nos. 1 and 7 Companies were there disembarked, and the _Perseverance_
+then proceeded to the Gambia, where No. 4 Company was landed. In
+accordance with the scheme that the remaining four companies of the
+regiment should be stationed at Jamaica, No. 5 Company rejoined there
+from Barbados on April 17th; but, two months later, the scheme was again
+revised, and, on June 4th, the head-quarters and four companies embarked
+for Nassau, New Providence, under Lieutenant-Colonel F.A. Wetherall.
+
+The detachments on the West Coast of Africa were very much subdivided,
+that of the Gambia furnishing garrisons for Fort Bullen, Cape St. Mary,
+and McCarthy's Island; and that of Sierra Leone a garrison for Waterloo.
+In April, 1857, the garrison of Fort Bullen was reinforced by No. 2
+Company under Captain Chamberlayne from Bathurst, in consequence of
+disturbances having broken out between the King of Barra and one of his
+principal chiefs named Osumanu Sajji, and was withdrawn in May, on
+tranquility being restored.
+
+In August, 1858, the natives of Sherbro threatened to plunder the
+British factories that had been established on Sherbro Island, and
+stopped the trade, and for the protection of the lives and property of
+the Consul and British subjects, a detachment of the 1st West India
+Regiment, under Captain R. Hughes, proceeded in H.M.S. _Spitfire_ to
+Sherbro Island on September 1st. They there landed and remained until
+October 2nd, when, all fears of an attack being at an end, they
+returned to Sierra Leone. In January, 1859, however, another attack was
+threatened by the Mendis, and a detachment of the 1st West India
+Regiment, under Captain Luke, was sent for the protection of the
+factories in H.M.S. _Trident_ on January 15th, returning to Sierra Leone
+on February 18th.
+
+In September and October, 1858, Captain Luke, 1st West India Regiment,
+who was then on leave of absence on the Gold Coast, served with the
+expeditionary force against the rebel Krobo stronghold of Krobo Hill.
+Captain Cochrane, Gold Coast Artillery, commanding the force, in
+concluding his despatch of October 26th, 1858, says: "It is not too much
+to say that all who have joined the expedition have done their best to
+further its interests, but I beg especially to call your Excellency's
+notice to the voluntary services of Captain F.H. Luke, of the 1st West
+India Regiment, whose energy, zeal, and disinterestedness, have been
+warmly commended by every officer here, and are deserving of honourable
+mention."
+
+In February, 1859, the town of Porto Lokkoh, distant some forty miles
+from Sierra Leone, and on the Sierra Leone River, was burned and
+pillaged by a body of Soosoos who had, for some time back, established
+themselves at Kambia, on the Great Scarcies River. For previous outrages
+committed by them, Kambia had been bombarded by a naval squadron under
+Commodore Wise on February 1st, 1858, after which the Soosoos had
+entrenched themselves in a stockaded work, or war fence, near Kambia.
+There they had been suffered to remain, but the destruction of Porto
+Lokkoh, the chief _entrepōt_ of the Sierra Leone trade, necessitated
+further measures being taken against them.
+
+Consequently, on March 20th, 1859, the Governor of Sierra Leone, Colonel
+Stephen Hill, proceeded with a force of 203 men of the 1st West India
+Regiment, under Major A.W. Murray, in H.M.S. _Vesuvius_, _Trident_, and
+_Spitfire_, to the Great Scarcies River, where they arrived at daybreak
+on the 22nd. The officers of the regiment serving with the expedition
+were Major Murray, Brevet-Major Pratt, Lieutenants Fitzgerald, Mackay,
+and Mawe, Ensigns Ormsby and Temple. Colonel Hill, in his despatch,
+says:
+
+"The troops having landed to the right of the town, I formed the
+detachment of the 1st West India Regiment, under Major Murray, into four
+divisions; and the marines formed, under the command of Captain Hill,
+2nd West India Regiment, A.D.C., another division. A party of the former
+corps, acting as gunners, accompanied the Marine Artillery, who took
+charge of two mountain howitzers.
+
+"Having extended one division in skirmishing order, I advanced; and,
+finding the first stockade deserted I passed on to the furthest one,
+which was then occupied by the sailors of the second division of boats
+under Commander Close. I then proceeded to the extreme left of all the
+defences, and halted in clear ground to await the arrival of our native
+allies. Shortly afterwards Commodore Wise sent to inform me that the
+enemy, who had retired before us with some loss, were in the jungle to
+our left at the head of some rocks, on which they could cross the river
+at low water. I immediately extended two divisions of the 1st West India
+Regiment as skirmishers, with the marines supporting one, and a division
+of the 1st West India the other, leaving one division in reserve in
+charge of the howitzers, after having first fired some rounds of shell
+into the jungle.
+
+"Our advance was most difficult, the bush being almost impenetrable.
+However, we persevered, and, having reached a high point overlooking the
+country around, and not seeing any enemy, I ordered a halt, and, after
+some time, we retired unmolested, the Soosoos never having allowed us to
+close with them. The Commodore then sent me a second message to the
+effect that he had seen about 500 men, who had, on our advance, retired
+across the river, over the rocks, and disappeared in the bush on the
+opposite side.
+
+"The detachment of the 1st West India Regiment, under Brevet-Major
+Pratt, kept the ground during the night; and our allies having arrived,
+and been placed in possession of the stockades, the troops were
+re-embarked on the 24th, and we proceeded on our return to Sierra Leone,
+where we arrived on the 26th.
+
+"I have much pleasure in stating that all the officers and men under my
+orders performed their duties in an exceedingly zealous and
+satisfactory manner, exhibiting a cheerful obedience, and only anxious
+to close with the enemy. None but those present could form a just
+estimate of the difficulty attending our advance, and the consequent
+physical exhaustion. The heat was intense; a great part of the jungle
+had been fired, and the bushes and the high grass formed a network
+through which we were obliged to cut our way."
+
+On January 8th, 1860, the men of the companies of the 1st West India
+Regiment stationed at Nassau specially distinguished themselves at an
+alarming fire that there broke out at Fort Charlotte, and the following
+Garrison Order was published on the subject:
+
+"Lieutenant-Colonel Bourchier takes the earliest opportunity in his
+power of expressing his thanks to Major R. D'O. Fletcher, the officers,
+the non-commissioned officers, and the men of the 1st West India
+Regiment, for the prompt manner in which they turned out and lent their
+efforts to avert the extension of the late fire at Fort Charlotte.
+
+"Such occasions as this test the discipline of a corps in a high degree,
+the more so when, as in the present instance, the danger of an explosion
+from the proximity of the flames to the magazine was imminent.
+
+"Where all were zealous, the conduct of Ensign Bourke, 1st West India
+Regiment, was most conspicuous, who, assisted by Company Sergeant-Major
+Mason and a party of four men of the regiment, placed wet blankets on
+the most exposed portion of the roof of the magazine, which was then
+actually ignited; and it will be most gratifying to Lieutenant-Colonel
+Bourchier to bring the circumstance under the notice of H.R.H. the
+General Commanding-in-Chief."
+
+At the Gambia nothing of moment had occurred since 1807, with the
+exception that a violent epidemic of fever broke out at Bathurst in
+September, 1859, to which one officer and several men of the regiment
+succumbed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+THE BADDIBOO WAR, 1860-61.
+
+
+The next active operations in which the 1st West India Regiment was
+engaged, took place at the Gambia, where the King of Baddiboo, an
+important Mohammedan state up the river, had in August and September,
+1860, plundered the factories of several British traders, and afterwards
+refused to pay compensation. The Governor of the Gambia, Colonel D'Arcy,
+resolved to blockade the kingdom of Baddiboo, in the hope that the
+enforced suspension of trade would compel the king to come to terms,
+and, on October 10th, 1860, the gunners of the companies of the 1st West
+India Regiment stationed at Bathurst embarked in the barque _Elm_ and
+the schooner _Shamrock_, to close all the Baddiboo river ports. On
+November 3rd additional gunners were sent in the schooner _Hope_, and
+the blockade was strictly enforced, the natives not being allowed to
+export any articles of produce or import anything.
+
+While the blockade was still in force, the wing of the 2nd West India
+Regiment, which had been wrecked in the troopship _Perseverance_ at
+Maio, one of the Cape Verde Islands, while on its way to relieve the
+wing of the 1st West India Regiment, arrived in West Africa in various
+vessels, three companies at the Gambia and three at Sierra Leone; and as
+in January, 1861, the blockade had manifestly failed in its object of
+inducing the King of Baddiboo to indemnify the plundered merchants,
+Governor D'Arcy determined to take advantage of the presence of an
+unusual number of regular troops to organise a formidable expedition;
+which step was rendered necessary from the fact that the numerous
+Mohammedan tribes around the settlement and on the banks of the river
+were narrowly watching events, and had, owing to the long delay in
+punishing the King of Baddiboo, already commenced to show signs of
+lawlessness.
+
+On January 12th, 1861, the hired transport _Avon_ arrived at the Gambia
+to convey the wing of the 1st West India Regiment to the West Indies,
+and Colonel D'Arcy proceeded in her to Sierra Leone to make arrangements
+for the services of a portion of the garrison of that settlement. On
+February 2nd, he returned to the Gambia in the _Avon_ with three
+companies of the 1st West India Regiment and one of the 2nd West India
+Regiment.
+
+The expeditionary force now consisted of six companies of the 1st West
+India Regiment, under Lieutenant-Colonel A.W. Murray, and four of the
+2nd West India Regiment, under Major W. Hill; the Gambia Militia were
+called out, and the West India detachments at McCarthy's Island, Cape
+St. Mary's, and Fort Bullen replaced by pensioners.
+
+Everything being in readiness, the Governor decided to make one last
+endeavour to arrive at a peaceful solution of the difficulty (although
+the king's people had recently, on several occasions, fired on the
+schooners blockading the river), and despatched H.M.S. _Torch_ with a
+flag of truce to Swarra Cunda Creek. Commander Smith returned with the
+intelligence that the natives had prepared stockaded earthworks, were
+assembled in large numbers, and had refused to hold any communication
+with the ship.
+
+On February 15th, the expedition left Bathurst, and steaming up to
+Swarra Cunda Creek, some forty miles up the river, anchored there for
+the night. The troops were under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel
+Murray, 1st West India Regiment, and were thus distributed:
+
+The gunners of the 1st and 2nd West India Regiment on board H.M.S.
+_Torch_.
+
+Nos. 1 and 7 Companies, 1st West India Regiment, on board the Colonial
+steamer _Dover_.
+
+Nos. 2 and 3 Companies, 1st West India Regiment, on the schooner
+_Elizabeth_.
+
+Nos. 4 and 7 Companies, 2nd West India Regiment, on the schooner
+_Margaret_.
+
+The _Dover_, after distributing her contingent amongst the other three
+vessels lying in the creek, returned to Bathurst the same night to bring
+up Nos. 4 and 6 Companies of the 1st West India Regiment and two
+companies of the 2nd West India Regiment.
+
+On February 16th, the whole force being collected, the _Torch_ and the
+_Dover_ steamed up the creek to the trading landing-place of Swarra
+Cunda, towing the schooners. The earthworks were observed to be full of
+armed men, who shouted and brandished their weapons, amid a tremendous
+beating of war-drums. The _Torch_ anchored about 180 yards from the
+earthworks, the two schooners lying above her and the _Dover_ below, in
+such positions as to be able to bring a cross-fire to bear. The
+Governor, being still anxious to avoid bloodshed, hailed the enemy
+through his interpreter, calling upon them to surrender. They replied
+with yells of defiance, and were then informed that if they did not
+abandon their works the ships would open fire in half-an-hour.
+
+The half-hour having elapsed without any result, except a considerable
+accession to the enemy's strength, fire was opened from the guns of the
+_Torch_ and _Dover_, while the troops poured in a destructive storm of
+musketry. The enemy replied with great spirit; and, although the
+sixty-eight-pounder shell were crushing through the earthworks and
+carrying away large portions of the parapets, some of the warriors
+continued calmly up and down in full view on the most exposed portions
+of the works, to encourage the others; and it was not until this
+terrible fire of shell and musketry had lasted for three hours, that the
+natives began to abandon their works, retiring even then very
+gradually. This movement being observed, a landing was at once ordered;
+and the boats, which had been collected together under cover of the
+_Torch_, pulled in rapidly for the landing-place. Before, however, they
+reached the shore, some 800 natives, who had occupied the extreme right
+of the earthworks, which had not suffered from our fire as much as the
+other portions, rushed down to oppose them.
+
+The landing was effected in the teeth of all opposition, the troops
+wading ashore and attacking the enemy with the bayonet. Colonel D'Arcy
+in his despatch says:--"Nothing could exceed the gallantry of the
+landing on the part of the officers and men of the 1st and 2nd West
+India Regiments; and now commenced a smart skirmish with a numerous
+enemy, in which our black soldiers evinced a gallantry and a
+determination to close which I felt proud to witness."
+
+While this stubborn and hand-to-hand conflict was at its height, a
+shrill cry was suddenly heard in rear of the enemy, and at once, as if
+by a preconcerted plan, those natives who were disputing the landing
+broke and fled, while, at the same moment, a body of some 300 cavalry
+debouched from the shelter of a clump of dwarf palms, and came down at
+full gallop on the troops, who were already somewhat scattered in
+pursuit of the retreating enemy. The men at once formed rallying
+squares, and in a moment the Mandingo horsemen were amongst them,
+brandishing their scimetars and discharging matchlocks and pistols. The
+fire from the squares was so steady and well sustained, that, with one
+exception, the enemy could effect nothing. They rode round and round the
+squares for a few minutes, uttering shouts of defiance and endeavouring
+to reach the men with their spears; and finally, a good many saddles
+having been emptied, galloped off as rapidly as they had come, their
+long robes streaming out behind in the wind. The one exception referred
+to was that of a group of three men of the 1st West India Regiment and
+two of the 2nd, who, having advanced too far in pursuit, had become
+separated from their comrades, and, on the sudden appearance of the
+cavalry, had not time to reach any of the squares. They stood back to
+back, surrounded by the enemy, until overwhelmed by force of numbers and
+ridden down, being afterwards found lying where they had stood,
+surrounded by eleven dead Mandingoes whom they had shot or bayoneted.
+
+This cavalry charge was the last hope of the enemy; and no sooner was it
+repulsed than they withdrew in great disorder. The troops pursued for a
+short distance, but as it was not deemed advisable to scatter the small
+force, especially as the day was beginning to close, they were soon
+recalled, and the men bivouacked on the ground they had so ably won, the
+bivouac being so arranged that the guns of the _Torch_ could sweep the
+front and one flank. Wells were dug, the dead buried, and the night
+passed without further disturbance.
+
+Next morning, the 17th, the Gambia Militia Artillery, with 400 native
+allies, arrived and landed, and in the afternoon the 1st and 2nd West
+India Regiments, under Lieutenant-Colonel Murray, after a short
+resistance, took and destroyed the stockaded town of Carawan, situated
+to the right of the position. Encouraged by this success, the native
+allies and the Gambia Militia Artillery advanced to the town of Swarra
+Cunda, to the left of the position, and finding it abandoned, destroyed
+it also.
+
+During the ensuing night, H.M.S. _Arrogant_, Commodore Edmonstone,
+arrived in the Gambia River, and early next morning the _Dover_ brought
+the Commodore, with a naval brigade of seamen and marines, up to Swarra
+Cunda Creek. This unlooked-for accession of strength determined
+Lieutenant-Colonel Murray to advance into the interior, and strike a
+blow that would bring the war to a conclusion. Cattle were obtained for
+the field-guns, which were then landed, and about noon on the 18th, the
+force marched inland, four companies of the 1st West India Regiment
+forming the right division, four of the 2nd West India Regiment the left
+division, and two of the 1st the reserve, with the guns on the flanks.
+
+The country through which the advance was made was a level sandy plain,
+covered with tall grass, and dotted here and there with clumps of baobab
+and dwarf palm. Occasionally a few clearings for the cultivation of the
+ground nut were met, but as a rule the march was made through grass more
+than waist high. The enemy showed in force, but made no serious
+opposition to the advance; and, though large bodies of cavalry were
+observed hanging about the flanks and rear, they showed no disposition
+to close, and the towns of Kinty-Cunda and Sabba were destroyed without
+loss on our side, and very small loss, if any, on the part of the enemy.
+
+The 19th and 20th were devoted to changing the camping ground, and
+arranging a plan of campaign against Indear, the king's town, in which
+the shipping might be used as a base; but, on the afternoon of the
+latter day, a slave-girl, who came into the camp to claim British
+protection, reported that the king's warriors, having been largely
+reinforced, had come down from Indear, and had erected a stockade on the
+ruins of Sabba. Although it did not suit Lieut.-Colonel Murray's plans
+to return to Sabba, he did not consider it advisable to leave this
+unexpected challenge unanswered; and, on the morning of February 21st,
+the force again marched for Sabba.
+
+On approaching that town it was ascertained that a double stockade had
+been built, which appeared to be full of armed men, while detached
+parties were observed partially concealed in the long grass to the left
+of the stockade, and facing our right. The troops were halted and formed
+for attack, the Naval Brigade, consisting of seamen and marines from
+H.M.S. _Arrogant_, _Falcon_, and _Torch_, being in the centre, four
+companies of the 1st West India Regiment on the right, four of the 2nd
+on the left, and two of the 1st in reserve. The howitzer battery at once
+opened on the stockade, and, after a few rounds, the centre advanced to
+within effective rifle range and commenced firing. Directly this
+movement took place, the detached parties of Mandingoes on our right
+approached skirmishing through the tall grass, and attacked the four
+companies of the 1st West India Regiment, while large bodies of cavalry
+simultaneously appeared on the left, threatening the flank of the 2nd
+West India Regiment. While the 1st West India Regiment was hotly engaged
+on the right, the field-guns of the Gambia Militia Artillery, under
+Colonel D'Arcy, who was present as a volunteer and honorary colonel of
+that corps, were hastily brought up, and opened fire on the stockade, to
+breach it. As it was apparent that this would be a work of some time,
+the timber of which the stockade was built being quite stout enough to
+withstand for some time the fire of light guns, Lieutenant-Colonel
+Murray directed the Commodore to storm. In an instant the seamen
+extended, and, advancing at a sharp run, clambered over the stockades,
+and, attacking the enemy with the bayonet, soon carried the place.
+Acting in concert with this forward movement of the centre, the right
+(1st West India Regiment) closed on the natives with whom they had been
+engaged, and, cutting them off from the stockade, killed or wounded the
+entire force on this side, with a loss to themselves of one officer
+(Lieutenant Bourke) and twenty-two men severely wounded, besides slight
+casualties. The cavalry on the left, seeing the turn affairs had taken,
+withdrew without making any attack. The Naval Brigade lost Lieutenant
+Hamilton, of the _Arrogant_, and three men killed, and twenty-two
+wounded.
+
+Ensign Garsia, of the 1st West India Regiment, had a narrow escape.
+Shortly before the Naval Brigade had advanced to storm, he had been
+despatched by Lieutenant-Colonel Murray with an order to Major Hill,
+commanding on the left, and, in crossing the front of the stockade under
+a heavy fire, both he and his horse were shot and rolled over together,
+Ensign Garsia being very severely wounded. While thus lying at a
+distance of some seventy yards from the stockade, a Mohammedan, dressed
+in yellow--a colour only assumed in this part of the world when the
+wearer is engaged in some desperate enterprise--climbed over the
+stockade and ran towards the wounded man with a drawn scimetar in his
+hand. He escaped numerous shots that were fired at him, reached Ensign
+Garsia, and had actually raised his scimetar to strike off his head,
+when a wounded sailor, who was lying on the ground, shot him dead, with
+his cry of exultation on his lips.
+
+No sooner was the enemy dispersed and in full retreat, than messengers
+arrived from the King of Jocardo, whose territory is separated from
+Baddiboo by the Swarra Cunda Creek, begging an interview with the
+Governor, and promising that, if he would grant a three days'
+armistice, he would bring together all the chiefs of the Baddiboo towns,
+who were now anxious for peace, but afraid to come in. The Governor
+acceded to these terms, but, in case of negotiations failing,
+Lieutenant-Colonel Murray proceeded with his preparations for an advance
+on Indear on the morning of the 25th. On the 24th, the Governor received
+another message from the King of Jocardo, begging him to extend the
+armistice for another day, the distance to the different towns being so
+great. This was granted, and at 6 a.m. on the 26th, the King of Baddiboo
+came to terms, promising to pay a considerable sum to the Government as
+a fine for his past misdemeanours, and leaving hostages in the
+Governor's hands.
+
+The officers of the 1st West India Regiment who took part in this
+expedition were Lieutenant-Colonel A.W. Murray, Captains H. Anton, J.A.
+Fraser, J. Fanning, and G.H. Duyer, Lieutenants A. Temple, J. Moffitt,
+R. Brew, T. Edmunds, J. Bourke, and Ensigns M.C. Garsia and T.
+Nicholson. Lieutenant-Colonel Murray was awarded the C.B. for his
+services.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+THE ASHANTI EXPEDITION, 1864.
+
+
+The head-quarters and four companies of the 1st West India Regiment had
+been removed from Nassau to Barbados in the hired transport _Avon_,
+before that vessel sailed for West Africa, and on the 3rd of March,
+1861, the six companies of the regiment embarked in her at the Gambia
+for the West Indies. During the four years' tour of service which they
+had just completed, five officers had fallen victims to the fatal West
+African climate, Lieutenant Kenrick having died at Sierra Leone, in
+August, 1857; Lieutenant Leggatt, in February, 1859; Brevet-Major Pratt,
+in July, 1859; and Captain Owens, in July, 1860; while Lieutenant E.
+Smith had died at the Gambia, in September, 1859.
+
+On the arrival of the wing from West Africa, the regiment was
+distributed in the West Indies as follows: The head-quarters, with Nos.
+5, 7, and 8, the Grenadier and Light Companies at Barbados; Nos. 1 and 2
+at St. Lucia; No. 3 at Trinidad; and Nos. 4 and 6 at Demerara. Towards
+the close of the year the practice of selecting men for flank companies
+was forbidden by Horse Guards General Order, and the grenadier and light
+companies became Nos. 9 and 10.
+
+The regiment remained thus stationed until December, 1862, when the
+three existing West India Regiments were called upon to furnish two
+companies each for the formation of a new 4th West India Regiment, and
+Nos. 9 and 10 Companies of the 1st West India Regiment were transferred.
+In the same month, No. 1 Company rejoined head-quarters from St. Lucia.
+The establishment of the regiment was now eight instead of ten companies
+as formerly.
+
+On the 23rd of December, 1862, a detachment of three companies (Nos. 5, 7,
+and 8) embarked in the troopship _Adventure_, under Lieutenant-Colonel
+Macauley, and proceeded to Honduras, arriving there on January 3rd,
+1863. A war of reprisals between the Santa Cruz and Ycaiché Indians was
+then raging on the frontier, and the greatest vigilance was necessary to
+prevent violation of British territory, the detachments of the regiment
+at the outposts of Orange Walk and Corosal being continually employed.
+
+In March, 1863, the whole of the southern side of Belize was destroyed
+by fire, and the detachment of the 1st West India Regiment there
+stationed received the thanks of the Legislative Assembly for the
+assistance it had rendered in preventing the conflagration spreading, a
+sum of $200 being voted for the men, "as an acknowledgment of the
+valuable services rendered by them." In this, or the preceding year,
+companies were designated alphabetically instead of numerically; No. 1
+becoming "A," No. 2, "B," and so on.
+
+On the 31st of October, 1863, A Company, with the head-quarters,
+embarked at Barbados on board the troopship _Megęra_, which had arrived
+the day before from Demerara with D and F Companies. The vessel then
+proceeded to St. Lucia, where B Company was embarked, and all four went
+to Nassau. The distribution of the regiment was then: 4 companies at
+Nassau, 3 in Honduras, and 1 in Trinidad.
+
+In 1863 occurred what is usually called the Second Ashanti War. It was
+caused, as almost every Ashanti war or threat of invasion has been
+caused, by the refusal of the Governor of the Gold Coast to surrender to
+the Ashanti King fugitives who had sought British protection. In revenge
+for this refusal an Ashanti force made a raid into the Protectorate, and
+reinforcements were at once asked for by the Colonial Government. In
+December, 1863, B Company, 1st West India Regiment, under Captain Bravo,
+embarked at Nassau in H.M.S. _Barracouta_ for Jamaica, and proceeded,
+towards the end of February, 1864, to Honduras, in the troopship
+_Tamar_. There E and G Companies embarked, and all three, under the
+command of Major Anton, sailed for Cape Coast Castle on the 2nd of
+March, arriving there on the 9th of April. The officers of the regiment
+serving with these companies were Major Anton, Captains Bravo and
+Hopewell Smith, Lieutenants J.A. Smith, Gavin, Roberts, Smithwick,
+Lowry, Barlow, Allinson, and Ensign Alt.
+
+On the arrival of the detachment of the 1st West India Regiment at Cape
+Coast Castle, the strength of the expeditionary force was as follows:
+
+                                         Officers.         Men.
+    1st West India Regiment                  11            300
+    2nd West India Regiment                   6            170
+    3rd West India Regiment                   6            170
+    4th West India Regiment                  30            850
+    5th West India Regiment                   4             10
+                                            ---            ---
+                                             57          1,500
+
+The rainy season--the most unhealthy period of the year on the Gold
+Coast--was then commencing, and the Government appear to have had some
+idea of making an advance upon Coomassie at its close--about the month
+of June or July. In order to have everything in readiness for the
+forward movement, depōts of stores and munitions of war had been
+established at Mansu and Prahsu, and at Swaidroo in Akim, detachments of
+troops being stationed at these places for their protection. These
+detachments the Colonel commanding the troops on the Gold Coast
+determined to maintain during the rainy season, and it fell to the lot
+of B and G Companies of the 1st West India Regiment to be detailed for
+the fatal duty of relieving the detachment then encamped at Prahsu.
+
+Towards the end of the month of April these two companies, under
+Captains Bravo and Hopewell Smith, started amidst continuous torrents
+of rain on their march of seventy-four miles to the Prah. They had,
+since their arrival, been encamped with E Company on the open space to
+the west of the town known as the parade ground, there being no
+accommodation for them in the Castle; and owing to the unsanitary
+condition of the site and the want of proper shelter, had already begun
+to suffer from the effects of the climate.
+
+On arriving at the Prah they encamped at the ford of Prahsu, at a point
+where the river, making a sudden bend, enclosed the encampment on three
+sides. Here in the midst of a primeval forest, on the banks of a
+pestilential stream, without proper shelter or proper food, they
+remained for nearly three months. The sickness that ensued was almost
+unparalleled. Before they had been a month encamped, four officers and
+102 men were sick out of seven officers and 214 men who had marched out
+of Cape Coast; and the hospital accommodation was so bad that the men
+had to lie on the wet ground with pools of water under them. The rains
+were unusually severe, the camp speedily became a swamp, the troops had
+worse food than usual, and, above all, were compelled to remain
+inactive. The small force had no means of communication with the coast,
+and no expectation of a reinforcement; and, had the enemy made an
+appearance, the troops were hardly in a fit state to defend themselves.
+Day after day torrents of rain fell; it was impossible to light fires
+for cooking purposes except under flimsy sheds of palm branches; and
+night after night officers and men turned into their wretched and
+dripping tents hungry and drenched to the skin. Neither was there any
+occupation for the mind or body, and universal gloom and despondency set
+in. It was no unusual thing for two funerals to take place in one day,
+and the unfortunate soldiers saw their small force diminishing day by
+day, apparently forgotten and neglected by the rest of the world.
+
+By a general order published at Cape Coast Castle, on the 30th of May,
+1864, the garrison at Prahsu was, on account of the sickness there
+prevailing, reduced to 100 men; and on the 6th of June, G Company, under
+Captain Hopewell Smith, marched from the Prah and proceeded to Anamaboe,
+a village on the sea-coast some thirteen miles to the east of Cape Coast
+Castle. B Company still continued to suffer severely, and on the 18th of
+June, 57 men were in hospital out of a total strength of 100.
+
+At last the Imperial Government resolved to put a stop to the waste of
+life that was taking place, and sent out instructions to the Colonial
+Government that all operations against the Ashantis were to cease, and
+the troops to be withdrawn. The welcome intelligence reached Prahsu on
+the 26th of June, but the work of burying the guns and destroying the
+stores and ammunition, which had been collected there at such great
+labour and expense that the Government did not care to incur it again
+in their removal, occupied several days, and it was not until the 12th
+of July that the detachment marched out of the deadly camp on the Prah.
+
+On the 27th of July, the hired transport _Wambojeez_ arrived at Cape
+Coast Castle, to remove the detachments of the 1st and 2nd West India
+Regiments to the West Indies, and on the 30th they embarked. The day
+before their embarkation the following general order was issued:
+
+                                 "(General Order, No. 285.)
+
+                                "BRIGADE OFFICE, CAPE COAST CASTLE,
+                                             "_28th July, 1864_.
+
+    "Paragraph 3.--The Lieutenant-Colonel commanding feels great
+    pleasure in publishing, for the information of the officers and
+    soldiers of the 1st and 2nd West India Regiments about to embark for
+    the West Indies, the following handsome testimony of their
+    soldierlike conduct while employed on the late expedition, by His
+    Excellency Governor Pine, in which feelings and kind sentiments the
+    Lieutenant-Colonel fully concurs, adding his own thanks to Major
+    Anton and Captain Reece for the ready and cheerful manner in which
+    they co-operated with him in carrying out the duties of the command,
+    and to the officers and men under their respective orders.
+
+    "It is a pleasing duty to the Lieutenant-Colonel to have to announce
+    to these corps that, from the day they took the field until this
+    hour, not a complaint has been brought by an inhabitant against any
+    of the men, so excellent has the conduct of all been.
+
+    "It is also gratifying to Lieutenant-Colonel Conran to see so few
+    men on the sick list when about to embark, considering the large
+    numbers that were reported sick on their return from the front."
+
+                                  "GOVERNMENT HOUSE, CAPE COAST,
+                                             "_27th July, 1864_.
+
+    "SIR,
+
+    "On the eve of the departure of the detachments of the 1st and 2nd
+    West India Regiments, which have been annexed to your command on my
+    requisition since April last, I request that you will be pleased to
+    permit me, through you, to record my thanks as Governor of these
+    settlements for the services they have performed conjointly with
+    yourself and regiment.
+
+    "I feel that I have been the means of imposing upon Her Majesty's
+    troops a laborious, ungracious, and apparently thankless duty; but
+    my intentions and motives have been so fully, and I trust,
+    satisfactorily discussed throughout Great Britain, that I dare hope
+    that the officers and men will believe that I invited them to
+    participate in a constitutional measure, which I felt convinced
+    would add to their military reputation and honour.
+
+    "To the decision of Her Majesty's Government as to its altered
+    policy we are all compelled to bow, and it only remains for me to
+    express my regret to every officer and man of the 1st and 2nd West
+    India Regiments, for the natural and laudable disappointment which
+    they have experienced in not being engaged in more active military
+    operations, and to tender my heartfelt thanks for the prompt and
+    ready obedience with which they responded to my call on behalf of
+    our Royal Mistress, and for their patience and endurance under
+    extraordinary trial.
+
+    "Major Anton I have served with, and marked with admiration his
+    display of fortitude, moral courage, and disinterested kindness
+    during the fearful epidemic of 1859 in the Gambia. Captain Bravo, as
+    second in command in the Gambia, was my esteemed friend, and enjoyed
+    the respect of all who knew him.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+    "This hasty and imperfect notice I trust you will not deem unworthy
+    of being communicated to the highest military authority, and I shall
+    esteem myself fortunate indeed if I shall be instrumental in the
+    remotest degree in their advancement.
+
+                                    "I have, etc.,
+                                        (Signed) "RICHARD PINE,
+                           "Governor and Commander-in-Chief, Gold Coast.
+
+    "The Hon. Colonel CONRAN,
+    "Commanding the troops on the Gold Coast."
+
+The _Wambojeez_ arrived at Barbados on the 3rd of September; there the
+detachment of the 1st West India Regiment embarked by companies in
+H.M.S. _Pylades_, _Greyhound_, and _Styx_, for Jamaica, and disembarked
+at Port Royal on the 15th of September. H and C Companies rejoining at
+Jamaica soon after from Honduras and Trinidad, the distribution of the
+regiment was as follows: head-quarters and three companies at Nassau,
+five companies in Jamaica.
+
+    NOTE.--Out of the 11 officers and 300 non-commissioned officers and
+    men who landed at Cape Coast Castle on the 9th April, only 6
+    officers and 269 non-commissioned officers and men re-embarked on
+    July 30th, 5 officers having been invalided, and 31 men having died
+    during their short stay of three months and a half.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+THE JAMAICA REBELLION, 1865.
+
+
+In October, 1865, a rebellion broke out amongst the black population of
+Jamaica. On the 7th of that month, at the Petty Sessions at Morant Bay,
+a prisoner, who had been convicted of an assault, was rescued from the
+police, and on the 9th a warrant was issued for the apprehension of two
+persons named Bogle and several others, who were stated to have taken an
+active part in the riot of the 7th. Six policemen and two rural
+constables proceeded, early on the morning of the 10th of October, to
+execute this warrant at Stony Gut, about five miles from Morant Bay,
+where Paul Bogle and some other of the alleged rioters lived. They found
+Bogle in his yard, and told him that they had a warrant for his
+apprehension. He desired to have the warrant read to him, which was
+done. He then said that he would not go, and upon one of the policemen
+proceeding to apprehend him, he cried out: "Help, here!" At the same
+time, a man named Grant, who was with him, and who was addressed as
+"Captain," called out, "Turn out, men." Almost immediately a body of
+men, variously estimated at from 300 to 500, armed with cutlasses,
+sticks, and pikes, rushed out from a chapel where Bogle was in the habit
+of preaching, and from an adjoining cane-field, and attacked the
+policemen.
+
+The police were, of course, overpowered. Some of them were severely
+beaten. Three of their number were made prisoners and detained for
+several hours, being ultimately only released upon their taking an oath
+that they would "join their colour," and "cleave to the black."
+
+So far, perhaps, the disturbances might have been considered to be
+nothing more than an ordinary riot; but the proceedings of the rioters
+on the following day soon put their intentions beyond all reasonable
+doubt.
+
+On the 11th of October the Vestry, consisting of certain elected members
+and magistrates, assembled in the court-house at Morant Bay about noon,
+and proceeded with their ordinary business till between three and four
+o'clock, when notice was given that a crowd of people was approaching.
+The volunteers were hastily called together, and almost immediately
+afterwards a body of men, armed with cutlasses, sticks, bayonets, and
+muskets, after having attacked the police station and obtained
+possession of such arms as were there deposited, were seen entering a
+large open space facing the court-house, in front of which the
+volunteers had been drawn up. The Custos, Baron Ketelhodt, went out to
+the steps, and called to the people to know what they wanted. He
+received no answer, and his cries of "Peace! peace!" were met by cries
+from the crowd of "War!"
+
+As the advancing mob drew near, the volunteers retired till they reached
+the steps of the court-house. The Custos then began to read the Riot
+Act. While he was in the act of reading it stones were thrown at the
+volunteers, and Captain Hitchins, who commanded them, was struck in the
+forehead. The captain, having received authority from the Custos, then
+gave the word to fire. The order was obeyed, and some of the rioters
+were seen to fall. The volunteers were soon overpowered, and the
+court-house, in which refuge was sought, was set on fire. Many people
+were barbarously murdered while trying to escape. Eighteen persons,
+including the Custos, two sons of the rector, the Island Curate of Bath,
+the Inspector of Police, the captain, two lieutenants, a sergeant, and
+three privates of volunteers were killed. Thirty-one persons were
+wounded.
+
+After this the town remained in possession of the rioters. The gaolers
+were compelled to throw open the prison doors, and fifty-one prisoners
+who were there confined were released. Several stores were attacked, and
+from one of them a considerable quantity of gunpowder was taken. An
+attempt was made to force the door of the magazine, where about 300
+stand of arms were stored. Fortunately the endeavour was not successful.
+
+Major-General L.S. O'Connor, commanding the troops in Jamaica, was
+inspecting the left wing of the 1st West India Regiment, under Major
+Anton, at Up Park Camp, on the morning of the 11th of October, when the
+news of the riot at Stony Gut on the 10th arrived, with a requisition
+from Governor Eyre for 100 men in aid of the civil power. In less than
+an hour Captain Ross's company paraded and marched to Kingston, where
+they embarked in H.M.S. _Wolverine_. Unfortunately, it not being
+supposed that there was any necessity for urgency, the _Wolverine_ did
+not leave Port Royal for Morant Bay until daybreak on the 12th. At about
+noon on the 12th the news of the massacre of the magistrates reached
+Port Royal, where Major-General O'Connor was inspecting the detachment
+of the 1st West India Regiment, under Captain Luke. In two hours from
+the receipt of the intelligence, the company embarked on board H.M.S.
+_Onyx_, and landed at Morant Bay on the morning of the 13th.
+
+Captain Ross, on arriving at Morant Bay, had found the town deserted by
+all the Europeans, except Mr. Georges, who was severely wounded with
+three musket balls in his leg. The bodies of the unfortunate
+magistrates, many of which were barbarously mutilated, were buried by
+this company. This duty performed, the men patrolled the roads in the
+neighbourhood, and many ladies, whose husbands had been murdered or
+taken prisoners, and who had fled with their children, on the approach
+of the rioters, to bamboo thickets or other shelter, hearing the sound
+of the bugles, came in for protection. Numbers of them had passed the
+night in copses, from which, trembling with terror, they had seen their
+houses pillaged.
+
+On the 12th of October, large parties of the rebels, armed with guns and
+cutlasses, marched in military order through Bath and other contiguous
+districts. Stores were pillaged, and property taken or destroyed. Blue
+Mountain Valley Estate, Amity Hall, Monklands, which is sixteen miles
+from Morant Bay, and Hordley Estate, were all attacked by the
+insurgents, the occupiers barely escaping with their lives. At Blue
+Mountain Valley and Amity Hall, barbarous murders were perpetrated.
+
+On the 13th of October, martial law was proclaimed throughout the county
+of Surrey (except the county and city of Kingston), and Major-General
+O'Connor immediately took steps to hem in the disturbed districts. On
+the 15th of October, a detachment of the 1st West India Regiment was
+sent to Port Antonio; and at mid-day, Captain Hole, of the 6th Regiment,
+with 40 men of his own corps, and 60 of the 1st West India Regiment,
+under Ensign Cullen, marched from that place to Manchioneal, twenty
+miles eastward of Port Antonio. On the same day, 120 men of the 6th
+Regiment, under Colonel Hobbs, occupied (as head-quarters) Monklands, in
+the district of the Blue Mountain Valley, about sixteen miles from
+Morant Bay. Captain Strachan's company of the 1st West India Regiment
+proceeded to Spanish Town, whence Lieutenant Allinson, with 31 men, was
+sent on to Linstead, where a repetition of the Morant Bay massacre was
+apprehended. A detachment of the 6th was sent to Buff Bay to protect
+some valuable sugar estates.
+
+On the 13th and two succeeding days the insurgents continued their
+course through Port Morant northward to Manchioneal, and on to Mulatto
+River and Elmwood; the last of which places is situated in the most
+northerly part of St. Thomas-in-the-East, where that parish abuts upon
+Portland. As they advanced with the cry of "colour for colour" they were
+joined by a considerable number of negroes, who readily assisted in the
+work of plundering. The houses and stores were sacked. The intention
+also of taking the lives of the whites was openly avowed, and diligent
+search was made for particular individuals. But in each case the
+imperilled person had timely notice, and sought safety in flight.
+
+Elmwood was the point furthest from Morant Bay to which the disturbances
+extended; the arrival of the troops at Port Antonio, on the 15th,
+putting a stop to the further progress of the insurgents northwards.
+Thus in the course of four days the rebels had spread over a tract of
+country extending from White Horses, a few miles to the west of Morant
+Bay, to Elmwood, at a distance of upwards of thirty miles to the
+north-east of that place.
+
+In the meantime, detachments of troops were rapidly converging upon the
+disturbed districts. As the rebels were reported to be occupying Stony
+Gut, an almost impregnable ravine three miles in length, a detachment of
+the 6th Regiment was sent to dislodge them. Captain Luke, 1st West India
+Regiment, by a rapid and judicious movement of his company towards Cuna
+Cuna Gap, rescued from the hands of the insurgents upwards of eighty
+Europeans and influential people of colour, who had, with their wives
+and children, been in hiding for three or four days in the woods and
+mountains, and conveyed them to a place of safety. Captain Hole moved
+towards Bath from Manchioneal, and, in a despatch to Brigadier-General
+Nelson, he mentions "a meritorious act of three privates of the 1st West
+India Regiment deserving commendation. The three men got separated from
+their party, and proceeded as far as the Plantain Garden River, where a
+great number of rebels are lurking. The soldiers encountering the
+rebels, shot several--among them three of the murderers of Mr. Hire--and
+brought back with them two cartloads of plunder, among which was some of
+Mr. Hire's clothing, and other property."
+
+Kingston, as has been said, was exempted from martial law, and
+consequently became the refuge of the most disaffected people. Arrests
+were made hourly, and upwards of two hundred political prisoners were
+confined in the military custody of the 1st West India Regiment at Up
+Park Camp, which was under martial law. Threats were daily circulated
+that the city would be fired in various places, and the streets were
+patrolled by day and night. Sunday, the 22nd of October, was said to be
+fixed for a massacre of the loyal inhabitants while at church, and such
+universal panic prevailed, that every place of worship was on that day
+empty.
+
+The insurgents gradually dispersed as the troops advanced, numbers being
+captured. On the 23rd of October, Paul Bogle, the ringleader, was taken;
+and, on the 24th, was tried and hanged. On the same day, George William
+Gordon, a coloured member of the House of Assembly, who had been tried
+by a court-martial on the 21st, and found guilty of complicity in the
+rebellion, was hanged at Morant Bay. All the insurgents taken in arms
+were put to death, and the houses of those who were known to have taken
+part in the insurrection were burned. By these vigorous measures all
+outward signs of resistance were crushed, and the movement prevented
+from becoming general; though reports were constantly received from
+various parts of the island, of disloyalty and seditious intentions.
+
+On the 29th of October, letters D and F Companies of the 1st West India
+Regiment, with Major McBean, Captains Ormsby and Smithwick, Lieutenants
+Lowry, Niven, Hill, and Bale, and Ensign Cole, arrived from Nassau.
+Detachments were at once sent to Port Maria under Captain Ormsby, to
+Savannah la Mar under Lieutenant Hill, and to Vere under Lieutenant
+Bale. The 2nd West India Regiment, arriving from Barbados, was stationed
+along the north-western coast of the island.
+
+From evidence subsequently obtained it was evident that the rising had
+been long planned, and that the outbreak at Morant Bay was premature. It
+is clear that meetings took place, where bodies of men were drilled,
+oaths administered, and the names of persons registered. The insurgents
+were so confident of ultimate success that the crops were uninjured, and
+the buildings for the most part preserved; they openly avowing that they
+intended taking them for themselves, when the whites were expelled. The
+rebels appear to have expected that the Maroons would join them, but
+that people remained faithful to their allegiance, and assisted in the
+suppression of the disturbances.
+
+Although all the rebels in the field were taken or dispersed before the
+end of October, the island was not entirely quiet for some time after;
+and as late as the 14th of December, a detachment of the 1st West India
+Regiment, under Captain Ross, was sent from Black River to Oxford
+Estate, thirty miles distant, that place being reported to be
+disaffected.
+
+Major-General O'Connor, in his despatch reporting the restoration of
+order, says: "The men employed in the field, exposed to the tropical
+sun, heavy rains, constant and long marches by day and night, have all
+(the 2nd 6th Regiment, and the 1st West India Regiment) highly
+distinguished themselves by their patience, perseverance, and general
+good conduct." He might have added that the fidelity of the black
+soldiers of the 1st West India Regiment could hardly have been put to a
+more crucial test. Nine-tenths of those men were Jamaicans, born and
+bred, and in the work of suppressing the rebellion they were required to
+hang, capture, and destroy the habitations of not only their countrymen
+and friends, but, in many instances, of their near relatives. Yet in no
+single case did any man hesitate to obey orders, nor was the loyalty of
+any one soldier ever a matter for doubt.
+
+Governor Eyre having, by his prompt and vigorous measures, saved the
+colony of Jamaica from a repetition of those horrors which devastated
+the French West India Islands in the early part of the century, was
+subjected to a most vindictive and ungenerous attack on the part of the
+Exeter Hall party in England. By that party the judicial executions of
+the rebels were stigmatised as "atrocities," while the massacre at
+Morant Bay and the murders of the planters were only spoken of as
+"unfortunate occurrences." Owing to their clamour, a commission was sent
+out from England to inquire into the state of affairs in the colony. The
+commission arrived at the following conclusion: "That though the
+original design for the overthrow of constituted authority was confined
+to a small portion of the parish of St. Thomas-in-the-East, yet that the
+disorder, in fact, spread with singular rapidity over an extensive tract
+of country, and that such was the state of excitement prevailing in
+other parts of the island, that had more than a momentary success been
+obtained by the insurgents, their ultimate overthrow would have been
+attended with a still more fearful loss of life and property."
+
+Many of the disaffected negroes, finding that they were being backed up
+by an influential party in England, preferred the most unfounded charges
+against several of the officers who had been most active in the
+suppression of the rebellion. Amongst others, Ensign Cullen, of the 1st
+West India Regiment, was charged with having had three men wantonly shot
+at Duckinfield Suspension Bridge, on the 21st of October, while on the
+march from Manchioneal to Golden Grove; and Staff-Assistant-Surgeon
+Morris, who had been in medical charge of Ensign Cullen's detachment,
+was charged with shooting a fourth man.
+
+After these charges had been allowed to hang over these officers' heads
+for nearly a year, they were given an opportunity of clearing themselves
+before a general court martial, which assembled at Up Park Camp on the
+2nd of October, 1866, and terminated its proceedings on the 4th of
+December. It is needless to say that both were acquitted.[59]
+
+For the valuable and efficient services rendered by the regiment during
+this rebellion, the House of Assembly in Jamaica voted the sum of £100
+to be expended in plate.
+
+In March, 1866, all being quiet in Jamaica, Captain Smithwick's company
+returned to Nassau in H.M.S. _Sphynx_, being followed by Captain
+Ormsby's company, in August, in H.M.S. _Barracouta_.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 59: The following was the composition of the court:
+
+    Lieutenant-Colonel R.T. Farren, C.B., Depōt Battalion--President.
+    Major W.R. Williamson, 48th Regiment  }
+      "   J.H. Campbell,   71st    "      }
+    Captain F.D. Walters,  44th    "      }
+       "    J.G. Day,      28th    "      }
+       "    J.A. Barstow,  89th    "      }  Members.
+       "    J.L. Seton,   102nd    "      }
+       "    C.V. Oliver,   66th    "      }
+       "    J.T. Ready,    66th    "      }
+    Captain Maclean, Rifle Brigade--Officiating Judge Advocate.
+    Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel C.F.J. Daniell, 28th Regiment--Prosecutor.
+
+]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+AFRICAN TOUR, 1866-70.
+
+
+In August, 1866, it again became the turn of the 1st West India Regiment
+to furnish a portion of the garrisons of the Western Coast of Africa.
+The system of these garrisons had again been changed, and now consisted
+of one battalion divided between Sierra Leone and the Gambia, and half a
+battalion distributed between the Gold Coast and Lagos. At this time the
+left wing of the 2nd West India Regiment was garrisoning the two latter
+colonies, and the 1st West India Regiment was to garrison the two
+former.
+
+On the 29th of August, 1866, four companies under Major Anton embarked
+at Jamaica in H.M.S. _Simoom_, and proceeded to Africa; two being landed
+at the Gambia on the 28th of September, and two at Sierra Leone on the
+6th of October. The _Simoom_, returning to the West Indies, embarked the
+remaining company at Jamaica in November; and proceeding to Nassau, the
+head-quarters and three companies there stationed were also embarked,
+the whole arriving at Sierra Leone, under Captain Bravo, on the 31st of
+December. The distribution of the regiment now was: Head-quarters, with
+A, B, D, E, F, and G Companies at Sierra Leone; C and H Companies at the
+Gambia. Major Anton was in command at the latter station, and on the
+25th of May, 1867, Lieutenant-Colonel Yonge arrived at Sierra Leone and
+assumed command there.
+
+In the beginning of August, 1867, a disturbance of a serious character
+occurred on the Gold Coast at Mumford, a town situated half-way between
+Cape Coast Castle and Accra; and Lieutenant H.F.S. Bolton, 1st West
+India Regiment, who, being temporarily in the employ of the Colonial
+Government, was Civil Commandant of the latter town, was despatched with
+a party of the 2nd West India Regiment to establish order. The cause of
+the disturbance was an old-standing quarrel between two of the native
+companies at Mumford, and a conflict had taken place, resulting in a
+large number of killed and wounded. On the arrival of the troops the
+principal offenders were arrested, and order was restored.
+
+Since the arrival of the regiment in Africa, small detachments had been
+furnished from Sierra Leone to Sherbro, Songo-town, and the island of
+Bulama, at the mouth of the Jeba River. In September, 1867, the troops
+were withdrawn from the latter station.
+
+In October, 1867, Lieutenant Bolton was employed in arresting some
+recalcitrant chiefs at Pram-Pram, near Accra, Lieutenant Ness, 2nd West
+India Regiment, with a detachment of that corps, acting under his
+orders. The service was attended with considerable difficulty and some
+danger, and the following general order was published on the subject,
+dated Cape Coast Castle, January 15th, 1868:
+
+"The officer commanding the troops has much gratification in publishing
+in orders an extract of a letter received from the Horse Guards,
+expressing the approval of His Royal Highness the Field-Marshal
+Commanding-in-Chief, of the manner in which the difficult duties were
+carried out by the officers and troops employed in the recent expedition
+to Pram-Pram.
+
+"'The attention of the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief having been
+drawn to a despatch, received at the Colonial Office, from the
+Administrator-in-Chief of the West Africa settlements, containing a very
+favourable account of the conduct of Lieutenant H.F.S. Bolton, of the
+1st West India Regiment, and Lieutenant (now Captain) Ness, of the 4th
+West India Regiment,[60] and of the troops under their command, on a
+recent expedition to some chiefs at Pram-Pram and Ningo, on the Gold
+Coast; I am directed to acquaint you that His Royal Highness considers
+the report to be highly satisfactory, and I have to request that you
+will express to the officers and troops employed on the service in
+question, His Royal Highness's approval of the manner in which they
+carried out the very difficult duties they had to perform.'"
+
+On the 9th of August, 1868, at the request of the Governor-in-chief, the
+garrison of the 2nd West India Regiment on the Gold Coast being much
+below its allotted strength, E Company, 1st West India Regiment, 100
+strong, proceeded to Cape Coast Castle, under Lieutenant C.J.L. Hill,
+and, in consequence of this reduction of the Sierra Leone garrison, the
+Songo-town detachment was withdrawn.
+
+In January, 1869, a company under Captain K.R. Niven, with Ensign W.A.
+Broome, was despatched to Sherbro Island for the protection of British
+subjects, an invasion of that island being hourly expected. The presence
+of the troops soon produced the desired effect, and the detachment
+returned to Sierra Leone on the 27th of February.
+
+In April, 1869, in consequence of the difficulty experienced by the
+Colonial Government in arresting certain rebellious chiefs at the
+Amissah River, about twenty miles to the east of Cape Coast Castle, the
+police having been attacked and driven off, the Acting Administrator,
+Mr. W.H. Simpson, applied for a military party to aid in establishing
+the authority of the Government over the people of that place; and, on
+the 7th of that month, Lieutenant E.G. Macdonald, 1st West India
+Regiment, with twenty-five non-commissioned officers and men of letter
+E Company, marched for Anamaboe, leaving that place next morning for
+Amissah River. On arriving there the chiefs were captured with some
+little difficulty, and the party returned to Cape Coast next day.
+
+On the 1st of April, 1869, the 4th West India Regiment was disbanded,
+and the three remaining West India regiments were each augmented by one
+company; the detachment of the 4th West India Regiment at Jamaica being
+formed into the ninth, or letter "I," Company of the 1st West India
+Regiment. On the 30th of September, 1869, it embarked for Honduras in
+the brigantine _W.N.Z._, under Major McAuley, arriving at its
+destination on the 14th of October.
+
+In May, 1869, the Gambia was visited by a severe epidemic of cholera.
+Owing to the sanitary measures adopted by Major W.W.W. Johnston, 1st
+West India Regiment, commanding the troops, the regiment escaped with
+only eighteen deaths out of the 200 men there stationed between the 5th
+of May and the 6th of June, the period when the epidemic was at its
+height; while in the town there were more than 1500 deaths, out of a
+population of some 5000.
+
+In 1870 the three years' tour of service of the regiment on the West
+Coast of Africa expired. The 3rd West India Regiment having been
+disbanded, a considerable reduction in the West African garrisons became
+necessary, and it was intended that the relief for the eight companies
+of the 1st West India Regiment should consist of four companies of the
+2nd. On the 24th of May, the head-quarters, with A, B, and F Companies,
+under Captain Samson, embarked at Sierra Leone in H.M.S. _Orontes_,
+which, proceeding to the Gambia, took on board the two companies there
+on the 29th. The head-quarters, with the three companies from Sierra
+Leone, landed at Jamaica on the 27th of June, and the _Orontes_ then
+sailed for Nassau, where the two companies from the Gambia were
+disembarked. On the return of the troopship to the West Coast of Africa
+with the four companies of the 2nd West India Regiment, the company of
+the 1st West India Regiment at Cape Coast Castle was embarked on the
+24th of August, and the remaining two at Sierra Leone on the 27th. All
+three proceeded to Jamaica, under the command of Captain J.A. Smith, and
+landed at Kingston on the 3rd of October. The distribution of the
+regiment was now as follows: head-quarters and six companies at Jamaica,
+two at Nassau, and one at Honduras. On the 15th of November, F Company,
+under Captain Butler, embarked at Jamaica for Honduras; thus making up
+the detachment at that station to two companies.
+
+During the West African tour of 1866-70, two officers succumbed to the
+influence of the climate, Lieutenant Gavin having died at Sierra Leone
+on the 22nd of February, 1869, and Lieutenant Maturin on the 7th of
+December of the same year.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 60: By the Gazette of September 25th, 1867, Lieutenant R.E.D.
+Ness, 2nd West India Regiment, was promoted Captain, by purchase, in the
+4th West India Regiment.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+THE DEFENCE OF ORANGE WALK, 1872.
+
+
+On the 1st of September, 1872, a most determined attack was made by the
+Ycaiché Indians on the outpost of Orange Walk, British Honduras, which
+was garrisoned by thirty-eight men of the 1st West India Regiment, under
+Lieutenant Joseph Graham Smith.
+
+Orange Walk is situated on a deep and sluggish stream in the northern
+district, named the New River,[61] at a distance of some thirty-three
+miles from its mouth, and, in 1872, contained a population of about 1200
+souls, the majority of whom were either Indians or Hispano-Indians, and
+indifferent to British rule. The business portion of the town, and most
+of the shops or stores, were on hilly ground, considerably above the
+river-bed, and built here and there, without an attempt at order or
+regularity. About midway between the river and this upper portion of the
+town was the barrack, consisting of one large room, sixty feet by
+thirty feet, the two ends of which were partitioned off, leaving the
+central part for the men's quarters. The partitioned portion at the
+south end was used as a guard-room. The walls of the building were
+constructed of _pimentos_, or round straight sticks, varying from
+half-an-inch to three inches in diameter, driven firmly into the ground,
+in an upright position, as close together as possible, and held in their
+places by pine-wood battens. The roof was composed of palm-leaves, or
+"fan-thatch." The floor was boarded.
+
+On the south-eastern side of the barrack, the ground fell towards the
+river, which was about fifty yards distant. About ten yards from the
+water's edge was a large quantity of logwood, packed in piles four feet
+high, and some little distance from each other. Across the road, on the
+southern side, were several native houses; to the east, and about forty
+yards distant, was a group of four small buildings consisting of
+commissariat stores and the officers' quarters; while the nearest
+building on the north was the Roman Catholic Church, about eighty yards
+off.
+
+How or when the invaders crossed the Rio Hondo, the northern boundary of
+the colony, has not been ascertained; but it is a significant fact,
+suggestive of strong suspicions against the loyalty of the Indian and
+mixed Spanish-Indian population, whose small settlements were dotted
+here and there on the line of march of the invaders, that no information
+was conveyed, either to the district magistrate at Orange Walk, or to
+the officer commanding the small detachment, that an enemy was at hand,
+prepared, as the settlers must have known, to attack and plunder the
+town.
+
+The Indians, consisting of about 180 braves, or fighting men, and 100
+camp followers, led by Marcus Canul, chief of the Ycaiché, approached
+the town about 8 a.m. on Sunday, the 1st of September. They were divided
+into three sections, each of 60 men, and they entered the town at three
+different points; one attacking the upper portion, and pillaging and
+setting fire to the houses and stores, the other two marching directly
+upon the barracks, but from opposite sides. Of these latter two, one
+took up a position behind the stacks of logwood, thus commanding one
+side and one end of the barrack; and the other established itself close
+to the officers' quarters, under cover of a stone building, which
+commanded the other side of the barrack and the end already commanded
+from the stacks of logwood.
+
+So sudden and unexpected was the attack, that Lieutenant Graham Smith
+and Staff-Assistant-Surgeon Edge, who were both at the time having their
+morning baths, barely had time to escape to the barracks; Lieutenant
+Smith, with nothing on but his trousers, and Dr. Edge in a state of
+nudity; while the first notice the men in the barrack had of the
+approach of the enemy, was the shower of lead which rattled on the
+building.
+
+Lieutenant Graham Smith says: "At about 8 a.m. on September 1st, I was
+bathing, when I heard the report of a gun and the whizz of a bullet
+along the road running past the south end of the barrack-room. I looked
+out of the door of my house facing the barracks, and saw the corporal of
+the old guard, which had just been relieved, running towards me. He
+said, 'The Indians have come.' I repeated this to Dr. Edge, who was
+living in the same quarters with me, then put on my trousers, ran across
+to the barrack-room, and got the men under arms as quickly as possible."
+
+Before Lieutenant Graham Smith had reached the barracks, the two
+divisions of the enemy had taken up their respective positions, and were
+pouring in unceasing discharges of ball, which penetrated the pimento
+sticks and raked the building from end to end. The guard, the only men
+who had ammunition in their possession, returned the fire, and at this
+moment Lieutenant Smith arrived with Dr. Edge.
+
+Sergeant Belizario, coming forward and asking for ammunition to serve
+out, reminded Lieutenant Smith that he had left the key of the portable
+magazine, in which the ammunition was kept, in his quarters. The open
+space between his quarters and the barrack-room was swept with an
+unceasing shower of lead; but there was no help for it, and the key had
+to be fetched. Accompanied by Sergeant Belizario, Lieutenant Smith ran
+over to his house, seized the key, and ran back. Most marvellously both
+escaped injury, though the ground all around them was cut up by bullets.
+The portable magazine was kept in the partitioned end that served as a
+guard-room, and there was no door of communication between the central
+portion, where the men lived, and this room. Sergeant Belizario
+therefore ran out of the barrack-room, along the side of the building,
+into the guard-room, and endeavoured to drag the portable magazine back
+with him. He succeeded in moving it outside the guard-room and a little
+way along the wall, but further he could not drag it. All this time he
+was exposed to a heavy fire, and every musket-barrel from the stone
+building on the eastern side of the barrack was pointed at his body.
+Finding that all his efforts to move the magazine were fruitless,
+Sergeant Belizario unlocked it, and, taking out the ammunition, passed
+packet after packet to the men inside, through the opening under the
+eaves left for ventilation, between the thatched roof and the top of the
+pimento wall, till the magazine was emptied. This done, he returned to
+the barrack-room. He seemed to have borne a charmed life, for he was
+untouched, while the portable magazine was starred with the white
+splashes of leaden bullets.
+
+A hot fire was now opened by the soldiers, and Lieutenant Graham Smith,
+taking a rifle, placed himself at the west door of the barracks to try
+and pick off some of the most daring of the Indians. Whilst there he was
+struck in the left side, and, at the same instant, Private Robert Lynch,
+who was standing next him, fell dead, pierced by two shots.
+
+Notwithstanding his wound, which was very severe, the ball penetrating
+the left breast a little above the heart, and passing nearly through
+him, finally lodging under the left shoulder-blade, Lieutenant Smith
+continued directing and encouraging his men; and finding that the whole
+interior was swept by the missiles of the enemy, against which the frail
+pimento-sticks were no protection, he ordered the men to turn down their
+cots, and, lying on their beds, to fire over the iron heads of the cots.
+In this position they were tolerably well sheltered, though the Indians
+were so close that several of the iron heads were shot through.
+
+In this place it will be proper to refer to a soldier who, all this
+time, was outside the barrack. This was Private Bidwell, who, when the
+Indians arrived, had just been posted sentry on a commissariat store
+close to the officers' quarters. The occupation of one of this group of
+buildings cut him off from the barrack-room; so, after bayoneting one
+Indian, he ran over to an enclosure belonging to Don Escalente, situated
+to the north of the store. From the shelter of the fence of this
+enclosure he fired into the Indians in the stone building till his ten
+rounds of ammunition were exhausted. He then said to Don Escalente, "I
+am going over to the barracks for more cartridges," and, before he could
+be dissuaded, ran out from the shelter and endeavoured to cross the open
+space to the barrack. On the way he received a mortal wound, but
+succeeded in joining his comrades.
+
+The Indians, impatient at the delay caused by the obstinate resistance
+of the soldiers, now vacated the houses on the further side of the road,
+opposite the southern end of the barracks, and set fire to the thatched
+roofs, hoping to involve the barracks in a general conflagration. The
+houses burned fiercely, and the flames spreading across the road, caught
+a small kitchen situated not ten yards from the barracks. The Indians
+raised yells of triumph, for they considered it certain that their foes
+would now be driven from their shelter and then easily overpowered by
+force of numbers. Indeed, it is difficult to understand how the dry
+palm-thatch of the barracks did fail to ignite, but it did so fail, and
+the kitchen, after blazing up violently for a few minutes, fell in and
+burned itself out harmlessly.
+
+By the destruction of these buildings the position of the soldiers was
+improved, the Indians now having no cover immediately opposite the south
+end of the barrack, and being compelled consequently to concentrate
+behind the stacks of logwood. A party, however, of them made a circuit
+and appeared on the north-west corner of the barrack, from whence they
+commanded the road bounding the north side of the building.
+
+After the firing had continued for an hour and a half, Mr. Price, and
+another American gentleman from Tower Hill Rancho, about four miles from
+the barracks, having heard what was taking place, mounted and rode
+towards the scene of the conflict. Creeping up the river bank
+unperceived through the thick woods, they suddenly rode into and fired
+upon the Indians who were in rear of the stacks of logwood. The latter,
+taken by surprise, and not knowing by what unexpected force they were
+attacked, left their cover for a moment and appeared on the side nearest
+to the barracks. The soldiers perceiving this movement, and thinking
+that the Indians were going to attempt to rush the building, fixed
+bayonets, and some ran to the doors to defend the entrances. Mr. Price
+and his companion, taking advantage of this and the momentary surprise
+of the Indians, rushed forward and threw themselves into the barracks.
+
+The enemy's fire redoubled after this, and it was hotly kept up until
+about half-past 1 o'clock; it then began to slacken, and by 2 o'clock
+had ceased altogether. For some time no one stirred, it being suspected
+that the cessation of the attack was only an Indian ruse; but after a
+quarter of an hour had elapsed, Sergeant Belizario was sent out with a
+party to reconnoitre. He reported that the enemy was in full retreat,
+and was sent to follow them up and watch their movements. No pursuit
+could be attempted. Lieutenant Graham Smith was, by this time, incapable
+of further action, and out of the detachment of thirty-eight men, two
+had been killed and fourteen severely wounded.
+
+The attack lasted altogether six hours. The Indian loss was about fifty
+killed; the number of their wounded could not, of course, be
+ascertained, but amongst them was Marcus Canul himself, who was
+mortally wounded, and died before recrossing the Hondo. Of the
+civilians, the son of Don Escalente, a boy fourteen years of age, was
+killed, and seventeen were wounded. While the Indians had been occupied
+in their attack on the barracks, the European women and children had
+escaped from the scene of the outrage and crossed the river in boats.
+Thence they had made their way through the dense forest to the village
+of San Estevan, about seven miles below Orange Walk. Over 300
+bullet-holes were counted in the walls of the barrack-room, and in many
+places the palmettos were shot away in patches.
+
+On the morning following the attack, a rumour reached the barracks that
+the Indians were again in force near the town, and preparing to renew
+the attack. Every preparation for giving them a warm reception was made;
+but Sergeant Belizario and a small party, who went out to reconnoitre,
+found that the rumour was false, although several Indians were seen in
+the bush and fired upon.
+
+In the meantime the news of the invasion had reached Corosal and Belize,
+and Captain F.B.P. White, with Lieutenant Bulger and twenty men, arrived
+at Orange Walk at midnight on the 4th, being followed next day by a
+further reinforcement of fifty-three officers and men, under Major
+W.W.W. Johnston, but the Indians had already retired beyond the
+frontier.
+
+A colonist, in a letter to _The Times_ on this affair, says:
+
+"Concerning the conduct and proceedings of the military during and
+subsequent to the late invasion and attack, I have nothing to say but
+what redounds to their credit and high character as British soldiers;
+and if medals and crosses were distributed among the dusky warriors of
+Her Majesty's land forces in this part of her dominions as freely as
+among other branches of the service, all I can say is that every one of
+the brave fellows, who held with such determined valour and tenacity the
+barracks at Orange Walk on that memorable Sunday morning against such
+fearful odds, would be entitled to a medal at least."
+
+The following general order was issued: "The Colonel commanding the
+forces in the West Indies has received with much satisfaction an account
+of the successful defence of the post of Orange Walk, British Honduras,
+by a detachment of the 1st West India Regiment, under the command of
+Lieutenant J. Graham Smith, against an assault of a large force of
+Indians.
+
+"He has much pleasure in recording his high approbation of the gallant
+conduct of Lieutenant Smith, who, severely wounded at the outset of the
+attack, maintained the defence of his post, and retained command as long
+as his strength enabled him to do so; it was then successfully
+maintained under the direction of Staff-Assistant-Surgeon Edge, and
+Sergeant Belizario, 1st West India Regiment, to whom also great praise
+is due for their conduct and exertions; the gallant conduct of
+Lance-Corporals Spencer and Stirling, Privates Hoffer, Maxwell,
+Osborne, Murray, and W. Morris, has also been favourably mentioned.
+
+"The Colonel commanding will have great pleasure in bringing the conduct
+of these officers and soldiers to the favourable notice of His Royal
+Highness the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief, and also the judicious
+and energetic measures taken by Major W.W.W. Johnston, 1st West India
+Regiment, commanding the troops in British Honduras, who proceeded in
+person to the post which had been assailed, and followed up the
+retreating enemy."
+
+In reply to the report made by Colonel Cox, C.B., commanding the troops,
+the following letter was received, and ordered to be embodied in the
+records of the regiment:
+
+                                    "HORSE GUARDS, WAR OFFICE, S.W.,
+                                            "_15th November, 1872_.
+
+    "SIR,
+
+    "Having had the honour to receive and submit to the Field-Marshal
+    Commanding-in-Chief, your letter of the 23rd September last, with
+    its several enclosures, containing a detailed account of the
+    exemplary and gallant conduct of a detachment of the 1st West India
+    Regiment, in repelling an attack of Indians on the Orange Walk
+    outpost of the Colony of British Honduras, together with a letter on
+    the same subject addressed to this department by the officer
+    commanding the 1st West India Regiment:
+
+    "I have it in command to acquaint you that His Royal Highness, after
+    consultation with the Secretary of State for War on the subject,
+    has decided that the following recognition shall be at once made of
+    the services of the officers and men employed on that occasion,
+    viz.:
+
+    "That Lieutenant Smith, late 1st West India Regiment, who was
+    gazetted to the 57th Regiment in August last, shall be immediately
+    promoted to a Company in the 97th Foot.
+
+    "That Staff-Assistant-Surgeon Edge shall be promoted to the rank of
+    Surgeon, as soon as he has qualified for the higher position, and a
+    notification to this effect will be published in the London Gazette,
+    hereafter.
+
+    "That Sergeant Edward Belizario shall receive the distinguished
+    conduct medal, with an annuity of £10, to be given at once, in
+    excess of the vote, until absorbed on the occurrence of a vacancy.
+
+    "That Lance-Corporals Spencer and Stirling shall be granted the
+    distinguished conduct medal without annuity, and promoted to the
+    rank of Corporal, to be borne supernumerary till absorbed.
+
+    "I am also to request that the men of the detachment specially named
+    in the margin[62] may be commended for their good conduct, and the
+    commanding officer of the regiment requested to record their claims,
+    and give such recognition of them regimentally as may be possible
+    from time to time.
+
+    "That you will publish these, His Royal Highness's decisions, in
+    your general orders.
+
+    "And that a copy of this letter may be furnished to the officer
+    commanding the 1st West India Regiment, for the purpose of being
+    entered in the Regimental Records.
+
+                                       "I have, etc.,
+                                        (Signed) J.W. ARMSTRONG, D.A.G."
+
+In consequence of the attack on Orange Walk, and on the application of
+the Governor of Honduras, Captain Gardner, Lieutenant Bale, and fifty
+men of the regiment, embarked at Jamaica, on the 25th of September, in
+H.M.S. _Fly_, as a reinforcement for Honduras.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 61: See Map.]
+
+[Footnote 62: Privates Hoffer, Maxwell, S. Osborne, Murray, R.A. Morris,
+and W. Tell.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+THE ASHANTI WAR, 1873-4.
+
+
+On the 9th of December, 1872, the King of Ashanti despatched from
+Coomassie an army of 40,000 men to invade the British Protectorate on
+the Gold Coast. This army crossed the Prah in three divisions on January
+29th, 1873, and spread itself slowly over the country, ravaging as it
+advanced. In August, 1870, the garrisons on the West Coast of Africa had
+been reduced to four companies, two at Sierra Leone, and two at Cape
+Coast. This reduction, no doubt, was one of the principal causes which
+led to the invasion, for at that time there were only 160 soldiers of
+the 2nd West India Regiment to defend 160 miles of territory.
+
+In June, 1873, the head-quarters of the 2nd West India Regiment being
+ordered from Demerara to Cape Coast Castle, A Company of the 1st West
+India Regiment embarked at Kingston, Jamaica, on the 10th of that month,
+and proceeded to Demerara to garrison that place. In September, the
+native levies that had been raised on the Gold Coast to resist the
+Ashantis being found utterly worthless, it was decided to send three
+battalions from England and the 1st West India Regiment from Jamaica, to
+invade in turn the Ashanti territory and dictate terms of peace at
+Coomassie.
+
+On the 15th of November, the two companies (C and H) from Nassau, under
+the command of Major Strachan, arrived at Jamaica, and, on the 3rd of
+December, the head-quarters and five companies (B, C, E, G and H), under
+the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Maxwell, embarked at Kingston on board
+the hired transport _Manitoban_. Proceeding to Barbados, A Company, which
+had been moved from Demerara, was embarked on the 9th of December, and the
+same evening the regiment sailed for the Gold Coast, arriving at Cape Coast
+Castle on the 27th, and disembarking on the 29th, 575 strong. The officers
+serving with the expeditionary force were Lieutenant-Colonel Maxwell, Major
+W.W.W. Johnston, Captains Sampson, Butler, Niven, J.A. Smith, Steward,
+and Shearman, Lieutenants Allinson, C.J.L. Hill, Bale, Molony, Cole,
+Bell, Clough, Elderton, Beale-Browne, and Barne, and Sub-Lieutenants
+Harward, Spitta, Hughes, Burke, Edwardes, Tinkler, and Ellis.
+
+The regiment on landing was encamped on Prospect and Connor's Hills, two
+heights overlooking the town of Cape Coast, and Colonel Maxwell assumed
+command of the garrison in the Castle.
+
+Sir Garnet Wolseley having already driven the Ashantis out of the
+Protectorate after the actions at Dunquah and Abracampa in November, and
+having garrisoned the various stations between Cape Coast and the Prah,
+had, a few days before the regiment landed, gone on to Prahsu with his
+head-quarter staff. The _Himalaya_ and _Tamar_, with the 23rd Royal
+Welsh Fusiliers and the 2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade, which had been
+cruising about outside for sanitary reasons, now came into the
+roadstead, where the _Sarmatian_, with the 42nd Highlanders, was already
+lying, and everything was ready for the advance on Coomassie.
+
+Accordingly, before daybreak on the 1st of January, the right
+half-battalion of the Rifle Brigade landed and commenced its march to
+the front, followed the next morning by the other half-battalion. On the
+mornings of the 3rd and 4th the two half-battalions of the 42nd landed,
+and passed to the front in a similar manner.
+
+The Fantis had shown so much disinclination to act as carriers, and so
+few had been obtained, that the advance of these two battalions had
+exhausted all the available carriers, and there were none for the 23rd
+Fusiliers. It was necessary to adopt stronger measures, unless the
+expedition was to fall through, and on the 4th of January the 1st West
+India Regiment was posted in a cordon of sentries around the town of
+Cape Coast, while the armed police seized all the able-bodied men in the
+town, except those employed as canoe-men. This step was entirely
+successful, and on the morning of the 5th the right half-battalion of
+the 23rd landed and marched to the front, being followed next morning by
+C Company of the 1st West India Regiment.
+
+The difficulty with the carriers had in the meantime increased instead
+of diminishing. Numbers had deserted, abandoning their loads, and the
+transport was almost in a moribund condition, the 23rd Regiment being
+even re-embarked for want of carriers. Sir Garnet Wolseley in this
+emergency called upon the West India regiments for assistance, saying
+that the fate of the expedition was hanging in the balance; and in
+response to his appeal, they both volunteered to carry supplies, in
+addition to their arms, accoutrements, and ammunition.
+
+Accordingly, on the 7th of January, the head-quarters of the regiment,
+under Colonel Maxwell, with A and E Companies, marched to Inquabim, the
+first stage; being followed the next morning by G and H Companies, under
+Captain Butler; while B Company remained at Prospect Hill to furnish the
+necessary garrison guards at Cape Coast Castle.
+
+The head-quarters arrived at Dunquah on the 8th, where C Company had
+been halted by Colonel Colley, who was in charge of the transport and
+communications, and had already been actively engaged driving in
+carriers and furnishing escorts for the convoys of provisions.
+
+On the 9th, at 1.30 a.m., A Company, under Captain Shearman, paraded
+and marched into the Ecumfie district for the purpose of driving in
+carriers from that neighbourhood, and, at the same hour, the
+head-quarters and E Company continued their march to Mansu, where they
+arrived the same evening.
+
+Provisions being now urgently required at the stations immediately in
+front of Mansu, 78 men of E Company, being all that were available, and
+140 of the 42nd Highlanders, started at three o'clock in the morning of
+the 12th, as carriers, each man with a load of 50 lb. weight, besides
+his arms and accoutrements. On the evening of the same day Captain
+Butler, with H Company, arrived at Mansu.
+
+The carriers continued deserting by whole tribes, and the need of them
+had become so urgent, that orders were issued to shoot any attempting to
+desert, while parties of the regiment were continually passing backwards
+and forwards between Dunquah and Mansu as guards over the convoys. To
+relieve the pressure, 94 men of G and C Companies left Dunquah on the
+13th with ninety-four 50-lb. loads, and, reaching Mansu the same day,
+started next morning at daybreak for the Prah.
+
+On the 17th, Captain Butler marched with H Company to Essecooma, a place
+about twenty miles due east from Mansu, to drive in carriers, and a
+similar party was sent out next day from Dunquah, under Lieutenant
+Roper, to Adjumaco and Essiaman.
+
+During all these arduous duties, and since the 8th of January, so great
+was the scarcity of provisions at the front, that the non-commissioned
+officers and men of the regiment were placed upon half rations of salt
+meat and biscuit, without the grocery ration.
+
+On Sunday, the 18th of January, the transport being now in sufficient
+order, owing to the number of carriers driven in from the surrounding
+districts by the regiment, the advance of the army commenced, and the
+head-quarters of the 42nd Regiment marched from Mansu; their left wing,
+and 100 men of the 23rd Fusiliers, moving up from Yancoomassie Fanti,
+and occupying their lines for the night. The Rifle Brigade moved
+simultaneously to the front from the stations ahead.
+
+Next morning, E Company, under Captain J.A. Smith, marched with the left
+wing of the 42nd for the Prah, and G Company, under Captain Steward,
+came up to Mansu from Dunquah, leaving A and C Companies, under Captains
+Niven and Shearman, at Dunquah and the Adjumaco district.
+
+On the 23rd, orders were received from the front by telegram, that the
+head-quarters and 200 men were to march for the Prah at once, there to
+receive further orders. Captain Butler, who had been ordered in with H
+Company from Essecooma, two days before, arrived at Mansu the same
+evening, and the next morning, the head-quarters and G Company marched
+for the Prah, H Company following on the 25th. Halting at Sutah and
+Yancoomassie Assin, the head-quarters arrived at Prahsu on the 27th,
+and on the morning of the 28th, the 200 men required crossed the Prah
+and marched to Essiaman. During this march the men had been obliged to
+carry their _tentes d'abri_, blankets and waterproof sheets, and seventy
+rounds of ball ammunition, in addition to their field kits and arms and
+accoutrements. On arriving at Essiaman, E Company, which, under Captain
+J.A. Smith, had crossed the Prah a day or two before, was found
+occupying an important post at the cross roads.
+
+A few minutes after reaching this village, urgent orders were received
+to push on as quickly as possible to the summit of the Adansi Hills, and
+again proceed to the front with all speed, leaving fifty men at
+Fommanah, the capital of Adansi. On the 29th, the head-quarters were at
+Accrofumu; on the 30th, they crossed the Adansi Hills, and halted at
+Fommanah for the night, leaving E Company, under Captain Smith, at the
+cross-roads at the foot of the hills, in accordance with later orders
+that had been received, and Lieutenant Spitta with twenty-five men at
+the summit. The men were now becoming much exhausted from their long
+marches, marching, as they did, double stages every day. Their burdens
+were unusually heavy for troops, and they were still kept on half
+rations.
+
+At Fommanah a very pressing letter was received from the chief of the
+staff, asking at what hour next day the regiment might be expected to
+join the head-quarters of the army at Insarfu, what numbers it could
+put into the field, and whether the boxes of small-arm ammunition
+ordered up from Prahsu had arrived with it. A considerable action was
+considered imminent on the morrow.
+
+At daylight on the morning of the 31st, the head-quarters marched to
+Ahkankuassie, leaving Captain Steward and Lieutenant Hughes with fifty
+men at Fommanah. At about eight o'clock the sound of heavy and sustained
+musketry was heard, and the men, eager to join in the first battle
+fought on Ashanti soil, pushed on. At Adadwasi a large number of
+carriers, with reserve ammunition, who had halted there, frightened at
+the sound of the firing, were found, and were at once taken on, arriving
+at Insarfu about 1.30 p.m.
+
+The firing, which had ceased for a short time, now recommenced, the
+Ashantis making one of their favourite flank attacks on Quarman, the
+next village in front. The situation appeared grave, the town being
+crowded with terrified carriers and wounded men, and Lieutenant Hill
+with a half-company was sent out to act with the 2nd West India Regiment
+and skirmish.
+
+After a time, however, the musketry ceased, and the carriers, with the
+reserve ammunition, were pushed on hurriedly under the escort of a
+company of the Rifle Brigade, the 1st and 2nd West India Regiments being
+directed to hold Insarfu. Scarcely had the carriers started than the
+firing again commenced, the ambushed Ashantis having attacked the
+convoy, which fell back upon Insarfu. After a short delay, a second
+attempt was made to get the ammunition through to the front, and this
+time it proved successful. It was now dark, and Captain Buckle, R.E.,
+who had been killed that morning, was buried outside the town, the
+firing party of the 1st West India Regiment being employed as
+skirmishers to protect the funeral party, instead of in the usual
+manner.
+
+The next morning, orders were received for the 2nd West India Regiment
+to proceed to Amoaful, and hold it until the return of the army from
+Coomassie; while the 1st West India Regiment was directed to hold
+Insarfu, in which was the 2nd field hospital with 120 wounded officers
+and men. The work was arduous in the extreme, the men, when not on
+sentry or patrol, being employed in clearing the thick bush round the
+town, and endeavouring to strengthen the post. While the engagement at
+Amoaful, Quarman, and Insarfu was going on, a party of the 1st West
+India Regiment, which was escorting treasure from Fommanah to Dompoassi,
+was fired upon by some ambushed Ashantis about one hundred yards from
+the latter village. The escort promptly returned the fire, but the
+carriers all dropped their loads and ran away. After firing a few
+desultory shots the Ashantis retired, and the escort remained with the
+scattered boxes of specie, which were too numerous for them to carry on
+themselves. Fortunately the fugitive carriers, running headlong into
+Fommanah, spread the alarm, and Captain North, of the 47th Regiment,
+immediately marched with a party of the 1st West India Regiment, under
+Lieutenant E. Hughes, and a few men of Russell's Regiment, to Dompoassi,
+near which he found the treasure quite safe, it having, with the
+exception of one box, which had been dropped by its bearer some three
+hundred yards down the road, away from the rest, and where a turn in the
+path hid it from sight, been collected together by the escort. No trace
+was found of the enemy, and the party of the 1st West India Regiment
+returned to Fommanah.
+
+On the morning of the 2nd of February, the head-quarters of the army
+advanced from Amoaful to march on Coomassie. There were, notwithstanding
+the defeat on January 31st, still large numbers of Ashantis on the
+flanks of the road, in the neighbourhood of Quarman and Insarfu. During
+the day succeeding the battle, they concentrated lower down the road,
+and, on the morning of the 2nd of February, made a desperate attempt to
+sever our line of communications by attacking the post of Fommanah.
+
+"The post was in command of Captain Steward, 1st West India Regiment,
+who had a garrison of 1 officer and 38 non-commissioned officers and
+men, 1st West India Regiment; and Lieutenant Grant, 6th Regiment, with
+102 of the Mumford Company of Russell's Regiment. There were also
+present two transport officers--Captain North, of the 47th Regiment, and
+Captain Duncan, R.A.--three surgeons, and two control officers; and in
+the palace, which was situated in the main street of the long straggling
+town, and used as a hospital, were 24 European soldiers and sailors,
+convalescents. The pickets had reported Ashantis in the neighbourhood
+early in the morning, and had been reinforced; but the village was far
+too large to be capable of defence by this small garrison; and when,
+about 8.30 a.m., the place was attacked from all directions by the
+enemy, they were able to penetrate into it. Captain North, in virtue of
+his seniority, assumed the command, but while at the head of his men was
+shot down in the street of the village, and was obliged by severe loss
+of blood to hand over the command to Captain Duncan, R.A.
+
+"The enemy, as has been said, penetrated into all the southern side of
+the village, which they set on fire; meanwhile the sick from the
+hospital were removed to the stockade at the north end of the village,
+which was cleared as rapidly as possible, the houses being pulled down
+by the troops and labourers acting under Colonel Colley's order.[63]
+
+"At half-past two, Colonel Colley reported as follows: 'We have now
+cleared the greater part of the village, preserving the hospital and
+store enclosure. Difficult to judge of numbers of the Ashantis; they
+attack on all sides, and occasional ones creep boldly into the village,
+but generally keep under cover of the thick bush, which in places comes
+close to the houses.' The firing ceased about 1 p.m.; but on a party
+going down for water an hour later, they were hotly fired upon. No
+further attack was made upon the post.
+
+"This attack on Fommanah seriously interfered with the transport
+arrangements. Hitherto, though a few shots had been fired at different
+convoys, the panics and difficulties had always been overcome by the
+energy of the transport officers; but the vigour and strength of this
+attack frightened the carriers so thoroughly that it was impossible to
+move them for some days." In this affair the 1st West India Regiment
+lost one sergeant and five privates wounded, and Russell's irregulars
+three men wounded.
+
+The Ashantis, although repulsed, still remained in the neighbourhood of
+Fommanah, and on February 3rd, an escort over a convoy of carriers,
+consisting of a sergeant and three men of the 1st West India Regiment,
+was fired upon between Dompoassi and Fommanah, the sergeant and one
+private being wounded.
+
+The European Brigade pushed on to Coomassie, after several days' hard
+fighting, entered the Ashanti capital on the evening of the 4th of
+February, burned it and marched out on the 6th, and arrived at Insarfu
+on the downward journey on the 9th. Lieutenant-Colonel Johnston,
+commanding the head-quarters of the 1st West India Regiment at Insarfu,
+was directed to break up his post, burn the town as soon as all the
+troops had passed through, and then to follow to Fommanah, where Sir
+Garnet Wolseley intended remaining a few days, in order to endeavour to
+arrange a treaty with the Ashantis.
+
+The head-quarter staff left Fommanah on February 14th for Cape Coast,
+and the European troops being ordered to push on, on account of the
+commencement of the rains, the 1st West India Regiment was detailed to
+relieve the 42nd as the rear-guard of the army. On it fell the duty of
+destroying the fortified posts to the north of the Prah, and the removal
+of the sick and wounded and stores. Carriers were still so scarce that
+it was not until the 20th that Essiaman was cleared out and the stockade
+destroyed, and the three rear companies of the regiment marched into the
+bridge-head at Prahsu--which, during the advance to Coomassie, had been
+held by C Company, under Captain Niven--on the 21st. On the 23rd they
+crossed the Prah, and the bridge was then destroyed.
+
+By the 27th of February all the European regiments had embarked for
+England, the 2nd West India Regiment was under orders for the West
+Indies, and upon the 1st West India Regiment fell the duty of
+garrisoning the colony. Two hundred men were left at Prahsu, where a
+strong redoubt had been constructed, fifty at Mansu, and the remainder
+at Cape Coast. On the departure of Sir Garnet Wolseley, on the 4th of
+March, Colonel Maxwell, of the 1st West India Regiment, administered the
+government of the Gold Coast.
+
+Previous to the departure of the General the following general order was
+published:
+
+                                       "(General Order No. 43.)
+
+                                        "HEAD-QUARTERS, CAPE COAST CASTLE,
+                                                 "_3rd March, 1874_.
+
+    "Before leaving for England the Major-General commanding wishes to
+    convey to the soldiers of the 1st and 2nd West India Regiments his
+    appreciation of their soldierlike qualities, and of the manner in
+    which they have performed their duties during the recent campaign.
+    Portions of the 2nd West India Regiment have been in every affair in
+    the war, and the regiment generally has undergone fatigue and
+    exposure in a most creditable manner.
+
+    "When, owing to the desertion of carriers, the transport
+    difficulties became serious, the men of both these regiments
+    responded most cheerfully to the call made upon them, and, by daily
+    carrying loads, helped to relieve the force from its most pressing
+    difficulties.
+
+    "In saying 'good-bye,' the Major-General assures them he will always
+    remember with pride and pleasure that he had the honour of
+    commanding men whose loyalty to their Queen, and whose soldierlike
+    qualities, have been so well proved in the war now happily at an
+    end."
+
+The rains having set in at the Prah, and much sickness prevailing, it
+was decided to relieve the posts between that river and the coast. In
+fact, the mortality that had occurred at Prahsu in 1864 showed that
+West India troops should not be encamped there without urgent necessity;
+and no such necessity now existed, as the King of Ashanti had agreed to
+the treaty, which had been left unsettled up to Sir Garnet Wolseley's
+departure. Captain J.A. Smith, with fifty men of the regiment, escorted
+the Ashanti chiefs sent down by the king, and arrived at Cape Coast on
+the 12th of March. On the 18th, H Company marched in from Prahsu, and
+embarked on the 20th for Sierra Leone in the transport _Nebraska_, which
+vessel also conveyed the 2nd West India Regiment to the West Indies. C
+Company was the last withdrawn from the Prah, arriving at Cape Coast on
+April 2nd.
+
+It had been most disappointing to the two West India regiments to have
+been prevented from entering Coomassie, within some twenty-five miles
+from which their head-quarters were halted. West India regiments rarely
+have opportunities of seeing active service elsewhere than on the West
+Coast of Africa; and, although the duties assigned to them in the second
+phase of the war were most important, holding, as they did, the detached
+posts from the Prah up to the front, keeping open the communications,
+protecting the convoys, sick and wounded, and constantly furnishing
+patrols and escorts, yet they felt it rather hard to have been deprived,
+in their solitary field for distinguishing themselves, of the honours of
+fighting beside their European comrades at Amoaful and Ordahsu.
+
+On the return of the regiment from the bush, the fatigues and exposures
+of the campaign began to have their effect upon both officers and men.
+In ordinary years, in times of peace, Europeans who are seasoned to
+tropical service, can serve for twelve months in the deadly climate of
+West Africa without suffering much loss; but any unusual exposure or
+hardship is at once followed by an alarming increase of sickness. The
+1st West India Regiment was the only corps which, after enduring all the
+fatigues of a campaign in the most deadly climate in the world, did not
+enjoy the advantage of a change to a healthier station. Added to this,
+the season proved to be unusually unhealthy, and that variety of African
+fever known as "bilious remittent," which can only be distinguished from
+yellow fever by the fact of its not being contagious, broke out.
+Sub-Lieutenant L. Burke succumbed to this scourge on March 1st,
+Lieutenant T. Williams on April 9th, Lieutenant W.S. Elderton on May
+10th, and Sub-Lieutenant E.W. Huntingford on June 12th, while
+Lieutenant-Colonel Maxwell, Lieutenant Clough and Lieutenant Roper,
+being invalided, died on passage to England, and Captain Butler after
+arriving in England. In addition to these deaths, eight other officers
+were invalided, and out of twenty-six officers who were serving with the
+regiment on the 28th of February, only ten were left in West Africa on
+the 30th of June.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 63: Colonel Colley had arrived at the northern side of the
+village, from Ahkankuassie, soon after the command had devolved upon
+Captain Duncan.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+AFFAIRS IN HONDURAS, 1874--THE SHERBRO EXPEDITION 1875--THE ASHANTI
+EXPEDITION, 1881.
+
+
+While the regiment had thus been engaged on the Gold Coast, the
+detachment left at Orange Walk had, in January 1874, had a narrow escape
+of a brush with the Santa Cruz Indians. On the 2nd of that month, in
+accordance with a requisition from the magistrate at Orange Walk,
+Captain F.B.P. White and Lieutenant J.R.H. Wilton, with forty men of the
+1st West India Regiment, left that station about noon for Albion Island,
+in the River Hondo, distant about twelve miles, to demand the
+restitution of a woman who had been abducted by an armed party of Santa
+Cruz Indians from a place called Douglas, in British territory. The
+Hondo was reached about 4.30 p.m., and Captain White, finding a number
+of Santa Cruz Indians cutting bush, as if for an encampment, on the
+British side of the river, directed them to accompany him; and crossing
+to the island in their boats, sent them to tell the chief that he had a
+message to deliver to him.
+
+On landing on Albion Island it was found that the public ball-room of
+San Antonio, a large, open, shed-like building peculiar to these
+Spanish-Indian towns, which was situated on a small hill, was occupied
+by an armed force of the Indians, about seventy strong. Opposite to
+them, on the nearest rising ground, the detachment was at once formed
+up, partly covered by a chapel.
+
+After some time the chief of the Santa Cruz came over to Captain White's
+party, and inquired what was wanted of him; when he was told that no
+message could be delivered to him as long as he had an armed party on
+British soil, and that he must surrender his arms. After some little
+discussion the chief agreed to do so, provided that they were returned
+when his men left the island; and, on these terms, ten or eleven rifles
+were brought in; but while this was being done, a trumpet sounded in the
+public ball-room, and the Santa Cruz, quickly gathering together, began
+to load their rifles. The chief, being asked for an explanation of this
+sudden change, replied that his braves were only cleaning their guns,
+but at the same moment a sub-chief came up, and loudly declared that the
+Santa Cruz would not give up their arms.
+
+The troops were rapidly posted in advantageous positions, and Captain
+White then informed the chiefs that if their men would not lay down
+their arms they must leave San Antonio at once, first handing over the
+woman who had been abducted. Some discussion ensued, but Captain White
+remaining firm, the chiefs agreed to go, and moved their men down to the
+boats. At the last moment, however, it was discovered that the woman,
+who was the cause of the expedition, was in one of the boats, and their
+departure was stopped until she was landed, and given in charge of the
+troops.
+
+The Santa Cruz now refused to stir, but remained in their boats, which
+were moored to the bank. It being feared that the Indians were only
+delaying for reinforcements, thinking to overpower the British in the
+darkness, Captain White sent Lieutenant Wilton with ten men to give them
+a peremptory order to push off within a quarter of an hour. The Indians
+received the message with laughter, asking, "What will you do, if we do
+not go?" It was now rapidly becoming dark, and the country, wild and
+savage in itself, was entirely strange to both officers and men. After
+ten minutes had elapsed, without the Indians giving any sign of
+departure, Captain White had the "close" sounded, drew in his sentries,
+and descended towards the boats with fixed bayonets. Upon this the
+Indians pushed off, and were soon lost to sight in the darkness. The
+detachment remained under arms all night at San Antonio, and next
+morning, it having been ascertained that the Indians had retired across
+the frontier, the troops returned to Orange Walk.
+
+The following letter was forwarded upon this subject:
+
+                                            "HORSE GUARDS, WAR OFFICE,
+                                                  "_17th March, 1874._
+
+    "SIR,
+
+    "The Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief has perused the report which
+    you forwarded to the Adjutant-General on the 29th of January, of the
+    proceedings of the troops at Orange Walk, in British Honduras, who
+    were called out in aid of the civil power against a band of Santa
+    Cruz Indians in January last, and I am to request that you will
+    cause Captain White, 1st West India Regiment, by whom they were
+    commanded, to be informed that His Royal Highness considers that the
+    discretion and firmness displayed by him in the performance of this
+    difficult duty is very commendable to that officer.
+
+                                            "I have, etc.,
+                                                (Signed) "R.B. HAWLEY,
+                                                    "Asst. Mil. Sec."
+
+In July, 1874, the head-quarters of the regiment were moved from the
+Gold Coast to Sierra Leone, one company being left in garrison at Cape
+Coast Castle, and one at Elmina. As in June the two companies stationed
+in Honduras had, with the one left in Jamaica, been removed to Demerara,
+the distribution of the regiment in July, 1874, was: Head-quarters and
+four companies (A, B, C, and H) at Sierra Leone, two (E and G) on the
+Gold Coast, and three (D, F, and I) in Demerara.
+
+In July, 1875, disturbances once more broke out in British Sherbro. The
+inhabitants of the town of Mongray, on the river of the same name, in
+that month made a raid upon Mamaiah, a town on the British frontier,
+plundered several factories there, and carried off thirty-three British
+subjects as slaves. Fresh outrages were committed later on, and, on the
+8th of October, 1875, Lieutenant-Governor Rowe, C.M.G., with forty men
+of the 1st West India Regiment, under Sub-Lieutenant G.V. Harrison, and
+sixty armed police, left Sierra Leone in the colonial steamer _Lady of
+the Lake_. The detachment was landed at Bendoo in Sherbro next day.
+Negotiations were at once opened with the Mongray chiefs, resulting in
+the surrender of the captives on the 15th, and on the 25th the party
+returned to Sierra Leone.
+
+Almost immediately after, fresh disturbances broke out in another
+portion of Sherbro, on the Bargroo River, and, on the 15th of November,
+Lieutenant-Governor Rowe left Freetown in the colonial steamer _Sir A.
+Kennedy_, with Captain A.C. Allinson, Lieutenants J.H. Jones, and A.S.
+Roberts, and ninety men of the 1st West India Regiment, fifty armed
+police, a 4-2/5-inch howitzer, and a rocket-trough. The disturbance
+arose from a raid of Mendis upon villages in British territory, thirteen
+of which they plundered and destroyed, afterwards erecting a "war-fence"
+at a place called Paytaycoomar, in British Sherbro. Here the Commandant
+of Sherbro, Mr. Darnell Davis, attacked them with a few policemen, and
+was repulsed with a loss of three killed and several wounded, himself
+severely.
+
+The expedition, on arriving at Sherbro, established a camp at Tyama
+Woroo in Bargroo, and all preparations for an advance being completed by
+the 27th of November, the troops marched on that day, occupying
+Mosangrah on the 30th. On the 3rd of December, Lowarnar, a town to the
+eastward, was entered, and on the 5th a move was made on the stockaded
+town of Gundomar, which was abandoned by the enemy on the approach of
+the force. The dead body of one of the captives taken from British
+Sherbro, recently strangled, was found in the stockade, and the town was
+accordingly burned.
+
+On the 6th the force advanced on Moyamba, which was also found to be
+evacuated by the enemy, and was burned. On the 9th the troops left
+Moyamba and marched to Yahwi-yamah, which was also destroyed, with the
+outlying stockaded villages of Mocorreh, Bettimah and Mangaymihoon. On
+the 10th Modena was destroyed, and the force marched through Mowato and
+Geeavar to Sennehoo, arriving there on the 16th. To this latter town
+several of the chiefs came in to treat, bringing 212 of the captives
+with them, and on the 18th a treaty of peace was arranged, the Mendis
+promising to pay a fine of 10,000 bushels of rice. The troops returned
+to Sierra Leone on the 24th of December.
+
+The country through which the detachment of the 1st West India Regiment
+had marched was most difficult. It consisted of dense forest, through
+which the only advance could be made along narrow paths, wide enough
+only for the passage of men in single file, and obstructed by fallen
+trees, swamps, and unbridged streams. Numerous swamps, black and full of
+malaria, had to be crossed, and, though the noon-day sun was excessively
+hot, the nights, owing to excessive damp, were very cold. Heavy showers
+of rain fell almost daily, and from sunset till an hour after sunrise
+the whole country was buried in an impenetrable fog.
+
+The stockades were of the same character as those found at Mongray, but
+were here in some instances further fortified by mud walls, fifteen feet
+high, and about twelve feet thick at the base. Inside the walls were
+ditches about six feet wide and eight feet deep. In some of the towns,
+machicoulis galleries had been constructed over the gates, and the
+entrances further protected by semicircular mud bastions.
+
+In March, 1877, the 1st West India Regiment was relieved on the West
+Coast of Africa by the 2nd West India Regiment, E and G Companies
+embarking in H.M.S. _Simoom_, at Cape Coast Castle, on the 24th of
+February, and the head-quarters, with A, B, C, and H Companies, at
+Sierra Leone on the 3rd of March. On arriving at the West Indies the
+regiment was thus distributed: Head-quarters, with A, D, E, and I
+Companies, at Jamaica, C and F at Honduras, G and H at Barbados, and B
+at Nassau.
+
+During its three years' tour of West African service the regiment had
+suffered very heavy loss amongst the officers. In addition to the eight
+deaths that occurred in 1874, directly after the Ashanti war, Captain W.
+Cole died in Ireland of fever contracted on the Gold Coast;
+Lieutenant-Colonel Strachan and Sub-Lieutenant Turner in England; and
+Sub-Lieutenants S.B. Orr and G.V. Harrison at Sierra Leone in 1876.
+
+The regiment remained without change in the West Indies until December,
+1879, when the head-quarters and six companies embarked in H.M.S.
+_Tamar_ for West Africa, leaving D, E, and I Companies at the depōt at
+Demerara. The head-quarters and four companies disembarked at Sierra
+Leone on the 17th of January, 1880, and the two remaining companies
+proceeded to Cape Coast Castle.
+
+In February, 1880, there being some slight disturbance in the
+neighbourhood of the Ribbie River, a small party of the 1st West India
+Regiment proceeded thither as an escort to the Governor, with
+Lieutenants Madden and Tipping. The whole returned to Sierra Leone
+without any casualty, after an absence of a few weeks.
+
+On the 28th of January, 1881, news was received at Sierra Leone that the
+Ashanti king, Mensah, had threatened an invasion of the Gold Coast
+Colony, and a reinforcement was urgently demanded. In consequence,
+Captain H.W. Pollard, 1st West India Regiment, commanding the troops on
+the West Coast of Africa, despatched to Cape Coast Castle next day in
+the mail steamer _Cameroon_ letter B Company, under Captain Ellis, and
+letter H Company, under Lieutenant Garland. These two companies arrived
+at their destination on the 2nd of February, and on the 9th the former
+proceeded to Anamaboe. This rapid arrival of reinforcements induced the
+king to repudiate the action of his envoys, but affairs were still in a
+very critical situation, and much alarm prevailed in the colony. Early
+in March, Lieutenant-Colonels Niven and Smith and Major White arrived
+from England, bringing with them letter A Company from Sierra Leone. On
+the 18th of March, five companies of the 2nd West India Regiment arrived
+in the hired transport _Humber_. Negotiations were protracted till
+April, when an embassy arrived from Coomassie, and the difficulty was
+finally settled. On the 2nd of May, the head-quarters, with A, F, and G
+Companies, returned to Sierra Leone, leaving B, C, and H at Cape Coast
+Castle and Anamaboe. In February, 1882, C Company also proceeded to
+Sierra Leone.
+
+It was intended at the termination of the African tour of the regiment,
+in January, 1883, to reduce the garrisons in West Africa from six to
+three companies, and the steamship _Bolivar_ was chartered to carry out
+the relief in two trips. That vessel, however, was wrecked off the
+Cobbler's Reef, at Barbados, and H.M.S. _Tyne_ was sent in her place.
+The latter embarked H Company at Cape Coast Castle on the 6th of
+February, 1883, and F and G Companies at Sierra Leone on the 14th, all
+three proceeding to Jamaica under the command of Major C.J.L. Hill. On
+the return of the _Tyne_ to West Africa with three companies of the 2nd
+West India Regiment, the head-quarters and remaining three companies of
+the 1st West India Regiment, at Cape Coast Castle and Sierra Leone, were
+embarked on the 1st and 11th of April respectively, and sailed for
+Jamaica under the command of Captain Ellis, arriving at their
+destination on the 28th of April. On the 5th of May, B, G, and F
+Companies embarked in the _Tyne_, the first two for Honduras and the
+third for Nassau. On the conclusion of the inter-island trooping, the
+_Tyne_ proceeded with the head-quarters and three companies of the 2nd
+West India Regiment to West Africa, the Government having, in
+consequence of threatened complications with Ashanti, abandoned their
+scheme of reducing the African garrisons.
+
+The distribution of the 1st West India Regiment is now (May, 1883):
+Head-quarters and three companies (A, C, and H) at Jamaica, two (B and
+G) in Honduras, one (F) in Nassau, and three (D, E, and I) in Demerara.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX.
+
+SUCCESSION OF HONORARY COLONELS.
+
+    Major-General John Whyte                       24th April, 1795.
+    Lord Charles Henry Somerset                    5th January, 1804.
+    Sir Peregrine Maitland, K.C.B                  22nd February, 1830.
+    Major-General the Hon. Sir Henry King, K.C.B.  19th July, 1834.
+    Lieutenant-General Sir William Nicolay, K.C.H. 30th November, 1839.
+    Lieutenant-General Sir Henry F. Bouverie,
+      K.C.B., G.C.M.G                              13th May, 1842.
+    Lieutenant-General Sir G.H. Bromley Way        21st November, 1843.
+    General Sir George Thomas Napier, K.C.B.       29th February, 1844.
+    Lieutenant-General Sir George Bowles, K.C.B.   9th September, 1855.
+    General Sir Arthur Borton, K.C.B               2nd May, 1876.
+
+SUCCESSION OF LIEUTENANT-COLONELS.
+
+    1. Leeds Booth             23rd May, 1795   { From Brevet-Major,
+                                                { 32nd Foot.
+
+    2. George Rutherford       30th Dec., 1797  { From Major, 27th Foot,
+                                                { _vice_ Booth to 87th
+                                                { Regiment.
+
+    3. James Maitland          22nd April, 1803 { From 60th by purchase,
+                                                { _vice_ Rutherford, who
+                                                { retires.
+
+    4. Alexander Cumine        20th March, 1804 { From 75th Foot, _vice_
+                                                { Maitland, who exchanges.
+
+    5. C.D. Broughton          21st April, 1804 { By purchase, _vice_
+                                                { Cumine, who retires.
+
+    6. Samuel Huskisson          2nd June, 1807 { From Major, 8th Foot,
+                                                { without purchase, on
+                                                { establishment of a second
+                                                { Lieutenant-Colonelcy.
+
+    7. Benjamin D'Urban        29th Sept., 1807 { From 9th Garrison
+                                                { Battalion, _vice_
+                                                { Huskisson, who exchanges.
+
+    8. John Irving               9th Jan., 1808 { From 2nd West India
+                                                { Regiment, _vice_ D'Urban,
+                                                { who exchanges.
+
+    9. George H. Duckworth      16th Jan., 1808 { From Major, 67th
+                                                { Foot, by purchase, _vice_
+                                                { Irving, who retires.
+
+    10. Henry Tolley            27th Feb., 1808 { From Major, 71st
+                                                { Foot, without purchase,
+                                                { _vice_ Broughton,
+                                                { cashiered.
+
+    11. W.S. Wemyss             18th June, 1808 { From 48th Foot, _vice_
+                                                { Duckworth, who exchanges.
+
+    12. Joseph Morrison          2nd Dec., 1809 { From Major, 89th
+                                                { Foot, with purchase
+                                                { _vice_ Tolley, appointed
+                                                { to 16th Foot.
+
+    13. Jonathan Yates          21st July, 1810 { From Major, 47th
+                                                { Foot, by purchase, _vice_
+                                                { Wemyss, who retires.
+
+    14. Clement Whitby            16 July, 1811 { From Major, 17th
+                                                { Foot, with purchase,
+                                                { _vice_ Morrison,
+                                                { appointed to 89th Foot.
+
+    15. J.M. Clifton           10th Sept., 1814 { Without purchase, _vice_
+                                                { Yates, appointed to
+                                                { 49th Foot.
+
+(Lieutenant-Colonel Clifton retired, Jan. 23rd 1819, and the second
+Lieutenant-Colonelcy was abolished.)
+
+    16. James Cassidy           12th Dec., 1822 { By purchase, _vice_
+                                                { Whitby, who retires.
+
+    17. Francis Frye Brown      12th Jan., 1824 { From half-pay, 6th
+                                                { West India Regiment,
+                                                { _vice_ Cassidy, who
+                                                { exchanges.
+
+    18. Richard Doherty          6th Dec., 1827 { From half-pay, _vice_
+                                                { Brown, who retires.
+
+    19. William Bush            4th Sept., 1835 { From half-pay, _vice_
+                                                { Doherty, appointed to
+                                                { 89th Foot.
+
+    20. Henry Capadose         22nd April, 1836 { Without purchase, on
+                                                { re-establishment of a
+                                                { second
+                                                { Lieutenant-Colonelcy.
+
+    21. Edward Rowley Hill       1st Jan., 1847 { Without purchase, _vice_
+                                                { Bush, appointed
+                                                { Inspecting Field Officer
+                                                { of a recruiting district.
+
+    22. Robert Hughes          14th April, 1848 { _Vice_ Capadose,
+                                                { deceased.
+
+    23. Fred. Aug. Wetherall      1st May, 1855 { From Major, 3rd West
+                                                { India Regiment, by
+                                                { purchase, _vice_ Hughes,
+                                                { who retires.
+
+    24. Luke Smyth O'Connor    21st Sept., 1855 { Without purchase, _vice_
+                                                { Hill, appointed to a
+                                                { Provisional Depōt
+                                                { Battalion.
+
+    25. Edward Last             24th Nov., 1857 { From Brevet
+                                                { Lieutenant-Colonel, 99th
+                                                { Foot, _vice_ Wetherall,
+                                                { deceased.
+
+    26. Henry Dunn O'Halloran  23rd March, 1858 { From Brevet
+                                                { Lieutenant-Colonel,
+                                                { Depōt Battalion, _vice_
+                                                { Last, appointed to 21st
+                                                { Foot.
+
+    27. Augustus William Murray 16th March, 1860{ Without purchase, _vice_
+                                                { O'Halloran, retired
+                                                { upon full pay.
+
+    28. Bowland Moffatt         4th March, 1862 { From half-pay, _vice_
+                                                { O'Connor, who retires
+                                                { upon half-pay.
+
+    29. James Travers           4th March, 1862 { Without purchase, _vice_
+                                                { Murray, who retires
+                                                { upon half-pay on being
+                                                { appointed
+                                                { Deputy-Adjutant-General,
+                                                { Windward and Leeward
+                                                { Islands.
+
+    30. James Shortall Macauley 29th July, 1862 { Without purchase, _vice_
+                                                { Travers, retired on full
+                                                { pay.
+
+    31. William M'Bean          18th Dec., 1866 { By purchase, _vice_
+                                                { Moffatt, who retires.
+
+    32. G. Nigel K.A. Yonge     3rd April, 1867 { From half-pay, late
+                                                { 67th Foot, _vice_
+                                                { Macauley, who retires on
+                                                { half-pay.
+
+    33. Henry Anton              8th June, 1867 { Without purchase, _vice_
+                                                { M'Bean, who retires.
+
+    34. James Maxwell           17th Aug., 1870 { From half-pay, late
+                                                { 34th Foot, _vice_ Yonge,
+                                                { who retires on half-pay.
+
+    35. J.M. M'Auley             4th Oct., 1871  _Vice_ Anton, deceased.
+
+    36. W.W.W. Johnston         24th Dec., 1873 { _Vice_ M'Auley, who
+                                                { retires.
+
+    37. W.H.P.F. Strachan      15th April, 1874 { _Vice_ Maxwell, deceased.
+
+    38. Knox Rowan Niven       24th March, 1877 { _Vice_ Strachan,
+                                                { deceased.
+
+    39. Joseph Alexander Smith  29th Jan., 1879 _Vice_ Johnston, retired.
+
+    40. F.B.P. White            4th March, 1882 _Vice_ Niven, retired.
+
+
+STATIONS OF THE 1ST WEST INDIA REGIMENT FROM JUNE, 1795, TO JUNE, 1883.
+
+                      1795 (June).
+    Head-quarters and 8 companies at Martinique.
+
+                      1798 (December).
+    Head-quarters and 6 companies at Morne Fortune, St. Lucia.
+                      2 companies at Maboya, St. Lucia.
+
+                      1801 (July).
+    Head-quarters and 8 companies at Martinique.
+
+                      1802 (January).
+    Head-quarters and 6 companies at Martinique.
+                      2 companies at St. Vincent.
+
+                      1802 (July).
+    Head-quarters and 6 companies at St. Vincent.
+                      1 company at Martinique.
+                      1 company at Antigua.
+
+                      1802 (October).
+    Head-quarters and 8 companies at St. Vincent.
+
+                      1803 (April).
+    Head-quarters and 6 companies at St. Vincent.
+                      2 companies at Grenada.
+
+                      1804 (May).
+    Head-quarters and 6 companies at Dominica.
+                      1 company at St. Vincent.
+                      1 company at Grenada.
+
+                      1807 (January).
+    Head-quarters and 6 companies at Barbados.
+                      3 companies at Grenada.
+                      1 company at Tobago.
+
+                      1807 (November).
+    Head-quarters and 10 companies at Barbados.
+
+                      1808 (January).
+    Head-quarters and 6 companies at Barbados.
+                      3 companies at Antigua.
+                      1 company at Tobago.
+
+                      1808 (October).
+    Head-quarters and 9 companies at Barbados.
+                      1 company at Tobago.
+
+                      1809 (February).
+    Head-quarters and 8 companies at Martinique.
+                      2 companies at Barbados.
+
+                      1809 (June).
+    Head-quarters and 6 companies at Trinidad.
+                      2 companies at Martinique.
+                      2 companies at Barbados.
+
+                      1809 (August).
+    Head-quarters and 10 companies at Trinidad.
+
+                      1814 (March).
+    Head-quarters and 4 companies at Martinique.
+                      4 companies at St. Lucia.
+                      2 companies at Dominica.
+
+                      1814 (July).
+    Head-quarters and 8 companies at Guadaloupe.
+                      1 company at Marie-Galante.
+                      1 company at St. Martin's.
+
+                      1814 (December).
+    Head-quarters and 10 companies at New Orleans.
+
+                      1815 (February).
+    Head-quarters and 10 companies at Barbados.
+
+                      1815 (August).
+    Head-quarters and 6 companies at Barbados.
+                      4 companies at Guadaloupe.
+
+                      1815 (December).
+                      Bermuda.
+
+                      1816 (March).
+    Head-quarters and 10 companies at Barbados.
+
+                      1816 (November).
+    Head-quarters and 3 companies at Antigua.
+                      1 company at Montserrat.
+                      2 companies at St. Christopher's.
+                      2 companies at St. Lucia.
+                      2 companies at Dominica.
+                     --
+                     10
+                     ==
+
+                      1819 (January).
+    Head-quarters and 3 companies at Barbados.
+                      2 companies at Antigua.
+                      2 companies at St. Lucia.
+                      2 companies at Dominica.
+                      1 company at Tobago.
+                     --
+                     10
+                     ==
+
+                      1821 (October).
+    Head-quarters and 3 companies at Barbados.
+                      1 company at Demerara.
+                      1 company at Tobago.
+                      1 company at St. Lucia.
+                      1 company at Dominica.
+                      1 company at Antigua.
+                     --
+                      8
+                     ==
+
+                      1823 (May).
+    Head-quarters and 4 companies at Barbados.
+                      1 company at Demerara.
+                      1 company at St. Lucia.
+                      1 company at Dominica.
+                      1 company at Antigua.
+                     --
+                      8
+                     ==
+
+                      1823 (September).
+    Head-quarters and 2 companies at Barbados.
+                      3 companies at Demerara.
+                      1 company at St. Lucia.
+                      1 company at Dominica.
+                      1 company at Antigua.
+                     --
+                      8
+                     ==
+
+                      1824 (October).
+    Head-quarters and 5 companies at Barbados.
+                      1 company at St. Lucia.
+                      1 company at Dominica.
+                      1 company at Antigua.
+                     --
+                      8
+                     ==
+
+                      1825 (February).
+    Head-quarters and 4 companies at Trinidad.
+                      1 company at Barbados.
+                      1 company at St. Lucia.
+                      1 company at Dominica.
+                      1 company at Antigua.
+                     --
+                      8
+                     ==
+
+                      1826 (February).
+    Same as in 1825, with the addition of a recruiting company at Sierra
+    Leone.
+
+                      1827 (January).
+    Head-quarters and 3 companies at Trinidad.
+                      1 company at Barbados.
+                      1 company at St. Lucia.
+                      1 company at Dominica.
+                      1 company at Antigua.
+                      1 company at Grenada.
+                      1 company at Sierra Leone.
+                     --
+                      9
+                     ==
+
+                      1834 (May).
+    Head-quarters and 2 companies at Trinidad.
+                      1 company at Barbados.
+                      1 company at St. Lucia.
+                      1 company at Dominica.
+                      1 company at Antigua.
+                      1 company at Grenada.
+                      1 company at Tortola.
+                      1 company at Sierra Leone.
+                     --
+                      9
+                     ==
+
+                      1837 (December).
+    Head-quarters and 5 companies at St. Lucia.
+                      1 company at Trinidad.
+                      1 company at Tobago.
+                      1 company at Demerara.
+                      1 company at St. Vincent.
+                      1 company at Sierra Leone.
+                     --
+                     10
+                     ==
+
+                      1839 (December).
+    Head-quarters and 2 companies at Demerara.
+                      3 companies at Barbados.
+                      1 company at Trinidad.
+                      1 company at Tobago.
+                      1 company at St. Lucia.
+                      1 company at St. Vincent.
+                      1 company at Grenada.
+                      1 company at Dominica.
+                      1 company at Antigua.
+                      1 company at Sierra Leone.
+                     --
+                     13
+                     ==
+
+                      1840 (September).
+    Head-quarters and 2 companies at Demerara.
+                      2 companies at Barbados.
+                      1 company at Trinidad.
+                      1 company at Tobago.
+                      1 company at St. Vincent.
+                      1 company at Grenada.
+                      1 company at Dominica.
+                      1 company at Sierra Leone.
+                     --
+                     10
+                     ==
+
+                      1843 (November).
+    Head-quarters and 5 companies at Demerara.
+                      2 companies at Sierra Leone.
+                      1 company at Grenada.
+                      1 company at Tobago.
+                      1 company at St. Vincent.
+                     --
+                     10
+                     ==
+
+                      1844 (June).
+    (Head-quarters) Grenadier, No. 8 and No. 5 at Demerara = 3 companies.
+    Light and No. 1 at Jamaica      = 2
+              No. 2 at Trinidad     = 1
+              No. 3 at Dominica     = 1
+              No. 4 at Sierra Leone = 1
+              No. 6 at Grenada      = 1
+              No. 7 at Cape Coast   = 1
+                                     --
+                                     10
+                                     ==
+
+                      1845 (March).
+    (Head-quarters) Grenadier, Light, No. 1 and No. 8 at
+                        Jamaica     = 4 companies.
+              No. 5 at Demerara     = 1
+              No. 2 at Trinidad     = 1
+              No. 3 at Dominica     = 1
+              No. 4 at Sierra Leone = 1
+              No. 6 at Grenada      = 1
+              No. 7 at Cape Coast   = 1
+                                     --
+                                     10
+                                     ==
+
+                      1846 (June).
+    (Head-quarters) Grenadier, Light, Nos. 1, 3, 6, and 8 at
+                        Jamaica     = 6 companies.
+              No. 2 at Trinidad     = 1
+              No. 4 at Sierra Leone = 1
+              No. 5 at Tobago       = 1
+              No. 7 at Cape Coast   = 1
+                                     --
+                                     10
+                                     ==
+
+                      1847 (December).
+    (Head-quarters) Grenadier, Light, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and
+                  8 at Jamaica      = 8 companies.
+              No. 4 at Sierra Leone = 1
+              No. 7 at Cape Coast   = 1
+                                     --
+                                     10
+                                     ==
+
+                      1848 (August).
+    (Head-quarters) Grenadier, Nos. 3, 4, 6, and 7 at
+                      Jamaica       = 5 companies.
+    Light and No. 8 at Nassau       = 2
+              No. 1 at Honduras     = 1
+              No. 5 at Sierra Leone = 1
+              No. 2 at Cape Coast   = 1
+                                     --
+                                     10
+                                     ==
+
+                     1849 (March).
+    (Head-quarters) Grenadier, No. 3 and No. 6 at
+                              Jamaica  = 3 companies.
+    Light, No. 7, and No. 8 at Nassau  = 3
+           No. 1 and No. 4 at Honduras = 2
+           No. 5 at Sierra Leone       = 1
+           No. 2 at Cape Coast         = 1
+                                        --
+                                        10
+                                        ==
+
+                      1852 (September).
+    (Head-quarters) Grenadier, No. 3, and No. 6 at
+                              Jamaica  = 3 companies.
+    Light, No. 7, and No. 8 at Nassau  = 3
+           No. 1 at St. Christopher's  = 1
+           No. 4 at Barbados           = 1
+           No. 5 at Sierra Leone       = 1
+           No. 2 at Cape Coast         = 1
+                                        --
+                                        10
+                                        ==
+
+                      1853 (December).
+    (Head-quarters) Grenadier, Light, No. 2, and No. 5 at
+                            Jamaica = 4 companies.
+    No. 4 and No. 7 at Barbados     = 2
+    No. 1 at St. Christopher's      = 1
+              No. 8 at Dominica     = 1
+              No. 3 at Sierra Leone = 1
+              No. 6 at the Gambia   = 1
+                                     --
+                                     10
+                                     ==
+
+                      1855 (December).
+    (Head-quarters) Grenadier, Light, Nos. 2, 5, and 8 at
+                        Jamaica     = 5 companies.
+    No. 4 and No. 7 at Barbados     = 2
+              No. 1 at Demerara     = 1
+              No. 3 at Sierra Leone = 1
+              No. 6 at the Gambia   = 1
+                                     --
+                                     10
+                                     ==
+
+                      1856 (December).
+    (Head-quarters) Grenadier, Light, and No. 8 at
+                         Jamaica    = 3 companies.
+    Nos. 4, 5, and 7 at Barbados    = 3
+              No. 1 at Demerara     = 1
+              No. 3 at Sierra Leone = 1
+    No. 2 and No. 6 at the Gambia   = 2
+                                     --
+                                     10
+                                     ==
+
+                      1857 (June).
+    (Head-quarters) Grenadier, Light, No. 5 and No. 8 at
+                              Nassau = 4 companies.
+    Nos. 1, 3, and 7 at Sierra Leone = 3
+    Nos. 2, 4, and 6 at the Gambia   = 3
+                                      --
+                                      10
+                                      ==
+
+                      1861 (April).
+    (Head-quarters) Grenadier, Light, Nos. 5, 7, and 8 at
+                        Barbados = 5 companies.
+    No. 4 and No. 6 at Demerara = 2
+    No. 1 and No. 2 at St. Lucia = 2
+              No. 3 at Trinidad  = 1
+                                  --
+                                  10
+                                  ==
+
+                      1862 (December).
+    (Head-quarters) Grenadier, Light, and No. 1 at
+                        Barbados  = 3 companies.
+    Nos. 5, 7, and 8 at Honduras  = 3
+    No. 4 and No. 6 at Demerara   = 2
+              No. 2 at St. Lucia  = 1
+              No. 3 at Trinidad   = 1
+                                   --
+                                   10
+                                   ==
+
+                      1863 (July).
+    (Head-quarters) A at Barbados = 1 company.
+                   B at St. Lucia = 1
+                   C at Trinidad  = 1
+          D and F at Demerara     = 2 companies.
+          E, G, and H at Honduras = 3
+                                   --
+                                    8
+                                   ==
+
+                      1863 (November).
+    (Head-quarters) A, B, D, and F at Nassau = 4 companies.
+                     E, G, and H at Honduras = 3
+                               C at Trinidad = 1
+                                              --
+                                               8
+                                              ==
+
+                      1864 (April).
+    (Head-quarters) A, D, and F at Nassau    = 3 companies.
+               B, E, and G on the Gold Coast = 3
+                               C at Trinidad = 1
+                               H in Honduras = 1
+                                              --
+                                               8
+                                              ==
+
+                      1864 (October).
+    (Head-quarters) A, D, and F at Nassau    = 3 companies.
+                B, C, E, G, and H in Jamaica = 5
+                                              --
+                                               8
+                                              ==
+
+                      1865 (November).
+    (Head-quarters) A at Nassau              = 1 company.
+    B, C, D, E, F, G, and H in Jamaica       = 7 companies.
+                                              --
+                                               8
+                                              ==
+
+                      1866 (August).
+    (Head-quarters) A, D, and F at Nassau    = 3 companies.
+             B, C, E, G, and H in Jamaica    = 5
+                                              --
+                                               8
+                                              ==
+
+                      1867 (January).
+    (Head-quarters) A, B, E, F, D, and G at Sierra Leone = 6 companies.
+                                   H and C at the Gambia = 2
+                                                          --
+                                                           8
+                                                          ==
+                      1868 (August).
+    (Head-quarters) A, B, D, F, and G at Sierra Leone = 5 companies.
+                                C and H at the Gambia = 2
+                                      E at Cape Coast = 1
+                                                       --
+                                                        8
+                                                       ==
+
+                      1870 (November).
+    (Head-quarters) A, B, D, E, and G in Jamaica      = 5 companies.
+                                  C and H at Nassau   = 2
+                                  F and I in Honduras = 2
+                                                       --
+                                                        9
+                                                       ==
+
+                      1874 (January).
+    (Head-quarters) A, B, C, E, G, and H on the Gold Coast = 6 companies.
+                                       F and I in Honduras = 2
+                                              D in Jamaica = 1
+                                                            --
+                                                             9
+                                                            ==
+
+                      1874 (July).
+    (Head-quarters) A, B, C, and H at Sierra Leone = 4 companies.
+                           E and G at Cape Coast   = 2
+                           D, F, and I at Demerara = 3
+                                                    --
+                                                     9
+                                                    ==
+
+                      1877 (April).
+    (Head-quarters) A, D, E, and I at Jamaica = 4 companies.
+                          C and F in Honduras = 2
+                          G and H in Barbados = 2
+                                B at Nassau   = 1
+                                               --
+                                                9
+                                               ==
+
+                      1880 (February).
+    (Head-quarters) A, B, H, and F at Sierra Leone = 4 companies.
+                           C and G at Cape Coast   = 2
+                           D, E, and I in Demerara = 3
+                                                    --
+                                                     9
+                                                    ==
+
+                      1881 (March).
+    (Head-quarters) A, C, G, and H at Cape Coast   = 4 companies.
+                                 B at Anamaboe     = 1
+                                 F at Sierra Leone = 1
+                           D, E, and I in Demerara = 3
+                                                    --
+                                                     9
+                                                    ==
+
+                      1881 (June).
+    (Head-quarters) A, F, and G at Sierra Leone    = 3 companies.
+                         B, C, and H at Cape Coast = 3
+                         D, E, and I in Demerara   = 3
+                                                    --
+                                                     9
+                                                    ==
+
+                      1882 (March).
+    (Head-quarters) A, C, F, and G at Sierra Leone = 4 companies.
+                           B and H at Cape Coast   = 2
+                           D, E, and I in Demerara = 3
+                                                    --
+                                                     9
+                                                    ==
+
+                      1883 (March).
+    (Head-quarters) A and C at Sierra Leone = 2 companies.
+                            B at Cape Coast = 1 company.
+                    F, G, and H in Jamaica  = 3 companies.
+                    D, E, and I in Demerara = 3
+                                             --
+                                              9
+                                             ==
+
+                      1883 (June).
+    (Head-quarters) A, C, and H in Jamaica  = 3 companies.
+                        B and G in Honduras = 2
+                    D, E, and I in Demerara = 3
+                              F at Nassau   = 1
+                                             --
+                                              9
+                                             ==
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+TO THE
+
+NAMES OF OFFICERS, NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS, AND PRIVATES
+
+OF THE
+
+FIRST WEST INDIA REGIMENT,
+
+MENTIONED IN THE FOREGOING PAGES.
+
+
+    A
+
+    Abercrombie, J., 79, 82
+
+    Allinson, A.C., 279, 290, 318, 337
+
+    Alt, _Ensign_, 279
+
+    Anderson, _Capt._, 52
+
+    ----, _Ensign_, 234, 237
+
+    Anton, H., 275, 278, 282, 284, 289, 298, 299, 346
+
+    Archdale, _Lieut._, 210
+
+    Atkins, R.W., 80
+
+
+    B
+
+    Bale, J.E., 293, 316, 318
+
+    Balmer, J., 50
+
+    Barlow, E.H., 279
+
+    Barne, W.C., 318
+
+    Beale-Browne, G.E., 318
+
+    Belizario, E. _Sergt._, 307, 308, 312, 313, 315
+
+    Bell, _Ensign_, 51
+
+    ----, T., 318
+
+    Bentley, _Lieut._, 197
+
+    Bidwell, _Pte._, 309
+
+    Bingham, E.H., 210, 213, 217
+
+    Bishop, _Surg._, 80
+
+    Blackwell, N., 119, 120, 121, 123, 124
+
+    Bolton, H.F.S., 299, 300
+
+    Booth, Leeds, 79, 83, 99, 343
+
+    Borton, _Sir_ A., 343
+
+    Bourke, J., 263
+
+    Bouverie, _Sir_ H.F., 343
+
+    Bowles, _Sir_ G., 343
+
+    Bravo, A., 278, 279, 284
+
+    Brennan, _Ensign_, 173, 178
+
+    Brew, R., 275
+
+    Brocklass, H., 183
+
+    Broome, W.A., 301
+
+    Broughton, C.D., 107, 113, 344
+
+    Brown, F.F., 345
+
+    ----, R., 99
+
+    Bulger, C.O., 312
+
+    Burdett, G.S., 169
+
+    Burke, L., 318, 332
+
+    Bush, _Lieut._, 211
+
+    ----, W., 194, 196, 197, 198, 199, 202, 203, 207, 345
+
+    Butler, D., 79, 82
+
+    ----, F. le B., 303, 318, 320, 321, 322, 332
+
+    Byrne, T., 80, 99
+
+
+    C
+
+    Calder, J., 79
+
+    Campbell, N., 100
+
+    ----, W., 32
+
+    Cantrell, D. _Sergt. Major_, 197
+
+    Capadose, H., 176, 177, 209, 345
+
+    Carden, J., 50
+
+    Cassidy, J., 80, 99, 124, 137, 139, 158, 161, 164, 165, 166, 167, 345
+
+    Cave, _Ensign_, 226
+
+    Chads, _Major_, 173, 200
+
+    Chadwick, B., 79, 82
+
+    Chamberlayne, W.J., 258, 259
+
+    Clarke, _Bt. Lieut.-Col._, 258
+
+    Clerk, A., 50
+
+    Clifton, J.M., 344
+
+    Clough, H.T., 318, 332
+
+    Coffin, E. _Pte._, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207
+
+    Coghlan, A., 80, 89
+
+    Cole, W., 293, 318, 340
+
+    Collins, F., 148
+
+    ----, J.P., 50
+
+    Connell, F.J., 237
+
+    Connor, W., 80, 81, 99
+
+    Costello, F., 79, 99
+
+    Cotter, E., 79, 83, 99
+
+    Craddock, H., 50
+
+    Craven, _Corporal_, 199
+
+    Crump, _Corporal_, 80
+
+    Cullen, _Ensign_, 290, 296
+
+    Cumine, A., 343
+
+    Cunninghame, T., 79
+
+
+    D
+
+    Dalomel, _Lieut._, 148, 157
+
+    Dalton, _Lieut._, 80, 100
+
+    Darley, C.B., 80, 100
+
+    Deane, T., 79
+
+    De Winton, _Lieut._, 210
+
+    Dixon, C. _Pte._, 195, 202
+
+    Doherty, R., 345
+
+    Downie, H., 138
+
+    Duckworth, G.H., 344
+
+    D'Urban, B., 344
+
+    Duyer, G.H., 275
+
+
+    E
+
+    Edmunds, T., 275
+
+    Edwardes, C.G.W.E., 318
+
+    Egan, J., 80, 99
+
+    Elderton, W.S., 318, 332
+
+    Ellis, A.B., 318, 341, 342
+
+    Evans, _Capt._, 179
+
+
+    F
+
+    Fanning, J., 275
+
+    Farquhar, _Ensign_, 51
+
+    Fitzgerald, C.L., 261
+
+    Fletcher, R. D'O., 237, 239, 240, 242, 244, 246, 263
+
+    Fraser, J.A., 275
+
+    French, _Capt._, 210
+
+    Froggart, _Lieut._, 80, 99
+
+
+    G
+
+    Gardner, D., 316
+
+    Garland, V.J., 341
+
+    Garsia, M.C., 274, 275
+
+    Gavin, _Lieut._, 279, 303
+
+    Gillard, _Bt. Major_, 177
+
+    Gillespie, R., 79
+
+    Goodinge, H., 80
+
+    Graham, W., 80, 99
+
+    Grange, _Capt._, 224
+
+
+    H
+
+    Harris, W.W., 233
+
+    Harrison, G.V., 337, 340
+
+    Harward, _Sub. Lieut._, 318
+
+    Hemsworth, G., 177
+
+    Henderson, _Lieut._, 250
+
+    Henry, _Capt._, 37
+
+    Hill, C.J.L., 293, 301, 318, 324, 342
+
+    ----, E.R., 345
+
+    Hoffer, _Pte._, 314, 315
+
+    Holbrook, T., 83, 100
+
+    Horsford, T., 100
+
+    Hughes, E., 318, 324, 326
+
+    ----, R. _Lieut.-Col._, 187, 345
+
+    ----, R., 223, 258, 259
+
+    Huntingford, E.W., 332
+
+    Huskisson, S., 118, 344
+
+
+    I
+
+    Innes, _Colonel_, 37, 39
+
+    Irving, J., 344
+
+    Isles, E. Ellis, 148, 157
+
+
+    J
+
+    Johnston, W.W.W., 302, 312, 318, 328, 346
+
+    Jones, J.H., 337
+
+    ----, _Lieut._, 224
+
+
+    K
+
+    Kenrick, _Lieut._, 276
+
+    Kent, J., 51
+
+    King, _Sir_ H., 343
+
+
+    L
+
+    Lafontaine, J. _Corporal_, 84
+
+    Last, E., 345
+
+    Leggatt, _Lieut._, 276
+
+    Lightfoot, _Lieut._, 80, 99
+
+    Lindsay, J., 100
+
+    Lowe, W., 50
+
+    Lowry, A.G., 279, 293
+
+    Luke, E.F., 250, 260, 289, 292
+
+    Lynch, _Lieut._, 173
+
+    ----, R. _Pte._, 308
+
+
+    M
+
+    Macauley, _Capt._, 258
+
+    ----, J.S., 277, 346
+
+    McAuley, J.M., 302, 346
+
+    McBean, W., 293, 346
+
+    M'Callum, _Ensign_, 80, 99
+
+    M'Connell, D., 50
+
+    McDonald, A., 148, 157
+
+    Macdonald, E.G., 301
+
+    M'Grace, D., 80, 100
+
+    M'Kay, J.C., 99
+
+    Mackay, _Lieut._, 261
+
+    McKenzie, _Lieut._, 148, 157
+
+    Mackrill, _Capt._, 52
+
+    McLean, _Lieut._, 80, 99
+
+    McShee, _Lieut._, 80, 99
+
+    McWilliam, D., 100
+
+    ----, _Lieut._, 80, 100
+
+    Madden, G.C., 340
+
+    Magee, _Lieut._, 148, 151
+
+    Maitland, J., 99, 343
+
+    ----, Sir P., 343
+
+    Malcolm, R., 63, 64, 66, 79, 90
+
+    Marraud, C., 100
+
+    Marshall, R., 50
+
+    Mason, _Sergt.-Major_, 263
+
+    Maturin, _Lieut._, 303
+
+    Mawe, T.G., 261
+
+    Maxwell, H., 79
+
+    ----, J., 318, 320, 329, 332, 346
+
+    ----, _Pte._, 314, 315
+
+    Meehan, _Capt._, 220
+
+    Meighan, B., 51
+
+    Merry, _Sergt._, 198, 207
+
+    Miles, _Ensign_, 174
+
+    Millar, _Capt._, 52
+
+    Miller, C., 99
+
+    ----, _Lieut._, 148, 157
+
+    Moffatt, B., 346
+
+    Moffitt, J., 275
+
+    Molony, C.A., 318
+
+    Montagu, C., 50
+
+    ----, G.C., 50
+
+    Montgomery, W., 179, 186, 187
+
+    Morgan, _Lieut._, 148, 157
+
+    Morris, W. or R.A. _Pte._, 314, 315
+
+    Morrison, John, 80
+
+    ----, Joseph, 344
+
+    Murray, A.W., 228, 229, 232, 261, 266, 267, 271, 272, 273, 275, 346
+
+    ----, _Pte._, 314, 315
+
+    Myers, _Capt._, 178
+
+
+    N
+
+    Napier, _Sir_ G. T, 343
+
+    Nicholson, T., 275
+
+    Nicolay, _Sir_ W., 343
+
+    Niven, K.R., 293, 301, 318, 322, 329, 341, 346
+
+    Nixon, L., 124
+
+    Nunn, A.A., 99, 106, 109, 110, 111, 115
+
+
+    O
+
+    O'Connell, _Capt._ 105, 106, 107, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116
+
+    O'Connor, L.S., 211, 219, 220, 226, 227, 228, 230, 232, 249, 250,
+      251, 256, 288, 289, 290, 294, 345
+
+    Odonnell, _Lieut._, 50
+
+    Ogston, M. _Pte._, 195 et seq.
+
+    O'Halloran, H.D., 345
+
+    Oliphant, W., 50
+
+    O'Meara, M., 100
+
+    Ormsby, W., 261, 293, 297
+
+    Orr, S.B., 340
+
+    Osborne, S. _Pte._, 314, 315
+
+    Owens, _Capt._, 276
+
+
+    P
+
+    Page, T., 80
+
+    Palmer, R., 50
+
+    Petrie, J., 50
+
+    Pilkington, _Lieut._, 148, 157
+
+    Plague, _Corporal_, 198, 207
+
+    Pogson, _Ensign_, 199
+
+    Pollard, H.W., 340
+
+    Powell, _Capt._, 221
+
+    ----, W., 79, 81, 99
+
+    Pratt, _Bt. Major_, 261, 262, 276
+
+    Prendergast, _Capt._, 225
+
+    Pye, A.H., 79
+
+
+    R
+
+    Rainford, M., 50
+
+    Reed, J., 80, 99
+
+    Reid, J., 79
+
+    ----, W., 80, 99
+
+    Roberts, A.S., 337
+
+    ----, C.T., 80
+
+    ----, J.C., 99
+
+    ----, _Lieut._, 279
+
+    Robeson, _Capt._, 212
+
+    Roper, J., 321, 332
+
+    Ross, W.J., 289
+
+    Rudgley, H., 50
+
+    Russell, _Ensign_, 178
+
+    Rutherford, G., 343
+
+
+    S
+
+    Samson, A.M.W., 303, 318
+
+    Satchell, W. _Pte._, 202, 203, 204
+
+    Scott, D., 83
+
+    Shearman, F., 318, 321, 322
+
+    Smith, E., 276
+
+    ----, Hopewell, 279, 281
+
+    ----, J.A., 279, 303, 318, 322, 323, 331, 341, 346
+
+    ----, J.G., 304, 306, 307, 308, 309, 311, 313, 315
+
+    ----, _Lieut._, 50
+
+    ----, _Ensign_, 51
+
+    Smithwick, W. FitzW., 279, 293, 297
+
+    Somerset, _Lord_ C.H., 343
+
+    Speed, W.J., 99
+
+    Spencer, _Lce. Corpl._, 313, 315
+
+    Spitta, H.H., 318, 323
+
+    Splain, W., 51
+
+    Steward, C.B., 318, 322, 324, 326
+
+    Stewart, _Capt._, 171, 174, 175, 176, 178, 179
+
+    ----, _Ensign_, 211
+
+    ----, J., 79, 99
+
+    Stirling, _Lce. Corpl._, 314, 315
+
+    Strachan, W.H.P.F., 234, 237, 240, 246, 290, 318, 340, 346
+
+    Strong, _Lieut._, 173, 177
+
+    Sutherland, J., 79, 82
+
+
+    T
+
+    Tell, W. _Pte._, 315
+
+    Temple, A., 261, 275
+
+    Thomas, _Ensign_, 51
+
+    Tinkler, J., 318
+
+    Tipping, C.W.G., 340
+
+    Tolley, H., 131, 344
+
+    Torrens, _Pte._, 202, 203
+
+    Travers, J., 346
+
+    Tunstall, _Lieut._, 224
+
+    Turner, J.M.S., 340
+
+
+    U
+
+    Upton, _Lieut._, 228
+
+
+    W
+
+    Way, _Sir_ G.H.B., 343
+
+    Wemyss, W.S., 344
+
+    Weston, R., 148, 151
+
+    Wetherall, F.A., 259
+
+    Whitby, C., 141, 168, 344
+
+    White, F.B.P., 312, 333, 334, 335, 336, 341, 346
+
+    Whyte, J., 77, 99, 343
+
+    Wieburg, _Lieut._, 210
+
+    Williams, T., 332
+
+    Wilson, R., 79
+
+    Wilton, J.R.H., 333, 335
+
+    Winkler, J., 116, 124, 126, 139, 158, 160, 164
+
+    Wylie, _Lieut._, 240, 246, 247
+
+
+    Y
+
+    Yates, J., 344
+
+    Yonge, G.N.K.A., 299, 346
+
+
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+CHARLES DICKENS AND EVANS, CRYSTAL PALACE PRESS.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of the First West India
+Regiment, by A. B. Ellis
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FIRST WEST INDIA REGIMENT ***
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+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of The History of the West India Regiment, by A.B. Ellis.
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of the First West India Regiment, by 
+A. B. Ellis
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The History of the First West India Regiment
+
+Author: A. B. Ellis
+
+Release Date: September 14, 2009 [EBook #29984]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FIRST WEST INDIA REGIMENT ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven Gibbs, Jane Hyland and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[Pg i]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 60%;">
+<img src="images/frontispiece_2.jpg" style="width: 60%;" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+<h1>THE HISTORY</h1>
+
+<h3>OF THE</h3>
+
+<h1>FIRST WEST INDIA REGIMENT<br /><br /></h1>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[Pg ii-iii]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h3>BY</h3>
+
+<h2>A.B. ELLIS</h2>
+
+<h4><i>Major, First West India Regiment</i></h4>
+
+<h5>AUTHOR OF "WEST AFRICAN ISLANDS" AND "THE LAND OF FETISH"<br /><br /><br /><br /></h5>
+
+
+<p class="center">London:</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPMAN AND HALL, <span class="smcap">Limited</span></h3>
+
+<h4>HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN</h4>
+
+<h4>1885<br /><br /><br /><br /></h4>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</a></span></p>
+
+<h4>CHARLES DICKENS AND EVANS</h4>
+
+<h4>CRYSTAL PALACE PRESS<br /><br /></h4>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 60%;">
+<img src="images/frontispiece_1.jpg" style="width: 60%;" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>I beg to return my best thanks to <span class="smcap">A.E. Havelock</span>, Esq., C.M.G.
+Administrator-in-Chief of the West African Settlements; Lieutenant-Colonel
+<span class="smcap">F.B.P. White</span>, of the 1st West India Regiment; <span class="smcap">V.S.
+Gouldsbury</span>, Esq., Administrator of the Gambia Settlements;
+<span class="smcap">A. Young</span>, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor of Demerara; <span class="smcap">F. Evans</span>, Esq.,
+C.M.G., Assistant Colonial Secretary of the Gold Coast Colony;
+<span class="smcap">Alfred Kingston</span>, Esq., of the Record Office; and <span class="smcap">Richard
+Garnett</span>, Esq., of the British Museum, for the very valuable assistance
+which they have rendered me in the collection of materials for
+this Work.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg v-vii]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="contents">
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>PAGE</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER</td><td align='right'><a href="#INTRODUCTORY_CHAPTER">1</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER I.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE ACTION AT BRIAR CREEK, 1779&mdash;THE ACTION AT STONO FERRY, 1779</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_I">26</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER II.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE SIEGE OF SAVANNAH, 1779&mdash;THE SIEGE OF CHARLESTOWN, 1780&mdash;THE BATTLE OF HOBKERK'S HILL, 1781</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_II">33</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER III.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE RELIEF OF NINETY-SIX, 1781&mdash;THE BATTLE OF EUTAW SPRINGS, 1781&mdash;REMOVAL TO THE WEST INDIES</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_III">43</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER IV.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE EXPEDITION TO MARTINIQUE, 1793&mdash;THE CAPTURE OF MARTINIQUE, ST. LUCIA, AND GUADALOUPE, 1794&mdash;THE DEFENCE OF FORT MATILDA, 1794</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">53</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER V.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>MALCOLM'S ROYAL RANGERS&mdash;THE EVACUATION OF ST. LUCIA, 1795</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_V">63</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER VI.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE CARIB WAR IN ST. VINCENT, 1795</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">69</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER VII.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>MAJOR-GENERAL WHYTE'S REGIMENT OF FOOT, 1795</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">77</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER VIII.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE CAPTURE OF ST. LUCIA, 1796</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">85</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER IX.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE RELIEF OF GRENADA, 1796&mdash;THE REPULSE AT PORTO RICO, 1797</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">93</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER X.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE DEFENCE OF DOMINICA, 1805</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_X">103</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER XI.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE HURRICANE AT DOMINICA, 1806&mdash;THE REDUCTION OF ST. THOMAS AND ST. CROIX, 1807&mdash;THE RELIEF OF MARIE-GALANTE, 1808</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">117</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER XII.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE CAPTURE OF MARTINIQUE, 1809&mdash;THE CAPTURE OF GUADALOUPE, 1810</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">125</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER XIII.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE EXPEDITION TO NEW ORLEANS, 1814-15</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">141</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER XIV.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE OCCUPATION OF GUADALOUPE, 1815&mdash;THE BARBADOS INSURRECTION, 1816&mdash;THE HURRICANE OF 1817</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">160</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER XV.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE DEMERARA REBELLION, 1823</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">170</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER XVI.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE BARRA WAR, 1831&mdash;THE HURRICANE OF 1831&mdash;THE COBOLO EXPEDITION, 1832</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">178</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER XVII.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE MUTINY OF THE RECRUITS AT TRINIDAD, 1837</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">188</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER XVIII.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE PIRARA EXPEDITION, 1842&mdash;CHANGES IN THE WEST AFRICAN GARRISONS&mdash;THE APPOLLONIA EXPEDITION, 1848</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">208</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER XIX.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>INDIAN DISTURBANCES IN HONDURAS, 1848-49&mdash;THE ESCORT TO COOMASSIE, 1848&mdash;THE SHERBRO EXPEDITION, 1849&mdash;THE ESCORT TO RIO NUNEZ, 1850</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">218</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER XX.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE STORMING OF SABBAJEE, 1853&mdash;THE RELIEF OF CHRISTIANSBORG, 1854</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">228</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER XXI.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE TWO EXPEDITIONS TO MALAGEAH, 1854-55</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">236</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER XXII.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE BATTLE OF BAKKOW, AND STORMING OF SABBAJEE, 1855</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">248</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER XXIII.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>CHANGES IN THE WEST AFRICAN GARRISONS, 1856-57&mdash;THE GREAT SCARCIES RIVER EXPEDITION, 1859&mdash;FIRE AT NASSAU, 1859</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">257</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER XXIV.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE BADDIBOO WAR, 1860-61</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">265</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER XXV.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE ASHANTI EXPEDITION, 1863-64</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">276</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER XXVI.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE JAMAICA REBELLION, 1865</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">286</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER XXVII.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>AFRICAN TOUR, 1866-70</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">298</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER XXVIII.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE DEFENCE OF ORANGE WALK, 1872</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">304</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER XXIX.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE ASHANTI WAR, 1873-74</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">317</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><br />CHAPTER XXX.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>AFFAIRS IN HONDURAS, 1874&mdash;THE SHERBRO EXPEDITION, 1875&mdash;THE ASHANTI EXPEDITION, 1881</td><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">333</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><br />APPENDIX</td><td align='right'><a href="#APPENDIX">343</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><br />INDEX</td><td align='right'><a href="#INDEX">361</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="MAPS" id="MAPS"></a>MAPS.</h2>
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="maps">
+<tr><td align='left'>1. ST. VINCENT</td><td align='right'><i>facing page&nbsp;&nbsp;</i><a href="#Page_69">69</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>2. GRENADA</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_93">93</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>3. DOMINICA</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_103">103</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>4. MARTINIQUE</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_125">125</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>5. GUADALOUPE</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_133">133</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>6. THE GAMBIA SETTLEMENTS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_178">178</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>7. THE GOLD COAST</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_215">215</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>8. BRITISH HONDURAS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_219">219</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>9. THE MELLICOURIE RIVER</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_236">236</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>10. SWARRA CUNDA CREEK</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_265">265</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>11. THE COUNTY OF SURREY, JAMAICA</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_287">287</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>12. ORANGE WALK</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_305">305</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>13. THE ROUTE TO COOMASSIE</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_319">319</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>14. BRITISH SHERBRO</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_337">337</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="INTRODUCTORY_CHAPTER" id="INTRODUCTORY_CHAPTER"></a>INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.</h3>
+
+
+<p>At the present day, when our Continental neighbours are
+outvying each other in the completeness of their military
+organisations and the size of their armies, while in the
+United Kingdom complaints are daily heard that the
+supply of recruits for the British Army is not equal to
+the demand, it may not be out of place to draw the
+attention of the public to a source from which the army
+may be most economically reinforced.</p>
+
+<p>The principal difficulty experienced by military reformers
+in their endeavours to remodel the British Army on the
+Continental system, is that caused by the necessity of providing
+troops for the defence of our vast and scattered
+Colonial Empire. Without taking into consideration India,
+our European and North American possessions, a considerable
+portion of the army has to be employed in furnishing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>
+garrisons for the Cape Colony, Natal, Mauritius, St. Helena,
+the Bermudas, the West Indies, Burmah, the Straits Settlements,
+Hong Kong, etc.; which garrisons, though creating a
+constant drain on the Home Establishment, are notoriously
+inadequate for the defence of the various colonies in which
+they are placed; and the result is that, whenever a colonial
+war breaks out, fresh battalions have to be hurriedly sent
+out from the United Kingdom at immense expense, and
+the entire military machine is temporarily disarranged.</p>
+
+<p>In size, and in diversity of subject races, the British
+Empire may be not inaptly compared with that of Rome
+in its palmiest days; and we have, in a measure, adopted
+a Roman scheme for the defence of a portion of our
+dominions. The Romans were accustomed, as each new
+territory was conquered, to raise levies of troops from the
+subject race, and then, most politicly, to send them to serve
+in distant parts of the Empire, where they could have no
+sympathies with the inhabitants. In India we, like the
+Romans, raise troops from the conquered peoples, but, unlike
+them, we retain those troops for service in their own country.
+The result of this attempt to modify the scheme was the
+Indian mutiny.</p>
+
+<p>The plan of a local colonial army was, however, first tried
+in the West Indies. At the close of the last century, when
+the West India Islands, or the Plantations, as they were
+then called, were of as much importance to, and held the
+same position in, the British Empire as India does now,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span>
+there was in existence a West India Army, consisting of
+twelve battalions of negro troops, raised exclusively for
+service in the West Indies.</p>
+
+<p>As India was gradually conquered, and the West India
+trade declined (from the abolition of the slave trade and
+other causes), the West India Colonies, by a regular process,
+fell from their former pre-eminent position. Each step in
+the descent was marked by the disbandment of a West
+India regiment, until, at the present day, two only remain
+in existence; and it is a matter of common notoriety that
+those two are principally preserved to garrison Sierra Leone,
+the Gold Coast Colony, British Honduras, and British
+Guiana&mdash;colonies the climates of which, experience has
+shown, are fatal to European soldiers, who are necessarily
+in time of peace, from the nature of their duties, more
+exposed to climatic influence than are officers. Economy
+was, of course, the cause of this continued process of reduction,
+for, until recently, such gigantic military establishments
+as those of Germany, Russia, and France were unheard
+of; and Great Britain was satisfied, and felt secure, with
+a miniature army, a paper militia, and no reserve. All
+this is now changed, and the necessity of an increase in
+our defensive power is admitted.</p>
+
+<p>These negro West India troops won the highest encomiums
+from every British commander under whom they
+served. Sir Ralph Abercromby in 1796, Sir John Moore
+in 1797, Lieutenant-General Trigge in 1801, Sir George<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>
+Provost in 1805, Lieutenant-General Beckwith and Major-General
+Maitland in 1809 and 1810, all testified to the
+gallantry, steadiness, and discipline of the negro soldiers.
+Sir John Moore, speaking of the new corps in 1796, said
+"they are invaluable," and "the very best troops for the
+climate." To come to more recent times, in 1873 the
+2nd West India Regiment bore for six months the entire
+brunt of the Ashanti attack, and had actually forced the
+invading army to retire across the Prah before the men
+of a single line battalion were landed. In fact, the efficiency
+of West India troops was, and is, unquestioned.</p>
+
+<p>This being so, it may be asked, why should not the
+present number of regiments composed of negro soldiers
+be increased for the purpose of garrisoning the colonies,
+especially those of which the climate is most prejudicial
+to English soldiers? This would not be a return to the
+former state of affairs, for when we had twelve negro regiments
+they were all stationed in the West Indies, whereas
+the essence of the present scheme is to send them on service
+in other colonies. Such an augmentation of our West
+India, or Zouave, regiments certainly appears politic and
+easy. I will also endeavour to show that it would be
+economical.</p>
+
+<p>Each West India battalion would take the place of a
+Territorial battalion now serving abroad. The latter would
+return to the United Kingdom, be reduced to the
+Home Establishment, and have from 300 to 400 men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>
+passed into the Reserve. Repeat this process seven or
+eight times, and the services with the colours of between
+2000 and 3000 European soldiers are dispensed with,
+the Reserve being increased by that number. In addition,
+negro soldiers being enlisted for twelve years' service with
+the colours, negro regiments on foreign service would not
+require those large drafts sent to white battalions to replace
+time-expired men, transport for which so swells the army
+estimates; while the negro being a native of the tropics,
+invaliding home would be reduced to a minimum.</p>
+
+<p>The pay of the black soldier is ninepence per diem,
+against a shilling per diem to the white, so that there would
+be some saving effected in that way. In fact, it has been
+calculated that for an annual addition to the army estimates
+of some &pound;27,000, six new negro battalions, each 800 strong,
+could be maintained; giving, on the one hand, an addition
+of 4800 to our present military force, and on the other,
+an increased Reserve, and six more Territorial battalions
+in the United Kingdom, ready to hand on a European
+emergency. To this may be added the lives of scores
+of Englishmen yearly saved to their country.</p>
+
+<p>By the Territorial scheme now in force in Great Britain,
+an attempt has been made to localise corps on the German
+system, irrespective of the fact that Germany has no colonies,
+while those of Great Britain are most numerous. In
+Germany, in time of peace, each army corps is located in
+a district, from which it never moves, and in which the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>
+Reserve men, destined to complete the regiments to war
+strength, are compelled to live. Thus, when a general
+mobilisation takes place, the men are on the spot, and
+join the regiments in which they have already served.
+France has adopted this system, with the exception that
+army corps are not permanently located in districts, and
+the army thus localised is the one for European service
+only. For her colonies an entirely distinct army is maintained,
+composed of men specially enlisted for foreign
+service. In Great Britain we have neither adopted the
+German system nor the French modification of that system;
+but a scheme of localisation, with the main-spring of
+localisation removed, has been endeavoured to be grafted
+upon our old system, under which the regular army is
+sent on service in time of peace to distant portions of
+the globe. Should the mobilisation of an army corps
+be necessary in England, the Reserve men would, in a
+large number of cases, find the regiments in which they
+had formerly served, on foreign service. It would then
+be necessary to draft them into regiments to which they
+were strangers, in which they would take no interest, and
+where they would be unknown to their officers. On the
+other hand, should it be necessary to despatch suddenly
+six or seven battalions to India or the Cape, they have
+to be made up to a war strength from other corps, for
+they have been reduced to a skeleton establishment in
+order that men may be provided for the Reserve.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Localisation, to be effectual, must be thorough; but it
+and the demands of foreign service are so incompatible
+that they cannot be efficiently combined. At the present
+time, neither is said to be in a satisfactory condition, and
+the Reserve, which was expected to have risen to a total of
+80,000 men, consists of 32,000 only.</p>
+
+<p>Military reformers have long since arrived at the conclusion
+that if the British Army is to be maintained at such
+a footing as to give weight to the voice of Great Britain in
+the councils of Europe, we must have two distinct armies;
+namely, one for home service, ready for a European
+imbroglio, and a second to which the defence of the colonies
+can be entrusted. The objection to this has been, hitherto,
+the great expense, for it has always been taken for granted
+that this Colonial Army would consist of white soldiers; and
+the question of increased pay, supply of recruits, and
+periodical removal of men to the United Kingdom, over and
+above the cost of the Territorial Army, had to be considered.
+With negro troops, however, for the Colonial Army, this
+objection, if it does not entirely disappear, is reduced at least
+by three-quarters. Should it be tried on a small scale and
+found successful, there need be no reason why in time almost
+the whole of the Territorial battalions should not be withdrawn
+from foreign service. In this way localisation could
+be made a reality; and with such vast untouched recruiting
+grounds as our colonies offer, there can be no doubt as to the
+practicability of raising the negro regiments required. Such<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>
+regiments might also partly compose the garrisons of
+Gibraltar, Malta, Cyprus, Aden, and Ceylon. There is,
+indeed, no reason, except the hatred of the Hindoo for the
+negro, why such regiments might not serve in India. As
+the negro would never coalesce with the natives of India, a
+new and entirely reliable force, indifferent to tropical heat,
+and not requiring a vast retinue of camp-followers, would be
+always at hand. Of course, negro battalions could never be
+employed in cold latitudes, for the negro suffers from cold in
+a manner which is incomprehensible even to Europeans who
+have passed the best part of their lives in the tropics.
+Instead of being braced by and deriving activity from the
+cold, he becomes languid and inert; and nothing but the
+rays of the sun can arouse him to any exertion. Even in
+West Africa, during the Harmattan season, natives may be
+observed in the early morning, hugging their scanty clothing
+around them and shivering with cold; while the ill-fated
+expedition to New Orleans showed what deadly havoc an
+inclement climate will play with negro troops.</p>
+
+<p>Next, as to the men of whom these negro regiments
+would be composed. It is too much the custom in Great
+Britain, in describing a man of colour, to consider that all
+has been said that is necessary when he is called a negro;
+yet there are as many nationalities, and as many types of the
+African race, as there are of the Caucasian. No one would
+imagine that a European was sufficiently described by the
+title of "white man." It would be asked if the individual in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>
+question were an Englishman, German, Frenchman, and so
+on; and the same kind of classification is necessary for the
+negro. On the western coast of Africa, the portion of the
+African continent from which North and South America and
+the West Indies obtained their negro population, there are at
+least twenty different varieties of the African race, distinct
+from each other in features and even in colour; and these are
+again subdivided into several hundred nations or tribes, each
+of which possesses a language, manners, and customs of
+its own.</p>
+
+<p>In the days of the slave-trade, the slave-dealers adopted
+certain arbitrary designations to denote from what portion
+of the coast their wares were obtained. For instance, slaves
+shipped from Sierra Leone and the rivers to the north
+and east of that peninsula, and who were principally
+Timmanees, Kossus, Acoos, Mendis, Foulahs, and Jolloffs,
+were called Mandingoes, from the dominant tribe of that
+name which supplied the slave-market. Negroes from the
+Gold Coast kingdoms of Ashanti, Fanti, Assin, Akim,
+Wassaw, Aquapim, Ahanta, and Accra were denominated
+Koromantyns, or Coromantees, a corruption of Cormantine,
+the name of a fort some sixteen miles to the east of Cape
+Coast Castle, and which was the earliest British slave-station
+on the Gold Coast. Similarly, slaves from the tribes
+inhabiting the Slave Coast, that is to say, Awoonahs,
+Agbosomehs, Flohows, Popos, Dahomans, Egbas, and
+Yorubas, were all termed Papaws; while those from the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>
+numerous petty states of the Niger delta, where the lowest
+type of the negro is to be found, were known as Eboes.</p>
+
+<p>Thousands of men of these tribes, and others too
+numerous to mention, were carried across the Atlantic and
+scattered at hap-hazard all over the West India Islands.
+At first tribal distinctions were maintained, but in the course
+of years, in each island they gradually disappeared and were
+forgotten; until at the present day a West India negro
+does not describe himself as a Kossu or a Koromantyn,
+but as a Jamaican, a Barbadian, an Antiguan, etc. It would
+naturally be supposed that as the West India Islands all
+received their slave population in the same manner, and
+that as in each there was the same original diversity of
+nationalities, subsequently blended together by intermarriages
+and community of wants and language, a West India negro
+of the present generation from any one island would be
+hardly distinguishable from one from any other. Nothing,
+however, would be further from the truth. Since the abolition
+of slavery, the conditions of life in the various islands have
+been so different&mdash;in some the dense population necessitating
+daily labour for an existence, while in others large uncultivated
+stretches of wood and mountain have afforded
+squatting grounds for the majority of the black population&mdash;that,
+in conjunction with diversity of climate, each group
+of islands is now populated with a race of negroes morally
+distinct <i>per se</i>. The difference between a negro born and
+bred in Barbados and one born and bred in Jamaica is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>
+as great as between an American and an Englishman, and
+the clannish spirit of the negro tends to increase that difference.
+At the present time the negro of Jamaica does not
+care to enlist in the 2nd West India Regiment, which is
+largely recruited in Barbados; and, in the same way, the
+Barbadian declines to serve in the 1st West India Regiment,
+because it is almost entirely composed of Jamaicans.</p>
+
+<p>While the negroes of the West Indies have thus lost
+all their tribal peculiarities in the natural course of progress
+and civilisation, those of West Africa have remained at
+a standstill; and there is to-day as much difference between
+the hideous and debased Eboe and the stately and dignified
+Mandingo, between the docile Fanti and the bloodthirsty
+Ashanti, as there was one hundred and fifty years ago.
+Civilising influences have made this contrast between the
+Africans and their West India descendants still more striking.
+The latter have, since the abolition of slavery, been living
+independent lives, in close contact with civilisation, and
+enjoying all the rights of manhood under British laws.
+From their earliest infancy they have known no language
+but the English, and no religion but Christianity; while
+the former are still barbarians, grovelling in fetishism, cursed
+with slavery, ignorant, debased, and wantonly cruel. The
+West India negro has so much contempt for his African
+cousin, that he invariably speaks of him by the ignominious
+title of "bushman." In fact, the former considers himself
+in every respect an Englishman, and the anecdote of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>
+West India negro, who, being rather roughly jolted by
+a Frenchman on board a mail steamer, turned round to
+him and ejaculated, "I think you forget that we beat
+you at Waterloo," is no exaggeration.</p>
+
+<p>Just as the negro races of West Africa are distinct from
+one another, and the West India negro from all, so are
+the coloured inhabitants of both those parts of the world
+entirely distinct from the Kaffir tribes of South Africa;
+and a coalition between Galeka or Zulu inhabitants and
+West India troops would be as impossible as the fraternisation
+of a Territorial battalion with the natives of India.
+Apart, however, from the fact that negro troops could always
+be safely employed alone outside the colony in which they
+were bred, history has shown that the fidelity of West
+India soldiers is beyond question. Indeed it would be
+difficult to say what stronger ties there could be than those
+of sentiment, language, and religion, and the association
+from childhood with British manners, customs, laws, and
+modes of thought. When to these are added discipline, the
+habit of obedience, and that well-known affection for their
+officers and their regiment which is so particularly an
+attribute of the West India soldier, it must be acknowledged
+that the guarantees of fidelity are, with the single exception
+of race, at least as good as those of the linesmen.</p>
+
+<p>In India, the native army consists of men hostile to us
+by tradition, creed, and race, who consider their food defiled
+if even the shadow of a British officer should chance to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>
+fall across it, and assuredly it would be as safe a proceeding
+to garrison our colonies with English negroes as to garrison
+India with such men. Yet that is done at the present day,
+and excites no remark.</p>
+
+<p>The English-speaking negro of the West Indies is most
+excellent material for a soldier. He is docile, patient, brave,
+and faithful, and for an officer who knows how to gain
+his affection&mdash;an easy matter, requiring only justness, good
+temper, and an ear ready to listen patiently to any tale
+of real or imaginary grievance&mdash;he will do anything. Of
+course they are not perfect; they have their faults, like
+all soldiers, and when they chance to be commanded by
+an officer who is unnecessarily harsh, or who speaks roughly
+to them, they manifest their displeasure by passive obedience
+and a stubborn sullenness. English soldiers, on the other
+hand, under such circumstances, proceed to acts of insubordination,
+and it is for military judges to say which mode
+of expression they prefer.</p>
+
+<p>The West African negro does not appear to such advantage
+as a soldier. Although all the specimens, with
+the exception of the Sierra Leone negro, possess the first
+necessary qualification of personal courage, they are dull
+and stupid, and cannot be transformed into intelligent
+soldiers. It may be wondered why the Sierra Leonean,
+who alone among the West Africans is an English-speaking
+negro, should be worse than his more barbarian neighbours;
+but I believe the solution may be found in the fact that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>
+the large proportion of slaves landed in former days at
+Sierra Leone from captured slavers were so-called Eboes,
+from the tribes of the Niger delta; which tribes all ethnologists
+are agreed in describing as among the lowest of the
+African races, and which, it may be remarked, are even
+at the present day addicted to cannibalism. The West
+African soldier is a mere machine, who mechanically obeys
+orders, and never ventures, under any circumstances, to act
+or think for himself. Should an African be placed on sentry,
+he fulfils to the letter the orders read to him by the non-commissioned
+officer who posts him, but frequently entirely
+ignores their spirit. Sometimes this is productive of amusing
+incidents. For instance, some years ago, among the orders
+for the sentry posted at Government House, Sierra Leone,
+was one to the effect that no one was to be permitted
+to leave the premises after dark carrying a parcel. This
+order had been issued at the request of the Governor, to
+prevent pilfering on the part of his servants. One evening
+the Governor was coming out of his house with a small
+despatch-box, when, to his surprise, he was stopped by
+the sentry, an old African.</p>
+
+<p>"But I'm the Governor," said the astonished administrator,
+"and I had that order made myself. You mustn't stop me."</p>
+
+<p>"Me no care if you be Gubnor or not," replied the
+imperturbable African. "The corporal gib de order, and
+you no can pass." And Her Majesty's representative had
+to turn back and leave his despatch-box at home.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The greatest objection to the African, however, is the
+strange fact that no amount of care or attention on the part
+of his instructors can ever make him a good or even a fair
+shot. In the 1st West India Regiment there are still a
+few Africans remaining, most of whom have from twelve
+to eighteen years' service; and who have annually expended
+their rounds without hitting the target more than once
+or twice during the whole musketry course. Give these
+men a rifle rested on a tripod, and tell them to align the
+sights upon some given mark, and they cannot do it. They
+will frequently aim a foot or two to the right or left of
+an object only a few yards distant. Every possible plan
+has been tried to make them improve, but all have equally
+failed; and, in consequence, Africans are not now enlisted.
+Still, although on account of this failing, African troops
+could never, in these days of long-range firing, meet
+Europeans in the field, a battalion of Africans would be
+quite good enough for bush fighting against an enemy like
+the Ashanti, a still worse marksman, and worse armed; or
+against tribes armed with the spear or assegai.</p>
+
+<p>Of course one reason of the African's dulness is that
+until he enlists, that is until he is from twenty-four to thirty
+years of age, he has never exercised his mind in any way;
+and the long years of mental idleness have produced a
+sluggishness which makes it extremely difficult for him to
+acquire anything new that requires thought. After enlisting,
+he picks up a species of unintelligible English, but that is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>
+the most that he can do. It is pitiful to see these men,
+some of them now old, struggling day after day, according
+to regulation, in the regimental school, to learn their letters.
+It is to them the greatest punishment that could be inflicted,
+and though they attend school for years, they rarely succeed
+in doing more than master the alphabet.</p>
+
+<p>In former days, whenever the cargo of a captured slaver
+was landed at Sierra Leone, a party from the garrison used
+to be admitted to the Liberated African Yard for the purpose
+of seeking recruits amongst the slaves. Many of the latter,
+pleased with the brilliant uniform, and talked over by the
+recruiting party, who were men specially selected for this
+duty on account of their knowledge of African languages,
+offered themselves as recruits. If medically fit, they were
+invariably accepted, though it must have been well known that
+they could not possibly have had any idea of the nature
+of the engagement into which they were entering. Some
+fifteen or twenty recruits being thus obtained, they were
+given high-sounding names, such as Mark Antony, Scipio
+Africanus, etc., their own barbaric appellations being too
+unpronounceable, and then marched down in a body to the
+cathedral to be baptised. Some might be Mohammedans,
+and the majority certainly believers in fetish, but the form
+of requiring their assent to a change in their religion was
+never gone through; and the following Sunday they were
+marched into church as a matter of course, along with their
+Christian comrades. Although thus nominally christianised,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>
+they still remained at heart believers in fetish, for it is
+a remarkable fact that no adult West African has ever
+become a bon&acirc;-fide convert, and the missionaries have long
+since given up attempting to proselytise grown persons,
+reserving all their efforts for children. Holding, as they
+did, in great dread all fetish, or obeah, practices; usually
+someone amongst them, more cunning than the rest, professed
+an acquaintance with the supposed diabolical ritual;
+and gained influence with, and extorted money from, his
+more timid comrades. Officers now in the 1st West India
+Regiment can remember the time when, there being many
+Africans in the regiment, the feathers of parrots or scraps
+of rags might be found in the neighbourhood of the orderly
+room. Whenever this was the case, it was known that an
+African was about to be brought before his commanding
+officer for some neglect of duty or breach of discipline; and
+these fetishes had been placed there to induce the colonel to
+deal leniently with the offender. Ridiculous as this practice
+must seem to every educated person, it sometimes produced the
+most serious effects upon the credulous Africans; and I have
+heard old officers speak of instances, which came within their
+own knowledge, of soldiers who, having found old bones,
+broken pieces of calabashes, or glass, placed on their beds,
+immediately resigned themselves to death, saying that
+"fetish was thrown upon them," and in nine cases out of
+twelve, so certain were they that it was impossible to escape
+the coming doom, they positively frightened or worried them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>selves
+to death. The professors of fetishism likewise drove
+a good trade in amulets which rendered the wearer invulnerable.
+On one occasion at Sierra Leone, a young African
+who had been recently enlisted displayed with much pride a
+gri-gri or amulet which he wore on his wrist, and which,
+he asserted, rendered him invulnerable. His West India
+comrades laughed at him; and the African, indignant at the
+doubt thrown upon the efficacy of his charm, drew his knife,
+and, before he could be stopped, plunged it into his thigh to
+prove that he spoke the truth. His eyes were opened,
+unfortunately, too late; for though he was at once removed
+to the hospital, he died from the effects of this self-inflicted
+wound. In West India regiments the practice of fetish was
+made a military crime, and was severely punished. Sufferers
+or imaginary sufferers from fetishism, however, rarely complained
+to their officers, for they believed that the occult art
+practised by the professor was superior to any power held by
+man, and consequently, culprits were but seldom detected.
+With the disappearance of Africans from West India
+regiments, the offence of fetishism has, however, also
+disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>Military crime in West India regiments is of comparatively
+rare occurrence. Even when the 3rd West India
+Regiment was in existence, there was less in the three negro
+regiments than in one of the Line; while drunkenness is
+confined to the few black sheep who will be found in every
+body of men. Riots or disturbances between West India<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>
+soldiers and the inhabitants of the towns in which they are
+quartered are unheard of, and in every garrison they receive
+the highest praise for their unvarying good and quiet
+behaviour. In fact they are merry, good-tempered, and
+orderly men, who do not wish to interfere with anyone;
+and, owing to their temperate habits, they are not led
+into the commission of offences by the influence of drink.
+Of course, the popular idea in Great Britain of the negro
+is that he is a person who commonly wears a dilapidated
+tall hat, cotton garments of brilliant hue, carries a banjo
+or concertina, and indulges in extraordinary cachinnations
+at the smallest pretext; but this is as far from the truth
+as the creature of imagination in the opposite extreme,
+evoked by the vivid fancy of Mrs. Beecher Stowe.</p>
+
+<p>The bravery of the West India soldier in action has
+often been tested, and as long as an officer remains alive to
+lead not a man will flinch. His favourite weapon is the
+bayonet; and the principal difficulty with him in action is to
+hold him back, so anxious is he to close with his enemy. It
+is unnecessary here to refer to individual acts of gallantry
+performed by soldiers of the 1st West India Regiment, they
+being fully set forth in the following history; but of such
+performed by soldiers of other West India regiments the two
+following now occur to me.</p>
+
+<p>Private Samuel Hodge, a pioneer of the 3rd West India
+Regiment, was awarded the Victoria Cross for conspicuous
+bravery at the storming of the Mohammedan stockade at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>
+Tubarcolong (the White Man's Well), on the River Gambia,
+on the 30th of May, 1866. Under a heavy fire from the concealed
+enemy, by which one officer was killed and an officer
+and thirteen men severely wounded, Hodge, and another
+pioneer named Boswell, chopped and tore away with their
+hands the logs of wood forming the stockade, Boswell falling
+nobly just as an opening was effected. Again, in 1873,
+during the Ashanti War&mdash;when it was reported, on the
+5th of December, by natives at Yancoomassie Assin that
+the Ashanti army had retired across the Prah&mdash;two soldiers
+of the 2nd West India Regiment volunteered to go on alone
+to the river and ascertain if the report were true. On their
+return they reported all clear to the Prah; and said they
+had written their names on a piece of paper and posted it
+up. Six days later, when the advanced party of the expeditionary
+force marched into Prahsu, this paper was found
+fastened to a tree on the banks of the river. At the time
+that this voluntary act was performed it must be remembered
+that, on the 27th of November, the British and their allies
+had met with a serious repulse at Faisowah, through pressing
+too closely upon the retiring Ashantis; that this repulse
+was considered both by the Ashantis and by our native
+allies as a set-off against the failure of the attack on
+Abracampa; that the Houssa levy was in a state of panic,
+and no reliable information as to the position of the enemy
+was obtainable. It was under such circumstances that these
+two men advanced nearly sixteen miles into an (to them)<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>
+unknown tract of solitary forest, to follow up an enemy that
+never spared life, and whose whereabouts was doubtful.</p>
+
+<p>Other qualifications apart, however, West India troops
+have proved themselves of the very greatest value on active
+service in tropical climates from the very fact that, being
+natives of the tropics, they can undergo fatigue and exposure
+that would be fatal to European soldiers. In campaigns
+in which both the West India and the European soldier
+are employed, all the hard and unpleasant work is thrown
+upon the former, and the publication in general orders of
+the thanks of the officer in command of the force is the
+only acknowledgment he receives; for newspaper correspondents,
+naturally anxious to swell the circulation of the
+journals they represent, while giving the most minute details
+of the doings of the white soldier, leave out in the cold his
+black comrade, who has few friends among the reading
+public of Great Britain. Occasionally, facts are even misrepresented.
+For instance, the defence of Fommanah, on
+the 2nd of February, 1874, which was really effected by a
+detachment of the 1st West India Regiment, was, in an
+account telegraphed to one London daily paper, attributed
+to the 23rd Regiment, of which corps there were only six or
+seven men in the place, and those in hospital.</p>
+
+<p>On the last occasion on which West India troops served
+with Line battalions, namely in the Ashanti War of 1873-74,
+West India soldiers daily marched twice and even three
+times the distance traversed by the white troops; and, south<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>
+of the Prah, searched the country for miles on both sides of
+the line of advance, in search of carriers. It is not too much
+to say, that if the two West India regiments had not been
+on the Gold Coast, no advance on Coomassie would, that
+year, have been possible. In December, 1873, the transport
+broke down; there was a deadlock along the road; each
+half-battalion of the European troops was detained in the
+camp it occupied, and the 23rd Regiment had to be re-embarked
+for want of carriers. The fate of the expedition
+was trembling in the balance, and the control officers were
+unanimous in declaring that a further advance was impossible,
+and that the troops in front would have to return
+by forced marches. Prior to this, the want of transport
+had been felt to such an extent that the West India soldiers
+had been placed on half rations; a step, however, which was
+not followed by any diminution of work, which remained
+as hard as ever. In this emergency the two West India
+regiments, with the 42nd&mdash;to whom all honour be due&mdash;volunteered
+to carry supplies, in addition to their arms,
+accoutrements, and ammunition. They acted as carriers
+for several days, and moved such quantities of provisions
+to the front that the pressure was removed and a further
+advance made possible. Even if more carriers had been
+obtained from the already ransacked native villages, they
+could not have arrived in time, for the rainy season was
+fast approaching and the delay of a fortnight would have
+been fatal.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>There was a peculiar irony of fate in the expedition being
+thus relieved of its most pressing difficulties through the
+exertions of the West India regiments. It had been
+Sir Garnet Wolseley's original intention to take into
+Ashanti territory only the Rifle Brigade, the 23rd, and
+the 1st and 2nd West India Regiments; and, on the arrival
+of the hired transport, <i>Sarmatian</i>, he wrote, on the 15th
+of December, that he did not propose landing the
+42nd. In the course of the next three days, however, he
+changed his views, and, in his letter of the 18th December,
+gave as his reason: "I find that the one great obstacle to
+the employment of a third battalion of English troops, viz.,
+the difficulty of transport, is as great in the case of a West
+India regiment. The West India soldier has the same
+rations as the European soldier, and a West India regiment
+requires, man for man, exactly the same amount of transport
+as a European regiment." The 42nd, therefore, was to be
+landed and taken to the front, while the 1st West India
+Regiment was to remain at Cape Coast Castle and Elmina
+as a reserve. Afterwards, when the transport failed, it was
+found that the West India soldier could do the work of the
+European on half rations, and carry his own supplies as
+well.</p>
+
+<p>West India regiments at the present day labour under
+many disadvantages. Owing to the two battalions having
+to furnish garrisons for colonies which really require three,
+they are alternately for one period of three years divided<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>
+into three detachments, and for the next period of three
+years into six. No lieutenant-colonel of a West India
+regiment can ever see the whole of his regiment together.
+The largest number that, under present circumstances, he
+can ever have under him at any one station is four
+companies; and the most he can have under his actual
+command at any one time is six companies on board
+a troopship. Thus in a regiment there are sometimes
+three, and sometimes six, officers vested with the power of
+an officer commanding a detachment; and however conscientiously
+they may endeavour to follow out a regimental
+system, every individual has naturally a different manner
+of dealing with men, and a certain amount of homogeneousness
+is lost to the regiment as a whole.</p>
+
+<p>Endless correspondence is entailed, and sometimes questions
+have to remain open for months, until answers can
+be received from distant detachments. In small garrisons,
+also, drill becomes a mere farce; for, after the clerks, employed
+men, and men on guard and in hospital are deducted,
+there are perhaps only a dozen men or so left for parade.
+In spite of all these drawbacks the regiments still maintain
+a wonderful efficiency, and afford another proof of the soldierlike
+qualities of the West India negro.</p>
+
+<p>Another disadvantage is that a West India regiment is
+never seen in England, the British public knows nothing
+of such regiments, has no friends, relatives, or acquaintances
+in their ranks, and consequently takes no interest in them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>
+Yet they are a remarkably fine body of men, and a picked
+battalion of the Guards would look small beside them if
+brigaded with them in Hyde Park. So little is known, that
+I have sometimes been asked if the officers of West India
+regiments are also black, and it is with a view to making
+the regiment to which I have the honour to belong better
+known to the public at large, that the following history
+has been written. There has been no attempt at descriptive
+writing, facts being merely collected from official documents,
+so that the authenticity of the narrative may be unquestionable.</p>
+
+<p>In order that the earlier chapters may be the more
+readily understood, it may be as well to state that, with
+the 1st West India Regiment, which was called into existence
+in the <i>London Gazette</i> of the 2nd of May, 1795, were
+incorporated two other corps; of which one, the Carolina
+Corps, had been in existence since 1779, while the other&mdash;Malcolm's,
+or the Royal Rangers&mdash;had been raised in
+January or February, 1795. It is from the Carolina Corps
+that the 1st West India Regiment derives the Carolina laurel,
+borne on the crest of the regiment.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h3>
+
+<p class="center">THE ACTION AT BRIAR CREEK, 1779&mdash;THE ACTION AT
+STONO FERRY, 1779.</p>
+
+
+<p>In the autumn of 1778, during the War of the American
+Independence, the British commanders in North America
+determined to make another attempt for the royal cause in
+the Southern States of Georgia and South Carolina, which,
+since the failure of Lord Cornwallis at the siege of Charlestown
+in July, 1776, had been allowed to remain unmolested.
+With this view they despatched Colonel Campbell, in
+November, from New York, with the 71st Regiment, two
+battalions of Hessians, three of Loyal Provincials,<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> and a
+detachment of Artillery, the whole amounting to about 3500,
+to make an attempt upon the town of Savannah, the capital
+of Georgia. Arriving off the mouth of the Savannah River
+on the 23rd of December, Colonel Campbell was so rapidly
+successful, that, by the middle of January, not only was
+Savannah in his hands, but Georgia itself was entirely cleared
+of American troops.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p>
+<p>It was about this time that the South Carolina Regiment,
+the oldest branch of the 1st West India Regiment, was
+raised. Numerous royalists joined the British camp and
+were formed into various corps;<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> and the South Carolina
+Regiment is first mentioned as taking part in the action at
+Briar Creek on the 3rd of March, 1779,<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> the corps then
+being, according to Major-General Prevost's despatch, about
+100 strong. The action at Briar Creek occurred as
+follows:</p>
+
+<p>In the early part of 1779, General Prevost's<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> force was
+distributed in posts along the frontier of Georgia; Hudson's
+Ferry, twenty-four miles above Savannah, being the upper
+extremity of the chain. Watching these posts was the
+American general, Lincoln, with the main body of the
+American Army of the South, at Purrysburgh, about twenty
+miles above Savannah, and General Ashe, who was posted
+with about 2000 of the Militia of North and South Carolina
+and Georgia, at Briar Creek, near the point where it falls
+into the Savannah River.</p>
+
+<p>General Ashe's position appeared most secure, his left
+being covered by the Savannah with its marshes, and his
+front by Briar Creek, which was about twenty feet broad,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>
+and unfordable at that point and for several miles above it;
+nevertheless, General Prevost determined to surprise him.
+For the purpose of amusing General Lincoln, he made a
+show of an intention to pass the river; and, in order to
+occupy the attention of Ashe, he ordered a party to appear
+in his front, on the opposite side of Briar Creek. Meanwhile
+General Prevost, with 900 chosen men, made an extensive
+circuit, passed Briar Creek fifteen miles above the American
+position, gained their rear unperceived, and was almost in
+their camp before they discovered his approach. The surprise
+was as complete as could be wished. Whole regiments fled
+without firing a shot, and numbers without even attempting
+to seize their arms; they ran in their confusion into the
+marsh, and swam across the river, in which numbers of
+them were drowned. The Continental troops, under General
+Elbert, and a regiment of North Carolina Militia, alone
+offered resistance; but they were not long able to maintain
+the unequal conflict, and, being overpowered, were compelled
+to surrender. The Americans lost from 300 to 400 men,
+and seven pieces of cannon. The British lost five men
+killed, and one officer and ten men wounded.</p>
+
+<p>After this success, the British and American forces remained
+on opposite sides of the River Savannah, until the
+end of April, when General Lincoln, thinking the swollen
+state of the river and the inundation of the marshes was
+sufficient protection for the lower districts, withdrew his
+forces further inland, leaving General Moultrie with 1000<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>
+men at Black Swamp. By this movement Lincoln left
+Charlestown exposed to the British. General Prevost at
+once took advantage of this, and, on the 29th of April,
+suddenly crossed the river, near Purrysburgh, with 2500
+men, among whom was the South Carolina Regiment, which
+had been considerably increased by accessions of loyalists
+and freed negroes.</p>
+
+<p>General Prevost advanced rapidly into the country, the
+militia under Moultrie, who had considered the swamps impassable,
+offering but a feeble resistance, and retiring hastily,
+destroying the bridges in their rear. On the 11th of May,
+the British force crossed the Ashley River a few miles
+above Charlestown, and, advancing along the neck formed
+by the Ashley and Cooper Rivers, established itself at a
+little more than cannon-shot from the city. A continued
+succession of skirmishes took place on that day and the
+ensuing night, and on the following morning Charlestown
+was summoned to surrender.</p>
+
+<p>Negotiations were broken off in the evening, much to the
+disappointment of the British general, who had been led
+to suppose that a large proportion of the inhabitants were
+favourable to the royal cause, and that the city would fall
+easily into his hands. He now found himself in a dangerous
+predicament. He was without siege guns, before lines defended
+by a considerable force of artillery, and flanked by
+shipping; he was involved in a labyrinth of creeks and rivers,
+where a defeat would have been fatal, and General Lincoln<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>
+with a force equal, if not superior to his own, was fast
+approaching for the relief of the city. Taking all this into
+consideration, General Prevost prudently struck camp that
+night, and, under cover of the darkness, the direct line of
+retreat on Savannah being closed, returned to the south side
+of the Ashley River. From thence the army passed to the
+islands of St. James and St. John, lying to the southward
+of Charlestown harbour, and commencing that succession of
+islands and creeks which extends along the coast from
+Charlestown to Savannah.</p>
+
+<p>In these islands the army awaited supplies from New
+York, of which it was much in need; and, on the arrival of
+two frigates, it commenced to move to the island of Port
+Royal, which at the same time would afford good quarters
+for the troops during the intense heats, and, from its vicinity
+to Savannah, and its excellent harbour, was the best position
+that could be chosen for covering Georgia.</p>
+
+<p>Directly General Lincoln discovered what was taking
+place, he advanced to attack. St. John's Island is separated
+from the mainland by a narrow inlet, called Stono River,
+and communication between the mainland and the island
+was kept up by a ferry. On the mainland, at this ferry,
+General Prevost had established a post, consisting of three
+redoubts, joined by lines of communication; and, to cover
+the movement of the army to Port Royal Island, he here
+posted Lieutenant-Colonel Maitland with the 1st Battalion
+of the 71st Regiment, a weak battalion of Hessians, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>
+North Carolina Regiment, and the South Carolina Regiment,
+amounting in the whole to about 800 men.</p>
+
+<p>On the 20th of June, General Lincoln made a determined
+attempt to force the passage, attacking with a force variously
+estimated at from 1200 to 5000 men and eight guns. Lieutenant-Colonel
+Maitland's advanced posts, consisting of the
+South Carolina Regiment, were some distance in front of his
+works; and a smart firing between them and the Americans
+gave him the first warning of the approach of the enemy.
+He instantly sent out two companies of the 71st from his
+right to ascertain the force of the assailants. The Highlanders
+had proceeded only a quarter of a mile when they
+met the outposts retiring before the enemy. A fierce conflict
+ensued. Instead of retreating before superior numbers,
+the Highlanders persisted in the unequal combat till all their
+officers were either killed or wounded, of the two companies
+eleven men only returned to the garrison; and the British
+force was sadly diminished, and its safety consequently
+imperilled by this mistaken valour.</p>
+
+<p>The whole American line now advanced to within three
+hundred yards of the works, and a general engagement
+began, which was maintained with much courage and
+steadiness on both sides. At length the regiment of
+Hessians on the British left gave way, and the Americans,
+in spite of the obstinate resistance of the two Carolina
+regiments, were on the point of entering the works, when a
+judicious flank movement of the remainder of the 71st<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>
+checked the advance; and General Lincoln, apprehensive of
+the arrival of British reinforcements from the island, drew off
+his men, and retired in good order, taking his wounded with
+him.</p>
+
+<p>The battle lasted upwards of an hour. The British had
+3 officers and 19 rank and file killed, and 4 officers and
+85 rank and file wounded. The South Carolina Regiment
+had Major William Campbell and 1 sergeant killed, 1 captain,
+1 sergeant, and 3 rank and file wounded.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> The Americans
+lost 5 officers and 35 men killed, 19 officers and 120 men
+wounded.</p>
+
+<p>Three days after the battle, the British troops evacuated
+the post at Stono Ferry, and also the island of St. John,
+passing along the coast from island to island till they reached
+Beaufort in the island of Port Royal. Here General Prevost
+left a garrison under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel
+Maitland, and proceeded with the remainder of his force,
+with which was the South Carolina Regiment, to the town of
+Savannah.</p>
+
+<p>The heat had now become too intense for active service;
+and the care of the officers was employed in preserving their
+men from the fevers of the season, and keeping them in a
+condition for service next campaign, which was expected to
+open in October.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p>
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> De Lancey's Corps, the New York Volunteers, and Skinner's Corps.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> "Annual Register," 1779, Beatson's "Memoirs," Gordon's "History
+of the American War," etc. etc.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Beatson's "Naval and Military Memoirs," vol. iv. p. 492.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Major-General Prevost had come from Florida and assumed
+command in January.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> "Return of the killed, wounded, and missing at the repulse of the
+Rebels at Stono Ferry, South Carolina, June 20th, 1779."</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h3>
+
+<p class="center">THE SIEGE OF SAVANNAH, 1779&mdash;THE SIEGE OF CHARLESTOWN,
+1780&mdash;THE BATTLE OF HOBKERK'S HILL, 1781.</p>
+
+
+<p>At the opening of the next campaign, although General
+Prevost had been obliged to retire from Charlestown and
+to abandon the upper parts of Georgia, yet, so long as he
+kept possession of the town of Savannah and maintained
+a post at Port Royal Island, South Carolina was exposed
+to incursions. The Americans, therefore, pressed the French
+admiral, Count D'Estaing, to repair to the Savannah River,
+hoping, by his aid, to drive the British from Georgia.
+D'Estaing, in compliance, sailed from Cape Fran&ccedil;ois, in
+St. Domingo; and with twenty-two sail of the line and
+a number of smaller vessels, having 4800 French regular
+troops on board and several hundred black troops from
+the West Indies, appeared off the Savannah so unexpectedly
+that the <i>Experiment</i>, a British fifty-gun ship, fell into his
+hands. On the appearance of the French fleet, on September
+9th, General Prevost immediately called in all his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>
+outposts in Georgia, sent orders to Lieutenant-Colonel
+Maitland, at Port Royal, to rejoin him at once, and exerted
+himself to strengthen the defences of the town of Savannah.</p>
+
+<p>For the first three or four days after the arrival of the
+fleet, the French were employed in moving their troops
+through the Ossabaw Inlet to Beaulieu, about thirteen miles
+above the town of Savannah. On the 15th of September,
+the French, with a party of American light horse, attacked
+the British outposts, and General Prevost withdrew all his
+force into his works.</p>
+
+<p>On the 16th, D'Estaing summoned the place to surrender.
+Lieutenant-Colonel Maitland's force had not yet arrived, the
+works were still incomplete, and General Prevost was desirous
+of gaining time; he consequently requested a suspension of
+hostilities for twenty-four hours. This was granted, and in
+that critical interval Lieutenant-Colonel Maitland, by the
+most extraordinary efforts&mdash;for one of General Prevost's messengers
+had fallen into the hands of the enemy, who had at
+once seized all the principal lines of communication&mdash;arrived
+with the garrison of Port Royal, and entered the town.
+Encouraged by this accession of strength, General Prevost
+now informed Count D'Estaing that he was resolved to
+defend the place to the last extremity. On the 17th,
+D'Estaing had been joined by General Lincoln with some
+3000 men, which, with the French troops, raised the total
+besieging force to something over 8000. The besieged did not
+exceed 3000.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The enemy spent several days in bringing up guns and
+stores from the fleet, and on the 23rd the besieging army
+broke ground before the town. On the 1st of October, they
+had advanced to within 300 yards of the British works. On
+the morning of the 4th of October, several batteries, mounting
+thirty-three pieces of heavy cannon and nine mortars, with a
+floating battery of sixteen guns on the river, opened fire on
+the town. For several days they played incessantly on the
+garrison, and there was continued skirmishing between the
+negroes of the Carolina regiments and the enemy.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p>
+
+<p>On the morning of the 9th of October, the enemy, under
+a furious cannonade, advanced to storm in three columns,
+with a force of 3000 French under D'Estaing in person,
+and 1500 Americans under Lincoln. General Prevost, in
+his despatch to Lord George Germain, dated Savannah,
+November 1st, 1779, says: "However, the principal attack,
+composed of the flower of the French and rebel armies, and
+led by D'Estaing in person, with all the principal officers of
+either, was made upon our right. Under cover of the hollow,
+they advanced in three columns; but having taken a wider
+circuit than they needed, and gone deeper in the bog, they
+neither came so early as they intended nor, I believe, in the
+same order. The attack, however, was very spirited, and
+for some time obstinately persevered in, particularly on
+the Ebenezer Road Redoubt. Two stand of colours were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>
+actually planted, and several of the assailants killed upon
+the parapet; but they met with so determined a resistance,
+and the fire of three seamen batteries, taking them in almost
+every direction, was so severe, that they were thrown into
+some disorder, at least at a stand; and at this most critical
+moment, Major Glasier, of the 60th, with the 60th Grenadiers
+and the Marines, advancing rapidly from the lines, charged
+(it may be said) with a degree of fury; in an instant the ditches
+of the redoubt and a battery to its right in rear were cleared....
+Lieutenant-Colonel de Porbeck, of Weissenbach's,
+being field officer of the day of the right wing, and, being
+in the redoubt when the attack began, had an opportunity,
+which he well improved, to signalise himself in a most gallant
+manner; and it is but justice to mention to your lordships
+the troops who defended it. They were part of the South
+Carolina Royalists, the Light Dragoons (dismounted), and
+the battalion men of the 4th 60th, in all about 100
+men, commanded (by a special order) by Captain James,
+of the Dragoons (Lieutenant 71st), a good and gallant officer,
+and who nobly fell with his sword in the body of the third
+he had killed with his own hand."</p>
+
+<p>After their repulse from the Ebenezer Redoubt, the
+enemy retired, and, a few days afterwards, the siege was
+raised, the Americans crossing the Savannah at Zubly's
+Ferry and taking up a position in South Carolina, while the
+French embarked in their fleet and sailed away. During
+the assault the French lost 700 and the Americans 240<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>
+killed. The British loss was 55, four of whom belonged to
+the South Carolina Regiment, who were killed in the redoubt,
+where also Captain Henry, of that corps, was wounded.</p>
+
+<p>According to the "Journal of the Siege of Savannah,"
+p. 39, the garrison of the redoubt in the Ebenezer Road
+was as follows:</p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">28 Dismounted Dragoons.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">28 Battalion men of the 60th Regiment.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">54 South Carolina Regiment.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">110</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>In the same work is the following: "Two rebel standards
+were once fixed on the redoubt in the Ebenezer Road; one
+of them was carried off again, and the other, which belonged
+to the 2nd Carolina Regiment, was taken. After the retreat
+of the enemy from our right, 270 men, chiefly French, were
+found dead; upwards of 80 of whom lay in the ditch and
+on the parapet of the redoubt, and 93 were within our
+abattis."</p>
+
+<p>The strength of the South Carolina Regiment at the
+termination of the siege was: 1 colonel (Colonel Innes),
+1 major, 4 captains, 7 lieutenants, 3 ensigns, 15 sergeants,
+7 drummers, and 216 rank and file.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing of note took place in Georgia and South Carolina
+till January, 1780, when Sir Henry Clinton arrived in the
+Savannah River with a force destined for the reduction of
+Charlestown. He had sailed from New York on the 26th
+of December, 1779, and, having experienced bad weather,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>
+put into the Savannah to repair damages. Sir H. Clinton
+selected a portion of General Prevost's force at Savannah
+to take part in the coming operations, and among the
+corps so selected was the South Carolina Regiment, which
+is shown in the return of troops at the capture of Charlestown
+as "joined from Savannah."</p>
+
+<p>On the 10th of February, the armament sailed to North
+Edisto, where the troops disembarked, taking possession
+of the island of St. John next day without opposition. On
+the 29th of March, the army reached Ashley River and
+crossed it ten miles above Charlestown; then, the artillery
+and stores having been brought over, Sir H. Clinton marched
+down Charlestown Neck, and, on the night of the 1st of
+April, broke ground at 800 yards from the American works.
+The garrison of the city consisted of 2000 regular troops,
+1000 North Carolina Militia, and the male inhabitants of
+the place.</p>
+
+<p>On the 9th of April, the first parallel was finished, and
+the batteries opened fire; and Charlestown finally capitulated,
+after an uneventful siege, on the 12th of May. In the "Return
+of the killed and wounded" during the siege, the South
+Carolina Regiment is shown as having had three rank and
+file wounded.</p>
+
+<p>Sir H. Clinton sailed from Charlestown on the 5th of
+June, leaving Lord Cornwallis in command. The latter
+meditated an expedition into North Carolina, and, for the
+preservation of South Carolina during his absence with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>
+the main body of the troops, he established a chain of posts
+along the frontier. One of these posts was at Ninety-six, and
+for its defence was detailed the South Carolina Regiment,
+under Colonel Innes, with Allen's corps, "the 16th and
+three other companies of Light Infantry."<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> Lieutenant-Colonel
+Balfour was then in command of the post, but was
+soon after relieved by Lieutenant-Colonel Cruger.</p>
+
+<p>The garrison of Ninety-six remained undisturbed till
+September, 1780, when, Lord Cornwallis having moved
+into North Carolina and occupied Charlotte, Georgia was
+almost denuded of troops; and an American leader, Colonel
+Clarke, took advantage of this to attack the British post
+at Augusta. Lieutenant-Colonel Brown, who commanded
+there with 150 men, finding the town untenable, retired
+towards an eminence on the banks of the Savannah, named
+Garden Hill, and sent intelligence of his situation to Ninety-six.
+Lieutenant-Colonel Cruger, with the 16th and the
+South Carolina Regiment, at once marched to his relief.
+Colonel Clarke, who had captured the British guns and
+was besieging the garrison of Garden Hill, upon being
+informed of Cruger's approach raised the siege, and, abandoning
+the guns which he had taken, retreated so hurriedly that,
+though pursued for some distance, he effected his escape.</p>
+
+<p>In the spring of 1781, Lord Cornwallis had again invaded
+North Carolina, and, having defeated the American general,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>
+Greene, at Guildford Court House, had continued his march
+towards Virginia, expecting the enemy to make every effort
+to prevent the army entering that state. General Greene,
+however, allowed Lord Cornwallis to pass on, and then,
+having assembled a considerable body of troops, made a
+sudden descent upon the British posts in South Carolina,
+where Lord Rawdon had been left in command. These posts
+were in a line from Charlestown by the way of Camden and
+Ninety-six, to Augusta in Georgia. Camden was the most important,
+and there Lord Rawdon had taken post with 900 men.</p>
+
+<p>On the 20th of April, 1781, General Greene appeared
+before Camden, which was a village situated on a plain,
+covered on the south by the Wateree, a river which higher
+up is called the Catawba; and below, after its confluence
+with the Congaree from the south, assumes the name of the
+Santee. On the east of it flowed Pinetree Creek; on the
+northern and western sides it was defended by a strong
+chain of redoubts, six in number, extending from the river
+to the creek. Lord Rawdon's force was so small that the
+approach of Greene to Camden necessitated the abandonment
+of the ferry on the Wateree, "although the South
+Carolina Regiment was on its way to join him from Ninety-six,
+and that was its direct course; he had, however, taken
+his measures so well as to secure the passage of that regiment
+upon its arrival three days after."<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p>
+<p>General Greene, whose force amounted to 1200 men,
+determined to await reinforcements before attacking, and
+on the 24th of April he retired to Hobkerk's Hill, an eminence
+about a mile north of Camden, on the road to the
+Waxhaws. Here Lord Rawdon resolved to attack him, and
+on the morning of the 25th, with 900 men, he marched from
+Camden, and, by making a circuit, and keeping close to the
+edge of the swamp, under cover of the woods, he gained the
+left flank of the Americans, where the hill was most accessible,
+undiscovered.</p>
+
+<p>The alarm was given, while the Americans were at breakfast,
+by the firing of the outposts, and at this critical moment
+a reinforcement of American militia arrived. So confident was
+General Greene of success that he ordered Lieutenant-Colonel
+Washington, with his cavalry, to turn the right flank of the
+British and to charge them in the rear, while bodies of
+infantry were to assail them in front and on both flanks.</p>
+
+<p>The American advanced parties were driven in by the
+British after a sharp skirmish, and Lord Rawdon advanced
+steadily to attack the main body of the enemy. The 63rd
+Regiment, with the volunteers of Ireland, formed his right;
+the King's American Regiment, with Robertson's corps, composed
+his left; the New York volunteers were in the centre.
+The South Carolina Regiment and the cavalry were in the
+rear and formed a reserve.<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p>
+<p>Such was the impetuosity of the British that, in the face
+of a destructive discharge of grape, they gained the summit
+of the hill and pierced the American centre. The militia fell
+into confusion, their officers were unable to rally them, and
+General Greene ordered a retreat. The pursuit was continued
+for nearly three miles. The Americans halted for the night
+at Saunders' Creek, about four miles from Hobkerk's Hill,
+and next day proceeded to Rugeley Mills, about twelve miles
+from Camden. After the engagement the British returned to
+Camden. The American loss was 300; the British lost 258
+out of about 900 who were on the field.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> "The True History of the Siege of Savannah," published 1780.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> "The Campaigns of 1780 and 1781, in the Southern Provinces of
+North America," by Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton, London, 1787.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Tarleton, p. 461.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> "Martial Register," vol. iii. p. 110.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h3>
+
+<p class="center">THE RELIEF OF NINETY-SIX, 1781&mdash;THE BATTLE OF EUTAW
+SPRINGS, 1781&mdash;REMOVAL TO THE WEST INDIES.</p>
+
+
+<p>Lord Rawdon was not in a position to follow up his success
+at Hobkerk's Hill, and on the 3rd of May, 1781, Greene
+passed the Wateree, and occupied such positions as to prevent
+the garrison at Camden obtaining supplies. Generals
+Marion and Lee were also posted at Nelson's Ferry, to
+prevent Colonel Watson, who was advancing with 400 men,
+from joining Lord Rawdon, and Watson was obliged to alter
+his route. He marched down the north side of the Santee,
+crossed it near its mouth, with incredible labour advanced
+up its southern bank, recrossed it above the encampment
+of Marion and Lee, and arrived safely with his detachment at
+Camden on the 7th of May.</p>
+
+<p>Thus reinforced, Lord Rawdon determined to attack
+Greene, and, on the night of the 8th, marched from Camden
+with his whole force. Greene, who had been informed of
+this movement, passed the Wateree and took up a strong<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>
+position behind Saunders' Creek. Lord Rawdon followed
+him and drove in his outposts, but, finding the position
+was too strong for his small force, he returned to Camden.</p>
+
+<p>Camden being too far advanced a post for Lord Rawdon
+to hold with the few troops at his disposal, he evacuated it
+on the 10th of May, and retired by Nelson's Ferry to the
+south of the Santee, and afterwards to Monk's Corner. In
+the meantime, attacks were made on the British posts in
+Georgia, Augusta itself being taken on the 5th of June,
+while the post of Ninety-six in South Carolina was closely
+invested by General Greene with the main American army in
+the Southern States.</p>
+
+<p>About this time, a change took place in the South
+Carolina Regiment. Lord Rawdon, in a letter to Lieutenant-General
+Earl Cornwallis, dated Charlestown, June 5th, 1781,
+speaks of the difficulty which he has experienced in the
+formation of cavalry, and goes on to say that the inhabitants
+of Charlestown having subscribed 3000 guineas for a corps
+of dragoons, out of compliment to those gentlemen "I have
+ordered the South Carolina Regiment to be converted into
+cavalry, and I have the prospect of their being mounted
+and completely appointed in a few days."</p>
+
+<p>On the 3rd of June, Lord Rawdon had received considerable
+reinforcements from England, and on the 9th he
+left Charlestown with about 2000 men, including the South
+Carolina Regiment in its new capacity, for the relief of
+Ninety-six. In their rapid progress over the whole extent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>
+of South Carolina, through a wild country and under a
+burning sun, the sufferings of the troops were severe, but
+they advanced with celerity to the assistance of their
+comrades. On the 11th of June, General Greene received
+notice of Lord Rawdon's march, and immediately sent
+Sumpter with the whole of the cavalry to keep in front of
+the British army and retard its progress. Lord Rawdon,
+however, passed Sumpter a little below the junction of the
+Saluda and Broad Rivers, and that officer was never able
+to regain his front.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime, the Americans were pushing hard the
+garrison of Ninety-six; they were nearly reduced to
+extremities, and in a few days must have surrendered; but
+the rapid advance of Lord Rawdon left Greene no alternative
+but to storm or raise the siege. On the 18th of June, he
+made a furious assault upon the place; but, after a desperate
+conflict of nearly an hour, was compelled to retire. Next
+day he retreated, crossing the Saluda on the 20th, and
+encamping at Little River.</p>
+
+<p>On the morning of the 21st, Lord Rawdon arrived at
+Ninety-six, and the same evening set out in pursuit of
+Greene, who, however, retreated; and Rawdon, despairing
+of overtaking him, returned to Ninety-six. He now found
+it necessary to evacuate that position and contract his posts;
+and, having destroyed the works, he marched towards the
+Congaree. There, on the 1st of July, while out foraging,
+two officers and forty dragoons of the South Carolina<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>
+Regiment were surrounded and taken prisoners by Lee's
+Legion. This blow sadly crippled Lord Rawdon, who was
+much in need of cavalry, and two days later he retreated
+to Orangeburgh.</p>
+
+<p>The summer heats now coming on, Lord Rawdon proceeded
+to England on sick leave, leaving Lieutenant-Colonel
+Stuart in command of the troops in South Carolina and
+Georgia. The new commander at once proceeded with the
+army to the Congaree, and formed an encampment near its
+junction with the Wateree.</p>
+
+<p>Towards the end of August, while Lieutenant-Colonel
+Stuart was expecting a convoy of provisions from Charlestown,
+he received information that General Greene, who had
+been reinforced and was now at the head of 2500 men, was
+moving towards Friday's Ferry on the Congaree. The
+American cavalry was so numerous and enterprising that
+the expected convoy, then at Martin's, fifty-six miles from
+the British camp, would inevitably fall into their hands
+unless protected by an escort of at least 400 men; and
+Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart's force being too small to admit
+of so considerable a body being detached without risk, he
+determined to retreat by slow marches to Eutaw Springs,
+about sixty miles north of Charlestown, and meet the convoy
+on the way.</p>
+
+<p>General Greene followed the retiring British, and, on the
+7th of September, arrived within seven miles of Eutaw
+Springs. Being there reinforced by General Marion and his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>
+corps, he resolved to attack next day. At six in the morning,
+two deserters from the American army entered the British
+camp, and informed Stuart of the approach of the enemy;
+but little credit was given to their report. At that time
+Major Coffin, with 140 infantry and 50 of the South
+Carolina Regiment, was out foraging for roots and vegetables&mdash;the
+army having neither corn nor bread&mdash;in the
+direction in which the Americans were advancing. About
+four miles from the camp at Eutaw, that party was attacked
+by the American advanced guard and driven in with loss.
+Their return convinced Colonel Stuart of the approach of
+the enemy, and the British army was soon drawn up obliquely
+across the road on the height near Eutaw Springs.</p>
+
+<p>The firing began between two and three miles from the
+British camp. The British light parties were driven in on their
+main body, and the first line of the Americans attacked with
+great impetuosity. For a short time the conflicting ranks were
+intermingled, and the officers fought hand to hand. At that
+critical moment, General Lee, who had turned the left flank
+of the British, charged them in the rear. They were broken
+and driven off the field, their guns falling into the hands of
+the Americans, who eagerly pressed on their retreating
+adversaries.</p>
+
+<p>At this crisis, Colonel Stuart ordered a strong detachment
+to take post in a large three-storey brick house, which was
+in rear of the army on the right, while another occupied
+an adjoining palisaded garden, and some close underwood.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>
+The Americans made the most desperate efforts to dislodge
+them from their posts; but every attack was met with
+determined courage. Four pieces of artillery were brought
+to bear on the house, but made no impression on its solid
+walls, from which a close and destructive fire was kept up,
+as well as from the adjoining enclosure. Almost all the
+gunners were killed and wounded; and the guns had been
+pushed so near the house that they could not be brought
+off. Colonel Washington attempted to turn the British
+right, and charge them in rear; but his horse was shot
+under him, and he was wounded and made prisoner. After
+every attempt to dislodge the British from their position
+had failed, General Greene drew off his men, and retired to
+the ground which he had left in the morning. This conflict
+had lasted nearly four hours. The Americans lost 555, the
+British 693. The British kept their ground during the night,
+and next day began to retreat. About fourteen miles from
+the field of battle, Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart was met
+by a reinforcement, under Major McArthur, marching from
+Charlestown to his assistance. Thus strengthened, he proceeded
+to Monk's Corner.</p>
+
+<p>Eutaw Springs was the last engagement of importance
+in the southern provinces. The British soon retreated to a
+position on Charlestown Neck, and confined their operations
+to the defence of the posts in that vicinity; while in Georgia,
+the British force was concentrated at Savannah. The surrender
+of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, in October, 1781,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>
+and the subsequent peace negotiations, put an end to the
+hostilities in America.</p>
+
+<p>Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton says: "It is impossible to
+do justice to the spirit, patience, and invincible fortitude
+displayed by the commanders, officers, and soldiers during
+these dreadful campaigns in the Carolinas. They had not
+only to contend with men, and these by no means deficient
+in bravery and enterprise, but they encountered and surmounted
+difficulties and fatigues from the climate and the
+country, which would appear insuperable in theory and
+almost incredible in the relation. They displayed military
+and, we may add, moral virtues far above all praise. During
+renewed successions of forced marches, under the rage of a
+burning sun and in a climate at that season peculiarly
+inimical to man, they were frequently, when sinking under
+the most excessive fatigue, not only destitute of every comfort
+but almost of every necessary which seems essential to
+existence. During the greater part of the time they were
+totally destitute of bread, and the country afforded no vegetables
+for a substitute. Salt at length failed, and their only
+resources were water and the wild cattle which they found
+in the woods. About fifty men, in this last expedition, sunk
+under the vigour of their exertions and perished through
+mere fatigue."</p>
+
+<p>At the cessation of hostilities, the South Carolina Regiment
+and the Loyal American Rangers were removed to
+Jamaica, and as they are shown in the Jamaica Almanack<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>
+for 1782 as being then in the island, they presumably
+arrived there about December, 1781. The South Carolina
+Regiment was probably dismounted, as it is shown as being
+stationed at Fort Augusta in Kingston harbour. At this
+time, the reinforcing of the West India Islands by provincial
+corps was considered most important, and in a letter
+to Sir Guy Carleton we find the following: "The object
+of reinforcing those islands is so important, that His Majesty
+wishes to have it understood that every provincial corps
+embarking for the West Indies shall immediately be put
+upon the British Establishment." It was, probably, on
+some such understanding that the two corps above mentioned
+proceeded from South Carolina; but the promise,
+if made, was never fulfilled, and neither of the two ever
+appeared in any Army List. The following is the list of
+officers of the South Carolina Regiment given in the
+Jamaica Almanack:</p>
+
+<p class='center'>
+Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant&mdash;<span class="smcap">Captain Lord Charles<br />
+Montagu</span>, 88th Regiment.<br />
+<br />
+Major&mdash;<span class="smcap">James Balmer.</span><br />
+<br />
+Captains&mdash;<span class="smcap">G.C. Montagu, Robert Palmer, W. Oliphant, W. Lowe.</span><br />
+<br />
+Lieutenants.<br /><br /></p>
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="lieutenants">
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">R. Marshall.</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">H. Craddock.</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">&mdash; Odonnell.</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">J. Carden.</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">D. M'Connell.</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A. Clerk.</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">H. Rudgley.</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">P. Sergeant.</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">J. Petrie.</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">M. Rainford.</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">J.P. Collins.</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">&mdash; Smith.</span></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span><br /></p>
+<p class='center'>Ensigns.<br />
+<br /></p>
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="ensigns">
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">W. Splain.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">J. Kent.</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">B. Meighan.</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">&mdash; Bell.</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">&mdash; Farquhar.</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">&mdash; Thomas.</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">&mdash; Smith.</span></td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>The South Carolina Regiment remained in Jamaica until
+the general disbandment of the provincial corps in 1783.
+The lieutenant-colonel commandant was given an independent
+company, and the whites, both officers and men,
+were pacified with grants of land. The black troopers, however,
+were a source of difficulty. These troopers, some of
+whom were originally free, while some had been purchased
+by the British Government, were in those days of slavery
+something of a "white elephant" in a large slave-holding
+colony like Jamaica. The planters, fearful of the consequences
+of the example to their slaves of a free body of
+negroes who had served as soldiers, agitated for their removal
+from the island, but, on the other hand, no other island was
+willing to receive them. There is no trace of how the difficulty
+was finally settled, but in a letter, dated War Office,
+June 15th, 1783, signed R. Fitzpatrick, and addressed to
+Major-General Campbell, commanding in Jamaica, the receipt
+of his letter concerning the disbandment of the provincial
+troops in the island is acknowledged, and the removal of "the
+blacks of the South Carolina Regiment" to the Leeward
+command approved of.</p>
+
+<p>Some time, then, in September, 1783, the black troopers
+were removed to the Leeward Islands, and in the "Monthly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>
+Return of His Majesty's Forces in the Leeward and Charibee
+Islands, under the command of Lieutenant-General Edward
+Mathew," we find them formed into a corps, with a body of
+black artificers, who had served in South Carolina at the
+sieges of Charlestown and Ninety-six, and thirty-three black
+pioneers who had been included in the surrender of Yorktown.
+The following is the state of this corps:</p>
+
+<h5>
+RETURN OF THE BLACK CORPS OF DRAGOONS, PIONEERS, AND ARTIFICERS.<br />
+</h5>
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;">A. Captains.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;">B. 1st Lieutenants.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;">C. 2nd Lieutenants.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;">D. Sergeants Present.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;">E. Drummers and Trumpeters Present.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;">F. Present, fit for duty.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;">G. Sick in Quarters.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;">H. Sick in Hospital.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;">I. On Command.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;">J. Total.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;">K. Total of the Whole.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="officers">
+
+<tr>
+<td align='center' colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td align='center' colspan="3">Officers<br />Present.</td>
+<td align='left' rowspan="2" valign="bottom">&nbsp;D</td><td align='left' rowspan="2" valign="bottom">&nbsp;E</td>
+<td align='left' colspan="5">Effective Rank and File.</td><td align='center' rowspan="2" valign="bottom">K</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td align='center'>Where<br />Stationed.</td><td align='center'>Companies</td>
+<td align='center' valign="bottom">A</td><td align='center' valign="bottom">B</td><td align='center' valign="bottom">C</td>
+<td align='center' valign="bottom">F</td><td align='center' valign="bottom">G</td><td align='center' valign="bottom">H</td>
+<td align='center' valign="bottom">I</td><td align='center' valign="bottom">J</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td align='left'>Grenada<br />St. Vincent<br />Grenada</td>
+<td align='left'>Capt. Mackrill<br />Capt. Anderson<br />Capt. Millar</td>
+<td align='right'>&nbsp;&nbsp;1<br />1<br />1</td>
+<td align='right'>&nbsp;&nbsp;-<br />-<br />-</td>
+<td align='right'>&nbsp;&nbsp;-<br />1<br />-</td>
+<td align='right'>&nbsp;&nbsp;3<br />14<br />3</td>
+<td align='right'>&nbsp;&nbsp;1<br />5<br />-</td>
+<td align='right'>&nbsp;25<br />46<br />19</td>
+<td align='right'>&nbsp;&nbsp;7<br />4<br />4</td>
+<td align='right'>&nbsp;10<br />-<br />4</td>
+<td align='right'>23<br />138<br />19</td>
+<td align='right'>65<br />188<br />46</td>
+<td align='right'>70<br />209<br />50</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td align='right'>&nbsp;</td><td align='center'>Total</td><td align='right'>&nbsp;&nbsp;3</td><td align='right'>-</td>
+<td align='right'>1</td><td align='right'>20</td><td align='right'>6</td><td align='right'>90</td><td align='right'>15</td>
+<td align='right'>14</td><td align='right'>180</td><td align='right'>299</td><td align='right'>329</td>
+</tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>The officers of this corps were, according to Bryan Edwards,
+vol. i. p. 386, taken from the regular army, and the companies
+were commanded by lieutenants of regulars, having captains'
+rank. Artificers, it may be as well to observe, were sappers
+and miners. The Royal Engineers at about this date consisted
+of various companies of Artificers; later on they were
+called Sappers and Miners; and, finally, Royal Engineers.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h3>
+
+<p class="center">THE EXPEDITION TO MARTINIQUE, 1793&mdash;THE CAPTURE OF
+MARTINIQUE, ST. LUCIA, AND GUADALOUPE, 1794&mdash;THE
+DEFENCE OF FORT MATILDA, 1794.</p>
+
+
+<p>In February, 1789, all three companies of the "Black Corps
+of Dragoons, Pioneers, and Artificers" were stationed in
+Grenada, and from that date until June, 1793, they are shown
+in every monthly return, with a strength varying from 279 to
+268, and an increase of four first lieutenants.</p>
+
+<p>In February, 1793, the news of the French declaration of
+war was received in the West Indies, and orders were soon
+after transmitted from England to the Commander-in-Chief
+in the Windward and Leeward Islands to attempt the reduction
+of the French islands. Tobago was taken on the 17th
+of April without much trouble, the majority of the planters
+in that island being English; and an attack on Martinique
+was next meditated. The whole of the British force in the
+West Indies was known and acknowledged to be inadequate
+to the reduction of that island; but such representations had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>
+been spread throughout the army, concerning the disaffection
+of the greater part of the inhabitants of all the French islands
+towards the Republican Government lately established, as to
+create a very general belief that the appearance of a British
+armament before the capital of Martinique would alone produce
+an immediate surrender. Major-General Bruce, on whom
+the chief command of the troops had devolved, was assured
+by a deputation from the principal planters of the island that
+"a body of 800 regular troops would be more than sufficient
+to overcome all possible resistance."</p>
+
+<p>These representations induced Major-General Bruce, in
+conjunction with Admiral Gardner, to undertake an expedition;
+and the troops having been embarked at Grenada in
+the men-of-war, the armament arrived off Cape Navire,
+Martinique,<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> on the 11th of June, 1793. There the general
+met the officer commanding the French Royalists, and, as
+the latter proposed an attack upon the town of St. Pierre,
+the 21st Regiment was landed at Cape Navire on the 14th,
+and there posted, to enable the Royalists to concentrate
+in the neighbourhood of St. Pierre, where the remainder of
+the British force joined them on the 16th. "The British
+troops consisted of the Grenadiers, Light Infantry, and
+Marines from the fleet, with the Black Carolina Corps,
+amounting in all to about 1100 men."<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> The Royalists
+were said to number 800.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p><p>On the afternoon of the 17th, the enemy made an
+attack, but were driven back by the pickets, with the loss
+of one officer and three men killed on the part of the
+British. An attack on the two batteries which defended
+St. Pierre was planned for the morning of the 18th, but
+failed, owing to the want of discipline on the part of the
+Royalists. Major-General Bruce says: "The morning of
+the 18th was the time fixed for the attack, and we were
+to move forward in two columns, the one consisting of
+the British troops, the other of the French Royalists; and
+for this purpose the troops were put in motion before daybreak;
+but, unfortunately, some alarm having taken place
+amongst the Royalists, they began, in a mistake, firing on
+one another, and their commander being severely wounded
+on the occasion, the whole body, refusing to submit to any
+of the other officers, retired to the post from which they
+had marched."</p>
+
+<p>This conduct showed the general that no reliance could
+be placed on the Royalists, and that the attack on St. Pierre,
+if carried out at all, would have to be done by the British
+troops alone, whose numbers were not equal to the task.
+He, consequently, ordered the troops to return to their
+former positions, and on the 19th they re-embarked. As
+to have left the Royalists in Martinique would only have
+been to leave them to be massacred by the Republicans,
+those unfortunate people were embarked on the 19th
+and 20th, and the 21st Regiment being taken on board<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>
+at Cape Navire on the 21st, the expedition returned to
+Grenada.</p>
+
+<p>It may be wondered whence came the Black Carolina
+Corps mentioned by Major-General Bruce, but it is evident that
+by that designation the Black Corps of Dragoons, Pioneers,
+and Artificers was locally known; for in the monthly return,
+dated May 1st, 1794, the "state" of the corps is headed,
+"Return of the Black Carolina Corps," and the title, "Black
+Corps of Dragoons, Pioneers, and Artificers" ceases, from
+that date, to be used in any official document. The strength
+of the corps in that return is 258 of all ranks.</p>
+
+<p>The failure of Major-General Bruce's attempt on Martinique
+induced the British Ministers to send out an armament
+under Sir Charles Grey for the reduction of all the French
+West India Islands; and, until the arrival of this force at
+Barbados, in January, 1794, the Black Carolina Corps
+remained quietly in garrison at Grenada. The troops from
+the various islands&mdash;and amongst them all three companies
+of that corps&mdash;were collected at Barbados during the
+remainder of January, and, on the 4th of February, the
+expeditionary force, 6085 strong, set sail from Carlisle Bay.
+The army, in three divisions, landed at three separate points
+in Martinique; the first at Gallion Bay, on the northern
+side of the island, on the evening of the 5th of February;
+the second at Cape Navire, nearly opposite on the south,
+on the 8th of February; and the third at Trois Rivi&egrave;res,
+towards the south-east. The British were so rapidly suc<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>cessful
+that, by the 17th of February, the whole of the island,
+except the two fortresses of Bourbon and Fort Royal, were
+in their hands. The services of the Black Carolina Corps
+up to that date are not known in detail, but the return of
+killed and wounded shows the Dragoons as having had
+one rank and file killed.</p>
+
+<p>On the 20th of February, Forts Bourbon and Fort Royal
+were completely invested, and the pioneers and artificers of
+the Carolina Corps were busily engaged on the siege works.
+On the north-east side the army broke ground on the 25th
+of February; and on the western side, towards La Caste,
+fascine batteries were erected with all possible expedition.
+By the 16th of March, the advanced batteries were pushed
+to within 500 yards of Fort Bourbon, and 200 yards of
+the enemy's nearest redoubt. On the 20th of March, the
+fortress of Fort Royal was carried by Captain Faulkner, of
+the <i>Zebra</i>; and General Rochambeau at once sent a flag
+from Fort Bourbon offering to capitulate. The terms were
+accordingly adjusted on the 23rd, and on the 25th, the
+garrison, reduced to 900 men, marched out prisoners of
+war.</p>
+
+<p>Martinique being now entirely conquered, Sir Charles
+Grey left there, as a garrison under General Prescott, five
+regiments, and one company of the Carolina Corps; and
+proceeded, on the 31st of March, with the remainder of
+the force to the attack of St. Lucia. That island had no
+means of defence against so considerable an invading force;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>
+and, on the 4th of April, the British colours were hoisted on
+the chief fortress of Morne Fortune; the garrison, consisting
+of 300 men, having surrendered on the same terms of capitulation
+that had been granted to General Rochambeau. The
+6th and 9th Regiments, with a company of the Carolina
+Corps, being left as a garrison for St. Lucia, Sir Charles
+Grey returned to Martinique, and commenced his preparations
+for an expedition to Guadaloupe.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></p>
+
+<p>Guadaloupe really consists of two islands, separated
+from each other by a narrow arm of the sea, called La
+Rivi&egrave;re Sal&eacute;e, which is navigable for vessels of fifty tons.
+The eastern island, or division, which is flat and low-lying,
+is called Grandeterre; while the western, which is rugged
+and mountainous, is named Basseterre.</p>
+
+<p>On the 8th of April, the troops, with the remaining
+company of the Carolina Corps, sailed from Fort Royal,
+Martinique; and, about one o'clock in the morning of the
+11th, a landing was effected at Grosier Bay. Before daybreak
+on the 12th, the fort of La Fleur d'&Eacute;p&eacute;e was carried
+by assault, and the greater part of the garrison put to the
+sword. Fort St. Louis, the town of Point &agrave; Pitre, and a
+new battery upon Islet &agrave; Cochon being afterwards abandoned,
+the possession of Grandeterre was complete. The
+reduction of Basseterre was effected on the 21st of the same
+month; and the company of the Carolina Corps, with other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>
+troops, being left in garrison in Guadaloupe, the general
+returned to Martinique.</p>
+
+<p>The British, however, were not permitted to remain long
+in peaceable possession of their most recent conquest; for on
+the 3rd of June, a considerable French armament arrived off
+Point &agrave; Pitre. Fort Fleur d'&Eacute;p&eacute;e was taken by storm, and
+the place not being tenable after this loss, the British crossed
+over to Basseterre. Several prisoners were taken by the
+French, and amongst them were some of the Carolina Corps,
+for in the return of that corps for February, 1795, dated
+March 1st, there is the following note: "Some of the corps
+are prisoners at Point &agrave; Pitre, but their number cannot be
+ascertained." In a later return, however, we find that they
+consisted of one sergeant and eight rank and file.</p>
+
+<p>On the 2nd of July, the British made an ineffectual
+attempt to recover Point &agrave; Pitre, and soon after established
+their head-quarters at Berville, in Basseterre. The camp at
+Berville was invested in September, and on the 6th of
+October it was compelled to capitulate. Thus the whole
+of Guadaloupe, with the exception of Fort Matilda, situated
+above the town of Basseterre, and which was still held by
+a British garrison, was recovered by the French. At the
+surrender of Berville, 300 French Royalists, who were in the
+British camp, were massacred by the orders of Victor Hugues,
+the French commander.</p>
+
+<p>Fort St. Charles, Basseterre, had been rechristened Fort
+Matilda by the British on its surrender on the 21st of April,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>
+1794, and against it Victor Hugues now moved all his forces.
+The fort was commanded by Lieutenant-General Prescott
+with a garrison of 610 men, including the company of the
+Carolina Corps which had come to Guadaloupe. General
+Prescott, in his despatch, dated "On board H.M.S. <i>Vanguard</i>,
+at sea, December 11th, 1794," says: "To enter into
+a minute detail of the siege, which commenced on the 14th
+of October, and terminated by evacuating it on the 10th
+of December, would not only too much occupy your time,
+but might be deemed equally unnecessary. It may be sufficient
+to remark that on entering the fort I found it totally
+out of repair, the materials composing the wall-work thereof
+being of the worst kind, and having apparently but little lime
+to cement them properly. By the middle of last month the
+works were very much injured by the daily and frequent
+heavy fire of the enemy, and almost all the carriages of our
+guns rendered useless. These were in general in a very
+decayed state, but even the new ones for the brass mortars
+that were made during the siege gave way from the almost
+incessant fire we kept up; so that upon the whole, what
+from the nature of our defences and the small number
+of our garrison, we were in a very unfit state to resist
+the very vigorous exertions of our enemy, who began
+to prepare additional forces about the 20th of last month,
+but who, from a number of causes, and especially from heavy
+and continued rains, could not open their new batteries till
+the 6th of this month. On that day they began to fire from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>
+twenty-three pieces of cannon, four of which were thirty-six-pounders,
+and the rest twenty-four-pounders, and from eight
+mortars, two of thirteen inches and two of ten. The fire was
+very heavy and continued all day and night, and by it all the
+guns on the Gallion bastion were dismounted, and the
+bastion itself a heap of ruins. Every day after this grew
+worse until the 9th, on the evening of which day I went
+into the ditch accompanied by the engineer, when we were
+both but too well convinced of the tottering state of the
+works from the Gallion along the curtain, and indeed the
+whole, from the east to the north-east. I could not hesitate
+a moment about the necessity of evacuating the fort. I
+therefore sent off immediately to Rear-Admiral Thompson,
+who commanded the detachment of the squadron left for
+our protection, to acquaint him with the necessity of
+evacuating the fort next evening, and to request that he
+would have the boats ready to take off the garrison at
+seven o'clock. I kept this my design a profound secret
+until half-past six o'clock of the evening of the 10th, when I
+arranged the march of the garrison.... The embarkation
+continued with little or no interruption, and was happily
+completed about ten o'clock at night, without its being
+discovered by the enemy, who continued firing as usual on
+the fort till two or three o'clock on the morning of the
+11th, as we could plainly perceive from the ships. My
+satisfaction was great at having thus preserved my brave
+garrison to their king and country."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>During the siege of Fort Matilda, the Carolina Corps
+lost 1 killed and 3 wounded, 2 of whom afterwards died
+of their wounds. In the "State of the Garrison of Fort
+Matilda, as embarked on the 10th of December, 1794,"
+the strength of the company of the Carolina Corps is shown
+as 1 captain, 1 lieutenant, 4 sergeants, and 30 rank and
+file. After the evacuation, this company was stationed at
+Martinique; so that at the close of the year 1794, two
+companies were in that island, and one in St. Lucia.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> See map.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Major-General Bruce's despatch.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> See map.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h3>
+
+<h5>ROYAL RANGERS, COMMANDED BY CAPTAIN MALCOLM, 41ST REGIMENT.</h5>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 12em;">A: Capt. Commandant.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 12em;">B: Captains.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 12em;">C: 1st Lieutenants.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 12em;">D: 2nd Lieutenants.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 12em;">E: Sergeants Present.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 12em;">F: Drummers Present.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 12em;">G: Present fit for Duty.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 12em;">H: In Hospital.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 12em;">I: In Quarters.</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="stations">
+
+<tr>
+<td align='left' rowspan="3">Stations.</td><td align='center' colspan="4">Commissioned<br />Officers.</td>
+<td align='center' rowspan="3" valign="bottom">E</td><td align='center' rowspan="3" valign="bottom">F</td><td align='center' colspan="4">Effective Rank and File.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td align='center' rowspan="2" valign="bottom">A</td><td align='center' rowspan="2" valign="bottom">B</td>
+<td align='center' rowspan="2" valign="bottom">C</td><td align='center' rowspan="2" valign="bottom">D</td>
+<td align='center' rowspan="2" valign="bottom">G</td><td align='left' colspan="2">Sick and Wounded.</td><td align='center' rowspan="2">Total.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td align='center'>H</td><td align='center'>I</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td align='center'>Martinico</td><td align='center'>1</td><td align='center'>2</td><td align='center'>2</td><td align='center'>2</td><td align='center'>8</td><td align='center'>4</td>
+<td align='center'>149</td><td align='center'>28</td><td align='center'>27</td><td align='center'>204</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p>This officer is mentioned by Bryan Edwards, vol. iii.
+p. 452: "Lieutenant Malcolm, of the 41st Grenadiers, was
+appointed Town Major" (of St. Pierre, Martinique, in 1794)
+"in consideration of his distinguished conduct and active
+services at the head of a body of riflemen, which was composed
+of two men selected from each company of the 1st
+Battalion of Grenadiers. We shall have occasion to mention
+this officer afterwards."</p>
+
+<p>This body of riflemen, raised during the operations in
+Martinique, in March, 1794, must, if the above statement of
+its formation be correct, have been European, for there were
+no black troops employed in the reduction of that island,
+except the Carolina Corps. The corps of riflemen is not
+shown in any return, and it is probable that at the termination
+of the active operations the men rejoined their
+respective battalions. The Royal Rangers, shown in the
+return of the 1st of May, 1795, were black; for Sir John
+Vaughan, in a letter dated Martinique, April 25th, 1795,
+which gives an account of the operations in St. Lucia in
+that month, says: "The flank companies of the 9th Regiment
+and the black corps under Captain Malcolm were the troops
+engaged." These Royal Rangers, then, were almost certainly
+entirely distinct from the "body of riflemen," and the success
+which had attended Captain Malcolm's efforts with the first
+body probably led to his being employed in raising the second,
+about February or March, 1795. In the month of April,
+1795, one company of this corps, numbering 121 of all ranks,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>
+was in St. Lucia, and the other company, 112 strong, in
+Martinique.</p>
+
+<p>Victor Hugues, having succeeded in ousting the British
+from Guadaloupe, commenced, early in 1795, active measures
+for the recovery of the other islands that had been wrested
+from France in the previous year, and the plan which was
+first ripened appears to have been that against St. Lucia.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a>
+"No official and scarcely any other accounts of the event
+are to be found, but the invasion of this colony appears to
+have been effected about the middle of February.... Nor
+can the strength of the invading force be now ascertained.
+That force was probably few in number, and stolen into
+the island in small bodies, and under cover of the night.
+Aided, however, by an insurrection of the slaves, people of
+colour, and democratical whites, it was sufficient to wrest
+from us the whole of the colony, with the exception of the
+two posts of the Carenage and the Morne Fortune."<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p>
+
+<p>Affairs remained in this situation till about the middle
+of April, when Brigadier-General Stewart resumed active
+operations, in the hope of recovering the lost ground. On
+the 14th of that month, he suddenly disembarked near
+Vieux Fort, with a force consisting of a portion of the 6th
+and 9th Regiments, the company of the Carolina Corps
+which had remained in the island since its capture in 1794,
+and one company of the new corps of Malcolm's Rangers;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>
+and, after two days' skirmishing, that town was abandoned
+by the French on the 16th, and immediately taken possession
+of by the British, the enemy falling back upon
+Souffriere, their chief stronghold.</p>
+
+<p>"Resolved to follow up his blow, General Stewart advanced
+against Souffriere. Undismayed, however, by their
+recent defeats, the Republicans had collected together a very
+formidable force, for the defence of their main position.
+On his march, the British general was suddenly attacked
+by a division which had been placed in ambush, and it was
+not till after a severe struggle that the enemy were driven
+back."</p>
+
+<p>Sir John Vaughan, in a despatch dated Martinique,
+April 25th, 1795, says: "He was attacked by the enemy
+upon his march on the 20th instant, who had formed an
+ambuscade. The flank companies of the 9th Regiment, and
+the Black Corps under Captain Malcolm, were the troops
+engaged. The enemy, after a severe conflict, were driven
+back. Captain Malcolm, and Captain Nesbitt of the 9th,
+were wounded, after behaving in a most gallant manner."</p>
+
+<p>On the 22nd of April, the troops reached the neighbourhood
+of Souffriere, near to which, on the mountainous ground,
+the attack was made. The contest continued warmly for
+seven hours, and though the greatest exertions were made
+by the British, they were finally compelled to retreat to
+Choiseul, with a loss of 30 killed, 150 wounded, and 5
+missing. In the four days' fighting between the 14th and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>
+the 22nd of April, Malcolm's corps lost 48 out of a total of
+121.<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> At Choiseul the troops embarked and returned to
+Vieux Fort, and thence to Morne Fortune and the Carenage,
+which General Stewart considered his force strong enough to
+hold until the arrival of reinforcements.</p>
+
+<p>Two months passed away without the occurrence of any
+event worthy of notice. Sickness, in the meantime, was
+making great ravages amongst the British, one-half of whose
+force was generally unfit for service. The enemy, on the
+other hand, were daily gaining fresh accession of strength.
+From Guadaloupe arms and other supplies were frequently
+transmitted; and though some of the vessels fell into the
+hands of the British cruisers, many more of them reached
+their destination in safety. The French now began to act<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>
+decisively. They first reduced Pigeon Island, and, on the 17th
+of June, made themselves masters of the Vigie. On this last
+post the communication between the Carenage and Morne
+Fortune depended, and the enemy now prepared for a general
+assault upon the latter. As, in the weak condition of the
+garrison, it would have been imprudent to await the meditated
+attack, Brigadier-General Stewart determined to evacuate the
+position; and, on the evening of the 18th, the whole of the
+troops embarked on board H.M.S. <i>Experiment</i>, undiscovered
+by the enemy, and proceeded to Martinique.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Bryan Edwards.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> See map.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Return of the killed, wounded,
+and missing in the actions on the following days, of the troops under the command of Brigadier-General
+Stewart, in the island of St. Lucia.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+<p class="center">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;14th of April, 1795.</p>
+<p>Royal Rangers&mdash;1 sergeant, 5 rank and file, wounded.</p>
+<p class="center">15th of April.</p>
+<p>Royal Rangers&mdash;2 rank and file, killed; 1 sergeant, 4 rank and file, wounded.</p>
+<p class="center">20th of April.</p>
+<p>Royal Rangers&mdash;6 rank and file, killed; 1 captain, 1 sergeant, and 18 rank and file, wounded.</p>
+<p class="center">22nd of April.</p>
+<p>Carolina Corps&mdash;1 rank and file, wounded.<br />
+Royal Rangers&mdash;4 rank and file, killed; 5 rank and file, wounded.<br /></p>
+<p class="center">Names of the Officers killed and wounded.<br /></p>
+<p>Captain Robert Malcolm, of the Royal Rangers, wounded.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 70%;">
+<img src="images/fp069x.jpg" style="width: 70%;" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h3>
+
+<p class="center">THE CARIB WAR IN ST. VINCENT, 1795.</p>
+
+
+<p>Some little time before the arrival, at Martinique, of the
+company of Malcolm's Rangers from St. Lucia, the company
+of that corps which had remained in the former island had been
+despatched, with the 3rd Battalion of the 60th Regiment, to
+St. Vincent. Since the month of March, 1795, that island had
+been devastated by a war between the Caribs, assisted by
+the French, and the British garrison. This war had been
+carried on with varying success, and the most horrible
+atrocities on the part of the Caribs, until the end of May,
+when the Commander-in-Chief, Sir John Vaughan, went over
+to St. Vincent from Martinique, to satisfy himself as to the
+state and military wants of the colony; and, finding the
+enemy strongly posted within a short distance of the town of
+Kingston itself, immediately on his return to Martinique
+despatched the above-mentioned reinforcement, which arrived
+at St. Vincent in the beginning of June.</p>
+
+<p>The principal position of the enemy was at the Vigie<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>
+This post was situated on a ridge, forming the south-west
+side of the valley of Marriaqua, and consisted of three small
+eminences of different heights; that nearest the sea, though
+the lowest, being the most extensive of them all, and that to
+the fortifying of which they had paid the most attention.</p>
+
+<p>Lieutenant-Colonel Leighton, commanding the troops in
+St. Vincent, on being reinforced, determined to carry into
+execution a long meditated attack upon the Vigie. Accordingly,
+on the night of the 11th<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> of June, the troops marched
+through the town, and halted about ten o'clock at Warawarrow
+River, within four miles of the Vigie. The force
+was composed of detachments from the 46th and 60th
+Regiments, the company of Malcolm's Rangers, the St.
+Vincent Rangers, almost all the southern and windward
+regiments of the militia, and a small party of artillery. At
+Warawarrow River the troops were divided into three
+columns; and the third was further divided into small bodies
+to hold the passes at Calder Ridge, and prevent the escape of
+the enemy.</p>
+
+<p>Just before daybreak, the westernmost redoubt, which
+overlooked the road coming from Kingston, was attacked
+and carried almost without opposition, the enemy retiring
+to their principal stronghold. The grenadiers and Malcolm's
+Corps had in the meantime forced their way through the
+bush on Ross Ridge, and being met by the light company,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>
+which had kept along the road, the whole of the British
+advanced against the third and strongest redoubt. At the
+upper end of the road a deep trench had been dug, which
+obstacle for some little time delayed the guns; but, by great
+exertions they were lifted up a bank eight or ten feet in
+height, and then opened fire.</p>
+
+<p>For some time the enemy returned the British fire with
+great spirit. About eight o'clock, however, they beat a
+parley, and sent out a flag of truce to propose terms, which
+were refused. The troops were now led to the assault, and
+in a short time carried the works, which were defended by
+the French from Guadaloupe, the Caribs having retired early
+in the morning, and escaped to the windward portion of
+the island. "Never did troops display greater gallantry than
+did the British, militia, and rangers on this occasion."<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> The
+British killed and wounded amounted to 30; 250 of the
+enemy are said to have fallen. In the redoubts were taken
+three four-pounders and sixteen or seventeen swivels.</p>
+
+<p>At the close of the action, Malcolm's and the St. Vincent
+Rangers were sent out to scour the valley of Marriaqua,
+and destroy the huts of the Caribs. This service they
+effectually accomplished before nightfall, having killed and
+taken prisoners many of the fugitives, and driven the
+remainder into Massirica.</p>
+
+<p>A detachment of the 60th being left in the Vigie<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>
+Lieutenant-Colonel Leighton, on the morning of the 13th of
+June, marched with the remainder of the troops, by several
+routes, towards the Carib district. So little opposition was
+made to their march, the enemy constantly falling back
+from ridge to ridge, that on the afternoon of the 16th
+they reached Mount Young, from which the Caribs fled
+with such haste that they left standing their houses, in all
+of which considerable quantities of corn were found. This
+carelessness of the enemy provided the British with a very
+welcome shelter. It was fortunate, also, that they had not
+attempted to dispute the hills and passes; for, had they done
+so, the troops would have suffered greatly, seven men, even
+as it was, having expired on the march from fatigue alone.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as Mount Young was in our possession, the
+troops were busily employed in spreading devastation
+through the Carib district. In Grand Sable and other
+parts of the country, many houses were burned, and
+more than 200 pettiaugres and canoes destroyed. Several
+hundred slaves were also sent out, under the protection of
+military detachments, to dig up and destroy the provisions
+of the enemy. On the 4th of July, a detachment of the 46th
+and Malcolm's Rangers took, after a sharp action, the
+enemy's post at Chateaubellair, near Walliabon, with a loss
+of 14 killed and 39 wounded of the 46th, and 2 killed
+and several wounded of Malcolm's.</p>
+
+<p>The evacuation of St. Lucia by Brigadier-General Stewart
+was, however, as far as St. Vincent was concerned, attended<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>
+by fatal consequences. The proximity of the former island
+enabled the French unceasingly to pour in new reinforcements
+to their Carib allies in St. Vincent; and, towards
+the end of August, a small British post which had been
+established at Owia was surprised by a detachment from
+St. Lucia, and the whole of the guns and large quantities
+of supplies captured.</p>
+
+<p>Encouraged by this success, Victor Hugues resolved to
+endeavour to wrest St. Vincent from the British, as he
+had already wrested Guadaloupe and St. Lucia; and, in
+the middle of September, he landed in St. Lucia with a
+force of some 800 men. These, embarked in four vessels,
+which escaped the <i>Thorn</i> and <i>Experiment</i>, the British ships
+of war on the station, landed at Owia Bay, St. Vincent,
+on the morning of the 18th of September; and the force
+of the enemy was now so vastly superior to that of the
+British, that it became impossible for the latter to retain
+their advanced positions.</p>
+
+<p>Orders were at once sent to Lieutenant-Colonel Leighton
+to abandon Mount Young without delay, and retire to the
+vicinity of Kingston. They were carried into execution on
+the night of the 19th. Having destroyed their supplies and
+left their lights burning in their huts as usual, to deceive the
+enemy, the troops were silently put in motion. They reached
+Biabou the next evening, and, bringing in the detachment
+which was there quartered, reached Zion Hill on the 21st;
+being then distributed among the posts in the neighbourhood.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The retreating British were speedily followed by the
+Caribs and French, who drove off the cattle from several
+estates, and finally took up a position on Fairbairn's Ridge,
+by which the communication was cut off between Kingston
+and the Vigie. The detachment of the 60th at the latter post
+being short of supplies, Lieutenant-Colonel Ritche, of the 60th,
+with 200 of that corps and 150 of the St. Vincent Rangers,
+was detached to escort the necessary stores. His division had
+nearly reached its destination when it fell in with the enemy;
+a sharp action ensued, victory was on the eve of declaring for
+the British, when, struck by an unaccountable panic, they
+suddenly gave way and fled in all directions. The supplies
+fell into the hands of the enemy, and a number of the mules
+were killed.</p>
+
+<p>The news of this terrible disaster spread dismay through
+Kingston, for it was thought that the enemy would at once
+attack all the British posts. It was resolved to at once
+abandon the Vigie; and to facilitate this step, Brigadier-General
+Myers, with the 46th and Malcolm's Rangers,
+marched from Dorsetshire Hill, and posted himself opposite
+the enemy, as if threatening an attack. This movement had
+the desired effect. The enemy called in all the detachments
+which invested the Vigie, and thus enabled the officer commanding
+that post to retreat at night through heavy rain to
+Calliaqua, and thence proceed to Kingston in boats.</p>
+
+<p>While the troops were using the utmost exertion to
+strengthen the posts in the neighbourhood of Kingston, an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>
+unexpected reinforcement arrived from Martinique, on the
+29th of September. It consisted of the 40th, 54th, 59th, and
+2nd West India Regiments,<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> into which latter the St. Vincent
+Rangers were at once drafted. Major-General Irving also
+came over from Martinique to assume the command.</p>
+
+<p>The first effect produced by the arrival of this succour,
+was the retiring of the enemy from their advanced position
+on Fairbairn's Ridge to the Vigie, where they now collected
+the whole of their strength. From this post Major-General
+Irving determined to dislodge them; and, on the night of the
+1st of October, the troops marched for that purpose. One
+column, consisting of 750 men, under Lieutenant-Colonel
+Strutt, marched by the high road and took post upon Calder
+Ridge, on the east of the Vigie, about three in the morning.
+A second column, consisting of 900 men, under Brigadier-General
+Myers, crossed the Warawarrow River, and detached
+one party to proceed round by Calliaqua, and another to
+move up the valley, and climb the heights near Joseph
+Dubuc's. With this last force was Malcolm's Corps; and,
+to gain the point to which they were directed, it was necessary
+to cross a deep rivulet and ascend a steep hill covered
+with bushes and wood. In doing this it suffered a heavy
+loss, both of officers and men, from the enemy, who fired
+upon it almost in security under shelter of the bushes. The
+British, however, still pressed on, and at length arrived on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>
+the top of the Marriaqua or Vigie Ridge. During the ascent
+of the hill, Malcolm's Corps lost one man killed and two
+wounded.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime, the remainder of the second column were
+struggling in vain to reach the summit of the same ridge; at a
+point where the enemy had strongly occupied a thick wood,
+and thrown up a small work. Though the opposing forces
+were within fifty paces of each other, not an inch of ground
+was won on either side. Firing commenced at seven in the
+morning, and was kept up till nightfall. All this time the
+British were exposed to a violent tropical downpour of rain,
+which rendered the abrupt declivity so slippery that it was
+almost impossible to maintain a foothold on it; and, finding
+he could make no impression on the enemy, the general,
+about 7 p.m., gave orders for the troops to retire.</p>
+
+<p>During the night, the enemy, from some unknown cause,
+abandoned the Vigie, and that so hastily that they left
+behind them, undestroyed, both guns and ammunition. They
+continued their retreat till they reached the windward part of
+the island, and the British in their turn advanced. For the
+remainder of the year, the troops were employed in circumscribing,
+within as narrow limits as possible, the French and
+their Carib allies; and, though great hardships were endured,
+no engagement worthy of note took place.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Coke; Bryan Edwards says the 8th.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> Coke.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> See next chapter.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h3>
+
+<p class="center">MAJOR-GENERAL WHYTE'S REGIMENT OF FOOT, 1795.</p>
+
+
+<p>The terrible mortality which thinned the ranks of the
+British troops in the West Indies, induced the British
+Ministers to think of reinforcing the army with men better
+calculated to resist the influence of the climate. The West
+India Governors were instructed, therefore, in 1795, to bring
+forward in their respective legislatures a project for raising
+five black regiments, consisting of 500 men each, to become
+a permanent branch of the military establishment. There
+were already several black corps in existence, for Mr. Dundas,
+during a debate in the House of Commons on the West India
+Expedition, on the 28th of April, 1795, said that "the West
+India Army of Europeans and Creoles consisted of 3000
+militia and 6000 blacks."<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></p>
+
+<p>These black corps were distributed amongst the various<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>
+islands, and were the Carolina Corps, Malcolm's or the Royal
+Rangers, the Island Rangers (Martinique), the St. Vincent
+Rangers, the Black Rangers (Grenada), Angus' Black Corps
+(Grenada), the Tobago Blacks, and the Dominica Rangers.
+Some of them, notably the Carolina Corps, Malcolm's Corps,
+and the St. Vincent Rangers,<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> were paid by the Imperial
+Government, and were consequently Imperial troops; although
+none of the corps appeared in any Army List, nor were
+appointments thereto and promotions therein notified in the
+<i>London Gazette</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The five black regiments, now proposed to be raised,
+were to be in addition to those small black corps already
+in Imperial pay, and which were to be blended into
+three permanent regiments. Consequently, in the Army List
+dated March 11th, 1796, showing the state of the army in
+1795,<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> we find the following eight corps, indexed under the
+heading of "Regiments raised to serve in the West Indies:"</p>
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="regiments">
+<tr><td align='left' colspan="3">Whyte's Regiment of Foot</td><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>(Carolina and Malcolm's Corps).</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Myers'</td><td align='left'>"</td><td align='left'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>(St. Vincent Rangers).</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Keppell's</td><td align='left'>"</td><td align='left'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>(probably the Dominica Rangers).</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><br />Nicoll's</td><td align='left'><br />"</td><td align='left'><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align='left' rowspan="5"><span class="bracket3">}</span></td><td align='left' rowspan="5">(the five new regiments).</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Howe's</td><td align='left'>"</td><td align='left'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Whitelock's</td><td align='left'>"</td><td align='left'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Lewes'</td><td align='left'>"</td><td align='left'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Skerrett's</td><td align='left'>"</td><td align='left'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p><p>Major-General Whyte's regiment was called into existence
+by the <i>Gazette</i> of the 2nd of May, 1795; Major-General John
+Whyte, from the 6th Foot, being appointed colonel. On the
+20th of May, Major Leeds Booth, from the 32nd Foot, was
+appointed lieutenant-colonel; and other officers were rapidly
+gazetted to it. On the 8th of August, Captain Robert
+Malcolm, of the 41st Foot, was promoted major in Whyte's
+regiment. The following is the list of officers appointed to
+the regiment in 1795:</p>
+
+<h5>
+<span class="smcap">Major-General Whyte's Regiment of Foot.</span>
+</h5>
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="whyte">
+<tr><td align='left'></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Rank.</td><td align='left'>Name.</td><td align='center'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Rank in the Regt.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align='center'>Army.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Colonel</td><td align='left'>John Whyte</td><td align='center'>April 24, 1795</td><td align='left'>M.G., Feb. 26, 1795</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Lt.-Col.</td><td align='left'>Leeds Booth</td><td align='center'>May 20, 1795</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Major</td><td align='left'>Robert Malcolm</td><td align='center'>July 1, 1795</td><td align='left'>Lieut.-Col., Oct. 5, 1795</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Capts.</td><td align='left'>James Abercrombie</td><td align='center'>"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td><td align='left'>Major, March 1, 1794</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>Edward Cotter</td><td align='center'>"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>Francis Costello</td><td align='center'>"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>Alan Hampden Pye</td><td align='center'>"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>Ralph Wilson</td><td align='center'>"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>Thomas Cunninghame</td><td align='center'>"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">(C.)</span></td><td align='left'>William Powell</td><td align='center'>Aug. 24, 1795</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>Thomas Deane</td><td align='center'>Sept. 1, 1795</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>..................................</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>..................................</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>..................................</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>..................................</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Lieuts.</td><td align='left'>Ross Gillespie</td><td align='center'>July 1, 1795</td><td align='left'>Dec. 20, 1794<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>Henry Ma&nbsp;well</td><td align='center'>"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td><td align='left'>March 8, 1795</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>David Butler</td><td align='center'>"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>Benjamin Chadwick</td><td align='center'>"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>James Reid</td><td align='center'>"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>James Stewart</td><td align='center'>"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>James Sutherland</td><td align='center'>"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>James Calder</td><td align='center'>"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>Andrew Coghlan</td><td align='center'>Aug. 24, 1795</td><td align='left'>Sept. 14, 1792</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>Henry Goodinge</td><td align='center'>Sept. 1, 1795</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>Thos. Page</td><td align='center'>Sept. 16, 1795</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>..................................</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>(11 vacancies)</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>..................................</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Ensigns</td><td align='left'>William Graham</td><td align='center'>July 1, 1795</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>James Cassidy</td><td align='center'>"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>&mdash; McShee</td><td align='center'>"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>&mdash; Lightfoot</td><td align='center'>"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>&mdash; M'Callum</td><td align='center'>"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>&mdash; Froggart</td><td align='center'>"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>&mdash; McLean</td><td align='center'>"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>R.W. Atkins</td><td align='center'>"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>John Egan</td><td align='center'>"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>James Reed</td><td align='center'>"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>(Cornet)</td><td align='left'>W. Connor</td><td align='center'>"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>&mdash; Crump</td><td align='center'>"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>John Morrison</td><td align='center'>"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>Donald M'Grace</td><td align='center'>"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>William Reid</td><td align='center'>"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>&mdash; Dalton</td><td align='center'>Sept. 1, 1795</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>Thomas Byrne</td><td align='center'>"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>C.B. Darley</td><td align='center'>Sept. 9, 1795</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>Christ. Thos. Roberts</td><td align='center'>Oct. 5, 1795</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>..................................</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>..................................</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>..................................</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Adjutant</td><td align='left'>..................................</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Qrmr.</td><td align='left'>&mdash; McWilliam</td><td align='center'>Nov. 18, 1795</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Surgeon</td><td align='left'>&mdash; Bishop</td><td align='center'>June 10, 1795</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Chaplain&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>..................................</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>It was intended that each of these regiments raised for
+service in the West Indies should have a cavalry troop, and in
+the <i>London Gazette</i> are the following:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p>
+
+<h5><span class="smcap">Major-General Whyte's Regiment of Foot</span>.</h5>
+
+<p>
+August 1, 1795&nbsp;&nbsp;Lieutenant&mdash;Powell, from the 8th Foot, to be Lieutenant of Cavalry.<br />
+<br />
+August 29&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Lieutenant&mdash;Powell, Lieutenant of Cavalry, to be Captain of Cavalry.<br />
+<br />
+July 11&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Acting Adjutant&mdash;Connor, from Lieutenant-Colonel McDonnel's regiment, to be Cornet.<br />
+<br/><br /></p>
+
+<p>But this idea was soon abandoned, and in 1797 the cavalry
+troop disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>The 1st West India Regiment (for so it was at once styled
+in the West Indies, although in the Army List and the <i>London
+Gazette</i>, the designation "Major-General Whyte's Regiment
+of Foot" was not discontinued until February, 1798) first
+appears in the "Monthly Return for the Windward, Leeward,
+and Caribee Islands," in September, 1795, as follows:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 8em;">A: Colonel.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 8em;">B: Lieut.-Colonel.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 8em;">C: Majors.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 8em;">D: Captains.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 8em;">E: Lieutenants.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 8em;">F: Ensigns.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 8em;">G: Chaplain.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 8em;">H: Adjutant.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 8em;">I: Quarter-Master.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 8em;">J: Surgeon.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 8em;">K: Mate.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 8em;">L: Sergeants Present.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 8em;">M: Drummers Present.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 8em;">N: Present, fit for duty.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 8em;">O: Sick.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 8em;">P: Recruiting.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Q: Total.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="regs">
+<tr>
+<td align='center' rowspan="3">Regiments<br />or Corps.</td>
+<td align='center' rowspan="3">Stations.</td>
+<td align='center' colspan="11">Officers Present.</td>
+<td align='center' valign="bottom" rowspan="3">L</td>
+<td align='center' valign="bottom" rowspan="3">M</td>
+<td align='center' colspan="4">Effective<br />Rank &amp; File.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td align='center' colspan="6">Commissioned.</td>
+<td align='center' colspan="5">Staff.</td>
+<td align='center' rowspan="2" valign="bottom">N</td>
+<td align='center' rowspan="2" valign="bottom">O</td>
+<td align='center' rowspan="2" valign="bottom">P</td>
+<td align='center' valign="bottom" rowspan="2" >Q</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td align='center'>A</td>
+<td align='center'>B</td>
+<td align='center'>C</td>
+<td align='center'>D</td>
+<td align='center'>E</td>
+<td align='center'>F</td>
+<td align='center'>G</td>
+<td align='center'>H</td>
+<td align='center'>I</td>
+<td align='center'>J</td>
+<td align='center'>K</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td align='center'>Maj.-Gen. Whyte's</td><td align='center'>Martinico</td>
+<td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>3</td><td align='center'>1</td><td align='center'>5</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>1</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>6</td><td align='center'>6</td><td align='center'>43</td><td align='center'>4</td><td align='center'>4</td><td align='center'>51</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td align='center'>Brig.-Gen. Myers'</td><td align='center'>Martinico</td>
+<td align='center'>1</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>2</td><td align='center'>1</td><td align='center'>1</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>1</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>5</td><td align='center'>6</td><td align='center'>41</td><td align='center'>5</td><td align='center'>5</td><td align='center'>51</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td align='center'>&nbsp;</td><td align='center'>Total.</td>
+<td align='center'>1</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>5</td><td align='center'>2</td><td align='center'>6</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>2</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>11</td><td align='center'>12</td><td align='center'>84</td><td align='center'>9</td><td align='center'>9</td><td align='center'>102</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>and the following note is, in the same Return, appended to
+the state of the company of the "Black Carolina Corps,"
+which was in Grenada; the other two companies having
+remained in Martinique since their removal there from
+St. Lucia at the end of April, 1795. "This corps has been
+reformed, and fifty of the men, who were fit for service,
+have been drafted into the 1st New West India Regiment.
+When the remainder of the corps can be collected together,
+it is possible a few more may be found fit for service."</p>
+
+<p>Major-General Whyte's, or the 1st West India Regiment,
+remained at Martinique, without any further accession to
+its strength than these fifty men from the Carolina Corps,
+till December, 1795.</p>
+
+<p>In the "Muster Roll of His Majesty's 1st West India
+Regiment of Foot, for 183 days, from the 25th of June
+to the 24th of December, 1795, inclusive," the list of officers
+is given as already shown. Captain James Abercrombie,
+Lieutenants David Butler, Benjamin Chadwick, and James
+Sutherland are shown as "drowned on passage," and the
+following note is added: "Some few of the dates of enlistments
+and enrolments of the non-commissioned officers and
+drummers may not probably be quite exact, and some others
+may have been engaged in England not down on the muster
+roll, all the regimental books, attestation papers, etc., having
+been left in possession of the paymaster, Brevet-Major
+Abercrombie (no adjutant at that time being appointed),
+who was lost in December or January last on board the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>
+<i>Robert and William</i> transport, No. 44, on the voyage to
+this country." The non-commissioned officers and drummers
+were Europeans, one sergeant and three corporals being
+shown as "sick and absent in England" in this roll; and,
+in the next, a drummer is similarly shown. The roll is
+signed by Leeds Booth, Lieutenant-Colonel; Ed. S. Cotter,
+Captain and Paymaster; and Thomas Holbrook, Acting
+Adjutant. The following is the proof table:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 11em;">A: Colonel.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11em;">B: Lieut.-Colonel.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11em;">C: Major.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11em;">D: Captains.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11em;">E: Lieutenants.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11em;">F: Cornets.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11em;">G: Ensigns.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11em;">H. Adjutant.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11em;">I. Chaplain.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11em;">J. Quartermaster.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11em;">K. Surgeon.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11em;">L. Mate.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11em;">M. Sergeants.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11em;">N. Corporals.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11em;">O. Drummers.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11em;">P. Privates.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="absent">
+<tr><td align='center'>&nbsp;</td><td align='center'>A</td><td align='center'>B</td><td align='center'>C</td><td align='center'>D</td><td align='center'>E</td><td align='center'>F</td><td align='center'>G</td><td align='center'>H</td><td align='center'>I</td><td align='center'>J</td><td align='center'>K</td><td align='center'>L</td><td align='center'>M</td><td align='center'>N</td><td align='center'>O</td><td align='center'>P</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Present</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>1</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>1</td><td align='center'>1</td><td align='center'>1</td><td align='center'>5</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>1</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>10</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>12</td><td align='center'>9</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Absent</td><td align='center'>1</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>1</td><td align='center'>8</td><td align='center'>6</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>13</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>1</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>7</td><td align='center'>3</td><td align='center'>3</td><td align='center'>27</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Non-effective</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>5</td><td align='center'>7</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>5</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>1</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>5</td><td align='center'>8</td><td align='center'>5</td><td align='center'>13</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'>Total.</td><td align='center'>1</td><td align='center'>1</td><td align='center'>1</td><td align='center'>14</td><td align='center'>14</td><td align='center'>1</td><td align='center'>23</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>2</td><td align='center'>1</td><td align='center'>-</td><td align='center'>22</td><td align='center'>11</td><td align='center'>20</td><td align='center'>49</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>Although it was intended that the privates of West India
+regiments should be black, yet, apparently, white men were
+not prohibited from serving in the ranks; for, in later muster
+rolls, two or three privates are shown as "enrolled in
+England," and one of these is afterwards shown as "transferred
+to 60th." A volunteer, David Scott, who joined 29th
+May, 1797, was also promoted ensign in November of that
+year. These enrolments of Europeans only occur in the first
+three years of the regiment's existence, and negro privates<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>
+were available for promotion to, at least, the rank of corporal
+very early; for a Private John Lafontaine, who was promoted
+corporal, is shown in the muster roll terminating December
+24th, 1796, as "claimed as a slave." The pay of a private
+in a West India regiment was then sixpence per diem.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> In the Account of the Extraordinary Expenditure of the Army, from
+25th December, 1795, to 6th December, 1796, is the following:
+</p>
+<p>
+On account of pay for sundry black corps for the year 1795, <br/>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;raised for service in the West Indies&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  &pound;10,120 12 9<br />
+On account of ditto for the year 1796&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  60,095 10 3<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 17em;">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 17.5em;">&pound;70,216&nbsp; 3 0</span><br />
+</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> "The military force in St. Vincent consists at present of a regiment
+of infantry and a company of artillery, sent from England; and a black
+corps raised in the country, but provided for, with the former, on the
+British Establishment, and receiving no additional pay from the island."&mdash;Bryan
+Edwards, vol. i. p. 428.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> The Army List for 1795 is dated January 1st.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h3>
+
+<p class="center">THE CAPTURE OF ST. LUCIA, 1796.</p>
+
+
+<p>In January, 1796, the company of Malcolm's Royal Rangers
+that was at St. Vincent was moved to St. Christopher; the
+other company still remained at Martinique, and both, in
+April, 1796, were selected to take part in the expedition to
+St. Lucia. "That island could then muster for its defence
+about 2000 well-disciplined black soldiers, a number of less
+effective blacks, and some hundred whites, who held positions
+both naturally and artificially strong, and were plentifully
+supplied with artillery, ammunition, and stores. The post
+on which the Republicans chiefly confided for their defence
+was that of Morne Fortune. It is situated on the western
+side of the island, between the rivers of the Carenage and
+the Grand Cul de Sac, which empty their waters into bays
+bearing the same name. Difficult of access by nature, it
+had been rendered still more so by various works. In aid
+of this they had also fortified others of the mornes, or eminences,
+in its vicinity. The whole of this position, embracing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>
+a considerable extent of ground, it was of the utmost importance
+to invest closely, with as little delay as possible, that the
+enemy might not escape into the rugged country of the
+interior, and thus be in a condition to carry on a protracted
+and harassing war, which experience had already more than
+once proved to be highly detrimental to an unseasoned
+invading force.</p>
+
+<p>"To accomplish this desirable purpose, the British general
+determined to direct his troops on three points, two of them
+to the north, and the third to the south of Morne Fortune.
+The first division was to land most to the north, in Longueville
+Bay, covered by several vessels, which were intended to
+silence the batteries on Pigeon Island. Choc Bay was the
+spot where the centre division was to be put on shore; and
+the third was to disembark at Ance la Raye, some distance
+to the southward of the hostile post."<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p>
+
+<p>The fleet with the troops destined for the attack of
+St. Lucia, under Sir Ralph Abercromby, sailed from Carlisle
+Bay, Barbados, on the 22nd of April, and anchored in Marin
+Bay, Martinique, on the evening of the 23rd, where Malcolm's
+Rangers joined the force, sailing for St. Lucia on the 26th.
+The troops arrived off that island on the evening of the same
+day, and 1700 men, under the command of Major-General
+Campbell, composing the first division, were immediately
+landed in Longueville Bay; without encountering any further<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>
+opposition than a few shots from the battery on Pigeon
+Island, the fire of which was speedily silenced by that of
+the ships.</p>
+
+<p>A strong current had driven the transports so far to the
+leeward that it was not practicable to land the centre division
+till the following morning. Major-General Campbell was
+meanwhile on his march, and his progress was only feebly
+opposed by about 500 of the enemy, who ultimately retired
+from Angier's Plantation to Morne Chabot, and allowed him
+to effect a junction with the centre division. The current
+having acted still more powerfully on the vessels which
+conveyed the third division, under Brigadier-General Morshead,
+two or three days elapsed before the disembarkation in Ance
+la Raye could be entirely executed. The troops at length
+took up their appointed station, and thus held Morne Fortune
+invested on its southern side.</p>
+
+<p>To complete the investment on the northern quarter it
+was necessary to obtain possession of Morne Chabot, which
+was one of the strongest posts in the vicinity of Morne
+Fortune. At midnight of the 27th, therefore, two columns,
+under Brigadier-Generals Moore and Hope, were despatched
+to attack the Morne on two opposite sides; and, by this
+means, not only to carry the position, but likewise to prevent
+the escape of the troops by which it was defended. This
+plan, the complete success of which would have materially
+diminished the strength of the Republican force, was in part
+rendered abortive by a miscalculation of time. The column<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>
+of Brigadier-General Moore, consisting of seven companies
+of the 53rd Regiment, 100 of Malcolm's Rangers, and 50
+of Lowenstein's,<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> advanced by the most circuitous route;
+while Brigadier-General Hope, with 350 men of the 57th,
+150 of Malcolm's Rangers, and 50 of Lowenstein's, took
+the shorter road. Misinformed by the guides, Brigadier-General
+Moore's column fell in, an hour and a half sooner
+than it had expected, with the advanced picket of the
+enemy, who were thus put on their guard. At the moment
+when they were discovered, the troops, in consequence of
+the narrowness of the road, were marching in single file,
+and to halt them was impossible. In this state of things
+their leader resolved not to give his opponents time to
+recollect themselves, but to fall on them with his single
+division. The spirit of the soldiers fully justified the gallant
+resolution of their commander. Having been formed as
+speedily as the ruggedness of the ground would admit of,
+they proceeded to the assault. The Republicans made a
+stubborn resistance, but it was an unavailing one, as they
+were finally driven from the Morne with considerable loss.
+Nevertheless, as the second column did not arrive till the
+combat was over, the fugitives succeeded in making good
+their retreat. On the following day the victors also occupied
+Morne Duchasseaux, which is situated in rear of Morne
+Fortune.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p>
+<p>In the hope of obtaining some advantage to counterbalance
+this misfortune, the enemy, on the 1st of May,
+made a brisk attack on the advanced post of grenadiers
+commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel MacDonald, of the 55th
+Regiment. They were, however, repulsed with much slaughter,
+though not till forty or fifty men, and several officers, were
+killed or wounded on the side of the British, among them
+being Captain Coghlan, 1st West India Regiment, attached
+to the 48th Regiment, who was wounded.</p>
+
+<p>At the south side of the Morne Fortune the enemy had
+erected batteries, which precluded any vessels from entering
+into the bay of the Grand Cul de Sac. To open this bay
+to our fleet was an object of much importance, as at present
+it was necessary to convey the artillery and stores from a
+great distance, which could not be done without the
+previous labour of opening roads through an almost impracticable
+country. It was, therefore, resolved to make an
+attempt on these batteries. The principal attack was to be
+conducted by Major-General Morshead, whose division, in
+two columns, was to pass the river of the Grand Cul de
+Sac; the columns of the right at Cools, and that of the
+left at the point where the waters of the stream are discharged
+into the bay. To second this force, Brigadier-General
+Hope, on the night of the 2nd of May, was to
+advance from Morne Chabot with 350 men of the 42nd
+Regiment, the light company of the 57th, and part of Malcolm's
+Rangers, the whole being supported by the 55th<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>
+Regiment, which was posted at Ferrands. A part of the
+squadron was likewise to lend its assistance, by keeping up
+a cannonade on the works of the enemy. Before the time
+arrived for putting this plan into execution, Major-General
+Morshead was taken ill, and the command devolved upon
+Brigadier-General Perryn. No change, however, took place
+in the arrangements which had been formed.</p>
+
+<p>"At dawn of day, the division under Brigadier-General
+Hope began to accomplish its part of the service by
+carrying the battery Seche, which was situated within
+a short distance of the works of Morne Fortune. The
+assailants suffered so little in the assault, that they
+would scarcely have had anything to regret, had it not
+been for the fall of the gallant Lieutenant-Colonel Malcolm.<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a>
+On the south side of the Morne, and at the extremity of the
+line of attack, Colonel Riddel, who led the column of the
+left, made himself master of the battery of Chapuis, and
+established himself there. Had the remainder of the project
+been as well executed, the proposed object would have been
+completely attained. Unfortunately, however, from some
+unexplained cause, the division which was the connecting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>
+link of the whole, that which was entrusted to Brigadier-General
+Perryn, did not perform its allotted part, by crossing
+the river at Cools. The consequence of this was that the
+victorious columns were left insulated, and would have been
+exposed to no trivial danger, had the enemy felt a sufficient
+reliance upon their own strength to incite them to act with
+the requisite promptitude and vigour. Painful, therefore,
+as it was to retire before a routed foe, the British troops
+were compelled to abandon the batteries which they had
+won, and to fall back upon their original stations. The
+ships at the same time returned to their former anchorage.
+Our loss on this occasion was 105 men; of whom only a
+very few were among the slain."</p>
+
+<p>The Vigie was now the only post occupied by the enemy
+in the vicinity of Morne Fortune, and this was attacked
+by the 31st Regiment on the night of May 7th; the assault,
+however, being repulsed with a loss of 200 men. The main
+position was now invested by regular siege works, and the
+task which the British had to perform was attended with
+no small difficulty. "The country itself was of the most
+inaccessible kind, the chain of investment was ten miles
+in extent, all the roads that were necessary were to be
+made, of carriages there were none, horses were scarce,
+and the Republicans had been industrious in availing themselves
+of all the natural obstacles to our progress, and in
+creating as many others as their ingenuity could contrive."
+Malcolm's Corps rendered good service on these works, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>
+the men being better able to stand the fatigue and exposure
+than Europeans, were constantly employed.</p>
+
+<p>By May 16th, the first parallel was completed, and on
+the morning of the 24th, the 27th Regiment, supported by
+the 53rd and 57th, succeeded in effecting a lodgment
+within 500 yards of the fort. The Governor, acknowledging
+that further resistance was futile, demanded a suspension
+of hostilities; terms of surrender were agreed upon, and
+on May 26th, 2000 men marched out as prisoners of war.
+One hundred pieces of ordnance, ten vessels, and large stores
+of ammunition fell into the hands of the British.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Ralph Abercromby sailed from St. Lucia on the 4th
+of June to the relief of Grenada and St. Vincent, leaving
+Brigadier-General Moore for the pacification of the first
+island with the 31st, 44th, 38th, and 55th Regiments,
+O'Meara's corps of Rangers,<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> and the German Yagers.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span></p>
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Bryan Edwards.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Lowenstein's Rangers were Europeans. They were afterwards
+drafted into the 60th.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Return of killed, wounded, and missing, in the attack made on
+the enemy's batteries, May 3rd, 1796. Lieutenant-Colonel Malcolm's
+Rangers: 3 rank and file, killed; 2 rank and file, wounded; 2 captains,
+1 lieutenant, 7 rank and file, missing. Lieutenant-Colonel Malcolm dead
+of his wounds. The names of the officers of Malcolm's returned missing,
+not known.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> Raised in 1796. This corps became the 12th West India Regiment
+in 1799.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 70%;">
+<img src="images/fp093x.jpg" style="width: 60%;" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h3>
+
+<p class="center">THE RELIEF OF GRENADA, 1796&mdash;THE REPULSE AT
+PORTO RICO, 1797.</p>
+
+
+<p>Grenada, like St. Vincent, had been ravaged by the French
+and insurgent slaves since March, 1795, and the relief of that
+island was one of the first cares of Sir R. Abercromby. On
+leaving St. Lucia, the division of the troops intended for
+Grenada was ordered to rendezvous at Cariacou, one of the
+Grenadines; there Sir Ralph Abercromby met Major-General
+Nicolls, then commanding in Grenada, and arranged with
+him the general plan of operations. Before, however, those
+operations are described, it will be necessary to go back to the
+month of March, 1796, when a company of the Carolina Corps
+arrived in Grenada from Martinique, with detachments from
+the 8th, 63rd, and 3rd Regiments, under Major-General
+Nicolls.</p>
+
+<p>Shortly before the arrival of this reinforcement, the French
+and insurgents had compelled the British to evacuate Pilot
+Hill, in the neighbourhood of Grenville, and had taken up a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>
+strong position at Port Royal. On the 23rd of March, Major-General
+Nicolls landed to the south of Port Royal; during
+the night the guns were got in position, and at daybreak
+opened on the enemy's works. The post occupied by the
+enemy was a hill of very steep ascent, particularly towards
+the summit, upon which a fort was constructed, and furnished
+with four six-pounders and some swivels. The first object of
+the British commander was to gain a position between the
+enemy and the open country, and thus leave them no alternative
+but to surrender at discretion, or precipitate themselves
+over a high cliff; but they had established themselves so
+strongly to protect their right that this failed. In the meantime
+two large vessels full of troops to reinforce the enemy
+arrived in the bay under Port Royal, from Guadaloupe; and
+Brigadier-General Nicolls found it necessary to storm the
+enemy's post without further delay. The troops employed in
+this service were detachments from the 3rd, 29th, and 63rd
+Regiments, under Brigadier-General Campbell; at the same
+time, 50 men of the 88th, with the company of the Carolina
+Corps, Colonel Webster's Black Rangers, and Angus' Black
+Corps, moved against the enemy's right flank, to dislodge
+some strong parties which were posted on the heights.</p>
+
+<p>Owing to the difficult nature of the ground, it was nearly
+two hours before the latter column could reach the enemy,
+when a heavy fire commenced on both sides. The ascent was
+steep and difficult, encumbered with rocks and loose stones and
+covered with dense bush. From the summit of the ridge the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>
+enemy poured in a destructive fire, to which the British could
+only reply at a great disadvantage, and, after losing heavily,
+the column commenced to retire. Observing this retrograde
+movement, Major-General Nicolls sent the 8th Regiment in
+support and ordered Brigadier-General Campbell to proceed
+to the assault of the redoubt.</p>
+
+<p>Repulsed at the first attempt the troops again pushed on,
+at length gained the summit of the ridge, drove the enemy
+into their redoubt and scrambled in after them through the
+embrasures. The enemy then fled in all directions, some
+threw themselves down the precipices, whilst others tried to
+escape down the hill through the thick underwood; but there
+was so heavy a fire kept up on them from above by the
+British that they were forced to attempt to escape along a
+valley, where they were charged by a detachment of the
+17th Light Dragoons, and cut to pieces. The British loss
+consisted, in killed and wounded, of 110 Europeans and 40
+of the various black corps. The Carolina Corps lost one man
+killed and six wounded.</p>
+
+<p>Affairs were thus situated when the fall of St. Lucia
+enabled Sir R. Abercromby to send reinforcements to
+Grenada. The troops, with whom were Malcolm's Rangers,
+disembarked at Palmiste, on the 9th June, while Brigadier-General
+Campbell, with the troops already in the island,
+advanced from the windward side to take the enemy in
+rear. Captain Jossey, the commandant of the French troops
+at Goyave, near Palmiste, seeing that resistance must be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>
+unavailing, surrendered that post, with those of Mabouia and
+Dalincourt; but Fedon, the leader of the insurgent slaves,
+who knew he could expect no mercy, retired at the head of
+about 300 men to two strong and almost unapproachable
+positions, called Morne Quaquo and Ache's Camp, or For&ecirc;t
+Noir, in the mountains of the interior.</p>
+
+<p>In these recesses he did not despair of being able to tire
+out his pursuers; but Major-General Nicolls did not give
+him time to throw any additional obstacles in the way of
+the troops. On the 18th of June he despatched against him,
+from opposite quarters, two divisions, under Brigadier-General
+Campbell and Count d'Heillemer; while Lieutenant-Colonel
+Gledstanes was posted with the 57th Regiment at the
+head of Grand Roy Valley, and the grenadiers of the 38th
+Regiment, with the Carolina Corps and Malcolm's Rangers,
+advanced against a post which the enemy had at the
+head of Beau S&eacute;jour Valley. The dispositions were so
+admirably carried into effect, that the whole of the enemy's
+posts were captured, nearly at the same moment, on the
+morning of the 19th. "Many of the blacks were slain upon
+the spot, and the remainder were promptly hunted down
+in the woods by detachments of the military. No quarter
+was given to these ruffians, nor was any deserved by them,
+their last efforts having been marked by a foul and wanton
+murder. When they saw that their position at Morne
+Quaquo, which they had regarded as impregnable, was on
+the eve of being forced, they led out twenty white prisoners,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>
+stripped them, tied their hands behind them, and put them
+to death. It was impossible, after having witnessed this
+act of baseness and cruelty, that anything short of their
+extermination should satisfy the victors."<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p>
+
+<p>Fedon, and a number of his followers, escaped to the
+woods; what became of the former was never known, but
+the black corps were employed up to December, 1796,
+in hunting down and capturing the stragglers, and it
+was not until the end of that month that peace was
+entirely restored to Grenada.</p>
+
+<p>Whyte's, or the 1st West India, Regiment had remained
+at Martinique without any addition to its strength during
+the operations in St. Lucia and Grenada. It had, however,
+according to the muster rolls for 1796, transferred, on the
+24th of March of that year, four sergeants and nine corporals
+to Malcolm's Rangers, probably in anticipation of the speedy
+drafting of the whole of that corps into its own ranks. In
+the Monthly Returns of troops for March and April, 1796,
+Malcolm's Royal Rangers are shown as "under orders for
+drafting into the 1st West India Regiment," and in the
+May Return the corps ceases to be shown separately, and
+has no "state" of its own. As we have seen, however, it
+continued to act separately in St. Lucia in April and May,
+and in Grenada from June to December; and it was not
+until its return to Martinique on the 28th of December, 1796,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>
+that the drafting was finally completed. Of the Carolina
+Corps all the men fit for service were collected at Martinique,
+the remainder being formed into an invalid company at
+Grenada. It may be thought that the process of forming
+the 1st West India Regiment was being carried on very
+slowly, but it was more rapid than that of any other West
+India Regiment, except the 2nd; while the 3rd, even on the
+24th of December, 1797, had no non-commissioned officers,
+no privates, and only two drummers.</p>
+
+<p>No military event worthy of note took place in the year
+1797, in which the Carolina Corps or the 1st West India
+Regiment took part, except the expedition to Porto Rico, in
+which the pioneers of the former corps were engaged. Sir
+Ralph Abercromby, with a force of 3000 men, sailed from
+Martinique on the 8th of April, and, after a delay at St.
+Christopher's, for the purpose of procuring pilots and guides,
+reached Porto Rico on the 17th and anchored off Cangrejos
+Point. Next day the troops disembarked, and, after a slight
+skirmish with the enemy, took up a position before the town.
+The siege continued for a fortnight without the British
+making any appreciable progress, while the force of the
+enemy, originally larger than that of the besiegers, was
+receiving continual accessions from various parts of the
+island. Sir Ralph Abercromby, therefore, determined to
+abandon the attempt, and the troops were accordingly re-embarked
+on the 30th of April.</p>
+
+<p>In March, 1797, one company of the Carolina Corps that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>
+was at Martinique, 78 strong, was drafted into the 1st West
+India Regiment; and, on the return of the expedition from
+Porto Rico, the remaining company (Pioneer) was also
+drafted, and the Carolina Corps ceased to exist.</p>
+
+<p>The following is the list of the officers who were serving
+in the 1st West India Regiment in 1797, and it may be
+observed that so many changes had taken place that, out of
+43 officers who were gazetted to the regiment in 1795, only
+22 were left in 1797:</p>
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="army">
+<tr><td align='left'>Rank.</td><td align='left'>Name.</td><td align='left'>Rank in Regiment.</td><td align='center'>Army.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Colonel</td><td align='left'>John Whyte</td><td align='left'>April 24, 1795</td><td align='left'>M.-G., Feb. 26, 1795.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Lt.-Col.</td><td align='left'>Leeds Booth</td><td align='left'>May 20, 1795</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Major</td><td align='left'>Charles Miller</td><td align='left'>Nov. 30, 1796</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Captains</td><td align='left'>Edward Cotter</td><td align='left'>July 1, 1795</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>Francis Costello</td><td align='left'>July 1, 1795</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>William Powell</td><td align='left'>Aug. 24, 1795</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>A.A. Nunn</td><td align='left'>Feb. 2, 1797</td><td align='left'>November 17, 1795.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>Robert Brown</td><td align='left'>June 1, 1797</td><td align='left'>September 30, 1796.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>James Maitland</td><td align='left'>July 23, 1797</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>James Stewart</td><td align='left'>July 24, 1797</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Lieuts.</td><td align='left'>William Graham</td><td align='left'>Nov. 30, 1796<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>James Cassidy</td><td align='left'>Dec. 1, 1796</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>&mdash; M'Shee</td><td align='left'>Dec. 2, 1796</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>&mdash; Lightfoot</td><td align='left'>Dec. 3, 1796</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>&mdash; M'Callum</td><td align='left'>Dec. 4, 1796</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>&mdash; Froggart</td><td align='left'>Dec. 5, 1796</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>&mdash; M'Lean</td><td align='left'>Dec. 6, 1796</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>John Egan</td><td align='left'>Dec. 8, 1796</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>James Reed</td><td align='left'>Dec. 9, 1796</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>W.J. Speed</td><td align='left'>Jan. 11, 1797</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>&mdash; Connor</td><td align='left'>March 1, 1797</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>William Reid</td><td align='left'>March 2, 1796</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>Thomas Byrne</td><td align='left'>March 3, 1796</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>J.C. Roberts</td><td align='left'>July 1, 1796</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>John C. M'Kay</td><td align='left'>July 2, 1796</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Ensigns</td><td align='left'>Donald M'Grace</td><td align='left'>July 1, 1795</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>&mdash; Dalton</td><td align='left'>Sept. 1, 1795</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>C.B. Darley</td><td align='left'>Sept. 9, 1795</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>&mdash; Horsford</td><td align='left'>July 1, 1797</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>David M'William</td><td align='left'>July 2, 1797</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>Morgan O'Meara</td><td align='left'>July 3, 1797</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>Charles Marraud</td><td align='left'>July 4, 1797</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>Niel Campbell</td><td align='left'>July 5, 1797</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Adjutant</td><td align='left'>Thomas Holbrooke&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>April 17, 1796</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Qtrmastr.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>&mdash; M'William</td><td align='left'>Nov. 18, 1795</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Surgeon</td><td align='left'>John Lindsay</td><td align='left'>Dec. 25, 1796</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>During the active operations of the year 1796 the West
+India colonists had offered no objection to the scheme of
+raising five new black regiments, but, in 1797, when the
+question of providing for them was brought before the
+various Legislatures, the plan met with the most determined
+opposition. When, on the 17th of January, Governor
+Ricketts communicated it to the House of Assembly in
+Barbados, and requested the concurrence of that House, the
+Speaker, Sir John Gay Alleyne, immediately rose and moved:</p>
+
+<p>"That the design of five regiments, etc. (as expressed
+in the message), will, as far as such a design is likely to
+affect this island, prove rather the means of its destruction
+than its defence."</p>
+
+<p>This resolution was carried, with two others, without a
+dissenting voice.</p>
+
+<p>"The Assembly of Jamaica was no less decided and
+unanimous in its opposition to the measure. It refused to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>
+make any provision whatever for the subsistence of the 6th
+West India Regiment, which was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel
+Whitelocke. In this decision it was sanctioned by
+the general voice of the white population. Meetings were
+held in almost every parish of the island, in all of which the
+scheme of raising black corps was heavily censured, as being,
+in the first place, unnecessary, the negroes being already
+compellable to serve in case of emergency; and, in the
+second place, as being of a nature to produce ultimately,
+and perhaps at no distant period, the most destructive
+effects to the persons and the property of the colonial
+proprietors."<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></p>
+
+<p>The British ministers were reluctant to abandon that
+which appeared to be a cheap and ready mode of recruiting
+in the western hemisphere, and consequently persevered in
+their project, even increasing the number of West India
+regiments in 1799 to twelve. That the fears of the colonists
+were groundless time soon showed. In 1801, at St. Martin's,
+the 8th West India Regiment, "composed of new negroes,
+who had never before faced a foe, behaved with the utmost
+gallantry." In 1803, the 3rd West India Regiment did good
+service at the capture of St. Lucia, as did the 6th at the
+reduction of Surinam in 1804. In 1809, at the Saintes, where
+the 3rd and 8th West India Regiments were engaged, "the
+black troops distinguished themselves by their discipline and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>
+valour." How the 1st West India Regiment remained true
+to its colours the succeeding chapters will show.<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p>
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> Bryan Edwards.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Bryan Edwards.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> It is true that the 8th West India Regiment mutinied at Dominica,
+in 1802, but it was under conditions which, to a certain extent, extenuated
+it. For more than six months the men had been defrauded of their pay.
+Being utterly uneducated and all new negroes, they were ignorant of the
+proper methods of obtaining redress, and consequently showed their
+resentment by violence.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 70%;">
+<img src="images/fp103x.jpg" style="width: 70%;" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h3>
+
+<p class="center">THE DEFENCE OF DOMINICA, 1805.</p>
+
+
+<p>The 1st West India Regiment remained stationed at Fort
+Edward, Martinique, during the whole of 1797, and up to the
+month of December, 1798; its strength at no time during
+this period being above 350 men. In December, 1798, it was
+removed to St. Lucia, six companies being quartered at Vieux
+Fort and two at Maboya, in the same island. The strength
+then was 343, and the "state" shows 157 as wanting to
+complete the establishment. The regiment remained at St.
+Lucia until July, 1801, when it was moved to Port Royal,
+Martinique. In January, 1802, two companies were detached
+to St. Vincent, and, in July, the remainder of the regiment,
+with the exception of one company that remained in Martinique,
+followed them to that island, from whence a company
+was soon afterwards detached to Antigua. In October, these
+detachments rejoined head-quarters, but, in April, 1803, two
+other companies were sent to Grenada. In May, 1804, the
+regiment, with the exception of one company at Grenada and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>
+another sent to St. Vincent, was moved to Dominica. In this
+year the establishment of West India regiments was increased
+from 500 to 1000 men; and in December, 1804, the strength
+was 618.</p>
+
+<p>The rupture of the Treaty of Amiens had, in 1803, led to
+fresh conflicts in the West Indies, in which, however, the
+1st West India Regiment had taken no share; but in the
+spring of 1805, while it was still stationed at Dominica, the
+light company being with the 46th Regiment at Morne Bruce,
+and the remainder of the regiment (except the two detachments)
+at Prince Rupert's, its turn for active service
+came.</p>
+
+<p>On the 22nd of February of that year, the island was
+attacked by a French combined naval and military force,
+under Admiral Missiessy and General La Grange, which force
+had been despatched from France specially for the reduction
+of Dominica. The enemy's flotilla consisted of the following
+vessels:</p>
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="guns">
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='right'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Guns.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Majestueuse</td><td align='right'>120</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Magnanime</td><td align='right'>74</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Suffren</td><td align='right'>74</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Jemmappes</td><td align='right'>74</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Lion</td><td align='right'>74</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Armide</td><td align='right'>44</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Gloire</td><td align='right'>44</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Infatigable</td><td align='right'>44</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Lynx</td><td align='right'>16</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Act&eacute;on</td><td align='right'>16</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='right'>&mdash;&mdash;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='right'>580</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+<p>The French regular troops employed were:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="french">
+<tr><td align='left'>26th Regiment</td><td align='right'>1600</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>2nd Battalion Piedmontese&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align='right'>2000</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Dismounted Cavalry</td><td align='right'>250</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Artillery</td><td align='right'>250</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Detachments of Corps</td><td align='right'>500</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='right'>&mdash;&mdash;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='right'>4600</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>Exclusive of the marines of the various ships.</p>
+
+<p>The enemy's force sailed from Martinique on the afternoon
+of February 21st, 1805; and, flying the British flag,
+arrived off Dominica between 3 and 4 a.m. on February 22nd.
+The British commander-in-chief, Brigadier-General Prevost,
+deceived by the colours of the ships, sent the captain of the
+fort, an artillery officer, on board the <i>Majestueuse</i>, to conduct
+the supposed British admiral and his fleet to a safe anchorage.<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a>
+Shortly afterwards the boats pushed off with the troops, and
+the squadron changed its colours to French.</p>
+
+<p>Directly this was perceived, the grenadier company of the
+46th, with the light company of the 1st West India Regiment
+(107 rank and file), under Captain O'Connell, and a company
+of militia, marched from the garrison at Morne Bruce to Point
+Michell, about three miles distant. At this spot the enemy
+concentrated, and effected a landing under a heavy fire from
+the fleet. Two thousand eight hundred troops having been
+landed at the extremity of a cape within a short distance of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>
+Point Michell, they advanced towards that place in column of
+subdivisions, the only formation which the restricted space
+would admit, the point being bounded by inaccessible heights
+on the right, and a broken and rugged shore on the left.</p>
+
+<p>The two companies of the 46th and the light company of
+the 1st West India Regiment were posted behind the walls of
+some ruined buildings in the village of Point Michell, which
+afforded excellent cover, and where they were entirely sheltered
+from the fire of the enemy's shipping; while the
+French had to advance on a narrow front, entirely exposed
+to their fire.</p>
+
+<p>The attack commenced about 5 a.m. Four times the
+enemy were led to the assault, and as many times they were
+repulsed. At about 6.30 a.m. the remainder of the 46th and
+some local militia arrived, and the struggle continued; but
+not without loss on our side, Major Nunn and Captain
+O'Connell, 1st West India Regiment, being wounded, the
+former mortally, and four men killed. At last, the enemy,
+finding all his endeavours to force the position were ineffectual,
+landed the remainder of his troops to leeward of the
+town of Roseau, on the British right, and attacked Fort
+Daniel, a small redoubt mounting a six-pounder gun, and
+defended by 2 artillerymen, and 1 sergeant and 5 men
+of the 1st West India Regiment. These were all made
+prisoners in the work, which the enemy had attacked with
+500 men. Brigadier-General Prevost then retired with the
+militia to the heights of Woodbridge Estate; and, the British<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>
+right being now turned, the regulars, some 200 in number,
+who had been so gallantly defending the left, retired to effect
+a junction with the garrison at Fort Rupert, commanded by
+Lieutenant-Colonel Broughton, 1st West India Regiment.
+This was effected by Captain O'Connell, although wounded,
+in four days, by the mountain paths, while Brigadier-General
+Prevost arrived at the same place by the Carib Trail.<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p>
+
+<p>In the meantime the town of Roseau had been set on
+fire, and the whole of it destroyed, except a few small houses
+belonging to free negroes. The French, after blowing up the
+fortifications, embarking some guns and spiking others, re-embarked;
+taking with them such of their prisoners as were
+regulars, and levying a contribution of &pound;5500 upon the
+inhabitants, and on February 27th the force set sail for
+Guadaloupe.</p>
+
+<p>The French in their attack on Point Michell had lost over
+300 men, and in selecting that spot for landing they had
+displayed a most astonishing ignorance of the locality, for, if
+a force had at once been put ashore between Point Michell
+and Fort Young at Roseau, the British could hardly have
+ventured upon a serious defence. The loss sustained by the
+British regulars was 21 killed, 21 wounded, and 8 prisoners.
+The loss of the militia is not stated, but was considerable, the
+French accounts fixing it at 200.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p>
+<p>The following despatch addressed to Earl Camden, K.G.,
+one of His Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, by
+Lieutenant-General Sir William Myers, Bart., commanding
+the troops in the Windward and Leeward Islands, gives the
+official account of this affair:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>
+<span class="smcap" style="margin-left: 28em;">"Barbadoes</span>, <i>March 9th, 1805</i>.<br />
+<span class="smcap">"My Lord</span>,
+</p>
+
+<p>"I have the honour to enclose to your Lordship a
+copy of a despatch from Brigadier-General Prevost, dated
+Dominica, 1st of March, 1805. The details contained therein
+are so highly reputable to the Brigadier-General and the
+small portion of troops employed against so numerous an
+enemy, that I have great satisfaction in recommending
+that their gallant exertions may be laid before His
+Majesty.</p>
+
+<p>"The zeal and talent manifested by the Brigadier-General
+upon this occasion, it is my duty to present for the Royal
+consideration, and at the same time I beg to be permitted
+to express the high sense I entertain of the distinguished
+bravery of His Majesty's troops and the militia of the colony
+employed on that service.</p>
+
+<p>"The vigorous resistance which the enemy have experienced,
+and the loss which they have sustained in this
+attack, must evince to him, that however inferior our numbers
+were on this occasion, British troops are not to be hostilely
+approached with impunity; and had not the town of Roseau
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>been accidentally destroyed by fire, we should have little to
+regret, and much to exult in.</p>
+
+<p>"Your Lordship will perceive by the Returns that our
+loss in men, compared to that of the enemy, is but trifling;
+but I have sincerely to lament that of Major Nunn, of the
+1st West India Regiment, whose wound is reported to be of
+a dangerous kind; he is an excellent man, and a meritorious
+officer.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">"I have, etc.,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 25em;">(Signed) "<span class="smcap">W. Myers</span>,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 30em;">"Lieutenant-General."</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15em;">"Copy".&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"<span class="smcap">Head Quarters, Prince Rupert's,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 30em;">"Dominica</span>, <i>March 1st, 1805</i>.</span><br />
+"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"About an hour before the dawn of day on the 22nd
+ultimo, an alarm was fired from Scot's Head, and soon after
+a cluster of ships was discovered off Roseau. As our light
+increased, I made out five large ships, three frigates, two
+brigs, and small craft under British colours, a ship of three
+decks carrying a flag at the mizen. The frigates ranging
+too close to Fort Young, I ordered them to be fired on,
+and soon after nineteen large barges, full of troops, appeared
+coming from the lee of the other ships, attended and protected
+by an armed schooner, full of men, and seven other
+boats carrying carronades. The English flag was lowered,
+and that of the French hoisted.</p>
+
+<p>"A landing was immediately attempted on my left flank,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>between the town of Roseau and the post of Cachecrow.
+The light infantry of the 1st West India Regiment were
+the first to march to support Captain Smart's company of
+militia, which throughout the day behaved with great gallantry;
+it was immediately supported by the grenadiers of
+the 46th Regiment. The first boats were beat off, but
+the schooner and one of the brigs coming close on shore
+to cover the landing, compelled our troops to occupy a better
+position in a defile leading to the town. At this moment I
+brought up the grenadiers of the St. George's Regiment of
+militia, and soon after the remainder of the 46th Regiment,
+and gave over to Major Nunn these brave troops
+with orders not to yield to the enemy one inch of ground.
+Two field-pieces (an amuzette and a six-pounder) were
+brought into action for their support under the command
+of Sergeant Creed of the 46th Regiment, manned by additional
+gunners and sailors. These guns, and a twenty-four-pounder
+from Melville battery, shook the French advancing
+column by the execution they did.</p>
+
+<p>"I sent two companies of St. George's Militia, under
+the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Constable, and a company
+of the 46th, to prevent the enemy from getting into
+the rear of the position occupied by Major Nunn.</p>
+
+<p>"On my return I found the <i>Majestueuse</i>, of 120 guns,
+lying opposite to Fort Young, pouring into the town and
+batteries her broadsides, followed by the other seventy-fours
+and frigates doing the same.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Some artillery, several captains of merchantmen with
+their sailors, and the militia artillery, manned five twenty-four-pounders
+and three eighteens at the fort, and five twenty-fours
+at Melville battery, and returned an uninterrupted fire;
+from the first post red-hot shot were thrown. At about
+10 o'clock, a.m., Major Nunn, most unfortunately for His
+Majesty's service, whilst faithfully executing the order I had
+given him, was wounded, I fear mortally.</p>
+
+<p>"This did not discourage the brave fellows. Captain
+O'Connell, of the 1st West India Regiment, received the
+command and a wound almost at the same time; however,
+the last circumstance could not induce him to give up the
+honour of the first, and he continued on the field animating
+his men and resisting the repeated charges of the enemy
+until about one o'clock, when he obliged them to retire from
+their position with great slaughter. It is impossible for me
+to do justice to the merit of that officer; you will, I doubt
+not, favourably report his conduct to His Majesty, and at the
+same time that of Captain James of the 46th Regiment,
+and Captain Archibald Campbell, who commanded the
+grenadiers of that corps.</p>
+
+<p>"Foiled and beat off on the left, the right flank was
+attempted, and a considerable force was landed near Morne
+Daniel. The regulars, not exceeding 200, employed on the
+left in opposing the advance of three columns, consisting of
+upwards of 2000 men, could afford me no reinforcement; I had
+only the right wing of the St. George's Regiment of militia to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>
+oppose them, of about a hundred men. They attacked with
+spirit, but unfortunately the frigates had stood in so close
+to the shore to protect this disembarkation, that after receiving
+a destructive fire, they fell back and occupied the heights
+of Woodbridge Estate. Then it was that a column of the
+enemy marched up to Morne Daniel, and stormed the
+redoubt defended by a small detachment, which, after an
+obstinate resistance, they carried. On my left, Captain
+O'Connell was gaining ground, notwithstanding a fresh supply
+of troops and several field-pieces, which had been brought
+on shore by the enemy. I now observed a large column
+climbing the mountains to get in his rear.</p>
+
+<p>"The town, which had been for some time in flames,
+was only protected by a light howitzer and a six-pounder
+to the right, supported by part of the light company of
+the St. George's Regiment. The enemy's large ships in
+Woodbridge Bay, out of the reach of my guns, my right
+flank gained, and my retreat to Prince Rupert's almost cut
+off, I determined on one attempt to keep the sovereignty
+of the island, which the excellent troops I had, warranted.
+I ordered the militia to remain at the posts, except such
+as were inclined to encounter more hardships and severe
+service; and Captain O'Connell, with the 46th Regiment,
+under the command of Captain James, and the light
+company of the 1st West India Regiment, were directed
+to make a forced march to Prince Rupert's. I then allowed
+the President to enter into terms for the town of Roseau;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>
+and then demanded from the French general that private
+property should be respected, and that no wanton or disgraceful
+pillage should be allowed; this done, only attended
+by Brigade-Major Prevost, and Deputy Quartermaster-General
+Hopley, of the militia forces, I crossed the island,
+and in twenty-four hours, with the aid of the inhabitants
+and the exertions of the Caribs, I got to this garrison on
+the 23rd. After four days' continued march through the
+most difficult country, I might almost say, existing, Captain
+O'Connell joined me at Prince Rupert's, himself wounded,
+and bringing in his wounded, with a few of the Royal
+Artillery, and the precious remainder of the 46th and the
+1st West India Light Company.</p>
+
+<p>"I had no sooner got to the fort than I ordered cattle to be
+driven in, and took measures for getting a store of water from
+the river and the bay. I found my signals to Lieutenant-Colonel
+Charles Broughton, of the 1st West India Regiment,
+made from Roseau soon after the enemy had landed, had been
+received, and that in consequence he had made the most
+judicious arrangements his garrison would allow for the
+defence of this important post.</p>
+
+<p>"On the 25th, I received the summons<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> I have now the
+honour to transmit, from General of Division La Grange, and
+without delay sent the reply<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> you will find accompanying it.</p>
+
+<p>"On the 27th the enemy's cruisers hovered about the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>Head; however, the <i>Centaur's</i> tender, <i>Vigilante</i>, came in and
+was saved by our guns. I landed Mr. Henderson, her commander,
+and crew, to assist in the defence we were prepared
+to make.</p>
+
+<p>"As far as can be collected, the enemy had about 4000
+men on board, and the whole of their force was compelled
+to disembark before they gained one inch of ground.</p>
+
+<p>"I entrust this despatch to Captain O'Connell, to whom
+I beg to refer you. His services entitle him to consideration.
+I am much indebted to the zeal and discernment of Fort-Adjutant
+Gualy, who was very accessary to the due execution
+of my orders.</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot pass unnoticed the very soldierlike conduct of
+Lieutenant Wallis, of the 46th Regiment, to whom I had
+entrusted the post of Cachecrow, or Scot's Head. On perceiving
+our retreat he spiked his guns, destroyed his ammunition,
+and immediately commenced his march to join me
+at Prince Rupert's with his detachment. Nor that of
+Lieutenant Schaw of the same corps, who acted as an officer
+of artillery and behaved with uncommon coolness and judgment
+while on the battery, and great presence of mind in
+securing the retreat of the additional gunners belonging to
+the 46th Regiment. On the 27th, after levying a contribution
+on Roseau, the enemy re-embarked, and hovered that day
+and the next about this post. This morning, the French
+fleet is seen off the south end of Guadaloupe, under easy
+sail.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Our loss&mdash;you will perceive by the returns I have the
+honour to transmit&mdash;was inconsiderable when compared with
+that of the enemy, which included several officers of rank
+and about 300 others.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">"I have, etc.,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 25em;">(Signed)      "<span class="smcap">George Prevost.</span></span><br />
+"Lieutenant-General Sir William Myers,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">"Bart., etc., etc., etc.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"P.S.&mdash;As I find I cannot spare Captain O'Connell from
+the duty of this garrison, I must refer you to the master of a
+neutral vessel, who has engaged to deliver this despatch."</p></div>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Extract from Minutes of the House of Assembly,
+Dominica, dated Roseau, 2nd May, 1805:</p>
+
+<p>"Resolved, that the Committee of Public Assembly be
+instructed to write to England for a monument to be
+erected to the memory of Major Nunn, of the 1st West India
+Regiment, who gallantly fell on Feb. 22nd, 1805.</p>
+
+<p>"Resolved, that the thanks of this House be presented to
+Captain O'Connell, of the 1st West India Regiment, and
+that the sum of one hundred guineas be appropriated for the
+purchase of a sword for him.</p>
+
+<p>"Resolved, that the thanks of this House be presented to
+the officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates of the
+1st West India Regiment, for their gallant conduct on the
+same occasion."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Similar sentiments were expressed, and conveyed to the
+regiment, at a meeting held on May 23rd, 1805, at the London
+Tavern, Lord Penrhyn president.</p>
+
+<p>Captain O'Connell was promoted to Major, 5th West
+India Regiment, and Lieutenant Winkler to Captain, vice
+O'Connell.</p>
+
+<p>Return of the killed and wounded in the actions of the
+22nd of February, 1805, at Point Michell, Morne Daniel, and
+Roseau, in the island of Dominica.</p>
+
+<p>1st West India Regiment&mdash;9 rank and file, killed; 1 field
+officer, 1 captain, and 8 rank and file, wounded.</p>
+
+<p>For its services on this occasion the 1st West India
+Regiment was permitted to inscribe the word "Dominica"
+on its colours.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> This does not appear in Brigadier-General Prevost's letter, but is
+mentioned in that of General La Grange.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> "During a continued march of four days, through an exceedingly
+difficult country, that brave officer (Captain O'Connell) did not leave
+behind even one of his wounded men."&mdash;<span class="smcap">Bryan Edwards.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> A summons to surrender.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> A refusal.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h3>
+
+<p class="center">THE HURRICANE AT DOMINICA, 1806&mdash;THE REDUCTION
+OF ST. THOMAS AND ST. CROIX, 1807&mdash;THE RELIEF OF
+MARIE-GALANTE, 1808.</p>
+
+
+<p>In 1806, Dominica was visited by a terrific hurricane, from
+which the 1st West India Regiment suffered some loss. On
+the afternoon of the 9th of September the sky became totally
+overcast, and masses of clouds gathered over the island.
+About 7 p.m. a tremendous thunderstorm commenced, accompanied
+by violent gusts of wind, which increased in strength,
+until by 10 p.m., every vessel in the harbour, to the number of
+sixteen, was either sunk or driven ashore. The rain fell in
+such torrents that the whole of the barracks on Morne Bruce,
+where a company-of the 1st West India Regiment was
+stationed, and nearly the whole of those on Morne Cabot,
+were carried away, and three men of the 1st West India
+Regiment were killed, and several injured. Every house from
+the River Mohaut to Prince Rupert's was overthrown, and the
+town of Portsmouth was laid in ruins. In Roseau, 131<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>
+persons were killed or wounded, the greatest mischief being
+there caused by the overflowing of the river, which inundated
+the town in all directions, every house which obstructed its
+passage being swept away by the torrent. "No pen," says a
+witness of the scene, "can paint the horrors of that dreadful
+night! The tremendous noise occasioned by the wind and
+rain&mdash;the roaring of the waters, together with the shock of
+an earthquake, which was sensibly felt about midnight&mdash;the
+shrieks of the poor sufferers crying out for assistance&mdash;the
+terror of those who in their houses heard them, and dared not
+open a door or window to give succour, and who momentarily
+expected to share the same fate, formed a scene which can
+hardly be conceived, and is still more difficult to be described."</p>
+
+<p>The regiment remained stationed at Dominica until the
+month of April, 1807, when it was removed to Barbados,
+with the exception of four companies which had been
+detached to Grenada and Tobago, and which soon after
+rejoined head-quarters at Barbados.</p>
+
+<p>In this year also, the establishment of West India regiments
+was augmented by a second lieutenant-colonel, Major
+Samuel Huskisson, from the 8th Foot, being appointed the
+second lieutenant-colonel of the 1st West India Regiment by
+the <i>Gazette</i> of the 2nd of June.</p>
+
+<p>A war having broken out with Denmark, the British
+Ministers, early in September, 1807, sent out orders to the
+Commander of the Forces in the West Indies, to reduce the
+Danish islands of St. John, St. Thomas and Saint Croix,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>
+and the 1st West India Regiment, with the other troops
+stationed at Barbados, embarked in men-of-war under
+General Bowyer, on the 15th of December, to proceed on
+this duty. On the 19th of December the expedition reached
+Sandy Point, Saint Christopher's, and receiving some troops
+from that garrison, sailed again the same day; arriving at
+St. Thomas, where it was joined by reinforcements from
+Antigua and Grenada, on the 21st. A summons to surrender
+was at once sent to the Governor, Von Scholten, the terms of
+which he accepted next day, and surrendered the islands of
+St. Thomas and St. John with their dependencies. A small
+garrison of the 70th Regiment being left at St. Thomas, the
+1st division of the troops, in which was included the 1st
+West India Regiment, sailed on the evening of the 23rd for
+Saint Croix. The expedition arrived off the town of
+Frederickstadt on the 24th; and the Governor having
+capitulated on the 25th, the troops were landed, and the
+forts and batteries taken possession of, a royal salute being
+fired as the British colours were hoisted. Next night, the
+garrison and town of Christianstadt, on the other side of the
+island, were also occupied. The 1st West India Regiment
+during this expedition was commanded by Major Nathaniel
+Blackwell; and after the surrender of Saint Croix, it at once
+returned to Barbados. In January, 1808, three companies
+were detached from Barbados to Antigua, and one to Tobago;
+the detachment at Antigua rejoining head-quarters in October
+of the same year.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The next service seen by the regiment was at Marie-Galante,<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a>
+in 1808. Deseada and Marie-Galante, the former a
+few miles to the north-east, and the latter a few miles to
+the south-east of Guadaloupe, had been captured by Captain
+Selby and a naval force in March, 1808. Deseada, the
+French Governor of Guadaloupe allowed to remain unmolested;
+but Marie-Galante was so good a privateer station,
+and its loss also brought the British so much more nearly
+in contact with him, that he determined to try to recover it.</p>
+
+<p>The attempt was made on the 23rd of August, by Colonel
+Cambriel, who, with about 200 men in seventeen boats
+stole over from Guadaloupe and landed near Grand Bourg.
+They were preparing to attack the battery when they were
+espied from the <i>Circe</i>; thirty of whose seamen hurried on
+shore, threw themselves into the battery before the French
+could reach it, and gave them such a warm reception as to
+compel them to retreat. The enemy's boats were seized
+by the <i>Circe</i>, and the escape of the French being thus cut
+off, they retired to the centre of the island. Intelligence of
+their landing was forwarded to General Beckwith, at
+Barbados, who lost no time in sending Lieutenant-Colonel
+Blackwell<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> with three companies of the 1st West India
+Regiment against them.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p><p>The following is Lieutenant-Colonel Blackwell's report
+to General Beckwith:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>
+<span class="smcap" style="margin-left: 28em;">"Grand Bourg, Marie-Galante</span>,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 35em;">"<i>Sept. 4th, 1808.</i></span><br />
+"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,
+</p>
+
+<p>"I have the honour to inform you that the troops
+which you were pleased to place under my command arrived
+here, in H.M. Ship <i>Captain</i>, on the 29th of August; and
+finding from Captain Pigot, commander of this island, that
+the French troops were strongly posted within three miles
+of Grand Bourg, I was immediately landed with the three
+companies of the 1st West India Regiment; and having
+obtained an increase of my force, of about 140 marines,
+and some sailors, together with a six-pounder, from the
+army schooner <i>Maria</i>, I lost no time in fulfilling the
+instructions I received from you.</p>
+
+<p>"I have now much satisfaction in reporting, that after
+a pursuit of the enemy for five days and nights, and having
+during that period had four engagements with him, in
+each of which he was repulsed, and obliged to make most
+precipitate retreat, leaving behind him arms, ammunition,
+etc., at every different post that had been attacked, and
+at one place in particular, nine mariners (who had been
+taken prisoners on the first landing of the enemy), and at
+another, a brass six-pounder, which had only arrived from
+Guadaloupe two days, and which was found spiked; by
+constantly marching and harassing him, we found, on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>
+coming within one hundred yards of his front yesterday
+morning, that he was willing to surrender, and sending
+out a flag of truce, I granted the following terms: 'That
+the French troops might march out from the ground they
+then occupied with the honours of war, but that they
+should lay down their arms in front of the troops, and
+surrender themselves as prisoners of war, and that all
+prisoners taken since their arrival in the island should be
+immediately returned.' I was, however, much astonished
+to find that Colonel Cambriel, who had commanded the
+army, was not present when they surrendered, but I have
+since understood that he had quitted it the morning previous,
+and had returned to Guadaloupe, but I have some reason
+to imagine he is still in this island.</p>
+
+<p>"The field-piece I had taken from the army schooner
+became useless after the first day, from the tract of the
+country the enemy led us over; I therefore sent it back to
+Grand Bourg, and at the same time I directed fifty marines
+to occupy the post of Delosses, three miles from town,
+which kept up the communication with the interior of the
+island.</p>
+
+<p>"In our several attacks, it gives me pleasure to say
+that we have had only two privates wounded, one of
+them since dead. The loss on the part of the enemy I
+have not ascertained, but imagine it to have been considerable.
+I am sorry to mention to you that a gentleman
+from Antigua, of the name of Brown, being a prisoner of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>
+war, was in rear of the enemy's picket when attacked
+on the evening of the 2nd instant, and received a mortal
+wound. The force which has been brought from Guadaloupe
+I have not yet exactly found out, but from all
+accounts must have been above 200 rank and file.</p>
+
+<p>"From the return I send herewith, you will find that
+162 privates have laid down their arms, and there are
+at present many who have been sick dispersed through
+the country. The inhabitants that joined were very considerable.
+I believe their number amounted to from four
+to five hundred....</p>
+
+<p>"I have likewise to return my best thanks to all the
+officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates who were
+under my command, for the cheerfulness with which they
+went through the long and harassing marches, and I think
+it is a duty incumbent upon me to mention to you their
+extreme good conduct since they have been in the
+field.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 25em;">"I have the honour to be, etc.,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 30em;">(Signed)      "<span class="smcap">Nath. Blackwell</span>,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">"Lieut.-Colonel 4th W.I. Regiment."</span><br />
+</p></div>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>"Return of prisoners who surrendered on the 3rd of
+September, 1808: 4 captains, 8 lieutenants, 162 rank and
+file, 1 staff.</p>
+
+<p>"Return of arms, ammunition, and accoutrements taken
+and destroyed from 30th August to 3rd September: 1 field-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>piece,
+450 firelocks, 200 belts and pouches, and 24 kegs
+of ball-cartridge.</p>
+
+<p>"Ammunition for field-piece not ascertained."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>On this occasion was captured the drum-major's staff of
+the French 26th Regiment (now in the possession of the 1st
+West India Regiment), bearing the motto: "La R&eacute;publique
+Fran&ccedil;aise une et indivisible. Battalion 26<sup>me</sup>," and surmounted
+by the cap of Liberty.</p>
+
+<p>Of the companies of the regiment employed on this service,
+one was the grenadier company under Captain Cassidy,
+another the light company under Captain Winkler, and the
+third a battalion company under Lieutenant Nixon. On
+the return of the detachment to Barbados it was formed up
+on a garrison parade at St. Ann's on the right of the regiment;
+and Lieutenant-General Beckwith, after thanking
+Lieutenant-Colonel Blackwell and the officers and men
+engaged for their meritorious exertions, presented the former
+with a sword.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> See map of Guadaloupe.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> Major Nathaniel Blackwell, 1st West India Regiment, was, by the
+<i>Gazette</i> of May 24th, 1808, promoted Lieutenant-Colonel of the 4th West
+India Regiment, for his services at the reduction of the Danish West
+India Islands. At this time he had not yet joined his new corps.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 70%;">
+<img src="images/fp125x.jpg" style="width: 70%;" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h3>
+
+<p class="center">THE CAPTURE OF MARTINIQUE, 1809<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a>&mdash;THE CAPTURE OF
+GUADALOUPE, 1810.</p>
+
+
+<p>The 1st West India Regiment continued doing duty at
+Barbados until January 27th, 1809, when eight companies
+joined the expedition against the Island of Martinique.</p>
+
+<p>The interception, in the summer of 1808, of some despatches
+from the Governor of Martinique to the French
+Ministry asking for supplies and additional troops, and
+describing the condition of the island as almost defenceless,
+first directed the attention of the British Government to
+the reduction of this French colony. Preparations for the
+attack began at Barbados in November, 1808, the expedition
+assembled at Carlisle Bay, Barbados, in January, 1809,
+and on the 28th of that month the force sailed for Martinique.</p>
+
+<p>The expeditionary force was under the command of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>
+Lieutenant-General Beckwith, and consisted of two divisions,
+each of two brigades, the 1st Division being commanded by
+Lieutenant-General Sir George Prevost, and the 2nd Division
+by Major-General Maitland. The 1st West India Regiment
+was included in the 1st Division. Six battalion companies,
+with the 13th and 8th Regiments, formed the 2nd Brigade
+under Brigadier-General Colville; while the grenadier company
+(Captain Winkler), with the 7th, 23rd, and a light
+battalion, in which latter was the light company, 1st West
+India Regiment, formed the 1st Brigade, under Brigadier-General
+Hoghton.</p>
+
+<p>On the 30th of January the expedition arrived off the
+Island of Martinique, and on the evening of the 31st the
+troops disembarked, the 1st Division landing at Malgr&eacute;
+Tout, Bay Robert, and the 2nd near St. Luce and Point
+Solomon on the opposite side of the island.</p>
+
+<p>The 1st Division marched the same night to De Manceaux
+Estate. The roads were in a wretched condition
+from the rains, and the horses being done up from the
+length of time which they had been on board ship, the
+troops were obliged to drag the guns themselves. After
+a short rest the force continued its march to Papin's, which
+it reached at midnight. Here the main body of the 1st
+Division halted for the night, while the grenadier company
+of the 1st West India Regiment, with the 7th Regiment,
+pushed on to the heights on De Bork's Estate.</p>
+
+<p>On the day following they were joined by the 23rd<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>
+and the light infantry battalion, and advanced to the
+heights of Morne Bruno, the French skirmishers falling back
+slowly before them, while keeping up a smart fire. From
+this point the grenadier company, 1st West India Regiment,
+advanced with the 7th, the 23rd being in support,
+against the French position on the heights of Desfourneaux.</p>
+
+<p>The enemy, under General De Hondelot, were well
+placed on the crest of the ridge, with a mountain torrent
+in their front, and a strong force of artillery drawn up on
+their left flank. The flank companies of the 7th were
+ordered to turn the French right, while the light battalion,
+with which was the light company, 1st West India Regiment,
+moved against his left, and the grenadiers of the 1st West
+India Regiment, with the remainder of the 7th, advanced
+against the centre. The troops rushed forward, fording the
+stream under a heavy fire, and attacking the enemy, who
+was greatly superior in numbers, with the bayonet, drove
+him from his position.</p>
+
+<p>From this point, with the co-operation of the 2nd Brigade,
+the French were beaten back to the heights of Surirey,
+where they made a determined stand, but by a brilliant
+charge, the British carried the hill, and forced them to
+take shelter under the guns of their redoubts.<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a></p>
+
+<p>The troops encamped for the night on the position<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>
+which they had won, while the enemy took up a second
+position, strengthened by two redoubts connected by an
+entrenchment.</p>
+
+<p>Next morning, February 2nd, the British made a movement
+to turn the French right, and, being much annoyed
+by the enemy's advanced redoubt, the light battalion and
+the 7th Regiment were ordered to take it. They were
+repulsed with considerable loss, but, on the following night,
+the 2nd division of the British having come up, the enemy
+abandoned the work and spiked the guns, retiring with all
+his force to Fort Bourbon, or Desaix.</p>
+
+<p>While the 1st Division had thus been engaged at Morne
+Bruno and Surirey, the 2nd had been equally successful.
+Upon landing at St. Luce, a detachment of the Royal York
+Rangers took possession of the battery at Point Solomon,
+on the south side of Fort Royal Bay, thus securing a safe
+anchorage for the fleet. The same corps then pushed on
+and invested Pigeon Island, a small fortified island which
+commanded the anchorage in the upper part of the bay,
+and which had to be captured before any attempt could be
+made against the formidable fortresses of Bourbon and Fort
+R&eacute;publique. Batteries were erected on Morne Vanier, from
+which Pigeon Island was shelled with such success that the
+garrison surrendered.</p>
+
+<p>The way being now open for the fleet, preparations
+were commenced for the capture of Fort Bourbon. It was
+decided to attempt to take the place by storm, and on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>
+February 4th, the 1st Division, which, under Sir George
+Prevost, had marched over from Surirey, advanced to the
+assault, the grenadier companies forming the "forlorn hope."
+The fire from the enemy's guns was, however, so heavy
+and well-directed that the attempt failed, notwithstanding
+the most conspicuous gallantry on the part of the British,
+and the troops retired with a loss of 330 killed and wounded,
+the grenadier company of the 1st West India Regiment having
+suffered heavily.</p>
+
+<p>General Villaret, the French commander, supposing Fort
+Bourbon to be impregnable, abandoned Fort R&eacute;publique,
+leaving in it 4 mortars and 38 heavy guns, and collected
+his entire force, some 3000 in number, in Fort
+Bourbon. Being well supplied with food and ammunition, he
+resolved quietly to wait in the citadel; confident that the
+British army would gradually melt away from the sickness
+caused by the heavy rains, which had now set in and fell
+incessantly. On the 7th February a British force entered by
+night the abandoned Fort R&eacute;publique; and, though the work
+was furiously bombarded from Fort Bourbon, in two days the
+guns which had been left in the fort were unspiked and the
+fire returned. In the meantime other batteries had been in
+course of construction, and by February 18th Fort Bourbon
+was completely invested.</p>
+
+<p>The enemy were then summoned to surrender, but General
+Villaret declaring that he would rather bury himself under
+the ruins of the citadel, the bombardment commenced. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>
+British batteries, six in number, opened fire simultaneously at
+3.30 p.m. on Sunday, February 19th, and the fire was hotly
+returned. At Colville's battery, where were four companies
+of the 1st West India Regiment, the brushwood in front of
+the guns was set on fire, and was only extinguished with
+much difficulty, and a terrific fire was kept up on both sides.
+On February 20th the enemy ceased firing during the whole
+day, recommencing again on February 21st; but on the 22nd
+a shell from our batteries having blown up the magazine,
+the enemy sent out terms of capitulation. These were
+rejected, but on the 24th the place surrendered; the garrison,
+2700 in number, became prisoners of war, and three eagles
+remained as trophies in the British hands.</p>
+
+<p>The following general orders were issued during this
+brilliant campaign:</p>
+
+<p>1. Morne Bruno, February 3rd, 1809.&mdash;"The benefit the
+advanced corps, under Lieutenant-General Sir George Prevost,
+have produced to His Majesty's service, from the gallant and
+successful attack made upon Morne Bruno and the heights
+of Surirey, on the 1st instant, by the 1st Brigade of the
+army and the light battalion, under Brigadier-General
+Hoghton, demands from the Commander of the Forces a
+reiteration of his acknowledgments, and his assurance to
+the brigadier-general, and to the commanding officer of
+the Royal Fusiliers, of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, and of
+the light battalion, also to the officers, non-commissioned
+officers, and soldiers of those regiments, that he will not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>
+fail to lay their meritorious exertions before the King. The
+exertions of all the corps engaged yesterday were conspicuous;
+and, although the state of the works possessed
+by the enemy did not admit of their being carried by the
+bayonet, which rendered it the general's duty to direct the
+corps employed to retire, they manifested a spirit and determination
+which, when tempered by less impetuosity, will
+lead to the happiest results."</p>
+
+<p>2. February 27th, 1809.&mdash;"The grenadier company,
+with a detachment of the battalion of the 1st West India
+Regiment, who were engaged with the enemy both on the
+1st and 2nd of February, 1809, having been omitted to be
+mentioned in the general orders of February 3rd, referring
+to those operations, the Commander of the Forces takes the
+present occasion to acknowledge their services. From the
+day of the regiment landing, to that of the enemy's surrender,
+it served with the greatest credit under all the disadvantages
+to which a West India regiment is exposed.
+The hard and severe work is generally performed by them,
+which the European soldiers could not undergo from the
+climate."</p>
+
+<p>During this campaign the 1st West India Regiment was
+commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Tolley; and, in token of
+its services, it was permitted to retain two brass side-drums
+and five battle-axes, which it had captured from the
+enemy.</p>
+
+<p>The 1st West India Regiment continued to serve in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>
+Martinique till the 17th of May, 1809, when the head-quarters
+and six companies were removed to the Island
+of Trinidad. There they remained until the month of
+December following, when an expedition was formed for
+the reduction of Guadaloupe.</p>
+
+<p>Since the expulsion of the British in 1794, that island
+had enjoyed a period of tranquility; its armament had been
+considerably increased under successive governors, slavery
+had been re-established, and its harbours swarmed with
+privateers, which preyed upon British commerce. The incessant
+annoyance and loss to our trade caused by these
+vessels, was a strong incentive for a descent upon the
+island. Added to this, it was a colony of considerable
+importance to France; the mother country depending, in
+a great measure, upon it for colonial produce.</p>
+
+<p>The British army was assembled at Prince Rupert's
+Bay, Dominica, where, on the 22nd of January, 1810, the
+flank companies of the 1st West India Regiment joined.
+The force was under the command of Lieutenant-General
+Sir George Beckwith, and was thus composed:</p>
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="hislop">
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="4"><span class="smcap">1st Division&mdash;Major-General Hislop.</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left' rowspan="3">3rd Brigade&mdash;Brig.-General Maclean</td><td align='left' rowspan="3"><span class="bracket3">{</span></td><td align='left'>Light Companies of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 8th West India Regiments</td><td align='left'>500</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>90th Foot</td><td align='left'>500</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>8th West India Regiment</td><td align='left'>400</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left' rowspan="3">4th Brigade&mdash;Brig.-General Skinner</td><td align='left' rowspan="3"><span class="bracket3">{</span></td><td align='left'>Battalion made up of 13th and 63rd Regiments</td><td align='left'>600</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>York Light Infantry Volunteers</td><td align='left'>200</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>4th West India Regiment</td><td align='left'>400</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="4"><span class="smcap"><br />2nd Division&mdash;Brigadier-General Harcourt.</span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left' rowspan="3">1st Brigade&mdash;Brig.-General Harcourt</td><td align='left' rowspan="3"><span class="bracket3">{</span></td><td align='left'>Light infantry</td><td align='left'>500</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>15th Foot</td><td align='left'>300</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>3rd West India Regiment</td><td align='left'>400</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left' rowspan="3">2nd Brigade&mdash;Brig.-General Barrow</td><td align='left' rowspan="3"><span class="bracket3">{</span></td>
+<td align='left'>Grenadiers of the 1st, 4th, and 8th West India Regiments</td><td align='left'>300</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>25th Foot</td><td align='left'>600</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>6th West India Regiment</td><td align='left'>350</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="4"><span class="smcap"><br />Reserve.</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left' rowspan="4">5th Brigade&mdash;Brig.-General Wale</td><td align='left' rowspan="4"><span class="bracket3">{</span></td><td align='left'>Grenadiers</td><td align='left'>300</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Royal York Rangers</td><td align='left'>900</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Royal Artillery</td><td align='left'>300</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Military Artificers</td><td align='left'>100</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>On the 23rd of January the fleet sailed from Dominica, the
+2nd Division being ordered to proceed to the Saintes, to
+prepare for disembarking near Basseterre, while the 1st
+Division and the Reserve made for the north-eastern quarter
+of that part of Guadaloupe which is called Cabesterre.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<img src="images/fp133x.jpg" style="width: 80%;" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>The light infantry battalion of the 3rd Brigade effected
+its landing at 9 a.m. on the 28th of January, without opposition,
+at the Bay of St. Marie; and immediately possessed
+itself of the heights, so as to cover the disembarkation of the
+remainder of the 1st Division and the Reserve. The whole
+of the troops were landed about half-an-hour after noon, and
+the light infantry battalion was ordered forward as the
+advance guard of the division. It reached the village of
+Marigot about sunset, and crossing the river (called Rivi&egrave;re
+des P&egrave;res Blancs), halted in the mountains in the most
+advantageous position for maintaining itself during the night.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>
+The remainder of the division encamped at Marigot. The
+troops had marched this day with three days' cooked provisions
+in their havresacks. The Reserve remained at St.
+Marie to cover the landing of munitions and supplies.</p>
+
+<p>On the 29th of January, the troops were under arms an
+hour before daylight, and the light battalion, being again
+pushed to the front, reached Bannaniers by sunset. There
+the division encamped for the night, while the light companies
+of the 1st and 3rd West India Regiments were ordered
+to possess themselves of the strong pass of Lacasse, above the
+British position.</p>
+
+<p>On the same day, the 29th, the 2nd Division, after making
+a feint of disembarking at Trois Rivi&egrave;res to draw off the
+attention of the enemy, proceeded in the ships to the western
+side of the island.</p>
+
+<p>On the 30th of January, at daybreak, the 1st Division again
+advanced. Between 9 and 10 a.m. the light battalion, which
+was still leading, descended the heights on the side of Trois
+Rivi&egrave;res, and coming up with the rear of a detachment of the
+enemy, dispersed it after a short conflict. Pursuing its march
+it reached the open ground, or savannah, at Loriols Trois
+Rivi&egrave;res about 11 a.m., and there halted to allow the column
+to come up.</p>
+
+<p>The enemy's position was now in front, and consisted of a
+line of redoubts and entrenchments on the commanding
+heights of Petrizel. Major-General Hislop at once made his
+dispositions for an attack on the following morning; the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>
+light battalion moving to the left, and the 4th Brigade, with
+the remainder of the 3rd, extending along the heights to the
+right. In the execution of this order, the light battalion,
+advancing along the high road towards the enemy's position,
+alarmed him to such a degree as to induce him to open fire
+from all his batteries and entrenched lines, not only from
+Petrizel, but also from his post at Dol&eacute;; from which he kept
+up for some time an incessant fire, without doing any other
+injury than killing one man, and wounding another. The
+troops took up their positions in the meantime without further
+inconvenience. Towards the close of the evening numbers of
+the enemy were seen ascending the mountains above their
+works at Petrizel. The heat this day had been excessive, and
+the country through which the troops marched exceedingly
+difficult, the strong pass of Trou au Chien lying in their way.
+The night closed in with heavy rain.</p>
+
+<p>On the 31st, at daylight, not a soul was to be seen near
+the enemy's works; and, it having been ascertained that they
+were evacuated, the light company of the 1st West India
+Regiment was ordered to march at noon and take possession.</p>
+
+<p>The 1st Division remained halted during the 1st of
+February, and on the 2nd, the light battalion, as advanced
+guard of the 4th Brigade, was ordered to march, by a very
+difficult ascent, to the centre of the Palmiste heights; while
+the remainder of the 3rd Brigade moved to the right of the
+same heights, by an easier route. The troops bivouacked on
+the heights for the night.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>While these operations had been going on, the 2nd
+Division had, at 10 a.m. on the 30th of January, disembarked
+at a bay to the northward of the village of Les Vieux
+Habitans and about three leagues to the north of the town
+of Basseterre. The troops gained the heights above the
+village after a slight skirmish, and encamped on the ground
+for the night. During the two succeeding days the 2nd
+Division was employed in bringing up guns to a height
+near Post Bellair.</p>
+
+<p>By the combined movements of the two divisions, General
+Ernouf, the French commander, was now, by the night of the
+2nd of February, hemmed in at the extremity of the island
+between the sea and the British army. He had judiciously
+chosen his position, which was naturally strong, and which
+he had strengthened by all the artificial means in his
+power. He was posted on heights, his left supported by
+the mountains of Matouba, and every accessible point of his
+line covered by abattis and stockaded redoubts. In his
+front was a river, the passage of which, exceedingly difficult
+in itself, was rendered much more so by a detachment of
+troops stationed behind abattis. The ground also, between
+the river and the heights, was bushy and full of rugged
+rocks, and of course highly unfavourable to the march of
+the assailants.</p>
+
+<p>It was on the 3rd of February that the British troops
+were put in motion to dislodge him from his advantageous
+position. The 1st Division, soon after dawn, descended<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>
+the north side of Palmiste, passed the river Gallion, and
+under a heavy fire from a battery at the bridge of Vozi&egrave;re,
+formed on the opposite heights, taking up a position so
+as to intercept the communication between the town of
+Basseterre and the enemy's camp. The 2nd Division
+had, during the night of the 2nd, pushed forward the
+grenadiers of the 2nd Brigade and a detachment of the
+6th West India Regiment to occupy the ridge Beaup&egrave;re
+St. Louis, on the upper part of which the strong post of
+Bellair was situated. On the morning of the 3rd the
+enemy perceived what had been done, and moved out in
+force to dislodge the British. The 1st Brigade was immediately
+ordered up in support; but, before it could
+gain the heights, a smart action had taken place, and it
+only arrived in time to complete the defeat of the enemy.
+In this engagement the grenadier company of the 1st West
+India Regiment lost 2 rank and file killed, Captain Cassidy
+and 9 rank and file wounded. During the remainder of
+the day the troops of the 2nd Division were moved up to
+Bellair, and the whole army remained on the ground during
+the night.</p>
+
+<p>Next morning, the 4th, the British advanced to the
+final assault of the position. The 1st Division was charged
+with the operations on the right, while the task of turning
+the left was entrusted to Brigadier-General Wale with the
+Reserve. At dawn of day the light company of the 1st
+West India Regiment and the York Light Infantry were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>
+ordered to advance to the enemy's post at the bridge of
+Vozi&egrave;re. For some time they were unseen, but a picket
+of the enemy, moving along the opposite side of the ravine,
+discovered them; and, opening fire, a general discharge
+soon followed, in the face of which the British rushed
+forward and carried the work. Almost at the same moment,
+Brigadier-General Wale, who, with the Reserve, had forded
+the Gallion River, and under a heavy fire ascended the
+heights, carried the enemy's works on the left; and General
+Ernouf's situation had become so critical, that he at once
+hoisted flags of truce in the works which he still retained
+at Matouba.</p>
+
+<p>On the 5th of February, the terms of capitulation were
+signed, the French marching out with military honours, and
+becoming prisoners of war. The British loss was 52 officers
+and men killed, 250 wounded, and 7 missing. The French
+lost 600 killed, and 2000 prisoners. Captain H. Downie,
+of the 1st West India Regiment, was mentioned in despatches
+for gallantry at the storming of the work at the bridge of
+Vozi&egrave;re.</p>
+
+<p>The following general order was published, dated Beau
+Vallon, Guadaloupe, 6th Feb., 1810: "The enemy are now
+prisoners of war, to be sent to England, and not to serve
+until duly exchanged. Thus through the exertions and
+general co-operation of the fleet and the army, has been
+effected the important conquest of this colony in nine days<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>
+from the landing of the 1st Division. The Commander of
+the Forces returns his public thanks to the officers of all
+ranks for their meritorious exertions, and to the non-commissioned
+officers and soldiers for the cheerfulness with which
+they have undergone the fatigues of a march, difficult in its
+nature, through the strongest country in the world, and the
+spirit which they have manifested upon all occasions to close
+with the enemy."</p>
+
+<p>In this campaign, it may be observed, all the hard work
+had fallen to the lot of the 1st Division, and especially to
+that of the light infantry battalion of the 3rd Brigade,
+which had, by forced marches, moved across the whole
+breadth of the island, from St. Marie to the neighbourhood
+of Basseterre, over a wild and broken country, in
+six days.</p>
+
+<p>For their services at the capture of Guadaloupe, Captains
+Cassidy and Winkler were appointed brigade-majors
+at Trinidad and Grenada respectively; and the words "Martinique"
+and "Guadaloupe" were inscribed on the colours
+of the regiment, "as a mark of royal favour and approbation
+of its gallant conduct at the capture of those islands in 1809
+and 1810."</p>
+
+<p>On the completion of this service the flank companies
+rejoined head-quarters at Trinidad, as did the two companies
+detached at Martinique and the two at Barbados.
+The whole regiment was then stationed in Trinidad, seven<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>
+companies being at St. Joseph's and three at Orange
+Grove. This arrangement lasted until March, 1814, when
+the head-quarters and four companies were moved to
+Martinique, four companies to St. Lucia, and two to
+Dominica.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> This island had been restored to France by the Treaty of Amiens.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> The grenadier company of the 1st West India Regiment lost 1 rank
+and file, killed; 1 drummer, 18 rank and file, wounded; 1 subaltern,
+missing.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h3>
+
+<p class="center">THE EXPEDITION TO NEW ORLEANS, 1814-15.</p>
+
+
+<p>In July, 1814, the 1st West India Regiment was removed
+to Guadaloupe, except two companies detached to St.
+Martin's and Marie-Galante, and remained so stationed
+until it was selected to take part in the expedition to New
+Orleans.</p>
+
+<p>In June, 1812, the United States of America had declared
+war against Great Britain, Washington had been
+captured by the British on July 24th, 1813, and the war
+had been carried on with varying success until towards
+the close of the year 1814. In October of that year an
+expedition to New Orleans was decided upon; the force
+was to rendezvous at Negril Bay, Jamaica, and for that
+place the 1st West India Regiment embarked at Point
+&agrave; Pr&egrave;ne, Guadaloupe, on November 14th, 1814. Lieutenant-Colonel
+Whitby, who had for the first time joined the regiment
+on the previous day, was then in command.</p>
+
+<p>The assembly of the fleet, and the concentration of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>
+troops at a point so near to their own coast, had aroused
+the suspicions of the Americans; and the treachery of an
+official in the garrison office at Jamaica enabled them to
+receive positive information as to the aim and destination
+of the expedition. This official communicated the intelligence
+to an American trader residing in Kingston, and the
+latter at once sailed in a coasting schooner for Pensacola;
+where General Jackson, who commanded the United States
+army of the South, was on the point of marching to the
+relief of St. Mary's, then being attacked by a naval force
+under Rear-Admiral Cockburn. The American general,
+upon learning of the proposed expedition, at once marched
+to the Mississippi, concentrated a force of 13,000 men in
+and around New Orleans, and threw up works on either side
+of the river to defend the passage in the neighbourhood of
+the town.</p>
+
+<p>On the 26th of November, 1814, the British fleet, under
+the command of Vice-Admiral Sir A. Cochrane, having on
+board a force of some 5000 men under Major-General
+Keane, sailed from Negril Bay and arrived off the Chandeleur
+Islands near the entrance of Lake Borgne, on
+December 10th.</p>
+
+<p>"To reduce the forts which command the navigation
+of the Mississippi was regarded as a task too difficult to
+be attempted, and for any ships to pass without their
+reduction seemed impossible. Trusting, therefore, that the
+object of the enterprise was unknown to the Americans,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>
+Sir Alexander Cochrane and General Keane determined to
+effect a landing somewhere on the banks of Lake Borgne,
+and pushing directly on, to take possession of the town before
+any effectual preparation could be made for its defence.
+With this view the troops were removed from the larger
+into the lighter vessels, and these, under convoy of such
+gun-brigs as the shallowness of the water would float, began
+on the 13th to enter Lake Borgne."<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a></p>
+
+<p>The Americans, however, being well acquainted with
+what was taking place, opposed the passage of the lake
+with five large cutters, each armed with six heavy guns,
+and these were immediately attacked by the smaller craft
+of the British. Avoiding a serious engagement, they retired
+into the shoal water where they could only be attacked
+by boats, and owing to the delay in getting together a
+sufficiently powerful flotilla, it was not till the 15th that
+they were captured, and the navigation of the lake cleared.
+The vessels of a lighter draught having all run aground
+in a vain endeavour to pass up the lake, the troops were
+embarked in boats to carry them up to Pine Island, a distance
+of thirty miles.</p>
+
+<p>"To be confined for so long a time as the prosecution of
+this voyage would require, in one posture, was of itself no
+very agreeable prospect; but the confinement was but a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>
+trifling misery when compared with that which arose from the
+change in the weather. Instead of a constant bracing frost,
+heavy rains, such as an inhabitant of England cannot dream
+of, and against which no cloak could furnish protection,
+began. In the midst of these were the troops embarked in
+their new and straitened transports, and each division,
+after an exposure of ten hours, landed upon a small desert
+spot of earth, called Pine Island, where it was determined
+to collect the whole army, previous to its crossing over to
+the main.</p>
+
+<p>"Than this spot it is scarcely possible to imagine any
+place more completely wretched. It was a swamp, containing
+a small space of firm ground at one end, and almost wholly
+unadorned with trees of any sort or description. The
+interior was the resort of waterfowl; and the pools and
+creeks with which it was intercepted abounded in dormant
+alligators.</p>
+
+<p>"Upon this miserable desert the army was assembled,
+without tents or huts, or any covering to shelter them from
+the inclemency of the weather.... After having been exposed
+all day to the cold and pelting rain, we landed upon a barren
+island, incapable of furnishing even fuel enough to supply
+our fires. To add to our miseries, as night closed, the rain
+generally ceased, and severe frosts set in, which, congealing
+our wet clothes upon our bodies, left little animal warmth to
+keep the limbs in a state of activity; and the consequence
+was, that many of the wretched negroes, to whom frost and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>
+cold were altogether new, fell fast asleep and perished before
+morning."</p>
+
+<p>By December 21st the whole army was collected at Pine
+Island, and next day it was formed into three brigades, the
+1st West India Regiment with the 21st and 44th Regiments
+composing the 2nd Brigade. The 1st West India Regiment,
+which had left Negril Bay 500 strong, was now so reduced by
+mortality and sickness that barely 400 men were in a condition
+to take the field. The cold was intense, and, considering
+the latitude, 29&deg; N., almost incredible. It appears
+that when the regiment left Jamaica no attempt was made
+to furnish the men with warm clothing, and their sufferings
+from this cause, they being all natives of the tropics, can be
+better imagined than described. During the voyage the
+regiment had been much scattered in small craft, where the
+soldiers were obliged to sleep on deck, exposed to the
+torrents of rain which fell by day and to the frosts that came
+on at night; and, being unaccustomed to the severity of an
+American winter, large numbers of them died from cold and
+exposure, the 5th West India Regiment suffering equally
+with the 1st.</p>
+
+<p>On December 22nd, the 1st Brigade (1600 strong) left
+Pine Island in boats to proceed to Bayou Catalan, a small
+creek eighty miles distant, which ran up from Lake Ponchartrain,
+through the middle of an extensive swamp, to
+within ten miles of New Orleans. Next day it landed at
+the mouth of the creek and advanced along an overgrown<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>
+footpath on the banks of a canal, its movements being
+concealed by the tall reeds of the swamp. After being
+delayed by several small streams, it finally emerged from the
+morass, and entering the cultivated portion of the district
+took up a position across the main road from Proctorsville
+to New Orleans, the Mississippi being on its left and the
+swamp on its right.</p>
+
+<p>The exhausted troops, without any camp equipment,
+encamped for the night on the position. They were not,
+however, allowed to enjoy a long period of rest. Late in
+the evening a large schooner was observed stealing up
+the river, until she arrived opposite the bivouac fires around
+which the men were asleep; and before it could be ascertained
+whether she was a friend or foe, a broadside of grape swept
+through the camp. Having no artillery with them, and
+no means of attacking this formidable adversary, the troops
+sheltered themselves behind a bank. The night was as
+dark as pitch, and the only light to be seen was the flash
+of the enemy's guns as he continued to pour broadside after
+broadside into the camp. To add to the miseries of the
+condition of the British it began to rain heavily, and the
+earth, barely raised above the level of the river, became
+a vast puddle of slime, in which the soldiers were compelled
+to lie down to avoid the iron showers of grape that tore
+through the air.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime the 2nd Brigade, with the 1st West
+India Regiment, had embarked in the remainder of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>
+boats from Pine Island, about ten hours after the departure
+of the 1st Brigade, and after being exposed to an incessant
+downpour of rain during the night of December 22nd, had
+arrived at the mouth of the Bayou Catalan at nightfall
+on the 23rd. In the stillness of the night the sound of
+the guns of the schooner as she opened fire on the 1st
+Brigade were distinctly heard, and the troops, stimulated
+to fresh exertions, hurried on to the assistance of their
+comrades. As they drew nearer to the camp, the roll of
+musketry was heard, for the enemy had brought up a
+force of 5000 men from New Orleans, thinking to overwhelm
+the solitary 1st Brigade in the dark, and had
+unexpectedly opened a semicircle of fire upon it. The
+2nd Brigade pushed on, and arrived just in time to prevent
+the Americans turning the British right, which, owing to
+their local knowledge, they had partially succeeded in
+doing. Coming up the canal bank, the 2nd Brigade in
+their turn took the enemy in flank, and a hand-to-hand
+conflict took place along the whole line, the British fighting
+with the energy of despair in the darkness and depths of
+the wood, and trusting to the bayonet alone. At last,
+about 3 a.m. on the 24th, the enemy retired, beaten off
+at all points.</p>
+
+<p>The losses in the night's engagement, and the deaths
+from cold and exposure that had occurred during the
+passage from Pine Island, had so thinned the already
+attenuated ranks of the 1st West India Regiment, that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>
+on the morning of the 24th, only 16 sergeants and 240
+rank and file were available for duty. The officers serving
+with them were Major Weston, Captains Isles and Collins,
+Lieutenants McDonald, Morgan, Miller, Magee, Pilkington,
+McKenzie, and Dalomel.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the repulse which the Americans had
+experienced, the schooner continued to annoy our troops.
+She had anchored in the river beyond musket range, and,
+from that safe distance, continued to pour round-shot and
+grape into the camp, which had been increased on the
+evening of the 24th by the arrival of the 3rd Brigade,
+consisting of the 93rd and the 5th West India Regiment.
+On December 25th, Captain Collins, 1st West India Regiment,
+was killed by a shot from one of her guns, and
+there were several other casualties in the regiment. On
+that day, however, Sir Edward Pakenham, who had been
+sent out from England to assume the command, arrived,
+bringing some guns with him. During the night a battery
+was quietly thrown up opposite the schooner, and at daybreak
+a heavy cannonade was opened on her with red-hot
+shot. Before long she was set on fire, and blew up, while
+another vessel, which had come to her assistance, was
+compelled to cut and run up the river.</p>
+
+<p>The main obstacle to an advance being now removed,
+Sir Edward Pakenham divided the army into two columns.
+The right column, commanded by Major-General Gibbs,
+consisted of the 4th, 21st, 44th, and 1st West India<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>
+Regiments; the left, under Major-General Keane, was
+composed of the 85th, 93rd, 95th, and 5th West India
+Regiments.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime the American general had occupied
+a position facing the British, with the Mississippi on his
+right, and an impenetrable morass on his left, covering New
+Orleans, and rendering an advance on that town impossible,
+until his position had been carried by a front attack. The
+ground thus occupied, about 1000 yards in breadth, had
+been fortified so as to be almost impregnable. Three deep
+parallel ditches had been dug across the whole front; in
+rear of these was a strong loop-holed palisade, and several
+batteries had been erected so as to bring a cross-fire to
+bear upon the level plain, across which the British would
+have to advance to the assault. The right flank of the
+enemy was further protected by a strong work thrown up
+on the right bank of the Mississippi, which effectually
+prevented our gun-boats turning the position, should they
+succeed in entering the river.</p>
+
+<p>The night of December 26th was spent in continual
+alarms. Small bodies of American riflemen would creep
+down upon the pickets under cover of the darkness, and,
+firing upon the sentries, prevent the main body from
+obtaining any sleep. "Scarcely had the troops lain down,
+when they were aroused by sharp firing at the outposts,
+which lasted only till they were in order, and then ceased;
+but as soon as they had dispersed, and had once more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>
+addressed themselves to repose, the same cause of alarm
+returned, and they were again called to their ranks. Thus
+was the night spent in watching, or at best in broken and
+disturbed slumbers, than which nothing is more trying,
+both to the health and spirits of an army."</p>
+
+<p>At daybreak on the 27th, the pickets were withdrawn,
+and the British formed in order of attack. The right column
+took post near the skirts of the morass, throwing out
+skirmishers half-way across the plain to meet the American
+riflemen, while the left column drew up upon the road.
+It was a clear, frosty morning, and in this formation the
+troops advanced, the enemy's skirmishers slowly falling
+back before them.</p>
+
+<p>After an advance of about four miles the American
+position was sighted, and the British were saluted by a
+heavy cannonade from the batteries and shipping. "Scarce
+a ball passed over or fell short of its mark, but all striking
+full into the midst of our ranks, occasioned terrible havoc.
+The shrieks of the wounded, therefore, the crash of firelocks,
+and the fall of such as were killed, caused at first some
+little confusion; and what added to the panic was, that
+from the farm-houses beside which we stood bright flames
+suddenly burst forth. The Americans, expecting this attack,
+had filled them with combustibles for the purpose; and
+directing against them one or two guns, loaded with red-hot
+shot, in an instant set them on fire. The scene was
+altogether very sublime. A tremendous cannonade mowed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>
+down our ranks, and deafened us with its roar; whilst
+two large ch&acirc;teaux and their out-buildings almost scorched
+us with the flames, and blinded us with the smoke which
+they emitted."</p>
+
+<p>The troops having formed line, advanced to storm the
+enemy's works. The right column, after a sharp and
+victorious skirmish with an advanced body of the enemy,
+arrived at the edge of the marsh, through which it endeavoured
+in vain to penetrate. At the same time the
+left column reached the first ditch, or canal, and, being
+unable to cross it, there halted, the men endeavouring to
+shelter themselves from the enemy's fire in a wet ditch
+about knee-deep. The troops being unable to close with
+the enemy, Sir Edward Pakenham ordered them to retire.
+This was effected by battalions, the last corps moving off
+about noon; and by nightfall the army was encamped
+about two miles from the former camping-ground, and the
+same distance from the enemy's position.</p>
+
+<p>The 28th, 29th, and 30th, were occupied in bringing
+up guns from the fleet, on which duty the two West India
+Regiments and the seamen were employed. Major Weston
+and Lieutenant Magee, 1st West India Regiment, died
+from exposure and fatigue while engaged in this work.</p>
+
+<p>During the night of the 31st, six batteries, mounting
+in all 30 pieces of heavy cannon, were completed, at a
+distance of some 300 yards from the American lines, and
+at dawn the artillery duel commenced. During the whole<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>
+of the day a heavy cannonade continued, till, towards
+evening, the British ammunition began to fail, and the fire
+in consequence to slacken. The fire of the Americans, on
+the other hand, increased; and, landing a number of guns
+from their vessels, they soon compelled the British to
+abandon their works. The enemy made no attempt to
+secure the guns, and during the night they were removed.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Edward Pakenham now decided to send a portion
+of his force across the river to attack the fort on the right
+bank and turn its guns upon the main position, whilst the
+remainder should at the same time make a general assault
+along the whole entrenchment. "But before this plan
+could be put into execution, it would be necessary to cut
+a canal across the entire neck of land from the Bayo de
+Catiline to the river, of sufficient depth and width to admit
+of boats being brought up from the lake. Upon this arduous
+undertaking were the troops immediately employed. Being
+divided into four companies, they laboured by turns, day
+and night.... The fatigue undergone during the prosecution
+of this attempt no words can sufficiently describe; yet
+it was pursued without repining, and at length, by unremitting
+exertions, they succeeded in effecting their purpose
+by the 6th of January."</p>
+
+<p>On January 1st H.M.S. <i>Vengeur</i> arrived off the Chandeleur
+Islands with a convoy of transports, containing the 7th and
+43rd Regiments, under Major-General Lambert, and these
+two battalions, each 800 strong, joined the army on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>
+evening of January 6th. Next day the final arrangements
+were made. Colonel Thornton, with the 85th, the marines,
+and a body of seamen, in all 1400 men, were to cross the
+river immediately after dark, seize the batteries on the
+right bank, and at daylight commence firing on the enemy's
+line, which at the same moment was to be attacked by
+the remainder of the army. Major-General Keane, with
+the 95th, the light battalion, and the 1st and 5th<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> West
+India Regiments, was to attack the enemy's right, Major-General
+Gibbs, with the 4th, 21st, 44th, and 93rd, force the
+left, whilst Major-General Lambert was to hold the 7th and
+43rd in reserve.</p>
+
+<p>In accordance with this scheme, Colonel Thornton at
+nightfall moved his force down to the brink of the river,
+but no boats had arrived. Hour after hour elapsed, and
+then at last only a sufficient number to transport 350 men
+made their appearance. With this small force Colonel
+Thornton determined to make the attempt, and pushed off.
+The loss of time which had occurred was however fatal,
+for day began to break before the boats had crossed the river,
+and though the troops carried the batteries by assault, after
+a short but obstinate resistance, the alarm had already been
+carried to the main body of the enemy, and they were
+thoroughly prepared for defence.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p>
+<p>The capture of the works on the right bank had, however,
+really made the front attack upon the American lines unnecessary;
+for the passage of the river now being clear,
+the armed boats from the canal could have passed up the
+stream and taken the whole of the position in rear. Had
+this been done, the American general would inevitably
+have been obliged to abandon his defences, falling back
+upon New Orleans, and we should have obtained possession
+of his formidable position without the loss of a man. Major-General
+Pakenham, however, still persevered in his original
+intention, and ordered the assault to take place.</p>
+
+<p>There had been so much mismanagement, that the
+advance, which should have taken place at dawn, did not
+commence till some time after daylight. The officer, whose
+duty it was to have prepared fascines for the purpose of
+filling the ditches, had neglected his work; and, at 2 a.m.,
+the hour at which he had been directed to have them ready,
+not one was made.<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> Eventually an insufficient number were
+got together, but "the 44th, which was appointed to carry
+them, had either misunderstood or neglected their orders,
+and now headed the column of attack, without any means
+being provided for crossing the enemy's ditch, or scaling
+his ramparts."</p>
+
+<p>"The indignation of our brave leader on this occasion
+may be imagined, but cannot be described. Galloping<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>
+towards Colonel Mullens, who led the 44th, he commanded
+him instantly to return for the fascines and ladders, but the
+opportunity of planting them was lost; and, though they
+were brought up, it was only to be scattered over the field
+by the frightened bearers, for our troops were by this time
+visible to the enemy. A dreadful fire was accordingly
+opened upon them, and they were mowed down by hundreds
+while they stood waiting for orders."</p>
+
+<p>The word being given to advance, the other regiments
+rushed on to the assault. On reaching the first ditch a
+horrible scene of carnage ensued; the few fascines that
+were thrown down floated away; there were no ladders,
+and the men, crowding to the edge of the ditch in the
+hope of closing with the enemy, fell in heaps. Many
+threw themselves into the water, and endeavoured to struggle
+across, but were shot down, or drowned. On the right,
+Major-General Keane's column had, though reduced to half
+its strength, succeeded in passing the ditches near their
+junction with the marsh, and pushed on desperately to
+the palisade. But to scale this obstacle without ladders
+was no easy matter. Some few, indeed, by climbing upon
+their comrades' shoulders succeeded in entering the works,
+but only to be at once shot down; while those who remained
+outside were exposed to a flanking fire that swept them down
+by scores. The two West India regiments distinguished
+themselves by their desperate valour, so much so, indeed, as
+to win encomiums from the American general, Jackson.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>On the left there had been a slight success, the 21st
+Regiment having stormed and taken a three-gun battery;
+but they were not supported, and the enemy, forcing their
+way into the work, retook it with great slaughter. In vain
+was the most obstinate courage displayed, the British were
+beaten off at all points.</p>
+
+<p>"Sir Edward saw how things were going, and did all
+that a general could do to rally his broken troops. Riding
+towards the 44th, which had returned to the ground, but in
+great disorder, he called out to Colonel Mullens to advance;
+but that officer had disappeared, and was not to be found.
+He therefore prepared to lead them himself, and had put
+himself at their head for that purpose, when he received
+a slight wound in the knee from a musket-ball, which killed
+his horse. Mounting another, he again headed the 44th,
+when a second ball took effect more fatally, and he dropped
+lifeless into the arms of his aide-de-camp."</p>
+
+<p>Major-Generals Keane and Gibb were, almost at the same
+moment, borne off the field severely wounded. "All was
+now confusion and dismay. Without leaders, ignorant of
+what was to be done, the troops first halted and then began
+to retire; till finally the retreat was changed into a flight,
+and they quitted the ground in the utmost disorder. But the
+retreat was covered in gallant style by the reserve. Making
+a forward motion, the 7th and 43rd presented the appearance
+of a renewed attack, by which the enemy were so much awed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>
+that they did not venture beyond their lines in pursuit of the
+fugitives."</p>
+
+<p>The British loss in this action was over 1000 killed;
+while the Americans stated their total loss to be 8 killed
+and 14 wounded. The 1st West India Regiment had 5 rank
+and file killed, 2 sergeants and 16 rank and file wounded.
+The following officers were wounded: Captain Isles,
+Lieutenants McDonald and Morgan, Ensigns Miller and
+Pilkington; and all, with the exception of Ensign Miller,
+severely so. Lieutenants McKenzie and Dalomel, the only
+remaining officers of the regiment with the expedition, were
+publicly thanked by Major-General Lambert for the courage
+which they had displayed, and the able manner in which they
+had withdrawn the remnant of their corps from the enemy's
+palisades.</p>
+
+<p>The capture of New Orleans being now despaired of in
+the shattered condition of the force, a retreat was determined
+upon. As it was impossible, without great risk, to return to
+the fleet by the route by which the army had come&mdash;there
+not being sufficient boats to embark more than a third of
+the force at a time&mdash;it was decided to make a road from the
+firm ground to the water's edge, a distance of many miles,
+through the very centre of a morass, where human foot had
+never before trodden. The difficulties experienced in making
+this road were immense. Sometimes for miles together no
+firm soil could be found, nor trees to furnish brushwood, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>
+all that could be done was to lay down bundles of reeds on
+the morass. Nor were the enemy idle; there was constant
+skirmishing at the outposts, and a continual fire was kept up
+on the camp from a six-gun battery mounted on the bank of
+the river.</p>
+
+<p>After nine days' incessant toil the road was completed;
+the sick and wounded were first removed, then the baggage
+and stores, and on January 17th, the infantry alone remained
+in the camp. On the evening of the 18th it also began its
+retreat. Leaving the camp-fires burning as if no movement
+were taking place, battalion after battalion stole away
+in the darkness in the most profound silence. Marching
+all night over the fragile road of reeds, through which the
+men sank knee-deep into the mud, the army reached the
+borders of the lake at dawn. Boats were in readiness, and
+regiment after regiment embarked and set sail for the fleet,
+the only loss being the capture of a boat containing two
+officers and forty men of the 14th Light Dragoons.</p>
+
+<p>After remaining a few days at the Chandeleur Islands,
+the naval commander decided, in concert with Major-General
+Lambert, to make an attack on Mobile, and the
+fleet accordingly proceeded to that place. On February
+12th, Fort Bowyer, which commanded the entrance to the
+harbour, surrendered, and a British garrison being left in
+the citadel, the fleet retired to Isle Dauphin, West Florida.
+Hostilities were then terminated by a treaty of peace, and
+the 1st West India Regiment returned to Barbados, where<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>
+early in March, Brigade-Majors Cassidy and Winkler rejoined
+from the West India staff. The former succeeded to the
+majority, vice Weston, deceased.<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a></p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p>
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> "The Campaigns of the British Army at Washington and New
+Orleans," by an Officer.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> According to Major-General Lambert's despatch to Earl Bathurst, the
+5th West India Regiment was to cross the river with Colonel Thornton.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> This officer was afterwards dismissed the service.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> The British force employed in this expedition has been thus
+estimated:
+</p>
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary="british">
+<tr><td align='left'>14th Dragoons</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td align='right'>295</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Royal Artillery</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td align='right'>570</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Sappers and Miners</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td align='right'>98</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>4th Foot</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td align='right'>747</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>21st Foot</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td align='right'>800</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>44th Foot</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td align='right'>427</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>85th Foot</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td align='right'>298</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>93rd Foot</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td align='right'>775</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>95th Foot</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td align='right'>276</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>1st and 5th West India Regiments</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td align='right'>1040</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Seamen and Marines</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td align='right'>1200</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Staff Corps</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td align='right'>57</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&mdash;&mdash;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>6583</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>7th Foot</td><td align='left' rowspan="2"><span class="bracket2">}</span></td><td align='left' rowspan="2">arrived on January 6th</td><td align='left' rowspan="2"><span class="bracket2">{</span></td><td align='right'>750</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>43rd Foot</td><td align='right'>820</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&mdash;&mdash;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>8153</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>
+Out of the ten officers who accompanied the regiment on this ill-fated
+expedition one was killed, two died from exposure, and five were wounded.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h3>
+
+<p class="center">THE OCCUPATION OF GUADALOUPE, 1815&mdash;THE BARBADOS
+INSURRECTION, 1816&mdash;THE HURRICANE OF 1817.</p>
+
+
+<p>A few months after the disastrous expedition to New
+Orleans, and while the 1st West India Regiment was still
+stationed at Barbados, an expedition was formed by Lieutenant-General
+Sir James Leith, commanding the forces
+in the Windward and Leeward Islands, against the Island
+of Guadaloupe, the Governor of which, Admiral Comte de
+Linois, a staunch Bonapartist, had thrown off his allegiance
+to Louis XVIII., when the news of the escape of Napoleon
+from Elba had reached the West Indies, and had, on June
+18th, 1815, proclaimed the latter Emperor. On the formation
+of this expedition, Captain Winkler, 1st West India Regiment,
+was appointed to the staff.</p>
+
+<p>The fleet with the troops from Barbados, among whom
+were 400 picked men of the 1st West India Regiment,
+under Major Cassidy, attached to the 2nd Brigade, com<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>manded
+by Major-General Murray, sailed from Carlisle
+Bay, Barbados, on the 31st of July, while other troops from
+St. Lucia, Martinique, and Dominica, rendezvoused at the
+Saintes. The force from Barbados anchored in the Bay
+of St. Louis, Marie-Galante, on the 2nd of August; but it
+was not until the night of the 7th that the troops from the
+Leeward were all assembled at the Saintes.</p>
+
+<p>The internal state of Guadaloupe and the season were
+both so critical that Sir James Leith determined to attack
+at once; and on the morning of the 8th the whole fleet
+stood towards the Ance St. Sauveur. It was the intention of
+the general to attack in three columns, each of one brigade,
+but the scarcity of boats and the heavy surf necessitated
+that each brigade, should disembark in succession.</p>
+
+<p>A portion of the 1st Brigade being landed without
+opposition at Ance St. Sauveur, and ordered to drive the
+enemy from the broken ground and ravines about Trou au
+Chien and Petit Carbet, the fleet dropped down to Grand
+Ance, where the principal attack was to be made. There,
+after the enemy's batteries had been silenced by the fleet,
+the 2nd Brigade, with the remainder of the 1st, were landed;
+and after a short but sharp skirmish with a body of the
+enemy, advanced with the bayonet and drove him from
+his position at Petrizel. The approach of night put an
+end to further advance, and the troops bivouacked on the
+ground they had won.</p>
+
+<p>Next morning, the 9th, at daybreak, the troops advanced<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>
+in two columns. The 1st Brigade moved upon and occupied
+Dol&eacute;, while the 2nd Brigade marched by difficult
+mountain paths upon the left of Morne Palmiste, by
+Petrizel, and by this turning movement compelled the
+enemy to withdraw his posts and retreat to Morne Palmiste
+by noon. While this had been taking place the 3rd Brigade
+had disembarked in the vicinity of Bailiff, to leeward of
+Basseterre, and after a short struggle had occupied that
+capital.</p>
+
+<p>In the afternoon of the 9th, the 1st and 2nd Brigades
+converged upon Morne Palmiste, and clambering up the
+rugged and bush-covered heights, compelled the enemy,
+after the exchange of a few shots, to evacuate his works
+and retire to Morne Houel, where he had eight guns in
+position.</p>
+
+<p>While the British were still occupying the defences
+on Morne Palmiste, intelligence was brought to Sir James
+Leith that the French Commander of Grandeterre, with
+the whole of his available force, was moving in rear of
+the 1st and 2nd Brigades to endeavour to form a junction
+with the main body of the enemy at Morne Houel. The
+detachment of the 1st West India Regiment was at once
+despatched to reinforce the rear-guard, and to occupy in
+force all the passes of the Gallion, a river running through
+a formidable ravine at the foot of Morne Palmiste. The
+troops from Grandeterre being thus cut off, endeavoured
+to form a junction by unfrequented paths through the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>
+woods; but, being met at every point by the skirmishers
+of the 1st West India Regiment, who searched the woods
+in every direction, they were compelled to abandon the
+attempt and retire at dusk.</p>
+
+<p>The night closed in with torrents of rain, and the British,
+having been told off in columns in readiness to attack
+the formidable position of Morne Houel at daybreak next
+morning, bivouacked on the ground, without shelter, and
+drenched to the skin. About 11 p.m., the Comte de Linois
+sent a messenger to propose terms of surrender; but nothing
+being definitely settled, the troops were put in motion at
+daybreak on the 10th. As they drew near to the works,
+however, the French hoisted the British flag on Morne
+Houel in token of surrender, and the position was occupied
+without resistance. This success put an end to the active
+operations.</p>
+
+<p>The British loss in this, the third invasion of Guadaloupe,
+amounted to 16 killed and 40 wounded. The 1st West
+India Regiment suffered no loss.</p>
+
+<p>The following general order was issued, dated Head-Quarters,
+Government House, Basseterre, Guadaloupe, 10th
+August, 1815: "The Commander of the Forces congratulates
+the army on the conquest of Guadaloupe being accomplished,
+and desires the generals and other officers, and the troops
+employed on that important service, to accept his best thanks
+for the gallant, zealous, and active manner in which they
+have compelled the enemy to surrender.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"It is certainly a matter of gratifying reflection to the
+troops employed, not only that a colony of such importance
+should be placed under the British flag, but that the exertions
+of the army have, in two days, defeated all the preparations
+and force of the enemy; thus sheltering the peaceable
+inhabitants from a formidable and sanguinary system of
+revolutionary violence which had been practised against
+their persons and property, and which threatened the
+entire destruction of social order.</p>
+
+<p>"Lieutenant-General Sir James Leith will not fail to
+represent the steadiness and good conduct of the troops to
+H.R.H. the Commander-in-Chief."</p>
+
+<p>Guadaloupe, however, was not at once reduced to a
+state of tranquility. A number of French soldiers, who had
+deserted previous to the surrender of the island, took refuge
+in the woods, whence they carried on a desultory and ferocious
+war against the British posts. The 1st West India Regiment,
+being composed of men better able to support the hardships
+of a guerilla war, carried on in a country naturally difficult,
+during the height of the tropical rains, was continually
+employed against these insurgent bands, and several men
+were killed and wounded in unknown and forgotten
+skirmishes.</p>
+
+<p>Major Cassidy and Captain Winkler were each presented
+with a sword of honour by the major-general; and the order
+of the Fleur de Lys was transmitted to them by Louis
+XVIII., for their services in Guadaloupe.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Major Cassidy and the detachment of the 1st West India
+Regiment, remained in Guadaloupe until the 10th of October,
+1815, on which day they embarked for Barbados, arriving
+at that island on the 26th. The regiment being then very
+much below its strength, on account of the heavy losses
+which it had sustained during the expedition to New
+Orleans, it was determined to transfer the majority of the
+privates who remained to the 3rd, 4th, 6th and 8th West
+India Regiments, and reform the regiment from a body of
+some 700 American negroes, who, in the late war with the
+United States, had served with the British, and had been
+temporarily organised as Colonial Marines.</p>
+
+<p>On the 14th of December, the skeleton of the regiment
+embarked in H.M.S. <i>Niobe</i> for Bermuda, where the
+Colonial Marines were then stationed, and arrived at St.
+George's on the 9th of January, 1816. It was only then
+discovered that the number of men with whom it was
+intended to reform the regiment, did not exceed 400; most
+of whom were of but poor physique, and, moreover, unwilling
+to engage. At first the authorities determined to force these
+men to enlist, but ultimately the whole plan was abandoned;
+and the skeleton of the regiment left Bermuda on the 18th of
+March to return to the West Indies. It arrived at Barbados
+on the 1st of April; and the men who had already been
+transferred being sent back to it, the corps was completed
+with drafts from the late disbanded Bombor Regiment.</p>
+
+<p>This was effected in time to enable the 1st West India<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>
+Regiment to take a very active part in the suppression of an
+alarming insurrection of slaves, which broke out suddenly at
+Barbados on Easter Sunday, the 14th of April, 1816. "The
+revolt broke out in St. Philip's parish, shortly after sunset, and
+it extended, in the two following days, to the parishes of
+Christ Church, St. John and St. George. A conflagration
+upon a high ridge of copse-wood called Bishop's Hill, in the
+parish of St. Philip's, was the first signal. Shortly after, the
+canes upon eight or nine of the surrounding estates were set
+on fire. Some few of the rebels were furnished with fire-arms,
+and a scanty supply of ammunition, and the remainder
+were armed with swords, bludgeons, and such rude weapons
+as they had been able to procure. Their approach was
+announced by the beating of drums, the blowing of shells,
+and other discordant sounds. They demolished the houses of
+the overseers, destroyed the sugar works, and fired the canes....
+Sixty estates were more or less damaged, many of them
+to a considerable amount."<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a></p>
+
+<p>As soon as the news reached Bridgetown, martial law was
+proclaimed, the 1st West India Regiment was at once ordered
+to march, and the militia of the island were called out.
+Major Cassidy, who was in command of the 1st West India
+Regiment, found the rebels occupying a position on the
+heights of Christ Church, on Grazett's Estate, a dense mob of
+half-armed slaves crowning the summits of the low hills.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>
+He endeavoured to parley with them, but without success;
+and an advance being ordered, the 1st West India Regiment
+stormed the heights, and at the point of the bayonet drove
+the rebels from their position. Not a shot was fired by the
+regiment on this occasion, Major Cassidy being anxious to
+save bloodshed as much as possible; but a large body of the
+slaves offered a furious resistance, closing with and aiming
+blows at the soldiers with their rude weapons, and endeavouring
+to wrench the muskets from their hands, so that a considerable
+number of the insurgents were thus killed and wounded.
+This resistance only lasted for a few minutes, and the slaves,
+broken and dispirited, fled in all directions; only to be
+hunted down and fired upon by the militia all over the disaffected
+portions of the island. The 1st West India Regiment
+took no part in the pursuit and the capture or slaughter
+of the fugitives, this duty being left to the European militia,
+who, if the author of "Remarks on the Insurrection in Barbados"<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a>
+may be believed, were guilty of many excesses.</p>
+
+<p>By the planters this revolt was attributed to the introduction
+of the Slave Registry Bill into the British Parliament,
+and it was discovered that several free men of colour,
+who had for several months previous attended nocturnal
+meetings of slaves on the estates where the insurrection
+began, had told the slaves that a law was being passed
+in England to make them free, and that as the King was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>
+giving them their freedom the King's troops would not be
+employed against them.</p>
+
+<p>Amongst other articles taken from the rebels by the
+1st West India Regiment was a flag bearing the figure
+of a general officer (supposed to be intended for the King),
+placing a crown in the hands of a negro who had a white
+woman on his arm. Beneath these figures was the following
+motto: "Brittanie are happy to assist all such friends
+as endeavourance." In the struggle on Christ Church heights
+the regiment lost one man killed and seventeen wounded.</p>
+
+<p>The following general order was issued, dated August
+26th, 1816: "Colonel Codd, in communicating the following
+letters conveying the thanks of the Members in Council
+and House of Assembly at Barbados to himself and the
+officers, non-commissioned officers, and men employed during
+the late insurrection of slaves, feels it his duty to specify
+the commanding officer and corps whose good conduct on
+that occasion he has already reported in his official despatch
+to the Commander of the Forces, namely, Major Cassidy and
+the 1st West India Regiment."</p>
+
+<p>In November, 1816, the regiment was removed from
+Barbados and distributed amongst the following islands:</p>
+
+<p>
+Head-quarters. The Grenadier, Light, and 1 Company at Antigua = 3<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 12em;">2 Companies at St. Christopher&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;= 2</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 12em;">1 Company at Montserrat&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;= 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 12em;">2 Companies at St. Lucia&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;= 2</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 12em;">2 Companies at Dominica&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;= 2</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 25em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 25em;">10</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Lieutenant-Colonel Whitby commanded at head-quarters.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Nothing of note occurred till October, 1817, when, on
+the 21st of that month the Island of St. Lucia was visited
+with a most violent hurricane in which the Governor,
+Major-General Seymour, was so severely injured that he
+died a few days afterwards; and Brevet-Major Burdett,
+1st West India Regiment (then commanding the garrison),
+together with his wife, child, and servants, was killed by
+the fall of his house and buried under its ruins. The
+distress that the troops endured was great. The whole
+of the buildings on Morne Fortune and Pigeon Island,
+with the exception of the magazine and tanks, were levelled
+with the ground, and the fragments, together with the
+men's clothing and equipment, carried off by the wind to
+the woods about Morne Fortune. The hurricane had
+struck the island so rapidly that, although an order to
+evacuate the barracks was given at once, the men had
+barely time to escape from the buildings before they fell
+with a crash. The town of Castries was laid in ruins, and
+twelve vessels that were in harbour were driven ashore.
+When the hurricane abated, the killed and wounded were
+moved under the parapet of Fort Charlotte and temporary
+shelter erected from the ruins.</p>
+
+<p>In January, 1819, when Lieutenant-Colonel J.M. Clifton
+retired, the second lieutenant-colonelcy in the regiment was
+abolished. In May of that year the head-quarters and three companies
+were moved to Barbados, two companies remaining at
+Antigua, two at St. Lucia, two at Dominica, and one at Tobago.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> Bryan Edwards.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> Published in London in 1816.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h3>
+
+<p class="center">THE DEMERARA REBELLION, 1823.</p>
+
+
+<p>On the 25th of October, 1821, the establishment of the
+1st West India Regiment was reduced from ten to eight
+companies, which were thus distributed:</p>
+
+<p>
+Head-quarters and 3 Companies at Barbados.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 Company at Demerara.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;St. Lucia.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;Dominica.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;Antigua.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;Tobago.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">8</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>No change took place in this distribution until 1823,
+when the light company rejoined the head-quarters at
+Barbados, from Tobago.</p>
+
+<p>In August, 1823, an alarming insurrection broke out
+among the slaves in the district of Mahaica, on the east coast
+of Demerara. The first notice of the impending rising was
+communicated, on the morning of the 18th of August, by a
+mulatto servant, to Mr. Simpson, of Plantation Reduit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>
+(now Plantation Ogle), a place distant some six miles from
+Georgetown. The servant stated that all the negroes on the
+coast plantations would rise that night; and Mr. Simpson
+at once proceeded with the intelligence to Georgetown, warning
+the various planters at their habitations <i>en route</i>. The
+Governor appeared to doubt the reliability of the information,
+but called out a troop of burgher horse, and proceeded
+with a portion of it to Plantation Reduit. There a considerable
+body of negroes, armed with cutlasses, sticks, and a few
+muskets, was met; and, after a short parley with them, which
+led to no result, the Governor returned at once to Georgetown,
+and called upon the officer commanding the troops for
+assistance.</p>
+
+<p>A detachment of the 21st Regiment, and No. 8 Company
+of the 1st West India Regiment, the whole being under
+the command of Captain Stewart, of the latter corps, at once
+marched up the coast; while the militia of Georgetown was
+called out and patrolled the town. A body of the rebels,
+who had with them as prisoners several Europeans, was met
+near Wittenburg Plantation. On the approach of the troops
+the slaves opened a desultory fire, which did no damage, and
+a volley being returned, they dispersed in all directions.
+The force under Captain Stewart then proceeded further
+up the coast, encountering and dispersing other parties of
+slaves.</p>
+
+<p>Next day, the 19th of August, martial law was proclaimed,
+for nearly all the negroes employed upon the coast<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>
+estates had risen and were overrunning the country, capturing
+every European they met. Continually dispersed by the
+troops, they reassembled again, and, after being repulsed
+by a detachment of the 21st in an attack upon the post
+of Mahaica, a body of some 2000 of the better-armed slaves
+collected together and began to advance on Georgetown.
+By this time another detachment of the 21st Regiment
+had come up from Georgetown, under the command of
+Lieutenant-Colonel Leahy of that corps, who joined the
+troops already in the field, and moved with his whole
+force against this more formidable body of insurgents.
+Proceeding past pillaged houses and destroyed bridges, the
+troops at last fell in with the rebels, and Lieutenant-Colonel
+Leahy, after reading a proclamation that had been
+issued by the Governor, warned them that if they did not
+disperse the men would open fire. After waiting for some
+time, the order to advance was given, and the slaves at
+once commenced firing. This was returned by the troops,
+and after a conflict of a few minutes' duration the rebels
+fled in all directions.</p>
+
+<p>This was the last occasion on which the slaves assembled
+in any considerable force, but a constant skirmishing was
+kept up along the whole line of the coast; and two companies
+of the 1st West India Regiment, which were despatched
+from Barbados when the news of the insurrection
+reached there, and arrived at Demerara on the 26th of
+September, were actively employed in assisting to restore<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>
+tranquility in the colony and in the apprehension of the
+ringleaders of the rebellion. Captain Chads, Lieutenants
+Strong and Lynch, and Ensign Brennan were the officers
+who were serving with these two companies.</p>
+
+<p>The following general order was published, dated Head-quarters,
+Camp House, 17th December, 1823:</p>
+
+<p>"Major-General Murray has great satisfaction in communicating
+to the troops and militia within this colony the
+following extracts from letters from Lord Bathurst, and the
+Commander of the Forces, Sir Henry Ward, the former
+conveying the approbation of His Majesty, and the latter
+that of His Royal Highness, the Commander-in-Chief, for
+their conduct during the late insurrection. The Commander-in-Chief
+takes this opportunity of again returning his thanks
+to the officers and troops for the uniform support he has
+received from the former, and for the good conduct of the
+latter, during the late operations; by these means alone have
+those services been accomplished which have occasioned His
+Majesty's flattering marks of approbation."</p>
+
+<p>Extract (No. 1) of a letter from the Right Honourable
+Lord Bathurst, to His Excellency Sir John Murray:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 27em;">"Downing Street, 23rd October, 1823.</span>
+</p>
+
+<p>"I have received your several despatches, as per margin,
+reciting the series of events that had occurred from the first
+intimation received by you on the 18th of August last, of
+a disposition towards insurrectionary movements on the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>part of the slave population in the District of Mahaica,
+and concluding with an account of the general termination
+of the revolt, which had yielded to the prompt and judicious
+measures of remonstrance and resistance offered by you,
+and which you represent to have been so admirably enforced
+by the civil and military authorities under your command.
+With respect to those measures, I have laid them before
+His Majesty, and they have received his most gracious
+approbation, which you will convey to the officers, both
+civil and military, who have so distinguished themselves
+on this occasion."</p></div>
+
+<p>Extract (No. 2) of a letter from His Royal Highness
+the Commander-in-Chief, to Sir Henry Ward, K.C.B.,
+commanding the Windward and Leeward Islands:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"I have received your further despatch reporting to
+His Lordship the issue of this revolt, so satisfactorily and
+judiciously terminated by the prompt and vigorous measures
+taken by Major-General Murray, and the exemplary zeal,
+discipline and good conduct of the 21st Regiment, the 1st
+West India Regiment, and the Militia, which entitle officers
+and men to the greatest credit."</p></div>
+
+<p>Ensign Miles, of the 1st West India Regiment, the only
+officer serving with No. 8 Company under Captain Stewart,
+died a few days after the termination of the rebellion, of
+fever produced by fatigue and exposure in hunting down
+the rebel leaders.</p>
+
+<p>In February, 1824, the Court of Policy passed a vote<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>
+of thanks, and conferred a gift of 200 guineas on the
+regiment, to be expended in the purchase of plate, as a
+mark of the high estimation in which the inhabitants of
+the colony held the services of Captain Stewart and his
+detachment.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 31em;">"<span class="smcap">King's House, Demerara</span>,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 35em;">"<i>19th July, 1824</i>.</span>
+</p>
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,</p>
+
+<p>"I have the honour to enclose to you for the information
+of Captain Stewart and the detachment of the
+1st West India Regiment, which served with so much credit
+to itself under his command during the late revolt in this
+Colony, the accompanying resolution of the Honourable
+Court of Policy, expressive of the sense entertained by the
+Court of that officer's conduct, and that of the officers and
+men placed under him during that distressing period.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 25em;">"I have, etc.,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">"<span class="smcap">John Murray</span>,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 31em;">"Major-General.</span><br />
+<br />
+"To Major Capadose,<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Commanding Detachment, 1st West India Regiment."<br />
+</p></div>
+
+<p>"Extract from the Minutes of the Proceedings of the
+Honourable Court of Policy of the Colony and dependant
+Districts of Demerara and Essequibo, at an extraordinary
+and adjourned meeting held at the Court House, George
+Town, Demerara, on Tuesday, the 13th of January, 1824.</p>
+
+<p>"The Court of Policy, feeling anxious to mark its sense
+of the eminent service performed, in the late unhappy revolt,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>
+by the troops composing the garrison, as well as by the
+Militia of the United Colonies, take the opportunity afforded
+it by the cessation of Martial Law, to express its highest
+approbation of, and to return its warmest thanks to His
+Excellency the Commander-in-Chief for the able and
+judicious measures adopted by him, which succeeded in
+putting a speedy termination to a Revolt, in its nature
+most serious and alarming....</p>
+
+<p>"The steady and soldierlike conduct of the detachment
+of the 1st West India Regiment commanded by
+Captain Stewart, the Court cannot too highly estimate;
+and it begs, as a testimony of its lasting regard, to be
+allowed to present to the Mess, through Captain Stewart,
+the sum of two hundred guineas, to be laid out in plate."</p>
+
+<p>On the 25th of October, 1824, the three companies
+stationed at Demerara were removed to Barbados, where
+they arrived on the 2nd of November. The following
+brigade order was published at Demerara prior to the
+embarkation of the detachment:</p>
+
+<p>"The detachment of the 1st West India Regiment under
+Major Capadose, will embark on board the <i>Sovereign</i>
+at half-past six on Monday morning, the 25th instant,
+and the transport will proceed to Barbados with the evening
+tide of that day.</p>
+
+<p>"The Major-General commanding the district cannot
+allow these excellent troops to embark without expressing
+to them his approbation of their excellent conduct and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>
+discipline, and his cordial wishes for their health and good
+fortune. The unremitting attention of Major Capadose in
+the command of the detachment, and of Brevet-Major
+Gillard, Captain Hemsworth, and Lieutenant Strong, in
+that of their respective outposts, have given the Major-General
+unqualified satisfaction, and he requests those
+officers to accept his thanks."</p>
+
+<p>The distribution of the regiment was now as follows:
+5 companies at Barbados, 1 at St. Lucia, 1 at Dominica,
+and 1 at Antigua, and this was continued till the 21st of
+February, 1825, when the head-quarters, with 4 companies,
+embarked on board the <i>Sovereign</i> transport, and proceeded
+to the Island of Trinidad, to relieve the 3rd West India
+Regiment, ordered to be disbanded. The head-quarters
+landed at Port of Spain, Trinidad, on February 23rd, and
+were quartered at Orange Grove Barracks, being removed
+to San Josef Barracks on May 1st, 1828.</p>
+
+<p>In April, 1826, a second lieutenant-colonelcy was re-established
+in the regiment, Major Henry Capadose being
+promoted Lieutenant-Colonel, without purchase, on the
+22nd of that month.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 70%;">
+<img src="images/fp178x.jpg" style="width: 70%;" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h3>
+
+<p class="center">THE BARRA WAR, 1831&mdash;THE HURRICANE OF 1831&mdash;THE
+COBOLO EXPEDITION, 1832.</p>
+
+
+<p>In 1826, owing to the difficulty found in obtaining a
+sufficiency of recruits in the West Indies, it was decided
+to send a company of the 1st West India Regiment to
+Sierra Leone, there to be stationed as a recruiting company,
+the recruits to be sent to the head-quarters of the
+regiment as opportunities occurred. The recruiting company
+embarked at Trinidad on the 17th of April, 1826,
+in the <i>Duke of York</i> brigantine, and proceeded to Dominica,
+where it was transhipped to the <i>Jupiter</i> transport. Captain
+Myers proceeded in charge of it to England, where it was
+inspected by Major-General Sir James Lyon, and it finally
+arrived at Sierra Leone on August 16th, 1826. Captain
+Myers having obtained sick leave in England, Captain
+Stewart, Lieutenant Brennan, and Ensign Russell, were the
+officers who had charge of the company.</p>
+
+<p>The recruiting was so successfully carried on, that on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>
+July 9th, 1827, 73 recruits joined the head-quarters of
+the regiment at Trinidad; on December 27th, 1828, 182;
+and on February 28th, 1829, 39; the last being volunteers
+from the Royal African Corps. In 1829, Captain Evans
+and Lieutenant Montgomery proceeded to Sierra Leone to
+join the recruiting company.</p>
+
+<p>The recruiting company continued being occupied with
+its peace duties until the year 1831, when the Barra War
+broke out. Towards the end of September, 1831, the
+Lieutenant-Governor of the Gambia Settlements sent an
+urgent despatch for assistance to the Governor of Sierra
+Leone. The news arrived at the latter place on October 1st,
+and on the 4th a force under Captain Stewart, 1st West
+India Regiment, consisting of detachments from the recruiting
+companies of the 1st and 2nd West India Regiments,
+from the Sierra Leone Militia, and from the Royal African
+Corps, sailed for the Gambia in H.M. brig <i>Plumper</i>, and
+the <i>Parmilia</i> transport. The events which led to this
+movement were as follows:</p>
+
+<p>In August, 1831, disturbances having occurred amongst
+the Mandingoes<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> living in the neighbourhood of Fort Bullen,
+Barra Point, Ensign Fearon, of the Royal African Corps, by
+direction of Lieutenant-Governor Rendall, had proceeded
+with thirty men of his corps and a few pensioners, on the
+night of August 22nd, to the stockaded town of Essaw, or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>
+Yahassu, the capital of Barra, to demand hostages from the
+king. At Essaw this small force was attacked by a large
+body of Mandingoes, and compelled to retire to Fort Bullen,
+to which place the victorious Mandingoes advanced, completely
+investing it on the land side. The day following,
+Ensign Fearon, having lost twenty-three men out of his little
+force, evacuated the work, which was in an almost defenceless
+condition, and retired across the river to the town of
+Bathurst. After this defeat the chiefs of the neighbouring
+Mohammedan towns sent large contingents of men to the
+King of Barra; several thousand armed natives were collected
+at a distance of three miles only from Bathurst, and that
+settlement was in such imminent danger that the Lieutenant-Governor
+was compelled to send to Sierra Leone for
+assistance.</p>
+
+<p>On November 9th the reinforcements arrived in the
+Gambia, and found Fort Bullen still in the hands of the
+natives, who fortunately had confined themselves to making
+mere demonstrations, instead of falling upon the settlement,
+which lay entirely at their mercy. On the morning of
+November 11th a landing was effected at Barra Point by the
+force, consisting of 451 of all ranks, under cover of a heavy
+fire from H.M. brig <i>Plumper</i> (Lieutenant Cresey), the <i>Parmilia</i>
+transport, and an armed colonial schooner. The enemy,
+estimated at from 2500 to 3000 strong, were skilfully covered
+from the fire of the shipping by the entrenchments which
+they had thrown up, and from which, as well as from the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>
+shelter of the dense bush and high grass, they poured
+in a heavy and well-sustained fire upon the troops who
+were landing in their front. Notwithstanding all disadvantages,
+however, the British pushed on, and, after an
+hour's hard fighting, during which the enemy contested
+every inch of ground, they succeeded in driving them from
+their entrenchments at the point of the bayonet, and pursued
+them for some distance through the bush. The British loss
+in this action was 2 killed, 3 officers<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> and 47 men wounded.</p>
+
+<p>The next few days were occupied in landing the guns,
+and placing Fort Bullen in a state of defence; and at daybreak
+on the morning of November 17th the entire force
+marched to the attack of Essaw, the king's town, leaving
+the crew of H.M. brig <i>Plumper</i>, under Lieutenant Cresey,
+in charge of Fort Bullen.</p>
+
+<p>On approaching the vicinity of the town the troops
+deployed into line, and, the guns having been brought to
+the front, a heavy fire was opened on the stockade. This
+was kept up for five hours, and was as vigorously returned
+by the enemy from their defences, with artillery and small
+arms. The rockets were brought to bear as soon as
+possible, and the first one thrown set fire to a house in
+the town; but the buildings being principally composed
+of "swish," and the natives having taken the precaution
+of removing the thatched roofs of the greater number, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>
+rockets produced but little effect, as they could do no
+injury to the walls. Towards noon some of the enemy
+were observed leaving the rear of the town, and shortly
+afterwards a very superior force of natives appeared in
+the bush on the British right, threatening an attack in
+flank. A second body was also observed making a lengthened
+detour on the left, apparently with the intention of attacking
+the British rear. The men's ammunition being almost
+exhausted, and the artillery fire, though well sustained,
+having produced no effect upon the strong stockades which
+surrounded the town, it was deemed prudent to retire, and
+the force was accordingly withdrawn to Benty Point, having
+suffered a loss during the day of 11 killed and 59 wounded.
+Lieutenant Leigh, of the Sierra Leone militia, and 5 men
+subsequently died of their wounds.</p>
+
+<p>On December 7th, Lieutenant-Colonel Hingston, Royal
+African Corps, arrived with reinforcements and assumed
+the command. Immediately upon this accession to the
+British strength, the King of Barra notified his desire to
+open negotiations, and, terms being proposed which he
+accepted, a treaty was finally concluded and signed at Fort
+Bullen on January 4th, 1832. The detachment of the
+recruiting company, 1st West India Regiment, returned
+to Sierra Leone on the conclusion of the war.</p>
+
+<p>In the West Indies, the detachment of the 1st West India
+Regiment stationed at Barbados, had, in 1831, suffered from
+a violent hurricane which visited that island on the 10th of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>
+August of that year. The barracks and hospitals at St.
+Ann's were completely ruined, 36 men of various corps
+were killed, and a commissariat officer, with three of his
+children, and his entire household, entombed in the ruins of
+his house.</p>
+
+<p>An officer of the garrison, who gives an account of this
+hurricane,<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> says: "Describe the appearance of our barracks,
+I really cannot. This I can say, in truth, that in no part of
+the world, a more beautiful range of buildings, or on a more
+liberal scale or appropriate site, could have been found. The
+establishment was complete in all respects for every branch
+of a small army. It was the dep&ocirc;t of our West India military
+possessions. Well&mdash;in two hours during this awful night
+almost every building in the garrison was destroyed....
+What a moment was that, when, thanks be to Heaven, the
+gale in some degree abated. The officers crept out one after
+the other, and the scene that followed can be compared only
+to that which one sees and feels after an action&mdash;who has
+escaped?&mdash;who is dead?... The first person I found
+wounded was Mrs. Brocklass, the lady of an officer of the 1st<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>
+West India Regiment, who, with three fine children, finding
+the roof over them falling, hastened from under it. She had
+the misfortune to be knocked down by some shingles, received
+a blow on the head, and had two or three ribs broken; the
+children fortunately escaped: her husband was on duty in a
+most perilous situation.... The huts which were the
+quarters of the married people of the 1st West India Regiment
+were blown to pieces, and four men and one woman
+severely injured. The north building of the men's new
+barracks accommodated the left wing of the 36th Regiment,
+besides which a detachment of the 1st West India Regiment
+was quartered on the ground floor. None of the latter were
+hurt, but two men of the 36th were killed. The greater part
+of the spacious galleries was carried away, some of the arches
+that supported them fell, and many were very much broken.
+None of the roof remains that will ever be of service."</p>
+
+<p>Towards the end of the year 1832, numerous complaints
+were made by native traders who were in the habit of trading
+to the Sherbro and the adjacent territories, that they were
+molested and their goods plundered by a marauding party of
+Mohammedan Acoos, who had established themselves in the
+vicinity of the Ribbie River. These Acoos were liberated
+Africans, that is, slaves who had been set free from captured
+slavers at Freetown, Sierra Leone, and had, contrary to the
+regulations then in force, clandestinely left the Colony.</p>
+
+<p>A party of volunteers, having been despatched to gather
+information concerning these rebels, ascertained that they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>
+had been joined by other parties of marauders, and had
+established themselves at a place called Cobolo, on the
+northern bank of the Kates, or Ribbie River. The manager
+of the Waterloo District also reported various outrages and
+depredations committed by this band.</p>
+
+<p>On December 13th, 1832, the Hastings company of
+volunteers, with that of Waterloo, marched from the village
+of Waterloo towards Cobolo, distant by road some thirty
+miles, with orders to capture and bring in the leaders of
+the rebels. Next morning, as this force was approaching
+Cobolo, the Acoos, who were concealed in the bush, fired
+upon the head of the column, and the volunteers at once,
+and without firing a shot, turned and ran in the greatest
+confusion; nor did they recover from their panic till they
+had reached Waterloo. The Acoos pursued the fugitives
+for some little distance, and killed seven of their number.</p>
+
+<p>The rising, originally trivial, had now, through the
+shameful behaviour of the volunteers, become serious. The
+news of the defeat spread with great rapidity among the
+unruly tribes on the frontier of the Colony; and a Mohammedan
+priest, proclaiming himself a prophet, placed himself
+at the head of the movement. The Governor acted with
+promptitude; and recognising the great danger of delay,
+despatched, on December 17th, all the available men from
+the garrison of Sierra Leone, under Lieut.-Colonel Hingston,
+Royal African Corps. The recruiting company of the
+1st West India Regiment accompanied the force, under<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>
+the command of Lieut. W. Montgomery, 1st West India
+Regiment.</p>
+
+<p>The troops proceeded to Waterloo in boats, and were
+there joined by the Wellington company of the Sierra Leone
+militia, and the Hastings company of volunteers. At the
+same time, H.M. brig <i>Charybdis</i> (Lieut. Crawford) was sent
+with the York company of volunteers to the mouth of the
+Ribbie River, with orders for the seamen and marines to
+ascend the river in boats, co-operate with Lieut.-Colonel
+Hingston's column, and cut off the retreat of the rebels.</p>
+
+<p>Lieut.-Colonel Hingston's force marched from Waterloo
+on December 18th, and, halting for the night at Bangowilli,
+about twenty miles from the former village, advanced towards
+Cobolo next morning at daybreak. The march was unusually
+fatiguing, and for many miles the troops had to
+move through rush beds and mangrove swamps, frequently
+up to the hips in mud and water. On emerging upon the
+dry ground near Cobolo the report of fire-arms was heard
+in front, and scouts being thrown forward, it was learned
+that the Kossoos, which tribe had suffered most from the
+predatory propensities of the rebels, had taken up arms
+and were then engaged in attacking Cobolo. The troops
+at once pushed on, and a few minutes after their arrival
+on the scene, the Acoos, completely routed, fled in all
+directions, many being killed and a great number drowned
+while endeavouring to escape across a neighbouring creek.</p>
+
+<p>The British force remained at Cobolo for four days,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>
+daily sending out small parties in pursuit of the dispersed
+rebels. By one of these parties Oji Corri, the leader of
+the movement, was shot down; and the rebellion being
+at an end the troops returned to Freetown, Sierra Leone,
+on December 28th; a detachment of the 2nd West India
+Regiment, under Lieutenant Lardner, being left at Waterloo
+to watch the movements of the Mohammedan Acoos
+in the neighbouring villages.</p>
+
+<p>Lieutenant Montgomery, 1st West India Regiment, died
+at Freetown of fever, on April 9th, 1833, and this event
+left the recruiting company without an officer of the corps
+until the arrival in Sierra Leone of Captain Hughes on
+November 29th, 1834.</p>
+
+<p>In the West Indies one company had been removed
+from the head-quarters at Trinidad to Tortola in May,
+1834, and this detachment was, in January, 1836, moved
+to St. Vincent.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> The Mandingoes are a warlike Mohammedan tribe, inhabiting the
+territory inland from the Gambia River to Sierra Leone.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> Captain Berwick, Royal African Corps; Lieutenant Lardner, 2nd
+West India Regiment; and Captain Hughes, Gambia Militia.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> An account of the fatal hurricane by which Barbados suffered in
+1831, published at Bridgetown, Barbados, 1831.
+</p>
+<p class="center">"<span class="smcap">Detachment 1st West India Regiment.</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+"Return of the men killed and wounded during the late hurricane, 15th August, 1831:
+</p>
+<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Killed&mdash;Henry Read, private.</span></p>
+<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Wounded&mdash;4 privates.</span></p>
+<p><span style="margin-left: 6em;">(Signed)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "H. BROCKLASS, Lieut., 1st W.I. Regt."</span><br /></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h3>
+
+<p class="center">THE MUTINY OF THE RECRUITS AT TRINIDAD, 1837.</p>
+
+
+<p>On April 1st, 1836, the 1st West India Regiment was
+increased from eight to ten companies, and recruits being
+obtained with difficulty, the Government commenced the
+injudicious practice of enrolling the slaves, disembarked
+from captured slavers, in the West India regiments. In
+September of that year the slaves from two slavers which
+had been captured off Grenada by H.M.S. <i>Vestal</i>, 112 in
+number, were drafted into the 1st West India Regiment.
+Similarly, in January, 1837, 109; on May 20th, 112; and
+on May 21st, 93 slaves, recently disembarked from slavers
+captured by H.M.S. <i>Griffon</i> and <i>Harpy</i>, were sent to the
+regiment. Thus, in the years 1836-7, 426 such slaves
+were received, 314 of them in the year 1837 alone.</p>
+
+<p>The formality of asking these men whether they were
+willing to serve was never gone through, many of them
+did so unwillingly; and it must be remembered that they
+were all savages in the strictest sense of the word, entirely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>
+unacquainted with civilisation, and with no knowledge of
+the English language. The majority of them were natives
+of the Congo and of Great and Little Popo, two towns
+on the western frontier of Dahomey; and it may be here
+remarked that the negroes of these districts have maintained
+their reputation for ultra-barbarism even to the present
+day.</p>
+
+<p>The only result to be anticipated from such a wholesale
+drafting of savages into a regiment was a mutiny, and every
+inducement to mutiny appears to have been afforded them.
+Instead of dividing them proportionately between the head-quarters
+and the detachments, they were nearly all kept at
+the former; and but three weeks before the actual rising, as
+if to further remove all check, 100 rank and file, all old
+soldiers, were sent from Trinidad and distributed between
+St. Lucia and Dominica. Thus, on June 18th, 1837, the
+day of the mutiny, with the exception of the band, officers
+servants, and mess-waiters, all the men at San Josef's
+barracks, Trinidad, were slaver recruits. The ringleader
+of the movement was one D&acirc;aga, or Donald Stewart, and
+the following account of him, and of the mutiny, is taken
+from Kingsley's "At Last":</p>
+
+<p>"Donald Stewart, or rather D&acirc;aga, was the adopted son
+of Madershee, the old and childless king of the tribe called
+Paupaus,<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> a race that inhabit a tract of country bordering on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>
+that of the Yarrabas.<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> These races are constantly at war
+with each other.</p>
+
+<p>"D&acirc;aga was just the man whom a savage, warlike, and
+depredatory tribe would select for their chieftain, as the
+African negroes choose their leaders with reference to their
+personal prowess. D&acirc;aga stood six feet six inches without
+shoes. Although scarcely muscular in proportion, yet his
+frame indicated in a singular degree the union of irresistible
+strength and activity.... He had a singular cast in his
+eyes, not quite amounting to that obliquity of the visual
+organs denominated a squint, but sufficient to give his
+features a peculiarly forbidding appearance; his forehead,
+however, although small in proportion to his enormous head,
+was remarkably compact and well formed. The whole head
+was disproportioned, having the greater part of the brain
+behind the ears; but the greatest peculiarity of this singular
+being was his voice. In the course of my life I never
+heard such sounds uttered by human organs as those formed
+by D&acirc;aga. In ordinary conversation he appeared to me
+to endeavour to soften his voice&mdash;it was a deep tenor: but
+when a little excited by any passion (and this savage was
+the child of passion) his voice sounded like the low growl
+of a lion, but when much excited it could be compared to
+nothing so aptly as the notes of a gigantic brazen trumpet.</p>
+
+<p>"D&acirc;aga having made a successful predatory expedition<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>
+into the country of the Yarrabas, returned with a number
+of prisoners of that nation. These he, as usual, took bound
+and guarded towards the coast to sell to the Portuguese.
+The interpreter, his countryman, called these Portuguese
+'white gentlemen.' The white gentlemen proved themselves
+more than a match for the black gentlemen; and
+the whole transaction between the Portuguese and the
+Paupaus does credit to all concerned in this gentlemanly
+traffic in human flesh.</p>
+
+<p>"D&acirc;aga sold his prisoners, and under pretence of paying
+him, he and his Paupau guards were enticed on board
+a Portuguese vessel: they were treacherously overpowered
+by the Christians, who bound them beside their late
+prisoners, and the vessel sailed over 'the great salt water.'</p>
+
+<p>"This transaction caused in the breast of the savage a
+deep hatred against all white men; a hatred so intense that
+he frequently, during and subsequent to the mutiny, declared
+he would eat the first white man he killed; yet this
+cannibal was made to swear allegiance to our sovereign
+on the Holy Evangelists, and was then called a British
+soldier.</p>
+
+<p>"On the voyage the vessel on board which D&acirc;aga had
+been entrapped was captured by the British. He could not
+comprehend that his new captors liberated him: he had
+been overreached and trepanned by one set of white men,
+and he naturally looked on his second captors as more
+successful rivals in the human, or rather inhuman, Guinea<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>
+trade; therefore, this event lessened not his hatred for white
+men in the abstract.</p>
+
+<p>"I was informed by several of the Africans who came
+with him, that when, during the voyage, they upbraided
+D&acirc;aga with being the cause of their capture, he pacified
+them by promising that when they should arrive in white
+man's country he would repay their perfidy by attacking
+them in the night. He further promised that if the Paupaus
+and Yarrabas would follow him, he would fight his way
+back to Guinea. This account was fully corroborated by
+many of the mutineers, especially those who were shot
+with D&acirc;aga; they all said the revolt never would have
+happened but for Donald Stewart, as he was called by the
+officers; but Africans who were not of his tribe called him
+Longa-longa, on account of his height.</p>
+
+<p>"Such was the extraordinary man who led the mutiny I
+am about to relate.</p>
+
+<p>"A quantity of captured Africans having been brought
+hither from the islands of Grenada and Dominica, they were
+most imprudently induced to enlist in the 1st West India
+Regiment. True it is, we have been told they did this
+voluntarily; but it may be asked, if they had any will
+in the matter, how could they understand the duties to be
+imposed on them by becoming soldiers, or how comprehend
+the nature of an oath of allegiance, without which they
+could not, legally speaking, be considered soldiers? I
+attended the whole of the trials of these men, and well<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>
+know how difficult it was to make them comprehend any
+idea which was at all new to them by means of the best
+interpreters procurable.</p>
+
+<p>"To the African savage, while being drilled into the
+duties of a soldier, many things seem absolute tyranny
+which would appear to a civilised man a mere necessary
+restraint. To keep the restless body of an African negro
+in a position to which he has not been accustomed; to
+cramp his splay feet, with his great toes standing out, into
+European shoes made for feet of a different form; to place
+a collar round his neck, which is called a stock, and which
+to him is cruel torture; above all, to confine him every
+night to his barracks&mdash;are almost insupportable. One unacquainted
+with the habits of the negro cannot conceive
+with what abhorrence he looks on having his disposition to
+nocturnal rambles checked by barrack regulations.</p>
+
+<p>"Formerly the 'King's man,' as the black soldier loved
+to call himself, looked (not without reason) contemptuously
+on the planter's slave, although he himself was after all but
+a slave to the State; but these recruits were enlisted shortly
+after a number of their recently imported countrymen were
+wandering freely over the country, working either as free
+labourers, or settling, to use an apt American phrase, as
+squatters; and to assert that the recruit, while under military
+probation, is better off than the free Trinidad labourer, who
+goes where he lists and earns as much in one day as will
+keep him for three days, is an absurdity. Accordingly, we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>
+find that Lieutenant-Colonel Bush, who commanded the
+1st West India Regiment, thought that the mutiny was
+mainly owing to the ill-advice of their civil, or, we should
+rather say, unmilitary countrymen. This, to a certain degree,
+was the fact; but, by the declaration of D&acirc;aga and many of
+his countrymen, it is evident that the seeds of the mutiny
+were sown on the passage from Africa.</p>
+
+<p>"It has been asserted that the recruits were driven to
+mutiny by hard treatment of their commanding officers.
+There seems not the slightest truth in this assertion; they
+were treated with fully as much kindness as their situation
+would admit of, and their chief was peculiarly a favourite
+of Colonel Bush and the officers, notwithstanding D&acirc;aga's
+violent and ferocious temper often caused complaints to be
+brought against him.</p>
+
+<p>"On the night of the 17th of June, 1837, the people of
+San Josef were kept awake by the recruits, about 280 in
+number, singing the war-song of the Paupaus. This wild song
+consisted of a short air and chorus. The tone was, although
+wild, not inharmonious, and the words rather euphonious.
+As near as our alphabet can convey them, they ran thus:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+"Dangkarr&eacute;e<br />
+Au fey<br />
+Oluu werrei<br />
+Au lay.<br />
+</div>
+
+<p>which may be rendered almost literally by the following couplet:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+"Air by the chief: 'Come to plunder, come to slay.'<br />
+"Chorus by followers: 'We are ready to obey.'<br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></div>
+
+<p>"About three o'clock in the morning, their war-song
+(highly characteristic of a predatory tribe) became very loud,
+and they commenced uttering their war-cry. This is different
+to what we conceive the Indian war-whoop to be; it seems
+to be a kind of imitation of the growl of wild beasts, and
+has a most thrilling effect.</p>
+
+<p>"Fire was now set to a quantity of huts built for the
+accommodation of African soldiers to the northward of the
+barracks, as well as to the house of a poor black woman
+called Dalrymple. These burnt briskly, throwing a dismal
+glare over the barracks and picturesque town of San Josef,
+and overpowering the light of the full moon, which illumined
+a cloudless sky. The mutineers made a rush at the barrack-room
+and seized on the muskets and fusees in the racks.
+Their leader, D&acirc;aga, and a daring Yarraba named Ogston,
+instantly charged their pieces&mdash;the former of these had a
+quantity of ball cartridges, loose powder, and ounce and
+pistol balls, in a kind of gray worsted cap. He must have
+provided himself with these before the mutiny. How he
+became possessed of them, especially the pistol balls, I
+never could learn; probably he was supplied by his unmilitary
+countrymen; pistol balls are never given to infantry.
+Previous to this D&acirc;aga and three others made a rush at
+the regimental store-room, in which was deposited a quantity
+of powder. An old African soldier, named Charles Dixon,
+interfered to stop them, on which Maurice Ogston, the
+Yarraba chief, who had armed himself with a sergeant's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>
+sword, cut down the faithful African. When down, D&acirc;aga
+said in English, 'Ah, you old soldier, you knock down.'
+Dixon was not D&acirc;aga's countryman, hence he could not
+speak to him in his own language. The Paupau then
+levelled his musket and shot the fallen soldier, who groaned
+and died. The war-yells, or rather growls, of the Paupaus
+and Yarrabas now became awfully thrilling as they helped
+themselves to cartridges; most of them were fortunately
+blank, or without ball. Never was a premeditated mutiny
+so wild and ill-planned. Their chief, D&acirc;aga, and Ogston,
+seem to have had little command of the subordinates, and
+the whole acted more like a set of wild beasts who had
+broken their cages, than men resolved on war.</p>
+
+<p>"At this period, had a rush been made at the officers'
+quarters by one half (they were more than 200 in number),
+and the other half surrounded the building, not one could
+have escaped. Instead of this they continued to shout their
+war-song, and howl their war-notes; they loaded their
+pieces with ball cartridge or blank cartridge and small
+stones, and commenced firing at the long range of white
+buildings in which Colonel Bush and his officers slept.
+They wasted so much ammunition on this useless display
+of fury that the buildings were completely riddled. A
+few of the old soldiers opposed them and were wounded,
+but it fortunately happened that they were, to an inconceivable
+degree, ignorant of the right use of fire-arms&mdash;holding
+their muskets in their hands when they discharged them,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>
+without allowing the butt-end to rest against their shoulders
+or any part of their bodies.<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> This fact accounts for the
+comparatively little mischief they did in proportion to the
+quantity of ammunition thrown away.</p>
+
+<p>"The officers<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> and sergeant-major<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> escaped at the back
+of the building, while Colonel Bush and Adjutant Bentley
+came down a little hill. The colonel commanded the
+mutineers to lay down their arms, and was answered by
+an irregular discharge of balls, which rattled amongst the
+leaves of a tree under which he and the adjutant were
+standing. On this Colonel Bush desired Mr. Bentley to
+make the best of his way to St. James's Barracks<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> for all
+the disposable force of the 89th Regiment. The officers
+made good their retreat, and the adjutant got into the
+stable where his horse was. He saddled and bridled the
+animal while the shots were coming into the stable, without
+either man or beast getting injured. The officer mounted,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>
+but had to make his way through the mutineers before he
+could get into San Josef, the barracks standing on an
+eminence above the little town. On seeing the adjutant
+mounted, the mutineers set up a thrilling howl, and commenced
+firing at him. He discerned the gigantic figure
+of D&acirc;aga (alias Donald Stewart), with his musket at the
+trail: he spurred his horse through the midst of them;
+they were grouped, but not in line. On looking back he
+saw D&acirc;aga aiming at him; he stooped his head beside his
+horse's neck, and effectually sheltered himself from about
+fifty shots aimed at him. In this position he rode furiously
+down a steep hill leading from the barracks to the church,
+and was out of danger. His escape appears extraordinary:
+but he got safe to town, and thence to St. James's, and
+in a short time, considering it is eleven miles distant, brought
+out a strong detachment of European troops; these, however,
+did not arrive till the affair was over.</p>
+
+<p>"In the meantime a part of the officers' quarters was
+bravely defended by two old African soldiers, Sergeant Merry
+and Corporal Plague. The latter stood in the gallery near
+the room in which were the colours; he was ineffectually
+fired at by some hundreds, yet he kept his post, shot two
+of the mutineers, and, it is said, wounded a third. Such is
+the difference between a man acquainted with the use of
+fire-arms and those who handle them as mops are held.</p>
+
+<p>"In the meantime Colonel Bush got to a police station
+above the barracks, and got muskets and a few cartridges<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>
+from a discharged African soldier who was in the police
+establishment. Being joined by the policeman, Corporal
+Craven, and Ensign Pogson, they concealed themselves on
+an eminence above, and, as the mutineers (about 100 in
+number) approached, the fire of muskets opened on them
+from the little ambush. The little party fired separately,
+loading as fast as they discharged their pieces; they succeeded
+in making the mutineers change their route.</p>
+
+<p>"It is wonderful what little courage the savages in general
+showed against the colonel and his little party, who absolutely
+beat them, although but a twenty-fifth of their number, and
+at their own tactics, <i>i.e.</i> bush fighting.</p>
+
+<p>"A body of mutineers now made towards the road to
+Maraccas, when the colonel and his three assistants contrived
+to get behind a silk-cotton tree, and recommenced firing on
+them. The Africans hesitated, and set forward, when the
+little party continued to fire on them; they set up a yell,
+and retreated down the hill.</p>
+
+<p>"A part of the mutineers now concealed themselves in
+the bushes about San Josef Barracks. These men, after
+the affair was over, joined Colonel Bush, and, with a mixture
+of cunning and effrontery, smiled as though nothing had
+happened, and as though they were glad to see him;
+although, in general, they each had several shirts and pairs
+of trousers on, preparatory for a start to Guinea, by way of
+Band de l'Est.</p>
+
+<p>"In the meantime the San Josef militia were assembled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>
+to the number of forty. Major Giuseppi and Captain and
+Adjutant Rousseau, of the second division of militia forces,
+took command of them. They were in want of flints,
+powder, and balls; to obtain these they were obliged to
+break open a merchant's store; however, the adjutant so
+judiciously distributed his little force as to hinder the
+mutineers from entering the town or obtaining access to
+the militia arsenal, wherein there was a quantity of arms.
+Major Chadds and several old African soldiers joined the
+militia, and were by them supplied with arms.</p>
+
+<p>"A good deal of skirmishing occurred between the militia
+and detached parties of the mutineers, which uniformly ended
+in the defeat of the latter. At length D&acirc;aga appeared to
+the right of a party of six at the entrance of the town; they
+were challenged by the militia, and the mutineers fired on
+them, but without effect. Only two of the militia returned
+the fire, when all but D&acirc;aga fled. He was deliberately
+reloading his piece, when a militia-man, named Edmond
+Luce, leaped on the gigantic chief, who would have easily
+beat him off, although the former was a strong young man
+of colour, but D&acirc;aga would not let go his gun; and, in
+common with all the mutineers, he seemed to have no idea
+of the use of the bayonet. D&acirc;aga was dragging the militia-man
+away, when Adjutant Rousseau came to his assistance,
+and placed a sword to D&acirc;aga's breast. Doctor Tardy and
+several others rushed on the tall negro, who was soon, by
+the united efforts of several, thrown down and secured. It<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>
+was at this period that he repeatedly exclaimed, while he
+bit his own shoulder, 'The first white man I catch after this
+I will eat him.'</p>
+
+<p>"Meanwhile about sixteen of the mutineers, led by the
+daring Ogston, took the road to Arima, in order, as they
+said, to commence their march to Guinea; but fortunately
+the militia of that village, composed principally of Spaniards,
+Indians, and Sambos, assembled. A few of these met
+them and stopped their march. A kind of parley (if intercourse
+carried on by signs could be so called) was carried
+on between the parties. The mutineers made signs that
+they wished to go forward, while the few militia-men endeavoured
+to detain them, expecting a reinforcement momently.
+After a time the militia agreed to allow them to
+approach the town; as they were advancing they were met
+by the Commandant, Martin Sorzano, Esq., with sixteen
+more militia-men. The Commandant judged it imprudent
+to allow the Africans to enter the town with their muskets
+full-cocked, and poised ready to fire. An interpreter was
+now procured, and the mutineers were told that if they would
+retire to their barracks the gentlemen present would intercede
+for their pardon. The negroes refused to accede to these
+terms; and while the interpreter was addressing some, the
+rest tried to push forward. Some of the militia opposed
+them by holding their muskets in a horizontal position,
+on which one of the mutineers fired, and the militia returned
+the fire. A m&ecirc;l&eacute;e commenced, in which fourteen mutineers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>
+were killed and wounded. The fire of the Africans produced
+little effect: they soon took to flight amid the woods which
+flanked the road. Twenty-eight of them were taken, amongst
+whom was the Yarraba chief, Ogston. Six had been killed,
+and six committed suicide by strangling and hanging themselves
+in the woods. Only one man was wounded among
+the militia, and he but slightly, from a small stone fired from
+a musket of one of the Yarrabas.</p>
+
+<p>"The quantity of ammunition expended by the mutineers,
+and the comparatively little mischief done by them, was
+truly astonishing. It shows how little they understood the
+use of fire-arms. Dixon was killed, and several of the old
+African soldiers were wounded, but not one of the officers
+was in the slightest degree hurt.</p>
+
+<p>"I have never been able to get a correct account of the
+number of lives this wild mutiny cost, but believe it was
+not less than forty, including those slain by the militia
+at Arima, those shot at San Josef, those who died of
+their wounds (and most of the wounded men died), the six
+who committed suicide, the three who were shot by sentence
+of the court-martial, and one who was shot while endeavouring
+to escape (Satchell).</p>
+
+<p>"A good-looking young man, named Torrens, was brought
+as prisoner to the presence of Colonel Bush. The colonel
+wished to speak to him, and desired his guards to liberate
+him; on which the young savage shook his sleeve, in which
+was a concealed razor, made a rush at the colonel, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>
+nearly succeeded in cutting his throat. He slashed the
+razor in all directions until he made an opening; he rushed
+through this: and notwithstanding that he was fired at,
+and, I believe, wounded, he effected his escape, was subsequently
+retaken, and again made his escape with Satchell,
+who after this was shot by a policeman.</p>
+
+<p>"Torrens was retaken, tried, and recommended to mercy.
+Of this man's fate I am unable to speak, not knowing how
+far the recommendation to mercy was attended to.<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> In
+appearance he seemed the mildest and best-looking of the
+mutineers, but his conduct was the most ferocious of any.
+The whole of the mutineers were captured within one week
+of the mutiny, save this man, who was taken a month after.</p>
+
+<p>"On the 19th of July, Donald Stewart, otherwise D&acirc;aga,
+was brought to a court-martial. On the 21st, William
+Satchell was tried. On the 22nd, a court-martial was held
+on Edward Coffin; and on the 24th one was held on the
+Yarraba chief, Maurice Ogston, whose country name was,
+I believe, Mawee. Torrens was tried on the 29th.</p>
+
+<p>"The sentences of these courts-martial were unknown
+until the 14th of August, having been sent to Barbados in
+order to be submitted to the Commander-in-Chief. Lieutenant-General
+Whittingham, who approved of the decision
+of the courts, which was that Donald Stewart (D&acirc;aga),
+Maurice Ogston, and Edward Coffin, should suffer death<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>
+by being shot; and that William Satchell should be transported
+beyond seas during the term of his natural life. I
+am unacquainted with the sentence of Torrens.</p>
+
+<p>"Donald Stewart, Maurice Ogston, and Edward Coffin
+were executed on the 16th of August, 1837, at San Josef
+Barracks. Nothing seemed to have been neglected which
+could render the execution solemn and impressive; the
+scenery and the weather gave additional awe to the melancholy
+proceedings. Fronting the little eminence where the
+prisoners were shot was the scene where their ill-concerted
+mutiny commenced. To the right stood the long range of
+building on which they had expended much of their ammunition
+for the purpose of destroying their officers. The rest
+of the panorama was made up of an immense view of forest
+below them, and upright masses of mountains above them.
+Over these, heavy bodies of mist were slowly sailing, giving
+a sombre appearance to the primeval woods which, in
+general, covered both mountains and plains. The atmosphere
+indicated an inter-tropical morning during the rainy
+season, and the sun shone resplendently between dense
+columns of clouds.</p>
+
+<p>"At half-past seven o'clock the condemned men asked
+to be allowed to eat a hearty meal, as they said persons
+about to be executed in Guinea were always indulged with
+a good repast. It is remarkable that these unhappy creatures
+ate most voraciously, even while they were being brought
+out of their cell for execution.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"A little before the mournful procession commenced, the
+condemned men were dressed from head to foot in white
+habiliments trimmed with black; their arms were bound
+with cords. This is not usual in military executions, but
+was deemed necessary on the present occasion. An attempt
+to escape on the part of the condemned would have been
+productive of much confusion, and was properly guarded
+against.</p>
+
+<p>"The condemned men displayed no unmanly fear. On
+the contrary, they steadily kept step to the Dead March
+which the band played; yet the certainty of death threw
+a cadaverous and ghastly hue over their black features,
+while their singular and appropriate costume, and the three
+coffins being borne before them, altogether rendered it a
+frightful picture; hence it was not to be wondered at that
+two European soldiers fainted.</p>
+
+<p>"The mutineers marched abreast. The tall form and
+horrid looks of D&acirc;aga were almost appalling. The looks
+of Ogston were sullen, calm, and determined; those of Coffin
+seemed to indicate resignation.</p>
+
+<p>"At eight o'clock they arrived at the spot where three
+graves were dug; here their coffins were deposited. The
+condemned men were made to face to westward; three
+sides of a hollow square were formed, flanked on one side
+by a detachment of the 89th Regiment and a party of
+artillery, while the recruits, many of whom shared the guilt
+of the culprits, were appropriately placed in the line opposite<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>
+them. The firing party were a little in advance of the
+recruits.</p>
+
+<p>"The sentence of the courts-martial and other necessary
+documents having been read by the fort adjutant, Mr.
+Meehan, the chaplain of the forces, read some prayers
+appropriated for these melancholy occasions. The clergyman
+then shook hands with the three men about to be sent
+into another state of existence. D&acirc;aga and Ogston coolly
+gave their hands; Coffin wrang the chaplain's hand affectionately,
+saying, in tolerable English, 'I am now done
+with the world.'</p>
+
+<p>"The arms of the condemned men, as has been before
+stated, were bound, but in such a manner as to allow them
+to bring their hands to their heads. Their nightcaps were
+drawn over their eyes. Coffin allowed his to remain, but
+Ogston and D&acirc;aga pushed theirs up again. The former did
+this calmly; the latter showed great wrath, seeming to think
+himself insulted; and his deep, metallic voice sounded in anger
+above that of the provost-marshal, as the latter gave the
+words, 'Ready! present!' But at this instant his vociferous
+daring forsook him. As the men levelled their muskets at
+him, with inconceivable rapidity he sprang bodily round, still
+preserving his squatting posture, and received the fire from
+behind; while the less noisy, but more brave, Ogston, looked
+the firing-party full in the face as they discharged their fatal
+volley.</p>
+
+<p>"In one instant all three fell dead, almost all the balls of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>
+the firing party having taken effect.<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> The savage appearance
+and manner of D&acirc;aga excited awe. Admiration was felt
+for the calm bravery of Ogston, while Edward Coffin's fate
+excited commiseration.</p>
+
+<p>"There were many spectators of this dreadful scene, and
+amongst others a great concourse of negroes. Most of these
+expressed their hopes that after this terrible example the
+recruits would make good soldiers."</p>
+
+<p>The foregoing account is identical with that in the regimental
+records, with the exception that the Yorubas are not
+in the latter credited with so large a share in the mutiny.
+According to Colonel Bush's account, the greater majority of
+the mutineers were Popos, Congos, and Eboes; the Yorubas
+who took part in it being very few in number. On the other
+hand, both Sergeant Merry and Corporal Plague, who defended
+the officers' quarters against the recruits, were Yorubas.</p>
+
+<p>It is, perhaps, needless to add, that after this no more
+wholesale draftings of slaves into the regiment took place.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span></p>
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> Now spelt Popos.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> The Yorubas are a warlike Mohammedan tribe living in and around
+Lagos. The Houssa Constabulary is largely recruited from them.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> This is the manner in which West African savages usually fire, and
+it is dictated by motives of sound prudence, for the Birmingham muskets
+with which they are supplied by British traders are so unsafe (the barrel
+not uncommonly being made of old iron piping), and the charges of
+powder used are so immense, that the bursting of a piece is looked upon
+as an ordinary occurrence; and when firing they like to keep their
+muskets as far removed from their bodies as possible. The majority of
+the mutineers fired in this manner, because, having been less than three
+weeks in the regiment, they had not yet been drilled with arms.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> All young ensigns just arrived from England to join the regiment.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> Sergeant-Major D. Cantrell. He had been the first to give the
+alarm.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> Eleven miles distant from San Josef.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> Torrens was sentenced to death, but, at the intercession of Colonel
+Bush, the sentence was commuted to imprisonment for life.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> The firing party was furnished by the 1st West India Regiment.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h3>
+
+<p class="center">THE PIRARA EXPEDITION, 1842&mdash;CHANGES IN THE WEST
+AFRICAN GARRISONS&mdash;THE APPOLLONIA EXPEDITION, 1848.</p>
+
+
+<p>On the 7th of December, 1837, the head-quarters of
+the 1st West India Regiment embarked at Trinidad for
+St. Lucia, leaving one company at St. James' in the
+former island; and, after a detention of ten days in
+quarantine at Pigeon Island, landed on the 24th of December
+at Gros Islet, St. Lucia, and occupied Morne Fortune
+Barracks and Fort. The detachments were stationed in
+Tobago, Demerara, and St. Vincent.</p>
+
+<p>In the early part of the year 1839, the strength of the
+regiment being very much above its establishment, owing
+to the large drafts of recruits from Sierra Leone, Lieutenant-General
+Sir S.F. Whittingham issued an order, dated
+February 1st, authorising an augmentation to twelve
+companies. On the 1st of July of the same year the regiment
+was further increased to thirteen companies, it being notified
+at the same time that it was to be considered only a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span>
+temporary arrangement, as the surplus over 1000 men
+were eventually to form another corps.</p>
+
+<p>On December 7th, 1839, the head-quarters of the
+regiment proceeded from St. Lucia to Demerara, to relieve
+the 76th Regiment, which was suffering heavily from the
+prevailing epidemic of yellow fever, arriving at the latter
+colony, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Capadose,
+on December 13th. The distribution of the regiment was
+then: Head-quarters and 2 companies at Demerara, 3
+companies at Barbados, 1 at Trinidad, 1 at Tobago, 1 at
+St. Lucia, 1 at St. Vincent, 1 at Grenada, 1 at Dominica,
+and 1 at Antigua.</p>
+
+<p>By Horse Guards order of the 1st of July, 1840, the
+Royal African Corps and the three supernumerary companies
+of the 1st West India Regiment were formed into one corps,
+and designated the 3rd West India Regiment; the 1st West
+India Regiment remaining at the ordinary establishment
+of ten companies.</p>
+
+<p>New colours were presented to the regiment at Demerara
+on May 24th, 1841.</p>
+
+<p>In September and October of the same year a violent
+epidemic of yellow fever broke out in Demerara, and the
+mortality amongst the men of the 52nd Regiment was so
+alarming that that corps was moved to Berbice, and the
+entire duties of the garrison fell upon the 1st West India
+Regiment. The whole of the officers of the 52nd Regiment
+occupying the west wing of the Georgetown Barracks fell<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>
+victims to this dreadful scourge, as did Captain French and
+Lieutenants de Winton and Archdale of the 1st West India
+Regiment.</p>
+
+<p>On the 11th of January, 1842, a detachment of the
+regiment, consisting of two lieutenants (Bingham and
+Wieburg), two sergeants and twenty-seven rank and file, left
+Georgetown, Demerara, by direction of the Under-Secretary
+of State for the Colonies (Lord John Russell), to proceed to
+Pirara, on the south-western frontier of British Guiana, and
+expel a party of Brazilians who had for some time encroached
+on British territory. The country through which the party
+had to pass was unexplored and almost unknown, and the
+duties were most arduous. It was intended to reach Pirara
+by ascending the Essequibo and Rypumani Rivers, and, to
+effect this, a particular description of boat, locally called
+<i>corials</i>, had to be built, each capable of holding eight men,
+including the Indians who paddled. During the journey
+seventy-three rapids or falls were crossed, in most instances
+the <i>corials</i> being unladen and the stores carried above the
+falls; and it was not until February 12th that Lieutenant
+Bingham's party reached a point on the Rypumani, eleven
+miles from Pirara. Next day they took possession of the
+village of Pirara, which they found occupied by a detachment
+of Brazilian troops who had been quietly sent over the
+border. Having selected and fortified a position, and raised
+temporary shelter for his men, Lieutenant Bingham&mdash;as
+the Brazilian commander declined to withdraw&mdash;despatched<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>
+Lieutenant Bush, 1st West India Regiment, who had accompanied
+the party as a volunteer, to Georgetown for further
+instructions. That officer arrived there on March 11th, and
+on April 19th he again started with a small reinforcement
+under Ensign Stewart. This second party reached Pirara
+on May 21st, and found the detachment all well, but half-starved,
+as the Brazilians refused to sell them anything, and
+the stores had been some time exhausted. However, on
+the arrival of the reinforcement the Brazilian troops considered
+it advisable to withdraw across the frontier; and,
+with the exception of a few occasional night forays made
+by half-breeds and Indians in the pay of the Brazilians, the
+detachment met with no further opposition.</p>
+
+<p>In 1843 it was decided to make an alteration in the
+system under which the West Coast of Africa was continuously
+garrisoned by the 3rd West India Regiment, and to remove
+that corps to the West Indies. The West African garrisons
+were to be composed of two companies from each of the
+three West India regiments; and, in accordance with this
+scheme, two companies of the 1st West India Regiment,
+under Captain L.S. O'Connor, embarked at Barbados for
+Sierra Leone on March 22nd, 1843, arriving at the latter
+place in the month of May of the same year. Early in 1844
+the 3rd West India Regiment left West Africa for the
+Bahamas, and the two companies of the 1st West India
+Regiment, with one of the 3rd West India Regiment, composed
+the garrison of Sierra Leone, while that of the Gambia<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span>
+consisted of two companies of the 2nd West India Regiment
+and one of the 3rd. This arrangement was almost at once
+upset by the necessity of furnishing a garrison for the Gold
+Coast, over which the Crown had, in 1843, resumed jurisdiction,
+as it was suspected that the Government of the
+merchants, which had been established at Cape Coast
+Castle since 1831, connived at the maintenance of the slave
+trade; and, in January, 1844, one captain, two subalterns, and
+100 men of the 1st West India Regiment left Sierra Leone
+for the Gold Coast.</p>
+
+<p>In the same year, two companies of the regiment, under
+the command of Captain Robeson, proceeded from Demerara
+to Jamaica, disembarking there on June 1st. This was the
+first occasion on which any portion of the corps was
+stationed in that island.</p>
+
+<p>On the 25th of February, 1845, the head-quarters, with
+the Grenadier and No. 8 Companies, embarked at Demerara
+in the <i>Princess Royal</i> transport, and sailed for Jamaica, to
+relieve the head-quarters of the 2nd West India Regiment
+ordered to Nassau, disembarking at Port Royal on March 6th.
+The distribution of the regiment was then as follows: The
+Grenadier, No. 1, No. 8, and the Light Company in Jamaica,<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a>
+No. 5 at Demerara, No. 2 at Trinidad, No. 3 at Dominica,
+No. 6 at Grenada, No. 4 at Sierra Leone, and No. 7 at Cape<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>
+Coast Castle. During the last six months of this year (1845)
+over 300 recruits joined the head-quarters from West Africa.</p>
+
+<p>In 1846, No. 5 Company was removed from Demerara
+to Tobago, and the detachments at Dominica and Grenada
+rejoined head-quarters in Jamaica, where No. 2 and No. 5
+Companies also rejoined on the 16th of December, 1847.<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a></p>
+
+<p>In the beginning of the year 1848, the King of Appollonia,
+a state on the western frontier of the Gold Coast Colony,
+closed the roads leading to Cape Coast Castle, stopped all
+trade, and maltreated several British subjects. Messengers
+were sent to him by the Lieutenant-Governor demanding
+explanation and redress, with no other result than the
+detention and imprisonment of the messengers; and matters
+were at last brought to a crisis by the murder of the French
+Commandant of Assinee and his boat's crew, the pillaging
+of Dutch canoes at Axim, and the capture of some Dutch
+subjects.</p>
+
+<p>The only force Mr. Winniett, the Lieutenant-Governor
+of the Gold Coast, had at his disposal was No. 7 Company
+of the 1st West India Regiment, then commanded by Lieutenant
+E.H. Bingham; but, with the assistance of some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>
+influential merchants, he succeeded in raising an expeditionary
+force of from 4000 to 5000 natives. On the 24th of
+March, 1848, the Lieutenant-Governor marched, with half
+the native levies and the company of the 1st West India
+Regiment, from Cape Coast Castle to the then Dutch settlement
+of Axim, 120 miles distant from Cape Coast and
+about twenty miles from Atemboo, or Attaambu, the King
+of Appollonia's chief town and residence. By the 3rd of
+April the whole force was concentrated at Axim, and on
+the 6th, at 5 a.m., it moved onwards towards Appollonia.</p>
+
+<p>The country consisting of impenetrable forest, the force
+had to march from Axim to Appollonia along the sandy
+beach; and there were the mouths of two considerable rivers
+to be crossed. The first river, the Ancobra, was reached at
+6 a.m.; and, although a very heavy sea was breaking on the
+bar, the passage of the stream was commenced in canoes,
+which had been brought from Axim for that purpose. The
+first detachment consisted of the native allies, and, as soon
+as the canoes gained mid-stream, several hundred armed
+Appollonians appeared on the further bank, and opened fire
+on them as they came within range. Several natives were
+struck, and three of the canoes being upset the remainder
+returned to the bank they had just left.</p>
+
+<p>It being found impracticable to induce the native auxiliaries
+to make a further attempt to force the passage, this duty
+devolved upon the company of the 1st West India Regiment,
+which the Lieutenant-Governor had originally intended holding<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>
+in reserve; and, under cover of a fire from two rocket-troughs,
+it crossed the river in the canoes, driving the Appollonians,
+in spite of a smart resistance, into the bush. The
+remainder of the force then passed over, several natives
+being drowned in the surf during the passage; and at 10 a.m.
+they pushed on, reaching the Appollonian village of Asantah
+about 1 p.m. This place was found to be deserted, and
+here the force encamped for the night.</p>
+
+<p>Next morning at daybreak a further advance was made,
+and about 6 a.m. the Abmoussa River&mdash;or, rather, Lagoon&mdash;was
+reached. A very heavy and dangerous surf was
+breaking on the bar, and the dense bush on the further bank,
+which grew close down to the water's edge, was observed to
+be full of armed men.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<img src="images/fp215x.jpg" style="width: 80%;" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>The company of the 1st West India Regiment was again
+called upon to lead the way, and the men, embarking in the
+canoes, paddled out into the breakers. A continued and
+furious fusillade was at once opened by the concealed enemy
+upon the men, who were unable to reply, as their attention
+was entirely occupied in keeping the canoes from capsizing.
+Fortunately, the Appollonians fired wildly, and their powder
+was of bad quality; for, although almost every man of the
+detachment was struck by slugs or fragments of iron, only
+eleven were wounded, and those slightly. A canoe was,
+however, unhappily upset, and two men beaten against the
+rocks and drowned. The company formed up on landing,
+and advanced steadily through the bush against the enemy,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>
+who offered but a feeble resistance and soon retired altogether.
+One man was shot dead while stepping ashore, an ambushed
+native firing at him at the distance of a few feet only. The
+native allies now passed over, and the march was continued.
+Parties of the enemy were observed hovering round the flanks,
+but no attack was made, and at 3 p.m. a halt was ordered
+at the village of Barcoo.</p>
+
+<p>The force was here divided into two parts, of which one,
+consisting entirely of natives, was to move through the bush
+and prevent the king escaping inland; while the other, consisting
+of the company of the 1st West India Regiment with
+the remainder of the native allies, was to march along the
+beach and attack the town in front. This movement would
+probably have been successful, had the division of natives
+performed the duty allotted to them; but, being fired upon
+by some ambushed Appollonians, they refused to proceed
+further, and when the company of the 1st West India
+Regiment reached Atemboo, they found it entirely deserted.</p>
+
+<p>The success which had so far attended the expedition,
+however, produced such an effect upon the native mind that,
+on March 9th, the principal chiefs of Appollonia came in
+to Atemboo to make submission; and, as it was reported
+that the king was in hiding in the immediate neighbourhood,
+parties were sent out in search of him. On the 18th his
+wives and family were captured to the westward, near
+the old fort, and the day following, a party of the 1st West
+India Regiment brought in a body of 121 men, all heavily<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>
+manacled with irons weighing from fifty to ninety pounds,
+and who had been intended to be sacrificed at an approaching
+"custom." Two of these men thus unexpectedly saved
+from a horrible death volunteered to point out where the
+king was concealed, and some men of the regiment being
+sent out under their guidance, succeeded in capturing
+him in his hiding-place, in the midst of a mangrove
+swamp.</p>
+
+<p>The object of the expedition being accomplished by
+the capture of the king, the force moved back to Axim, on
+the 21st of March, and, on the evening of the same day, the
+Lieutenant-Governor, with the captive king and the company
+of the 1st West India Regiment, embarked on board the
+merchant brig <i>Governor</i>, arriving at Cape Coast Castle on
+the 24th.</p>
+
+<p>Lieutenant-Governor Winniett in his despatch says: "I
+cannot speak too highly of the detachment of the 1st West
+India Regiment. During its march of more than 120 miles,
+sometimes through very bad roads, and under the powerful
+rays of the sun, the crossing of five rivers, and other
+circumstances of disadvantage, no complaints were heard,
+neither was a man seen in a state of intoxication during
+the campaign. Mr. Bingham, the officer commanding the
+detachment, was most active in executing all orders entrusted
+to his care, and I have great pleasure in bringing
+him under your Lordship's notice."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> The companies in Jamaica were detached thus: No. 1, No. 8, and
+Grenadier Company at Up Park Camp. The Light Company between
+Port Antonio and Montego Bay.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> The distribution in Jamaica then was:
+</p>
+<p>
+Grenadier, Light, No. 2, and No. 5 Companies at Up Park Camp.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11.5em;">No. 1, at Spanish Town.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11.5em;">No. 8, at Port Royal.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11.5em;">No. 3, at Falmouth&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;}&nbsp;To occupy posts vacated</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11.5em;">No. 6, at Lucea&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;}&nbsp; &nbsp;  by the 38th Regiment.</span><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 60%;">
+<img src="images/fp219x.jpg" style="width: 60%;" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX.</h3>
+
+<p class="center">INDIAN DISTURBANCES IN HONDURAS, 1848-9&mdash;THE ESCORT
+TO COOMASSIE, 1848&mdash;THE SHERBRO EXPEDITION, 1849&mdash;ESCORT
+TO RIO NUNEZ, 1850.</p>
+
+
+<p>While No. 7 Company had thus been engaged on the
+Gold Coast, the quinquennial relief for the West African
+garrisons had sailed from the West Indies, No. 2 and
+No. 5 Companies, 1st West India Regiment, having embarked
+at Jamaica on February 21st, 1848. They arrived
+at Sierra Leone in April, and No. 5 Company being there
+landed to relieve No. 4, No. 2 proceeded to Cape Coast
+Castle to relieve No. 7. The two relieved companies
+rejoined the head-quarters at Jamaica on July 2nd, 1848.
+No. 8 Company having been sent to Nassau in February,
+and the light company in July, while No. 1 had been
+despatched to Honduras in May, the distribution of the
+regiment in August, 1848, was as follows: 2 companies
+in West Africa, 2 at Nassau, 1 in Honduras, and 5 in
+Jamaica.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>No. 1 Company had been sent to Honduras in reply to
+an urgent appeal for a reinforcement from the Honduras
+Government, that colony being threatened with the horrors
+of an Indian war. In 1847 a war broke out between the
+Yucatecans and the Indians, and caused much anxiety to
+the British colony, whose strict neutrality satisfied neither
+of the contending parties. The Yucatecans, being driven
+out of the southern portion of Yucatan, took refuge in our
+territory, and raids and reprisals were frequent between them
+and the Santa Cruz Indians. In 1848 the town of Bacalar,
+situated on the shores of a lake, about twenty miles from
+the northern frontier of British Honduras, was captured by
+the Indians, and the fugitives, streaming into the colony,
+spread alarm amongst the colonists. It was at this time
+that reinforcements were applied for, and No. 1 Company,
+under Major Luke Smyth O'Connor, despatched from
+Jamaica.</p>
+
+<p>On arriving at Belize the company was at once moved up
+to the Hondo, and towards the end of May a portion of it
+proceeded on escort duty with a British commissioner to
+Bacalar to endeavour to arrange a peace. That town had
+been the scene of the most frightful atrocities, and the streets
+were found strewn with the dead bodies of men, women, and
+children. Negotiations failing, the escort returned to the
+Hondo.</p>
+
+<p>Collisions now became frequent between the Yucatecans
+and the Indians, and our northern border became a rallying<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>
+point for both sides. The small British force was continually
+harassed by alarms and forced marches taken to prevent
+violation of British territory, until towards the close of 1848,
+it being rumoured that the Indians intended to cross the
+Hondo and sack Belize, it was withdrawn from the north
+for the protection of that town. Additional reinforcements
+were now asked for, and on March 29th, 1849, No. 4
+Company, under Captain Meehan, embarked at Jamaica for
+Honduras.</p>
+
+<p>In January, 1849, No. 1 Company had again advanced to
+the Hondo, and were within a few miles of Chac Creek
+on that river, when the sanguinary struggle between the
+Yucatecans and Indians took place. Hearing the sound of
+firing the troops marched to the spot, and finding the Indians
+employed in roasting the dead bodies of the defeated Yucatecans,
+were only with the utmost difficulty restrained from
+attacking them. But the most strict orders had been given
+for the preservation of British neutrality, and nothing could
+be done. Indeed, the Indians were themselves well aware of
+the advantages which they derived from our neutrality, and
+were exceedingly careful not to come into contact with the
+British; even going so far as on one occasion to shoot a
+chief and flog six men, who had been accused of committing
+an outrage across the Hondo.</p>
+
+<p>In March, 1849, Major O'Connor visited Bacalar to
+endeavour to make peace, but without success; and the two
+companies of the regiment remained stationed on the Hondo,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>
+amid the same scenes of horror, until February, 1852, when
+they rejoined head-quarters at Jamaica.</p>
+
+<p>To return to the companies in West Africa. In
+September, 1848, Mr. Winniett, the Lieutenant-Governor of
+the Gold Coast, received instructions from the Secretary of
+State for the Colonies to proceed on a mission to Coomassie,
+the capital of the Ashanti kingdom, for the purpose of
+establishing friendly relations between Great Britain and
+that power. Captain Powell, 1st West India Regiment, was
+then in command of No. 2 Company, stationed at Cape
+Coast Castle, and he, with forty-eight men of the regiment,
+accompanied the Lieutenant-Governor as an escort.</p>
+
+<p>The mission left Cape Coast Castle on the 28th of September,
+1848, crossed the River Prah on October 4th, and on
+the 8th reached the village of Karsi, about two miles from
+Coomassie. There the party halted to prepare for the entry
+into the capital, and, at noon, the King's messengers having
+informed them that everything was in readiness for their
+reception, they proceeded towards Coomassie.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Powell says: "At a distance of about a mile
+from the town, a party of messengers with gold-handled
+swords of office, arrived with the king's compliments. After
+halting for a short time, we proceeded to the entrance of the
+first street, and then formed in order of procession, the escort
+leading. Presently a party of the king's linguists, with four
+large state umbrellas, ensigns of chieftainship, came up to
+request us to halt for a few minutes under the shade of a large<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>
+banyan tree in the street, to give the king a little more time
+to prepare to receive us. After a brief delay of about twenty
+minutes, during which a large party of the king's soldiers
+fired a salute about a hundred yards distant from us, we
+moved on to the market-place, where the king and his chiefs
+were seated under their large umbrellas, according to the
+custom of the country on the reception of strangers of distinction.
+They, with their numerous captains and attendants
+occupied three sides of a large square, and formed a continuous
+line about 600 yards in length, and about ten yards
+in depth. After we had passed along about three-fourths of
+the line, we found the king surrounded by about twenty
+officers of his household, and a large number of messengers
+with their gold-handled swords and canes of office. Several
+very large umbrellas, consisting of silk velvet of different
+colours, shaded him and his suite from the sun. These
+umbrellas were surmounted by rude images, representing
+birds and beasts, overlaid with gold; the king's chair
+was richly decorated with gold; and the display of golden
+ornaments about his own person and those of his suite
+was most magnificent. The lumps of gold adorning the
+wrists of the King's attendants, and many of the principal
+chiefs, were so large that they must have been quite fatiguing
+to the wearers. We occupied about an hour in moving in
+procession from the banyan tree, where we had rested on
+entering the town, to the end of the line prepared for our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>
+reception; after which we proceeded to an open space at
+some distance from the market-place, and there took our
+seats. At 3.15 p.m. the chiefs commenced moving in procession
+before us, and this lasted until 6 p.m. Those whom
+we had first saluted in the market-place passed us first. Each
+chief was preceded by his band of rude music, consisting
+chiefly of drums and horns, followed by a body of soldiers
+under arms, and shaded by a large umbrella. The king was
+preceded by many of the officers of his household, and his
+messengers with the gold-handled swords, etc. etc. When he
+came opposite the governor, and received our military salute,
+he stopped, and approaching him took him cordially by the
+hand. After the king, other chiefs, and a large body of
+troops, passed in due order; and at 6 p.m. the ceremony
+closed."</p>
+
+<p>At 9.30 a.m. on October 26th, 1848, the mission left
+Coomassie on its return journey to the coast, and arrived at
+Cape Coast Castle on November 4th. This was the first
+occasion on which a British Governor, or a body of regular
+troops, had ever visited Coomassie.</p>
+
+<p>In March, 1849, a further change took place in the
+distribution of the regiment in the West Indies, No. 7
+Company, under Captain R. Hughes, proceeding to Nassau
+from Jamaica. There were thus the head-quarters and
+3 companies in Jamaica, 3 in Nassau, 2 in Honduras,
+and 2 in West Africa.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In June, 1849; the Acting Governor of Sierra Leone
+found that the state of affairs in Sherbro, a low-lying tract
+of country some seventy-five miles to the southward of
+Sierra Leone, imperatively called upon the British to take
+steps for putting an end to the war which for a long time
+had been carried on between the rival chiefs of the Caulker
+family, and had utterly paralysed trade. H.M.S. <i>Alert</i>
+and <i>Adelaide</i> were to be employed, but as a military force
+was required to proceed with the naval one, the under-mentioned
+force embarked in the Colonial steamer <i>Pluto</i>
+on the 18th of June: Captain Grange, Lieutenant Jones,
+and 45 men of the 1st West India Regiment, and 44 men
+of the 3rd West India Regiment. The expedition arrived
+at Yawrey Bay, at the mouth of the Cockboro River, on
+the 19th of June, when a stockaded fort was shelled and
+destroyed by the <i>Adelaide</i>. The expedition then proceeded
+to Bendoo, and after some delay, owing to the
+difficulty in inducing the chiefs to come in, returned to
+Yawrey Bay on the 29th, where negotiations were held
+and a treaty of peace between the Government and rival
+chiefs signed. The detachments rejoined at Freetown,
+Sierra Leone, on July 7th.</p>
+
+<p>On the 29th of November, 1849, Lieutenant Tunstall
+and 34 men of No. 2 Company of the 1st West India
+Regiment, left Cape Coast Castle and proceeded to Appollonia
+in canoes, in aid of the civil power. After an absence<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>
+of three weeks, during which they endured great hardships
+from exposure and fatigue, they rejoined their detachment at
+Cape Coast.</p>
+
+<p>In the beginning of the year 1850, the Rio Nunez was in
+such a disturbed state as to necessitate the Governor of Sierra
+Leone taking steps for the protection of British subjects
+there. Some influential chiefs of the river having also
+besought the intervention of the Government to restore
+peace, commissioners were appointed, and as war was
+actually being carried on at the time, a military force was
+detailed to accompany them. This force consisted of Lieutenant
+Searle and 33 men of the 1st West India Regiment
+and Captain Prendergast and 34 men of the 3rd West
+India Regiment, and it embarked in H.M.S. <i>Teazer</i> on
+the 22nd of February, 1850. The <i>Teazer</i> arrived at the Rio
+Nunez on the 24th, and proceeded up the river to Ropass,
+a town some distance up the stream, where the commissioners
+landed with the escort. A "palaver" was held at
+this place on March 1st, the rival chieftains being attended
+by large bodies of armed men, but no satisfactory arrangement
+was arrived at, and next day the commissioners and
+troops proceeded to Walkariah, a town higher up the river.
+Here matters were finally amicably settled, and the party
+returned to Sierra Leone on March 9th.</p>
+
+<p>In the West Indies there had been little change since
+1849, except that on the 13th of February, 1851, the head-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>quarters
+and two companies were removed from Up Park
+Camp to Spanish Town; and a detachment consisting of
+half a company, under Ensign Cave, was sent to Turk's
+Island in December, 1851. This latter rejoined head-quarters
+in Jamaica in January, 1852; and in February,
+No. 1 and No. 4 Companies, under Captain Robeson, rejoined
+from Honduras. In the same year, however, they
+again went on detachment: No. 1, under Captain Grange,
+to St. Christopher's, and No. 4, under Lieutenant Imes, to
+Barbados. The distribution of the regiment in September,
+1852, was thus: the Grenadier, No. 3 and No. 6 Companies,
+at Jamaica; the Light, No. 7 and No. 8 Companies, at
+Nassau, No. 4 at St. Christopher's, No. 1 at Barbados,
+No. 5 at Sierra Leone, and No. 2 at Cape Coast Castle.</p>
+
+<p>In February, 1852, Major L. Smyth O'Connor, 1st West
+India Regiment, had arrived at Sierra Leone and assumed
+command of the troops in West Africa, and finding in May
+that the company on the Gold Coast was reduced by deaths
+to only 50 rank and file, he recommended that it should
+be recalled to Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast Corps, then
+almost completed, being quite sufficient for the garrison of
+the Gold Coast.</p>
+
+<p>In September, 1852, Major O'Connor was appointed
+Governor of the Gambia, and as by Horse Guards letter
+of September 20th, 1852, "it was considered expedient that
+he should continue invested with the command of the troops<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>
+on the West Coast of Africa, and move the head-quarters
+to the Gambia," this was done in October, 1852.</p>
+
+<p>The War Office having approved of Major O'Connor's
+recommendation, No. 2 Company, 50 strong, arrived at
+Sierra Leone from Cape Coast Castle on March 20th,
+1853.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX.</h3>
+
+<p class="center">THE STORMING OF SABBAJEE, 1853&mdash;THE RELIEF OF
+CHRISTIANSBORG, 1854.</p>
+
+
+<p>On March 23rd, 1853, No. 3 and No. 6 Companies, under
+Captain A.W. Murray and Lieutenant Upton, embarked
+at Port Royal, Jamaica, in the troopship <i>Resistance</i>, for the
+relief of the West African garrisons. On May 17th, the
+<i>Resistance</i> arrived at the Gambia with four out of the six
+companies forming the relief for the detachments of the
+three West India regiments, and reinforcements being
+urgently required for the suppression of a hostile movement
+amongst the Mohammedans at Sabbajee, they were
+landed.</p>
+
+<p>On the 25th of May, Lieutenant-Colonel O'Connor prepared
+to take the field with a force of 603 men, consisting
+of 463 of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd West India Regiments,
+35 pensioners, and 105 of the Gambia Militia. A field
+battery, consisting of 2 six-pounder field-guns and 2 howitzers,
+was also organised. On the 30th May, the brigade marched<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>
+from Bathurst to Josswung, a distance of eight miles, where
+a camp was formed; and on June 1st, the force advanced
+to the attack of Sabbajee.<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a></p>
+
+<p>Sabbajee was one of the oldest Marabout towns in
+Combo, and boasted the possession of the largest mosque
+in that portion of Africa. The town, more than a mile
+in circumference, was surrounded by a strong stockade,
+double ditches, and outward abattis; and the inhabitants,
+who could muster 3000 fighting men, were, from their
+predatory and warlike habits, the dread of the surrounding
+country.</p>
+
+<p>On approaching the town, a strong body of the enemy
+was observed stationed round the mosque, while the stockade
+was lined with men. A portion of the stockade presented
+the appearance of having been removed, but had in reality
+only been laid lengthwise, so as to form a very formidable
+obstacle; while a deep trench dug in rear was crowded
+with men, who, in perfect security, could fire upon the
+advancing British, should they fall into the trap which
+had been laid for them, and attempt to carry the town
+at this point.</p>
+
+<p>The force was drawn up in three divisions: the 1st West
+India Regiment, under Captain A.W. Murray, forming the
+centre division; the 2nd West India Regiment, under Captain
+Anderson, the right; and the 3rd West India Regiment,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>
+under Captain Brabazon, the left. At about four hundred
+yards from the stockade the field battery opened fire, and with
+such precision that after a few rounds the roof of the mosque
+and those of the adjacent houses were in flames. Observing
+the disorder caused amongst the enemy by the burning of
+their sacred building, Lieutenant-Colonel O'Connor determined
+to seize the opportunity, and storm.</p>
+
+<p>The right and left divisions extended in skirmishing
+order, the centre remaining in column, and the whole advanced
+to the assault. The enemy kept up a heavy fire from
+the loop-holes of their stockade, over which the green flag
+was flying; but at the same moment the three divisions,
+which had in advancing formed a crescent, rushed at the
+stockade at three different points, and, clambering over, got
+at the enemy with the bayonet. This was more than they
+could stand, and abandoning their stockade, they fled down
+the streets and escaped through sally-ports in the rear of the
+town.</p>
+
+<p>A strong body of fanatics, however, still held the mosque,
+the fire in the roof of which they had succeeded in extinguishing,
+and, amid the beating of war-drums and cries of
+"Allah" from the priests, kept up a smart fire upon the
+troops as they entered the large central square in which the
+mosque stood. To have stormed the building would have
+involved great sacrifice of life; the men, therefore, were
+directed to occupy the houses enclosing the square, and open
+fire, until the rockets could be brought into play.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The second rocket fired whizzed through the roof of the
+mosque, the defenders of which, however, only increased
+their drumming and shouts of defiance, for they were
+secure in their belief of the local tradition, which said that
+the mosque was impregnable and indestructible. In a
+very few minutes flames began to appear on the roof, and,
+though the enemy worked hard to extinguish it, it rapidly
+increased, until the mosque was untenable. Dozens of the
+fanatics blew out their brains rather than surrender, while
+others threw themselves out of the windows and passages,
+and rushed sword in hand, in a state of frenzy, upon the
+British. The coolness and steadiness of the troops was,
+however, more than a match for the mad rage of the
+Mandingoes, who were shot down one after another, until
+the whole of the defenders of the mosque were killed or
+made prisoners. The remainder of the enemy, who fled
+at the storming of the stockade, had taken refuge in the
+neighbouring woods, and, the object of the engagement being
+accomplished by the capture of the town, they were not
+pursued.</p>
+
+<p>The stockade and mosque being destroyed, the force
+left Sabbajee on June 4th, and returned to Josswung, where,
+by an arrangement with the King of Combo, a portion
+of that kingdom, including the town of Sabbajee, was ceded
+to the British.</p>
+
+<p>The mosque was a singularly strong building, and for
+a day and a half resisted every effort to pull it down, being<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>
+eventually reduced to ruins by blasting the walls with bags
+of gunpowder. It consisted of a large central hall, with walls
+made of baked clay, three feet in thickness, and an external
+corridor running round the whole circumference of the inner
+apartment. The roof, conical in shape, was supported by six
+masonry pillars.</p>
+
+<p>As the Gambia was still in an unsettled state, Lieutenant-Colonel
+O'Connor deemed it prudent to increase its garrison
+at the expense of that of Sierra Leone. No. 6 Company
+of the 1st West India Regiment was therefore detained at
+Bathurst, and on June 8th, No. 3 Company, under Captain
+Murray, proceeded in the <i>Resistance</i> to Sierra Leone. On
+arriving at that station, on June 17th, Captain Murray
+assumed the command of the troops.</p>
+
+<p>No. 2 Company embarked at Sierra Leone for Jamaica
+on June 22nd, arriving at Kingston on August 5th. On
+October 18th the <i>Resistance</i> returned from the West Indies
+with the remaining companies destined for the quinquennial
+relief, and No. 5 Company, embarking in her on October
+22nd, reached Jamaica on November 25th. The West
+African garrisons were now as follows: At the Gambia, one
+company of the 1st West India Regiment, two of the 2nd,
+and one of the 3rd; at Sierra Leone, one of the 1st West
+India Regiment, and one of the 3rd.</p>
+
+<p>In the West Indies the following changes had taken
+place: Nos. 7 and 8 Companies had been moved in August<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>
+from Nassau to Barbados and Dominica respectively, and,
+in July, the light company had proceeded from Nassau to
+Jamaica. In December, 1853, the distribution of the
+regiment was then as follows: 4 companies at Jamaica, 2 at
+Barbados, 1 at Dominica, 1 at St. Christopher's, 1 at Sierra
+Leone, and 1 at the Gambia.<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a></p>
+
+<p>In September, 1854, the inhabitants of Christiansborg,
+a Danish settlement on the Gold Coast four miles from
+Accra, which had been recently purchased by the British,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>
+rose in rebellion against the Colonial authorities. The
+only armed force then on the Gold Coast consisted of the
+Gold Coast Artillery, recruited from amongst the Fanti
+tribes, and this body the rebels blockaded in the Castle of
+Christiansborg. On the outbreak of the rebellion, the
+Lieutenant-Governor of the Gold Coast at once sent to
+Sierra Leone for assistance; and, on the 12th of October,
+the following detachments embarked at Sierra Leone in
+H.M.S. <i>Britomart</i> and <i>Ferret</i>: Lieutenant Strachan and
+33 men of the 1st West India Regiment, Captain Rookes
+and 46 men of the 2nd West India Regiment, Lieutenant
+Haneahan and 31 men of the 3rd West India Regiment.
+From the Gambia were also despatched in the Colonial
+steamer <i>Dover</i>, on the 24th of October: Ensign Anderson
+and 25 men of the 1st, Captain Mockler and 70 men of
+the 2nd, and Lieutenant Hill and 23 men of the 3rd West
+India Regiment.</p>
+
+<p>The troops from Sierra Leone and the Gambia arrived
+at Christiansborg on the 27th of October and the 7th of
+November respectively. Several small skirmishes had taken
+place between the Gold Coast artillery and the rebels without
+either side gaining any material advantage; but, on
+the arrival of the reinforcement from Sierra Leone, the
+siege was raised, and the natives retired inland to some
+villages on the plain behind Christiansborg. There, like
+all undisciplined bodies, they gradually melted away; the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>
+chiefs, finding their followers abandoning them, were compelled
+to ask for terms; and directly negotiations were
+opened, the detachments of the three West India regiments
+re-embarked to return to Sierra Leone, sailing from Christiansborg
+on the 12th of November.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> See map.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> This year, 1853, appears to have been particularly unhealthy in the
+West Indies, to judge from the following inscription, taken from an intramural
+monument in Kingston Cathedral Church:
+</p>
+<p class="center">TO THE MEMORY OF THE FOLLOWING:</p>
+<p>
+Capt. Robt. Mostyn, 3rd W.I.R., died of yellow fever, at Nassau,
+Bahamas, 23rd July, 1853, &aelig;t. 27.
+</p>
+<p>
+Ensign John Alex. Gordon Pringle, 3rd W.I.R., died of yellow fever at
+Kingston, Jamaica, 31st July, 1853, &aelig;t. 21.
+</p>
+<p>
+Assist.-Surg. Walter William Harris, 1st W.I.R., attached to 3rd W.I.R.,
+died at Up Park Camp, of yellow fever, 4th Aug., 1853, &aelig;t. 24.
+</p>
+<p>
+Lieut. John Maryon Wilson, 3rd W.I.R., died at Up Park Camp, of
+yellow fever, 13th Aug., 1853, &aelig;t. 22.
+</p>
+<p>
+Eliza Chancellor Wilson, wife of the above, died at Up Park Camp, of
+yellow fever, 5th Sept., 1853, &aelig;t. 22.
+</p>
+<p>
+Cath. Elizabeth, wife of Lieut. Wm. Hen. Wilson Hawtayne, 3rd W.I.R.,
+died of yellow fever at Nassau, Bahamas, 9th Aug., 1853, &aelig;t. 23.
+</p>
+<p>
+Asst.-Surg. Gideon Jas. Wm. Griffith, 3rd W.I.R., died of yellow fever
+at Lucia, 26th Aug., 1853, &aelig;t. 23.
+</p>
+<p>
+Also, Selina Maria, wife of Capt. C.S.H. Hingston, 3rd W.I.R., died
+at Up Park Camp, 11th April, 1854, &aelig;t. 23.
+</p>
+<p><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11.5em;">Erected by the officers of the 1st and 3rd W.I. Regts.</span><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 70%;">
+<img src="images/fp236x.jpg" style="width: 70%;" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI.</h3>
+
+<p class="center">THE TWO EXPEDITIONS TO MALAGEAH, 1854 AND 1855.</p>
+
+
+<p>The troops that had been despatched from Sierra Leone
+and the Gambia for the relief of Christiansborg, returned
+to Sierra Leone, in H.M.S. <i>Prometheus</i>, on the 25th of
+November, 1854, and in consequence of the hostile attitude
+assumed by the chiefs of the Mellicourie and Scarcies Rivers,
+and the outrages committed by natives on mercantile factories
+in those rivers, the Governor of Sierra Leone decided to
+detain the contingent which had been sent from the Gambia,
+in order to have a sufficient force to overawe the chief of
+Malageah, the principal offender, and compel him to sign
+a treaty of trade. With this view, accordingly, detachments
+of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd West India Regiments,
+numbering in all 401 officers and men, under the
+command of Captain Rookes, 2nd West India Regiment,
+embarked in H.M.S. <i>Prometheus</i> and <i>Dover</i>, on the 2nd of
+December, and sailed for the Mellicourie River, on which
+the town of Malageah is situated. The officers of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>
+1st West India Regiment who accompanied the expedition
+were Captain R.D. Fletcher, Lieutenant Connell, Lieutenant
+Strachan, and Ensign Anderson.</p>
+
+<p>On December 4th, the expedition arrived off Malageah,
+and the river-banks having been reconnoitred, Captain
+Heseltine, of H.M.S. <i>Britomart</i>, who had been appointed
+diplomatic agent with powers to negotiate, directed a
+landing to be made. The troops disembarked, and meeting
+with no opposition, advanced on the town, seizing and
+occupying the mosque and the king's house, while a
+second body took possession of all the approaches to the
+town. By these means, a party of some 200 chiefs and
+Marabouts, who filled the mosque, were surrounded.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime, the 1st Division, under Captain R.
+D'Oyley Fletcher, 1st West India Regiment, had proceeded
+to a creek to the eastward of the town, which they ascended
+in the boats of the <i>Britomart</i>, and then crossing by bye-paths
+through the swamp and bush to the back of the
+town, where they dispersed a body of 150 natives armed
+with rifles and muskets, they joined the main body before
+the mosque.</p>
+
+<p>Negotiations were opened by the diplomatic agent, and
+continued for about half-an-hour; when, as it was noticed
+that the Marabouts were gradually leaving the mosque and
+all going in one direction, a reconnoitring party of ten men,
+under Lieutenant F.J. Connell, 1st West India Regiment,
+was sent to the northern side of the town. Lieutenant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>
+Connell, on reaching the town gate, found from 1800 to
+2000 natives armed with fire-arms, spears, bows and arrows,
+formed in a semicircle, from eight to ten deep, facing the
+small picket that had been there posted. The whole of
+the main body, with the seamen and marines, was at once
+ordered up, and took up a position on the plateau to the
+north of the town, facing the natives, while a detached party
+occupied the walls and gates. At first there was a disposition
+on the part of the natives to resist this movement, but it
+was so rapidly executed that they were taken by surprise,
+and, losing cohesion, they soon after gradually dispersed.</p>
+
+<p>The king, Bamba Mima Lahi, now signified his desire to
+come to terms, promised to comply with all demands, and to
+pay one thousand dollars as a fine for his offences. The
+force accordingly re-embarked, the object of the expedition
+having been effected without bloodshed, and returned to
+Sierra Leone on December 6th. The following letter may
+be of interest:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p><span class="smcap" style="margin-left: 30em;" >"H.M.S. Britomart</span>,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;" >"<i>Sierra Leone, December 6th, 1854.</i></span></p>
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,
+</p>
+
+<p>"In bringing back the troops that have been embarked
+on board the <i>Prometheus</i> and landed at Malageah, and who,
+whilst afloat, have been under my command, I beg to bear
+testimony to their quiet, orderly, and zealous conduct, both
+afloat and ashore, where, had it not been for the above good
+qualities, collision would have been inevitable.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"To Captains Rookes, Mockler, and Fletcher, and the
+officers of the force, I beg to return my sincere thanks for
+their zealous and active co-operation; further comment on
+my part would be presumptuous.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="smcap" style="margin-left: 30em;">"A. Heseltine</span>,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 25em;">"Commander and Senior Naval Officer.</span><br />
+<br />
+"Lieutenant-Colonel Foster,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">"Commanding troops."</span><br />
+</p></div>
+
+<p>On the 14th of December, the Gambia contingent sailed
+for the Gambia in the Colonial steamer <i>Dover</i>, and the
+garrison of Sierra Leone remained at its ordinary strength
+of three companies.</p>
+
+<p>In May, 1855, as the King of Malageah had not observed
+the stipulations of the treaty that had been forced upon
+him, and had not paid the fine of one thousand dollars, the
+Acting Governor of Sierra Leone, a gentleman of colour,
+determined to take steps for his punishment. On the 21st
+of May, accordingly, he sent for Captain R. D'Oyley Fletcher,
+1st West India Regiment, who was then in command of
+the troops, and informed him that it was his intention to
+send a force of 150 men, that very day, to burn the town
+of Malageah, and, if possible, capture the king. He added
+that the troops would proceed in H.M.S. <i>Teazer</i>, then lying
+in the harbour.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Fletcher, in reply, said that he could not approve
+of the proposed arrangements; that since a force of 400
+men had been deemed necessary to extract a promise from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>
+the king, it was, to say the least, injudicious to endeavour to
+force him to fulfil that promise with only 150 men. He
+stated that at the last expedition more than 2000 armed
+natives had been seen, and he considered it inadvisable
+to proceed to actual hostilities without a force proportionate
+to the duty to be performed. He further suggested that
+the expedition should be delayed for two or three days,
+so that the detachments of the 2nd West India Regiment
+might be brought in from Waterloo and the Banana Islands,
+and the whole garrison employed on the duty. The Acting
+Governor overruled these objections, insinuated that Captain
+Fletcher was actuated by fears for his personal safety, and
+finally peremptorily ordered the force he had mentioned
+to embark.</p>
+
+<p>In consequence, on the evening of May 21st, Captain
+Fletcher, Lieutenant Strachan, Lieutenant Wylie, and 69
+men of the 1st West India Regiment, with Lieutenants
+Keir and Beazley and 79 men of the 3rd West India
+Regiment, embarked on board the <i>Teazer</i>. Lieutenant
+Vincent, 2nd West India Regiment, was attached to the
+1st for duty, and Deputy-Assistant-Commissary-General
+Frith and Surgeons Marchant and Bradshaw accompanied
+the troops.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Teazer</i> arrived off Benty Point, at the mouth of
+the Mellicourie River, on the morning of May 22nd, and,
+after a delay of a few hours, in consequence of the difficulty
+in crossing the bar, the expedition arrived off Malageah.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Lieutenant-Commander Nicolas, of the <i>Teazer</i>, and Mr.
+Dillet, the Acting Governor's private secretary, had been
+appointed commissioners, and, by their direction, the troops
+disembarked about 10 a.m. A flag of truce was flying
+on the king's house, and, as he showed a disposition to
+come to terms, the commissioners determined to depart
+from their instructions, and make an attempt to settle the
+affair without having recourse to force. They accordingly
+informed the king that if he would pay the fine his town
+would be spared; and they granted him one hour for
+this purpose, warning him that if at the expiration of
+that time the money was not forthcoming, the town would
+be shelled.</p>
+
+<p>Two hours having passed without any communication
+having been received from the king, the <i>Teazer</i> at noon
+opened fire, and the troops advanced on the town, covering
+their flanks with skirmishers. This advance would have
+been unnecessary had the <i>Teazer</i> been supplied with rockets;
+but there being none, the men were obliged to set fire
+to the houses. It would be difficult to imagine a worse-planned
+expedition.</p>
+
+<p>The troops gained the central square of the town, and,
+in compliance with the written instructions, set fire to the
+mosque, the king's house, and other principal buildings;
+and ultimately the whole town appeared to be in flames.
+The left division, under Lieutenant Vincent, was exposed
+to a desultory fire, during the whole of these operations,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>
+from the enemy concealed in the bush; and large numbers
+of natives were observed gathering on the plateau to the
+north of the town. As it seemed impossible that any
+portion of the town could escape the conflagration, and
+as the heat from the burning buildings was intense, the
+troops retired to the river bank, and embarked in the
+<i>Teazer's</i> boats. Scarcely had the seamen dipped their
+oars into the water, to pull out into the stream, than a
+volley was poured into the boats from the dense bush
+which grew close down to the edge of the water; and
+the ambushed enemy then commenced firing rapidly, but
+fortunately with so little precision that the troops succeeded
+in reaching mid-stream with a loss of only five wounded.</p>
+
+<p>The boats continued their course to the ship, and the
+troops re-embarked. The town was still in flames, but they
+were gradually subsiding, and before nightfall were entirely
+extinguished, leaving a considerable portion of the town
+still unconsumed. The commissioners, upon this, decided,
+as it was too late to land again that day, to drop down
+the river as far as Benty Point for the night, and to return
+next morning to complete the work of destruction. Captain
+Fletcher then objected to any second landing being made,
+pointing out that the whole country was now alarmed,
+and that the people of Malageah would be reinforced by
+those of Fouricariah (a populous town further up the river),
+and that quite enough had been done to punish the king.
+The commissioners agreed with his views, but decided that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>
+their orders were so peremptory that they could not, without
+running the risk of censure, leave the river until the entire
+town had been destroyed.</p>
+
+<p>At 5.30 a.m. on May 23rd, the <i>Teazer</i> left Benty Point,
+and steaming up the river, anchored off Malageah, in which
+the ruins were still smouldering. The vessel was so ill-provided
+with munitions of war that hardly any shell
+remained from the previous day. What little there was,
+was thrown amongst the houses to endeavour to fire them,
+and the attempt being unsuccessful, it became necessary
+to land the men. The dense bush around the town having
+been well searched with grape and canister to clear it
+of any lurking enemy, the troops, 135 in number, were
+landed on the bank of the mangrove creek running inland
+towards the town, and no enemy appearing, they advanced
+to set fire to the buildings that had hitherto escaped
+destruction.</p>
+
+<p>The advanced guard of thirty men, with whom were
+Lieutenant-Commander Nicolas and Mr. Dillet, who had
+landed to point out which houses it was most important
+to thoroughly destroy, had only advanced some two hundred
+yards from the bank of the creek, when they were received
+with a murderous discharge of musketry from the enemy
+concealed in the bush. Almost the whole of the advanced
+party were shot down in this one volley, twenty men
+being killed on the spot, and Lieutenant-Commander Nicolas
+and Mr. Dillet severely wounded. The main body, seventy-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>five
+in number, under Captain Fletcher, at once hurried
+up to prevent the wounded falling into the hands of the
+barbarous natives, and behaved with great gallantry, for
+though falling thick and fast under the tremendous fire
+which the concealed enemy&mdash;to the number of several
+hundreds&mdash;poured into them from a distance of ten or
+twelve yards, they held their ground until the wounded
+had been safely conveyed to the boats.</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had this been accomplished than the rear-guard
+of thirty men, under Lieut. Keir, 3rd West India Regiment,
+was attacked by a large number of natives who had moved
+through the bush, and actually succeeded in cutting off our
+men from the boats. The enemy advanced with great
+determination into the open, thinking to overwhelm this
+small party, and they were only driven back into the
+bush by repeated volleys and a final charge with the
+bayonet.</p>
+
+<p>By this time fully one-third of the men who had landed
+having been killed, and a great number wounded, the order
+was given to retire, which was done steadily, the ground
+being contested inch by inch. At this time Company
+Sergeant-Major Scanlan, of the 3rd West India Regiment,
+and six men who were covering the retreat, fell, the former
+mortally wounded; and some of the bolder of the natives,
+rushing out of their concealment, seized Deputy-Assistant-Commissary
+Frith, and dragged him away into the bush,
+where he was barbarously murdered in cold blood. Scanlan<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>
+was lying in the narrow path, his chest riddled with bullets,
+when the chief fetish priest of the place, to encourage the
+natives to make further efforts, sprang upon a ruined wall
+in front of him, and began dancing an uncouth dance,
+accompanying it with savage yells and significant gestures
+to the dying man. He paid dearly for his rashness, however,
+for Scanlan, collecting his strength for a last supreme effort,
+seized his loaded rifle, which was fortunately lying within
+reach, and discharged it at the gesticulating savage, who
+threw up his arms and fell dead. The next moment Scanlan
+was surrounded by a horde of infuriated barbarians, and his
+body hacked into an undistinguishable mass.</p>
+
+<p>The troops, sadly diminished in number, at last reached
+that portion of the mangrove creek where they had left the
+boats. Of these there had been originally but two, and one
+having at the commencement of the action been used to
+convey Lieutenant-Commander Nicolas and Mr. Dillet, under
+the charge of Surgeon Bradshaw, to the ship, one only remained
+for the men to embark in. The tide having fallen,
+this was lying out near the entrance of the creek, separated
+by an expanse of reeking mud from the shore. The men,
+seeing their last chance of safety cut off, threw themselves
+into the mud, in which many sank and were no more seen.
+Some few, however, succeeded in floundering along, half
+wading and half swimming, until they reached her, and
+climbed in. She was, however, so riddled with bullets, that
+she filled and sank almost immediately.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Captain Fletcher, Lieutenant Wylie, Lieutenant Strachan,
+and Lieutenant Vincent, with some thirty men, endeavoured
+to make a last stand upon a small islet of mud and sand,
+near the left bank of the creek; but Lieutenant Wylie was
+shot dead almost at once, and Lieutenant Vincent, being
+shot through the body, jumped into the water, to endeavour
+to swim to the ship. In a few seconds seventeen men had
+fallen out of this devoted band, and the survivors, plunging
+into the creek, swam down towards the river. The natives
+lined the banks in crowds, keeping up a heavy fire upon the
+men in the water; and Captain Fletcher and Lieutenant
+Strachan, who were the last to leave the shore, only reached
+the <i>Teazer</i> by a miracle, they having to swim more than
+half a mile to reach her.</p>
+
+<p>As the last of the survivors gained the vessel, the natives,
+between two and three thousand in number, lined the banks
+of the river, brandishing their weapons and uttering shouts
+of defiance; and the heads of several of the killed, horribly
+mutilated, were held out towards the ship on spears, amidst
+cries of exultation. All the ammunition for the <i>Teazer's</i> guns
+having already been expended in shelling the town and
+clearing the bush, it was impossible to reply to the enemy,
+and the vessel proceeded slowly down the river, returning to
+Sierra Leone next day.</p>
+
+<p>The casualties of this day were as follows: The 1st
+West India Regiment, out of 62 men who landed, lost
+38 killed and 3 wounded. The 3rd West India Regiment,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>
+out of 73 men who landed, lost 46 killed and 8 wounded.
+Total, 95 killed and wounded, out of a force of 135 men.</p>
+
+<p>The casualties amongst the officers were nearly equally
+heavy. Out of the ten Europeans who were under fire,
+three, namely Lieutenant Wylie, 1st West India Regiment,
+D.A.C.G. Frith and C.S.M. Scanlan were killed; and
+three, Lieutenant Vincent, 2nd West India Regiment,
+Lieutenant-Commander Nicolas, and Mr. Dillet, severely
+wounded.</p>
+
+<p>It was learned afterwards that the reason so large a
+force was assembled at Malageah was that it was the time
+for the annual gathering of the river tribes, to hear the
+laws read by the Alimani. This circumstance ought of
+course to have been known to the Acting Governor, who was
+well acquainted with the customs of the people. The
+Imperial Government held him responsible for this defeat,
+and, in November, 1855, he was relieved of his post, and
+charged "with having, when Acting Governor, on the 21st of
+May, 1855, without authority, and upon insufficient grounds,
+sent an expedition against the Moriah chiefs in the Mellicourie
+River, beyond the Colony, with orders to burn or destroy
+the town of Malageah, planned without foresight or judgment,
+disastrous in its termination, and disgraceful to the British
+power," and was suspended from his office of Queen's
+Advocate and from his seat at the Council Board.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII.</h3>
+
+<p class="center">THE BATTLE OF BAKKOW, AND STORMING OF SABBAJEE,
+1855.<a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a></p>
+
+
+<p>The company of the 1st West India Regiment stationed
+at the Gambia was the next to see active service, but
+fortunately under circumstances less disastrous than had
+fallen to the lot of the company at Sierra Leone.</p>
+
+<p>In June, 1855, the inhabitants of Sabbajee again began
+to exhibit signs of lawlessness; and, early in July, an influential
+Mohammedan of that town, named Fodi Osumanu,
+sent an armed party to the British settlement at Josswung
+to seize a woman, whose husband he had already placed
+in confinement in Sabbajee itself. In consequence of this
+outrage a warrant was issued for the apprehension of Fodi
+Osumanu, and, as a precautionary measure, the constables
+despatched to put the warrant in force were accompanied
+by a small party of the 2nd West India Regiment, under
+Lieutenant Armstrong, 3rd West India Regiment.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span></p>
+<p>They arrived at Sabbajee on the morning of July 16th,
+and at first Fodi Osumanu offered no opposition to his
+arrest; but, on gaining the central square of the town, he
+endeavoured to break away from the police, and, upon
+this signal, the Mandingoes rushed upon the British from
+every street and alley. Nothing but the coolness and
+steadiness displayed by both officers and men, saved the
+whole from destruction. Forming square, they retreated
+steadily out of the town, repulsing the repeated attacks of
+the natives, and retired in good order to Josswung, and
+thence to the military post at Cape St. Mary's. In effecting
+this, two men were killed, and the Queen's Advocate,
+Lieutenant Davis, 2nd West India Regiment, and Lieutenant
+Armstrong were wounded, the latter so severely as to render
+amputation of the right arm necessary.</p>
+
+<p>Intelligence of this occurrence being carried to Bathurst
+in a few hours, the Governor, Lieutenant-Colonel L. Smyth
+O'Connor, 1st West India Regiment, at once called out all
+the available force of the Colony; and, aware that every
+half-hour was of importance, as the inhabitants of Sabbajee
+were receiving reinforcements from the disaffected Mandingo
+towns of Jambool, Burnfut, and Cunju, and had already
+burned and pillaged Josswung, he marched the same day.
+The force consisted of 120 men of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd
+West India Regiments, with 120 of the Royal Gambia
+Militia; and, on arriving at Cape St. Mary's, on the evening
+of July 16th, it was joined by 26 pensioners of the West<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>
+India regiments. The officers of the 1st West India
+Regiment present were Lieutenant-Colonel O'Connor,
+Lieutenant E.F. Luke, and Lieutenant Henderson.</p>
+
+<p>Early next morning the whole force marched towards
+Sabbajee, meeting with no resistance until it arrived at
+the wood of Bakkow. To reach Sabbajee it was necessary
+to pass through this wood, a jungle of dense tropical vegetation,
+only traversable by a single bush path some five feet
+in breadth, and, before entering this defile, Colonel O'Connor
+wisely ordered rockets to be thrown amongst the trees,
+with a view to ascertaining if they covered any concealed
+enemy.</p>
+
+<p>Hardly had the first rocket fallen than the wood appeared
+alive with men, who, from every bush and tree, opened a
+destructive fire upon the British. This was promptly and
+steadily replied to by the detachments of the 1st, 2nd, and
+3rd West India Regiments, which were in the van, and
+the action became general. The militia were drawn up
+in two bodies, one acting as a support to the regulars,
+and the other as a reserve; and the latter, shortly after the
+commencement of the engagement, retreated without orders,
+and without firing a shot. The party of militia in support,
+as soon as they observed the flight of the reserve, fell back
+hurriedly in great confusion, nor could their officers nor
+the Governor himself succeed in stopping them, and both
+parties of militia retired upon Cape St. Mary's, abandoning
+their wounded.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The detachments of the West India regiments still
+held their ground; but at the end of half an hour, as it
+was manifestly impossible, with the now greatly reduced
+numbers, to force the passage of the wood, and as the
+enemy were observed extending in large numbers round
+both flanks so as to threaten the line of retreat, the
+order was given to retire upon Cape St. Mary's. This
+was effected in good order, the victorious natives following
+the retreating force for more than two miles, and
+keeping up an incessant fire. The combined detachments
+suffered in this affair a loss of twenty-three killed and
+fifty-three wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel O'Connor was
+himself severely wounded in the right arm and left
+shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>The news of this repulse was received with the greatest
+consternation at Bathurst, which was entirely denuded of
+troops and quite at the mercy of the rebellious Mandingoes.
+Preparations for defence were at once undertaken,
+all the reliable natives, principally persons in the
+employ of the Government or of the merchants, in all some
+200 in number, were armed, and a vessel was despatched
+to the neighbouring French settlement of Goree to seek
+assistance. The Mandingoes, fortunately, made no attempt
+to follow up their success, and the chiefs of British
+Combo having volunteered their aid to the Government,
+a number of their men were armed, and on July 29th
+some sharp skirmishing took place between them and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>
+Mandingoes in the neighbourhood of Bakkow, in which
+the Combos lost twenty-five killed, but without reaping
+any success.</p>
+
+<p>On the afternoon of July 30th, the French brig-of-war
+<i>Entreprenant</i>, Captain Villeneuve, arrived, bringing
+with her eighty men, which was all the disposable force
+the French Governor of Goree had at his command;
+and all preparations being completed by the night of
+August 3rd, the combined British and French force marched
+from Cape St. Mary's next morning at daybreak. The
+French had brought with them three twelve-pounder field-guns,
+which, with a 4-2/5-inch howitzer, and three rocket-troughs
+in the possession of the British, were formed into
+a battery under the command of Lieutenant Morel, of the
+French marine artillery. The force was further increased
+by an irregular contingent of some 600 loyal natives.</p>
+
+<p>As on the former occasion, no opposition was encountered
+until arriving at the wood of Bakkow, where the enemy
+showed in great force, and opened a heavy fire from the
+shelter of the forest. The irregular contingent, supported
+by the detachments of the 1st and 2nd West India Regiments,
+replied to the enemy's fire in a most effective manner; but
+so determined was the resistance, that the Mandingoes, when
+silenced in our front, taking advantage of the cover afforded
+by the high grass and clumps of monkey-bread trees, made
+repeated attacks on the flanks, and even at one time
+threatened the rear. Shell and rockets were thrown into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>
+the wood, and the village of Bakkow, which was occupied
+by the enemy, was burned; but it was not until after two
+hours' obstinate fighting, in the course of which the detachments
+of the 1st and 2nd West India Regiment had four
+times to repulse flank attacks with the bayonet, that the
+passage could be forced.</p>
+
+<p>The wood being traversed, the force debouched upon the
+plain of Sabbajee, a sandy level, covered with a scanty
+growth of Guinea grass and dotted with clumps of dwarf
+palm. The guns were at once placed in position for breaching
+the stockade, and fire was opened with wonderful precision.
+A few rounds only had been expended, when a
+large body of natives from the disaffected and neighbouring
+town of Burnfut made a sudden and determined
+onslaught on our flank, charging furiously forward with
+brandished scimetars. This was met by a party of French
+marines and the detachments of the 1st and 2nd West India
+Regiments, who, after firing a volley at a very close range,
+charged gallantly with the bayonet and speedily routed the
+enemy, who took refuge in a neighbouring copse. Being
+ordered to dislodge them from this cover, the detachments
+of the 1st and 2nd West India Regiments advanced in
+skirmishing order, and after a short but sharp conflict, drove
+them out on the further side.</p>
+
+<p>After a bombardment of an hour and a half, seeing that
+the enemy extinguished the thatched roofs of their houses
+as fast as they were ignited, and that the ammunition was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span>
+becoming exhausted, Lieutenant-Colonel O'Connor determined
+to carry the stockade by storm. The detachments
+of the West India regiments formed up in the centre, a
+division of French marines being on either flank, and the
+whole dashed forward to the assault in the face of a
+tremendous fire of musketry that was opened throughout
+the entire length of the loop-holed stockade. In a few
+seconds the troops were under the stockade, which was
+composed of the stout trunks of trees, standing some
+eighteen feet high, and braced on the inner side by cross-beams.
+A temporary check was here experienced (the
+men having no ladders for escalading), during which the
+Mandingoes kept up a close fire from their upper tier
+of loop-holes, while others crouching in the ditch in rear
+hewed and cut at the feet and legs of the troops through
+the apertures in the stockade on a level with the ground.
+The check was, however, of short duration, for the British
+opened fire on the enemy through their own loop-holes,
+and drove them back, while others, clambering over the
+rough defences, effected an entrance.</p>
+
+<p>After this, the Mandingoes offered but a feeble resistance,
+and soon fled into the open from the further side of the
+town. Here they were pursued and shot down by the
+irregular contingent, who had been sent to cut off their
+retreat as soon as it was seen that the stockade was
+carried. The enemy's loss during the assault was exceedingly
+heavy, the ditch in rear of the stockade, and in which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>
+they were principally sheltered, being full of dead. The
+loss of the combined force, exclusive of irregulars, was
+seventeen killed and thirty-one wounded.</p>
+
+<p>Inside the stockade the 1st West India Regiment captured
+two kettledrums, of which one was a war-drum, and the other
+a death-drum, that is to say, a drum that is only beaten when
+an execution is taking place. These drums, consisting of
+polished hemispherical calabashes, of a diameter of about
+thirty inches at the drum-head, are now in the possession of
+the regiment.</p>
+
+<p>The following letter, referring to these operations, which
+terminated with the capture of Sabbajee, was published in
+general orders at the Gambia, on the 26th of October, 1855:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>
+<span class="smcap" style="margin-left: 28em;">"Horse Guards</span>,
+<span style="margin-left: 32em;">"<i>Sept. 6th, 1855.</i></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,</p>
+
+<p>"The General Commanding-in-Chief having had
+before him the despatches which were addressed to the
+Adjutant-General on July 30th and 6th ultimo, giving an
+account of the proceedings, from the 16th July to the
+4th August last, of the force under your command against
+the Mohammedan rebel town of Sabbajee, which was
+eventually taken by assault at the point of the bayonet,
+I am directed to assure you of Lord Hardinge's satisfaction
+at the perusal of those despatches, and that he
+considers the gallantry and steadiness displayed by the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>troops on this occasion, and the judgment with which they
+were directed by you, to be deserving of high praise.</p>
+
+<p>"His Lordship further desired that the expression of his
+sentiments might be communicated accordingly to yourself
+and to all the troops concerned.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 25em;">"I have, &amp;c.,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">(Signed)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "<span class="smcap">C. Yorke</span>,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 32em;">"Military Secretary.</span><br />
+<br />
+"Lieut.-Colonel O'Connor,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left:2em;">"1st West India Regiment,</span><br />
+"Commanding troops, Western Coast of Africa."<br />
+</p></div>
+
+<p>In the West Indies nothing of importance had occurred,
+and no change of station had taken place, since December,
+1853. In this year, however (1855), No. 8 Company rejoined
+head-quarters at Jamaica from Dominica, and No. 1 was
+moved from St. Christopher to Demerara. The distribution,
+then, at the close of 1855, was: No. 2, No. 5, No. 8, the
+Grenadier and Light Companies at Jamaica, No. 7 and
+No. 4 at Barbados, No. 1 at Demerara, No. 3 at Sierra
+Leone, and No. 6 at the Gambia.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> See map.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.</h3>
+
+<p class="center">CHANGES IN THE WEST AFRICAN GARRISONS, 1856-57&mdash;THE
+GREAT SCARCIES RIVER EXPEDITION, 1859&mdash;FIRE
+AT NASSAU, 1859.</p>
+
+
+<p>In January, 1856, it was determined to make a further
+change in the mode of garrisoning the settlements on the
+West Coast of Africa, and the following letter was issued on
+the subject:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p><span class="smcap" style="margin-left: 28em;">"Horse Guards</span>,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 32em;">"<i>2nd January, 1856</i>.</span>
+</p>
+
+<p>"In obedience to orders from the Secretary of State,
+War Department, the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief
+is pleased to direct that instead of the detachments to the
+western coast of Africa being furnished, as at present, by two
+companies from each of the West India regiments, the
+settlements in that part will be garrisoned by a wing
+composed of six companies, to be furnished in succession
+by each of the West India regiments.</p>
+
+<p>"At the next relief the 1st West India Regiment will
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>furnish six companies accordingly, each company made up
+and kept effective to 100 rank and file, the force to be
+distributed as at present, viz.:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Gambia&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;3 Companies.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Sierra Leone&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;3 Companies.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"The remaining four companies of the 1st West India
+Regiment will be stationed at Jamaica, as a dep&ocirc;t to receive
+and train recruits, and maintain the efficiency of the companies
+on the coast of Africa."</p></div>
+
+<p>In anticipation of this change, and as recent events at
+the Gambia and Sierra Leone had shown the necessity for
+an increase in the strength of the detachments, No. 2
+Company of the 1st West India Regiment, under Captain
+W.J. Chamberlayne, embarked at Jamaica for Africa in
+the <i>Sir George Pollock</i> on February 19th, 1856. It arrived
+in the Gambia on April 1st, and detachments to McCarthy's
+Island, 179 miles up the River Gambia, and to Fort Bullen,
+were at once furnished from it.</p>
+
+<p>No other change in the distribution of the regiment
+took place in this year, with the exception that No. 5
+Company, under Captain R. Hughes, was moved from
+Jamaica to Barbados in December.</p>
+
+<p>In January, 1857, No. 1 Company from Demerara, and
+Nos. 4 and 7 from Barbados, embarked on board the troopship
+<i>Perseverance</i>, for Africa, under the command of Brevet
+Lieutenant-Colonel Clarke, and Captains Hughes and
+Macauley, arriving at Sierra Leone on February 28th.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Nos. 1 and 7 Companies were there disembarked, and
+the <i>Perseverance</i> then proceeded to the Gambia, where No.
+4 Company was landed. In accordance with the scheme
+that the remaining four companies of the regiment should
+be stationed at Jamaica, No. 5 Company rejoined there
+from Barbados on April 17th; but, two months later, the
+scheme was again revised, and, on June 4th, the head-quarters
+and four companies embarked for Nassau, New
+Providence, under Lieutenant-Colonel F.A. Wetherall.</p>
+
+<p>The detachments on the West Coast of Africa were very
+much subdivided, that of the Gambia furnishing garrisons
+for Fort Bullen, Cape St. Mary, and McCarthy's Island; and
+that of Sierra Leone a garrison for Waterloo. In April,
+1857, the garrison of Fort Bullen was reinforced by No. 2
+Company under Captain Chamberlayne from Bathurst, in
+consequence of disturbances having broken out between the
+King of Barra and one of his principal chiefs named Osumanu
+Sajji, and was withdrawn in May, on tranquility being
+restored.</p>
+
+<p>In August, 1858, the natives of Sherbro threatened to
+plunder the British factories that had been established on
+Sherbro Island, and stopped the trade, and for the protection
+of the lives and property of the Consul and
+British subjects, a detachment of the 1st West India
+Regiment, under Captain R. Hughes, proceeded in H.M.S.
+<i>Spitfire</i> to Sherbro Island on September 1st. They there
+landed and remained until October 2nd, when, all fears<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>
+of an attack being at an end, they returned to Sierra
+Leone. In January, 1859, however, another attack was
+threatened by the Mendis, and a detachment of the 1st
+West India Regiment, under Captain Luke, was sent for
+the protection of the factories in H.M.S. <i>Trident</i> on
+January 15th, returning to Sierra Leone on February 18th.</p>
+
+<p>In September and October, 1858, Captain Luke, 1st
+West India Regiment, who was then on leave of absence
+on the Gold Coast, served with the expeditionary force
+against the rebel Krobo stronghold of Krobo Hill. Captain
+Cochrane, Gold Coast Artillery, commanding the
+force, in concluding his despatch of October 26th, 1858,
+says: "It is not too much to say that all who have
+joined the expedition have done their best to further its
+interests, but I beg especially to call your Excellency's
+notice to the voluntary services of Captain F.H. Luke,
+of the 1st West India Regiment, whose energy, zeal, and
+disinterestedness, have been warmly commended by every
+officer here, and are deserving of honourable mention."</p>
+
+<p>In February, 1859, the town of Porto Lokkoh, distant
+some forty miles from Sierra Leone, and on the Sierra
+Leone River, was burned and pillaged by a body of
+Soosoos who had, for some time back, established themselves
+at Kambia, on the Great Scarcies River. For
+previous outrages committed by them, Kambia had been
+bombarded by a naval squadron under Commodore Wise
+on February 1st, 1858, after which the Soosoos had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span>
+entrenched themselves in a stockaded work, or war fence,
+near Kambia. There they had been suffered to remain,
+but the destruction of Porto Lokkoh, the chief <i>entrep&ocirc;t</i>
+of the Sierra Leone trade, necessitated further measures
+being taken against them.</p>
+
+<p>Consequently, on March 20th, 1859, the Governor of
+Sierra Leone, Colonel Stephen Hill, proceeded with a force
+of 203 men of the 1st West India Regiment, under Major
+A.W. Murray, in H.M.S. <i>Vesuvius</i>, <i>Trident</i>, and <i>Spitfire</i>,
+to the Great Scarcies River, where they arrived at daybreak
+on the 22nd. The officers of the regiment serving with the
+expedition were Major Murray, Brevet-Major Pratt, Lieutenants
+Fitzgerald, Mackay, and Mawe, Ensigns Ormsby and
+Temple. Colonel Hill, in his despatch, says:</p>
+
+<p>"The troops having landed to the right of the town, I
+formed the detachment of the 1st West India Regiment,
+under Major Murray, into four divisions; and the marines
+formed, under the command of Captain Hill, 2nd West
+India Regiment, A.D.C., another division. A party of the
+former corps, acting as gunners, accompanied the Marine
+Artillery, who took charge of two mountain howitzers.</p>
+
+<p>"Having extended one division in skirmishing order, I
+advanced; and, finding the first stockade deserted I passed
+on to the furthest one, which was then occupied by the
+sailors of the second division of boats under Commander
+Close. I then proceeded to the extreme left of all the
+defences, and halted in clear ground to await the arrival of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>
+our native allies. Shortly afterwards Commodore Wise sent
+to inform me that the enemy, who had retired before us
+with some loss, were in the jungle to our left at the head
+of some rocks, on which they could cross the river at low
+water. I immediately extended two divisions of the 1st West
+India Regiment as skirmishers, with the marines supporting
+one, and a division of the 1st West India the other, leaving
+one division in reserve in charge of the howitzers, after
+having first fired some rounds of shell into the jungle.</p>
+
+<p>"Our advance was most difficult, the bush being almost
+impenetrable. However, we persevered, and, having reached
+a high point overlooking the country around, and not
+seeing any enemy, I ordered a halt, and, after some time,
+we retired unmolested, the Soosoos never having allowed
+us to close with them. The Commodore then sent me a
+second message to the effect that he had seen about 500
+men, who had, on our advance, retired across the river,
+over the rocks, and disappeared in the bush on the opposite
+side.</p>
+
+<p>"The detachment of the 1st West India Regiment, under
+Brevet-Major Pratt, kept the ground during the night;
+and our allies having arrived, and been placed in possession
+of the stockades, the troops were re-embarked on the 24th,
+and we proceeded on our return to Sierra Leone, where we
+arrived on the 26th.</p>
+
+<p>"I have much pleasure in stating that all the officers
+and men under my orders performed their duties in an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>
+exceedingly zealous and satisfactory manner, exhibiting a
+cheerful obedience, and only anxious to close with the
+enemy. None but those present could form a just estimate
+of the difficulty attending our advance, and the consequent
+physical exhaustion. The heat was intense; a great part
+of the jungle had been fired, and the bushes and the high
+grass formed a network through which we were obliged to
+cut our way."</p>
+
+<p>On January 8th, 1860, the men of the companies of the
+1st West India Regiment stationed at Nassau specially
+distinguished themselves at an alarming fire that there broke
+out at Fort Charlotte, and the following Garrison Order
+was published on the subject:</p>
+
+<p>"Lieutenant-Colonel Bourchier takes the earliest opportunity
+in his power of expressing his thanks to Major
+R. D'O. Fletcher, the officers, the non-commissioned officers,
+and the men of the 1st West India Regiment, for the
+prompt manner in which they turned out and lent their
+efforts to avert the extension of the late fire at Fort
+Charlotte.</p>
+
+<p>"Such occasions as this test the discipline of a corps
+in a high degree, the more so when, as in the present
+instance, the danger of an explosion from the proximity
+of the flames to the magazine was imminent.</p>
+
+<p>"Where all were zealous, the conduct of Ensign Bourke,
+1st West India Regiment, was most conspicuous, who,
+assisted by Company Sergeant-Major Mason and a party<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>
+of four men of the regiment, placed wet blankets on the
+most exposed portion of the roof of the magazine, which
+was then actually ignited; and it will be most gratifying
+to Lieutenant-Colonel Bourchier to bring the circumstance
+under the notice of H.R.H. the General Commanding-in-Chief."</p>
+
+<p>At the Gambia nothing of moment had occurred since
+1807, with the exception that a violent epidemic of fever
+broke out at Bathurst in September, 1859, to which one
+officer and several men of the regiment succumbed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<img src="images/fp265x.jpg" style="width: 80%;" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV.</h3>
+
+<p class="center">THE BADDIBOO WAR, 1860-61.</p>
+
+
+<p>The next active operations in which the 1st West India
+Regiment was engaged, took place at the Gambia, where
+the King of Baddiboo, an important Mohammedan state
+up the river, had in August and September, 1860, plundered
+the factories of several British traders, and afterwards refused
+to pay compensation. The Governor of the Gambia, Colonel
+D'Arcy, resolved to blockade the kingdom of Baddiboo, in
+the hope that the enforced suspension of trade would compel
+the king to come to terms, and, on October 10th, 1860, the
+gunners of the companies of the 1st West India Regiment
+stationed at Bathurst embarked in the barque <i>Elm</i> and the
+schooner <i>Shamrock</i>, to close all the Baddiboo river ports.
+On November 3rd additional gunners were sent in the
+schooner <i>Hope</i>, and the blockade was strictly enforced, the
+natives not being allowed to export any articles of produce
+or import anything.</p>
+
+<p>While the blockade was still in force, the wing of the 2nd<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span>
+West India Regiment, which had been wrecked in the
+troopship <i>Perseverance</i> at Maio, one of the Cape Verde
+Islands, while on its way to relieve the wing of the 1st
+West India Regiment, arrived in West Africa in various
+vessels, three companies at the Gambia and three at Sierra
+Leone; and as in January, 1861, the blockade had manifestly
+failed in its object of inducing the King of Baddiboo to
+indemnify the plundered merchants, Governor D'Arcy determined
+to take advantage of the presence of an unusual
+number of regular troops to organise a formidable expedition;
+which step was rendered necessary from the fact that the
+numerous Mohammedan tribes around the settlement and
+on the banks of the river were narrowly watching events,
+and had, owing to the long delay in punishing the King of
+Baddiboo, already commenced to show signs of lawlessness.</p>
+
+<p>On January 12th, 1861, the hired transport <i>Avon</i> arrived
+at the Gambia to convey the wing of the 1st West India
+Regiment to the West Indies, and Colonel D'Arcy proceeded
+in her to Sierra Leone to make arrangements for
+the services of a portion of the garrison of that settlement.
+On February 2nd, he returned to the Gambia in the <i>Avon</i>
+with three companies of the 1st West India Regiment and
+one of the 2nd West India Regiment.</p>
+
+<p>The expeditionary force now consisted of six companies
+of the 1st West India Regiment, under Lieutenant-Colonel
+A.W. Murray, and four of the 2nd West India Regiment,
+under Major W. Hill; the Gambia Militia were called out,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>
+and the West India detachments at McCarthy's Island,
+Cape St. Mary's, and Fort Bullen replaced by pensioners.</p>
+
+<p>Everything being in readiness, the Governor decided
+to make one last endeavour to arrive at a peaceful solution
+of the difficulty (although the king's people had recently,
+on several occasions, fired on the schooners blockading the
+river), and despatched H.M.S. <i>Torch</i> with a flag of truce
+to Swarra Cunda Creek. Commander Smith returned with
+the intelligence that the natives had prepared stockaded
+earthworks, were assembled in large numbers, and had
+refused to hold any communication with the ship.</p>
+
+<p>On February 15th, the expedition left Bathurst, and
+steaming up to Swarra Cunda Creek, some forty miles up
+the river, anchored there for the night. The troops were
+under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Murray, 1st
+West India Regiment, and were thus distributed:</p>
+
+<p>The gunners of the 1st and 2nd West India Regiment
+on board H.M.S. <i>Torch</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Nos. 1 and 7 Companies, 1st West India Regiment, on
+board the Colonial steamer <i>Dover</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Nos. 2 and 3 Companies, 1st West India Regiment, on
+the schooner <i>Elizabeth</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Nos. 4 and 7 Companies, 2nd West India Regiment, on
+the schooner <i>Margaret</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Dover</i>, after distributing her contingent amongst the
+other three vessels lying in the creek, returned to Bathurst
+the same night to bring up Nos. 4 and 6 Companies of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span>
+the 1st West India Regiment and two companies of the 2nd
+West India Regiment.</p>
+
+<p>On February 16th, the whole force being collected, the
+<i>Torch</i> and the <i>Dover</i> steamed up the creek to the trading
+landing-place of Swarra Cunda, towing the schooners. The
+earthworks were observed to be full of armed men, who
+shouted and brandished their weapons, amid a tremendous
+beating of war-drums. The <i>Torch</i> anchored about 180
+yards from the earthworks, the two schooners lying above
+her and the <i>Dover</i> below, in such positions as to be able
+to bring a cross-fire to bear. The Governor, being still
+anxious to avoid bloodshed, hailed the enemy through his
+interpreter, calling upon them to surrender. They replied
+with yells of defiance, and were then informed that if they
+did not abandon their works the ships would open fire in
+half-an-hour.</p>
+
+<p>The half-hour having elapsed without any result, except
+a considerable accession to the enemy's strength, fire was
+opened from the guns of the <i>Torch</i> and <i>Dover</i>, while the
+troops poured in a destructive storm of musketry. The
+enemy replied with great spirit; and, although the sixty-eight-pounder
+shell were crushing through the earthworks
+and carrying away large portions of the parapets, some
+of the warriors continued calmly up and down in full view
+on the most exposed portions of the works, to encourage
+the others; and it was not until this terrible fire of shell
+and musketry had lasted for three hours, that the natives<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>
+began to abandon their works, retiring even then very
+gradually. This movement being observed, a landing was
+at once ordered; and the boats, which had been collected
+together under cover of the <i>Torch</i>, pulled in rapidly for
+the landing-place. Before, however, they reached the shore,
+some 800 natives, who had occupied the extreme right
+of the earthworks, which had not suffered from our fire
+as much as the other portions, rushed down to oppose
+them.</p>
+
+<p>The landing was effected in the teeth of all opposition,
+the troops wading ashore and attacking the enemy with
+the bayonet. Colonel D'Arcy in his despatch says:&mdash;"Nothing
+could exceed the gallantry of the landing on
+the part of the officers and men of the 1st and 2nd West
+India Regiments; and now commenced a smart skirmish
+with a numerous enemy, in which our black soldiers evinced
+a gallantry and a determination to close which I felt proud
+to witness."</p>
+
+<p>While this stubborn and hand-to-hand conflict was at
+its height, a shrill cry was suddenly heard in rear of the
+enemy, and at once, as if by a preconcerted plan, those
+natives who were disputing the landing broke and fled,
+while, at the same moment, a body of some 300 cavalry
+debouched from the shelter of a clump of dwarf palms,
+and came down at full gallop on the troops, who were already
+somewhat scattered in pursuit of the retreating enemy.
+The men at once formed rallying squares, and in a moment<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span>
+the Mandingo horsemen were amongst them, brandishing
+their scimetars and discharging matchlocks and pistols. The
+fire from the squares was so steady and well sustained, that,
+with one exception, the enemy could effect nothing. They
+rode round and round the squares for a few minutes, uttering
+shouts of defiance and endeavouring to reach the men with
+their spears; and finally, a good many saddles having been
+emptied, galloped off as rapidly as they had come, their
+long robes streaming out behind in the wind. The one
+exception referred to was that of a group of three men
+of the 1st West India Regiment and two of the 2nd, who,
+having advanced too far in pursuit, had become separated
+from their comrades, and, on the sudden appearance of the
+cavalry, had not time to reach any of the squares. They
+stood back to back, surrounded by the enemy, until overwhelmed
+by force of numbers and ridden down, being
+afterwards found lying where they had stood, surrounded
+by eleven dead Mandingoes whom they had shot or
+bayoneted.</p>
+
+<p>This cavalry charge was the last hope of the enemy;
+and no sooner was it repulsed than they withdrew in great
+disorder. The troops pursued for a short distance, but as
+it was not deemed advisable to scatter the small force,
+especially as the day was beginning to close, they were
+soon recalled, and the men bivouacked on the ground they
+had so ably won, the bivouac being so arranged that the
+guns of the <i>Torch</i> could sweep the front and one flank.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span>
+Wells were dug, the dead buried, and the night passed
+without further disturbance.</p>
+
+<p>Next morning, the 17th, the Gambia Militia Artillery,
+with 400 native allies, arrived and landed, and in the afternoon
+the 1st and 2nd West India Regiments, under Lieutenant-Colonel
+Murray, after a short resistance, took and
+destroyed the stockaded town of Carawan, situated to the
+right of the position. Encouraged by this success, the
+native allies and the Gambia Militia Artillery advanced to
+the town of Swarra Cunda, to the left of the position,
+and finding it abandoned, destroyed it also.</p>
+
+<p>During the ensuing night, H.M.S. <i>Arrogant</i>, Commodore
+Edmonstone, arrived in the Gambia River, and early next
+morning the <i>Dover</i> brought the Commodore, with a naval
+brigade of seamen and marines, up to Swarra Cunda Creek.
+This unlooked-for accession of strength determined Lieutenant-Colonel
+Murray to advance into the interior, and
+strike a blow that would bring the war to a conclusion.
+Cattle were obtained for the field-guns, which were then
+landed, and about noon on the 18th, the force marched
+inland, four companies of the 1st West India Regiment
+forming the right division, four of the 2nd West India
+Regiment the left division, and two of the 1st the reserve,
+with the guns on the flanks.</p>
+
+<p>The country through which the advance was made was
+a level sandy plain, covered with tall grass, and dotted
+here and there with clumps of baobab and dwarf palm.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span>
+Occasionally a few clearings for the cultivation of the ground
+nut were met, but as a rule the march was made through
+grass more than waist high. The enemy showed in force,
+but made no serious opposition to the advance; and, though
+large bodies of cavalry were observed hanging about the
+flanks and rear, they showed no disposition to close, and the
+towns of Kinty-Cunda and Sabba were destroyed without
+loss on our side, and very small loss, if any, on the part of
+the enemy.</p>
+
+<p>The 19th and 20th were devoted to changing the camping
+ground, and arranging a plan of campaign against Indear,
+the king's town, in which the shipping might be used as a
+base; but, on the afternoon of the latter day, a slave-girl,
+who came into the camp to claim British protection, reported
+that the king's warriors, having been largely reinforced, had
+come down from Indear, and had erected a stockade on the
+ruins of Sabba. Although it did not suit Lieut.-Colonel
+Murray's plans to return to Sabba, he did not consider it
+advisable to leave this unexpected challenge unanswered;
+and, on the morning of February 21st, the force again
+marched for Sabba.</p>
+
+<p>On approaching that town it was ascertained that a
+double stockade had been built, which appeared to be full
+of armed men, while detached parties were observed partially
+concealed in the long grass to the left of the stockade, and
+facing our right. The troops were halted and formed for
+attack, the Naval Brigade, consisting of seamen and marines<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>
+from H.M.S. <i>Arrogant</i>, <i>Falcon</i>, and <i>Torch</i>, being in the
+centre, four companies of the 1st West India Regiment on
+the right, four of the 2nd on the left, and two of the 1st in reserve.
+The howitzer battery at once opened on the stockade,
+and, after a few rounds, the centre advanced to within effective
+rifle range and commenced firing. Directly this movement
+took place, the detached parties of Mandingoes on our right
+approached skirmishing through the tall grass, and attacked
+the four companies of the 1st West India Regiment, while
+large bodies of cavalry simultaneously appeared on the
+left, threatening the flank of the 2nd West India Regiment.
+While the 1st West India Regiment was hotly engaged
+on the right, the field-guns of the Gambia Militia Artillery,
+under Colonel D'Arcy, who was present as a volunteer
+and honorary colonel of that corps, were hastily brought
+up, and opened fire on the stockade, to breach it. As
+it was apparent that this would be a work of some time,
+the timber of which the stockade was built being quite
+stout enough to withstand for some time the fire of light
+guns, Lieutenant-Colonel Murray directed the Commodore
+to storm. In an instant the seamen extended, and, advancing
+at a sharp run, clambered over the stockades, and, attacking
+the enemy with the bayonet, soon carried the place. Acting
+in concert with this forward movement of the centre, the
+right (1st West India Regiment) closed on the natives
+with whom they had been engaged, and, cutting them off
+from the stockade, killed or wounded the entire force on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span>
+this side, with a loss to themselves of one officer (Lieutenant
+Bourke) and twenty-two men severely wounded, besides
+slight casualties. The cavalry on the left, seeing the turn
+affairs had taken, withdrew without making any attack.
+The Naval Brigade lost Lieutenant Hamilton, of the
+<i>Arrogant</i>, and three men killed, and twenty-two wounded.</p>
+
+<p>Ensign Garsia, of the 1st West India Regiment, had
+a narrow escape. Shortly before the Naval Brigade had
+advanced to storm, he had been despatched by Lieutenant-Colonel
+Murray with an order to Major Hill, commanding on
+the left, and, in crossing the front of the stockade under a
+heavy fire, both he and his horse were shot and rolled over
+together, Ensign Garsia being very severely wounded. While
+thus lying at a distance of some seventy yards from the
+stockade, a Mohammedan, dressed in yellow&mdash;a colour only
+assumed in this part of the world when the wearer is
+engaged in some desperate enterprise&mdash;climbed over the
+stockade and ran towards the wounded man with a drawn
+scimetar in his hand. He escaped numerous shots that
+were fired at him, reached Ensign Garsia, and had actually
+raised his scimetar to strike off his head, when a wounded
+sailor, who was lying on the ground, shot him dead, with
+his cry of exultation on his lips.</p>
+
+<p>No sooner was the enemy dispersed and in full retreat,
+than messengers arrived from the King of Jocardo, whose
+territory is separated from Baddiboo by the Swarra Cunda
+Creek, begging an interview with the Governor, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>
+promising that, if he would grant a three days' armistice,
+he would bring together all the chiefs of the Baddiboo
+towns, who were now anxious for peace, but afraid to come
+in. The Governor acceded to these terms, but, in case of
+negotiations failing, Lieutenant-Colonel Murray proceeded
+with his preparations for an advance on Indear on the
+morning of the 25th. On the 24th, the Governor received
+another message from the King of Jocardo, begging him
+to extend the armistice for another day, the distance to
+the different towns being so great. This was granted, and
+at 6 a.m. on the 26th, the King of Baddiboo came to terms,
+promising to pay a considerable sum to the Government
+as a fine for his past misdemeanours, and leaving hostages
+in the Governor's hands.</p>
+
+<p>The officers of the 1st West India Regiment who took
+part in this expedition were Lieutenant-Colonel A.W.
+Murray, Captains H. Anton, J.A. Fraser, J. Fanning,
+and G.H. Duyer, Lieutenants A. Temple, J. Moffitt,
+R. Brew, T. Edmunds, J. Bourke, and Ensigns M.C. Garsia
+and T. Nicholson. Lieutenant-Colonel Murray was awarded
+the C.B. for his services.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV.</h3>
+
+<p class="center">THE ASHANTI EXPEDITION, 1864.</p>
+
+
+<p>The head-quarters and four companies of the 1st West
+India Regiment had been removed from Nassau to Barbados
+in the hired transport <i>Avon</i>, before that vessel sailed
+for West Africa, and on the 3rd of March, 1861, the six
+companies of the regiment embarked in her at the Gambia
+for the West Indies. During the four years' tour of service
+which they had just completed, five officers had fallen victims
+to the fatal West African climate, Lieutenant Kenrick having
+died at Sierra Leone, in August, 1857; Lieutenant Leggatt,
+in February, 1859; Brevet-Major Pratt, in July, 1859; and
+Captain Owens, in July, 1860; while Lieutenant E. Smith
+had died at the Gambia, in September, 1859.</p>
+
+<p>On the arrival of the wing from West Africa, the regiment
+was distributed in the West Indies as follows: The
+head-quarters, with Nos. 5, 7, and 8, the Grenadier and
+Light Companies at Barbados; Nos. 1 and 2 at St. Lucia;
+No. 3 at Trinidad; and Nos. 4 and 6 at Demerara. Towards<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>
+the close of the year the practice of selecting men for flank
+companies was forbidden by Horse Guards General Order,
+and the grenadier and light companies became Nos. 9
+and 10.</p>
+
+<p>The regiment remained thus stationed until December,
+1862, when the three existing West India Regiments were
+called upon to furnish two companies each for the formation
+of a new 4th West India Regiment, and Nos. 9 and 10
+Companies of the 1st West India Regiment were transferred.
+In the same month, No. 1 Company rejoined head-quarters
+from St. Lucia. The establishment of the regiment was
+now eight instead of ten companies as formerly.</p>
+
+<p>On the 23rd of December, 1862, a detachment of three
+companies (Nos. 5, 7, and 8) embarked in the troopship
+<i>Adventure</i>, under Lieutenant-Colonel Macauley, and proceeded
+to Honduras, arriving there on January 3rd, 1863.
+A war of reprisals between the Santa Cruz and Ycaich&eacute;
+Indians was then raging on the frontier, and the greatest
+vigilance was necessary to prevent violation of British
+territory, the detachments of the regiment at the outposts
+of Orange Walk and Corosal being continually employed.</p>
+
+<p>In March, 1863, the whole of the southern side of Belize
+was destroyed by fire, and the detachment of the 1st West
+India Regiment there stationed received the thanks of the
+Legislative Assembly for the assistance it had rendered in
+preventing the conflagration spreading, a sum of $200 being
+voted for the men, "as an acknowledgment of the valuable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>
+services rendered by them." In this, or the preceding year,
+companies were designated alphabetically instead of numerically;
+No. 1 becoming "A," No. 2, "B," and so on.</p>
+
+<p>On the 31st of October, 1863, A Company, with the
+head-quarters, embarked at Barbados on board the troopship
+<i>Meg&aelig;ra</i>, which had arrived the day before from Demerara
+with D and F Companies. The vessel then proceeded
+to St. Lucia, where B Company was embarked, and all
+four went to Nassau. The distribution of the regiment was
+then: 4 companies at Nassau, 3 in Honduras, and 1 in
+Trinidad.</p>
+
+<p>In 1863 occurred what is usually called the Second Ashanti
+War. It was caused, as almost every Ashanti war or threat
+of invasion has been caused, by the refusal of the Governor
+of the Gold Coast to surrender to the Ashanti King fugitives
+who had sought British protection. In revenge for this
+refusal an Ashanti force made a raid into the Protectorate,
+and reinforcements were at once asked for by the Colonial
+Government. In December, 1863, B Company, 1st West
+India Regiment, under Captain Bravo, embarked at Nassau
+in H.M.S. <i>Barracouta</i> for Jamaica, and proceeded, towards
+the end of February, 1864, to Honduras, in the troopship
+<i>Tamar</i>. There E and G Companies embarked, and all
+three, under the command of Major Anton, sailed for Cape
+Coast Castle on the 2nd of March, arriving there on the 9th
+of April. The officers of the regiment serving with these
+companies were Major Anton, Captains Bravo and Hopewell<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>
+Smith, Lieutenants J.A. Smith, Gavin, Roberts, Smithwick,
+Lowry, Barlow, Allinson, and Ensign Alt.</p>
+
+<p>On the arrival of the detachment of the 1st West
+India Regiment at Cape Coast Castle, the strength of the
+expeditionary force was as follows:</p>
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="castle">
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td><td align='right'>Officers.</td><td align='right'>Men.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>1st West India Regiment</td><td align='right'>11</td><td align='right'>300</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>2nd West India Regiment</td><td align='right'>6</td><td align='right'>170</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>3rd West India Regiment</td><td align='right'>6</td><td align='right'>170</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>4th West India Regiment</td><td align='right'>30</td><td align='right'>850</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>5th West India Regiment</td><td align='right'>4</td><td align='right'>10</td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td><td align='right'>&mdash;</td><td align='right'>&mdash;</td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td><td align='right'>57</td><td align='right'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1,500</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>The rainy season&mdash;the most unhealthy period of the
+year on the Gold Coast&mdash;was then commencing, and the
+Government appear to have had some idea of making
+an advance upon Coomassie at its close&mdash;about the month
+of June or July. In order to have everything in readiness
+for the forward movement, dep&ocirc;ts of stores and munitions
+of war had been established at Mansu and Prahsu, and
+at Swaidroo in Akim, detachments of troops being stationed
+at these places for their protection. These detachments
+the Colonel commanding the troops on the Gold Coast
+determined to maintain during the rainy season, and it
+fell to the lot of B and G Companies of the 1st West India
+Regiment to be detailed for the fatal duty of relieving the
+detachment then encamped at Prahsu.</p>
+
+<p>Towards the end of the month of April these two
+companies, under Captains Bravo and Hopewell Smith,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>
+started amidst continuous torrents of rain on their march
+of seventy-four miles to the Prah. They had, since their
+arrival, been encamped with E Company on the open
+space to the west of the town known as the parade
+ground, there being no accommodation for them in the
+Castle; and owing to the unsanitary condition of the
+site and the want of proper shelter, had already begun
+to suffer from the effects of the climate.</p>
+
+<p>On arriving at the Prah they encamped at the ford
+of Prahsu, at a point where the river, making a sudden
+bend, enclosed the encampment on three sides. Here in
+the midst of a primeval forest, on the banks of a pestilential
+stream, without proper shelter or proper food, they
+remained for nearly three months. The sickness that
+ensued was almost unparalleled. Before they had been a
+month encamped, four officers and 102 men were sick
+out of seven officers and 214 men who had marched
+out of Cape Coast; and the hospital accommodation was
+so bad that the men had to lie on the wet ground with
+pools of water under them. The rains were unusually
+severe, the camp speedily became a swamp, the troops
+had worse food than usual, and, above all, were compelled
+to remain inactive. The small force had no means
+of communication with the coast, and no expectation of
+a reinforcement; and, had the enemy made an appearance,
+the troops were hardly in a fit state to defend
+themselves. Day after day torrents of rain fell; it was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span>
+impossible to light fires for cooking purposes except
+under flimsy sheds of palm branches; and night after
+night officers and men turned into their wretched and dripping
+tents hungry and drenched to the skin. Neither
+was there any occupation for the mind or body, and
+universal gloom and despondency set in. It was no
+unusual thing for two funerals to take place in one
+day, and the unfortunate soldiers saw their small force
+diminishing day by day, apparently forgotten and neglected
+by the rest of the world.</p>
+
+<p>By a general order published at Cape Coast Castle, on
+the 30th of May, 1864, the garrison at Prahsu was, on
+account of the sickness there prevailing, reduced to 100
+men; and on the 6th of June, G Company, under Captain
+Hopewell Smith, marched from the Prah and proceeded to
+Anamaboe, a village on the sea-coast some thirteen miles
+to the east of Cape Coast Castle. B Company still continued
+to suffer severely, and on the 18th of June, 57 men
+were in hospital out of a total strength of 100.</p>
+
+<p>At last the Imperial Government resolved to put a stop
+to the waste of life that was taking place, and sent out
+instructions to the Colonial Government that all operations
+against the Ashantis were to cease, and the troops to be
+withdrawn. The welcome intelligence reached Prahsu on
+the 26th of June, but the work of burying the guns and
+destroying the stores and ammunition, which had been collected
+there at such great labour and expense that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>
+Government did not care to incur it again in their removal,
+occupied several days, and it was not until the 12th of July
+that the detachment marched out of the deadly camp on the
+Prah.</p>
+
+<p>On the 27th of July, the hired transport <i>Wambojeez</i>
+arrived at Cape Coast Castle, to remove the detachments
+of the 1st and 2nd West India Regiments to the West
+Indies, and on the 30th they embarked. The day before
+their embarkation the following general order was issued:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p class="center">"(General Order, No. 285.)</p>
+<p><span class="smcap" style="margin-left: 26em;">"Brigade Office, Cape Coast Castle</span>,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 35em;">"<i>28th July, 1864</i>.</span>
+</p>
+
+<p>"Paragraph 3.&mdash;The Lieutenant-Colonel commanding
+feels great pleasure in publishing, for the information of
+the officers and soldiers of the 1st and 2nd West India
+Regiments about to embark for the West Indies, the following
+handsome testimony of their soldierlike conduct while
+employed on the late expedition, by His Excellency
+Governor Pine, in which feelings and kind sentiments the
+Lieutenant-Colonel fully concurs, adding his own thanks
+to Major Anton and Captain Reece for the ready and
+cheerful manner in which they co-operated with him in
+carrying out the duties of the command, and to the officers
+and men under their respective orders.</p>
+
+<p>"It is a pleasing duty to the Lieutenant-Colonel to
+have to announce to these corps that, from the day they
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span>took the field until this hour, not a complaint has been
+brought by an inhabitant against any of the men, so excellent
+has the conduct of all been.</p>
+
+<p>"It is also gratifying to Lieutenant-Colonel Conran to
+see so few men on the sick list when about to embark,
+considering the large numbers that were reported sick on
+their return from the front."</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="smcap" style="margin-left: 25em;">"Government House, Cape Coast</span>,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 34em;">"<i>27th July, 1864</i>.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,</p>
+
+<p>"On the eve of the departure of the detachments of
+the 1st and 2nd West India Regiments, which have been
+annexed to your command on my requisition since April
+last, I request that you will be pleased to permit me, through
+you, to record my thanks as Governor of these settlements
+for the services they have performed conjointly with yourself
+and regiment.</p>
+
+<p>"I feel that I have been the means of imposing upon
+Her Majesty's troops a laborious, ungracious, and apparently
+thankless duty; but my intentions and motives have been
+so fully, and I trust, satisfactorily discussed throughout
+Great Britain, that I dare hope that the officers and men
+will believe that I invited them to participate in a constitutional
+measure, which I felt convinced would add to their
+military reputation and honour.</p>
+
+<p>"To the decision of Her Majesty's Government as to
+its altered policy we are all compelled to bow, and it only
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span>remains for me to express my regret to every officer and
+man of the 1st and 2nd West India Regiments, for the
+natural and laudable disappointment which they have
+experienced in not being engaged in more active military
+operations, and to tender my heartfelt thanks for the prompt
+and ready obedience with which they responded to my
+call on behalf of our Royal Mistress, and for their patience
+and endurance under extraordinary trial.</p>
+
+<p>"Major Anton I have served with, and marked with
+admiration his display of fortitude, moral courage, and
+disinterested kindness during the fearful epidemic of 1859 in
+the Gambia. Captain Bravo, as second in command in
+the Gambia, was my esteemed friend, and enjoyed the
+respect of all who knew him.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"This hasty and imperfect notice I trust you will not
+deem unworthy of being communicated to the highest
+military authority, and I shall esteem myself fortunate
+indeed if I shall be instrumental in the remotest degree
+in their advancement.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 26em;">"I have, etc.,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">(Signed)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span>"<span class="smcap">Richard Pine</span>,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 22em;">"Governor and Commander-in-Chief, Gold Coast.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"The Hon. Colonel <span class="smcap">Conran</span>,</span><br />
+"Commanding the troops on the Gold Coast."<br /><br />
+</p></div>
+
+<p>The <i>Wambojeez</i> arrived at Barbados on the 3rd of
+September; there the detachment of the 1st West India<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span>
+Regiment embarked by companies in H.M.S. <i>Pylades</i>,
+<i>Greyhound</i>, and <i>Styx</i>, for Jamaica, and disembarked at Port
+Royal on the 15th of September. H and C Companies
+rejoining at Jamaica soon after from Honduras and Trinidad,
+the distribution of the regiment was as follows: head-quarters
+and three companies at Nassau, five companies in
+Jamaica.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>&mdash;Out of the 11 officers and 300 non-commissioned
+officers and men who landed at Cape Coast Castle on
+the 9th April, only 6 officers and 269 non-commissioned
+officers and men re-embarked on July 30th, 5 officers
+having been invalided, and 31 men having died during
+their short stay of three months and a half.</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI.</h3>
+
+<p class="center">THE JAMAICA REBELLION, 1865.</p>
+
+
+<p>In October, 1865, a rebellion broke out amongst the black
+population of Jamaica. On the 7th of that month, at the
+Petty Sessions at Morant Bay, a prisoner, who had been
+convicted of an assault, was rescued from the police, and
+on the 9th a warrant was issued for the apprehension of
+two persons named Bogle and several others, who were
+stated to have taken an active part in the riot of the 7th.
+Six policemen and two rural constables proceeded, early
+on the morning of the 10th of October, to execute this
+warrant at Stony Gut, about five miles from Morant Bay,
+where Paul Bogle and some other of the alleged rioters
+lived. They found Bogle in his yard, and told him that
+they had a warrant for his apprehension. He desired to
+have the warrant read to him, which was done. He then
+said that he would not go, and upon one of the policemen
+proceeding to apprehend him, he cried out: "Help, here!"
+At the same time, a man named Grant, who was with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span>
+him, and who was addressed as "Captain," called out,
+"Turn out, men." Almost immediately a body of men,
+variously estimated at from 300 to 500, armed with cutlasses,
+sticks, and pikes, rushed out from a chapel where Bogle
+was in the habit of preaching, and from an adjoining
+cane-field, and attacked the policemen.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<img src="images/fp287x.jpg" style="width: 80%;" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>The police were, of course, overpowered. Some of them
+were severely beaten. Three of their number were made
+prisoners and detained for several hours, being ultimately
+only released upon their taking an oath that they would
+"join their colour," and "cleave to the black."</p>
+
+<p>So far, perhaps, the disturbances might have been considered
+to be nothing more than an ordinary riot; but the
+proceedings of the rioters on the following day soon put their
+intentions beyond all reasonable doubt.</p>
+
+<p>On the 11th of October the Vestry, consisting of certain
+elected members and magistrates, assembled in the court-house
+at Morant Bay about noon, and proceeded with their
+ordinary business till between three and four o'clock, when
+notice was given that a crowd of people was approaching.
+The volunteers were hastily called together, and almost
+immediately afterwards a body of men, armed with cutlasses,
+sticks, bayonets, and muskets, after having attacked the
+police station and obtained possession of such arms as were
+there deposited, were seen entering a large open space facing
+the court-house, in front of which the volunteers had been
+drawn up. The Custos, Baron Ketelhodt, went out to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span>
+steps, and called to the people to know what they wanted.
+He received no answer, and his cries of "Peace! peace!"
+were met by cries from the crowd of "War!"</p>
+
+<p>As the advancing mob drew near, the volunteers retired
+till they reached the steps of the court-house. The Custos
+then began to read the Riot Act. While he was in the act of
+reading it stones were thrown at the volunteers, and Captain
+Hitchins, who commanded them, was struck in the forehead.
+The captain, having received authority from the Custos, then
+gave the word to fire. The order was obeyed, and some of
+the rioters were seen to fall. The volunteers were soon
+overpowered, and the court-house, in which refuge was
+sought, was set on fire. Many people were barbarously
+murdered while trying to escape. Eighteen persons, including
+the Custos, two sons of the rector, the Island Curate
+of Bath, the Inspector of Police, the captain, two lieutenants,
+a sergeant, and three privates of volunteers were killed.
+Thirty-one persons were wounded.</p>
+
+<p>After this the town remained in possession of the rioters.
+The gaolers were compelled to throw open the prison doors,
+and fifty-one prisoners who were there confined were released.
+Several stores were attacked, and from one of them a considerable
+quantity of gunpowder was taken. An attempt
+was made to force the door of the magazine, where about
+300 stand of arms were stored. Fortunately the endeavour
+was not successful.</p>
+
+<p>Major-General L.S. O'Connor, commanding the troops<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span>
+in Jamaica, was inspecting the left wing of the 1st West
+India Regiment, under Major Anton, at Up Park Camp,
+on the morning of the 11th of October, when the news of
+the riot at Stony Gut on the 10th arrived, with a requisition
+from Governor Eyre for 100 men in aid of the civil power.
+In less than an hour Captain Ross's company paraded and
+marched to Kingston, where they embarked in H.M.S.
+<i>Wolverine</i>. Unfortunately, it not being supposed that there
+was any necessity for urgency, the <i>Wolverine</i> did not leave
+Port Royal for Morant Bay until daybreak on the 12th.
+At about noon on the 12th the news of the massacre of
+the magistrates reached Port Royal, where Major-General
+O'Connor was inspecting the detachment of the 1st West
+India Regiment, under Captain Luke. In two hours from
+the receipt of the intelligence, the company embarked on
+board H.M.S. <i>Onyx</i>, and landed at Morant Bay on the
+morning of the 13th.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Ross, on arriving at Morant Bay, had found the
+town deserted by all the Europeans, except Mr. Georges, who
+was severely wounded with three musket balls in his leg. The
+bodies of the unfortunate magistrates, many of which were
+barbarously mutilated, were buried by this company. This
+duty performed, the men patrolled the roads in the neighbourhood,
+and many ladies, whose husbands had been
+murdered or taken prisoners, and who had fled with their
+children, on the approach of the rioters, to bamboo thickets
+or other shelter, hearing the sound of the bugles, came in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span>
+for protection. Numbers of them had passed the night in
+copses, from which, trembling with terror, they had seen
+their houses pillaged.</p>
+
+<p>On the 12th of October, large parties of the rebels,
+armed with guns and cutlasses, marched in military order
+through Bath and other contiguous districts. Stores were
+pillaged, and property taken or destroyed. Blue Mountain
+Valley Estate, Amity Hall, Monklands, which is sixteen
+miles from Morant Bay, and Hordley Estate, were all
+attacked by the insurgents, the occupiers barely escaping
+with their lives. At Blue Mountain Valley and Amity Hall,
+barbarous murders were perpetrated.</p>
+
+<p>On the 13th of October, martial law was proclaimed
+throughout the county of Surrey (except the county and
+city of Kingston), and Major-General O'Connor immediately
+took steps to hem in the disturbed districts. On the 15th
+of October, a detachment of the 1st West India Regiment
+was sent to Port Antonio; and at mid-day, Captain Hole,
+of the 6th Regiment, with 40 men of his own corps, and
+60 of the 1st West India Regiment, under Ensign Cullen,
+marched from that place to Manchioneal, twenty miles
+eastward of Port Antonio. On the same day, 120 men of
+the 6th Regiment, under Colonel Hobbs, occupied (as head-quarters)
+Monklands, in the district of the Blue Mountain
+Valley, about sixteen miles from Morant Bay. Captain
+Strachan's company of the 1st West India Regiment proceeded
+to Spanish Town, whence Lieutenant Allinson, with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span>
+31 men, was sent on to Linstead, where a repetition of the
+Morant Bay massacre was apprehended. A detachment of
+the 6th was sent to Buff Bay to protect some valuable
+sugar estates.</p>
+
+<p>On the 13th and two succeeding days the insurgents
+continued their course through Port Morant northward
+to Manchioneal, and on to Mulatto River and Elmwood;
+the last of which places is situated in the most northerly
+part of St. Thomas-in-the-East, where that parish abuts
+upon Portland. As they advanced with the cry of "colour
+for colour" they were joined by a considerable number
+of negroes, who readily assisted in the work of plundering.
+The houses and stores were sacked. The intention also
+of taking the lives of the whites was openly avowed, and
+diligent search was made for particular individuals. But
+in each case the imperilled person had timely notice, and
+sought safety in flight.</p>
+
+<p>Elmwood was the point furthest from Morant Bay to
+which the disturbances extended; the arrival of the troops
+at Port Antonio, on the 15th, putting a stop to the further
+progress of the insurgents northwards. Thus in the course
+of four days the rebels had spread over a tract of country
+extending from White Horses, a few miles to the west
+of Morant Bay, to Elmwood, at a distance of upwards of
+thirty miles to the north-east of that place.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime, detachments of troops were rapidly
+converging upon the disturbed districts. As the rebels<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span>
+were reported to be occupying Stony Gut, an almost impregnable
+ravine three miles in length, a detachment of
+the 6th Regiment was sent to dislodge them. Captain
+Luke, 1st West India Regiment, by a rapid and judicious
+movement of his company towards Cuna Cuna Gap, rescued
+from the hands of the insurgents upwards of eighty
+Europeans and influential people of colour, who had, with
+their wives and children, been in hiding for three or four
+days in the woods and mountains, and conveyed them
+to a place of safety. Captain Hole moved towards Bath
+from Manchioneal, and, in a despatch to Brigadier-General
+Nelson, he mentions "a meritorious act of three privates
+of the 1st West India Regiment deserving commendation.
+The three men got separated from their party, and proceeded
+as far as the Plantain Garden River, where a
+great number of rebels are lurking. The soldiers encountering
+the rebels, shot several&mdash;among them three of the
+murderers of Mr. Hire&mdash;and brought back with them two
+cartloads of plunder, among which was some of Mr. Hire's
+clothing, and other property."</p>
+
+<p>Kingston, as has been said, was exempted from martial
+law, and consequently became the refuge of the most disaffected
+people. Arrests were made hourly, and upwards
+of two hundred political prisoners were confined in the military
+custody of the 1st West India Regiment at Up Park
+Camp, which was under martial law. Threats were daily
+circulated that the city would be fired in various places, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>
+the streets were patrolled by day and night. Sunday, the
+22nd of October, was said to be fixed for a massacre of the
+loyal inhabitants while at church, and such universal panic
+prevailed, that every place of worship was on that day empty.</p>
+
+<p>The insurgents gradually dispersed as the troops advanced,
+numbers being captured. On the 23rd of October,
+Paul Bogle, the ringleader, was taken; and, on the 24th, was
+tried and hanged. On the same day, George William
+Gordon, a coloured member of the House of Assembly, who
+had been tried by a court-martial on the 21st, and found
+guilty of complicity in the rebellion, was hanged at Morant
+Bay. All the insurgents taken in arms were put to death,
+and the houses of those who were known to have taken part
+in the insurrection were burned. By these vigorous measures
+all outward signs of resistance were crushed, and the movement
+prevented from becoming general; though reports
+were constantly received from various parts of the island, of
+disloyalty and seditious intentions.</p>
+
+<p>On the 29th of October, letters D and F Companies of
+the 1st West India Regiment, with Major McBean, Captains
+Ormsby and Smithwick, Lieutenants Lowry, Niven, Hill, and
+Bale, and Ensign Cole, arrived from Nassau. Detachments
+were at once sent to Port Maria under Captain Ormsby, to
+Savannah la Mar under Lieutenant Hill, and to Vere under
+Lieutenant Bale. The 2nd West India Regiment, arriving
+from Barbados, was stationed along the north-western coast
+of the island.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>From evidence subsequently obtained it was evident that
+the rising had been long planned, and that the outbreak at
+Morant Bay was premature. It is clear that meetings took
+place, where bodies of men were drilled, oaths administered,
+and the names of persons registered. The insurgents were
+so confident of ultimate success that the crops were uninjured,
+and the buildings for the most part preserved;
+they openly avowing that they intended taking them for
+themselves, when the whites were expelled. The rebels
+appear to have expected that the Maroons would join
+them, but that people remained faithful to their allegiance,
+and assisted in the suppression of the disturbances.</p>
+
+<p>Although all the rebels in the field were taken or dispersed
+before the end of October, the island was not
+entirely quiet for some time after; and as late as the
+14th of December, a detachment of the 1st West India
+Regiment, under Captain Ross, was sent from Black River to
+Oxford Estate, thirty miles distant, that place being reported
+to be disaffected.</p>
+
+<p>Major-General O'Connor, in his despatch reporting the
+restoration of order, says: "The men employed in the
+field, exposed to the tropical sun, heavy rains, constant
+and long marches by day and night, have all (the
+2nd 6th Regiment, and the 1st West India Regiment)
+highly distinguished themselves by their patience, perseverance,
+and general good conduct." He might have
+added that the fidelity of the black soldiers of the 1st<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span>
+West India Regiment could hardly have been put to
+a more crucial test. Nine-tenths of those men were
+Jamaicans, born and bred, and in the work of suppressing
+the rebellion they were required to hang, capture, and
+destroy the habitations of not only their countrymen and
+friends, but, in many instances, of their near relatives. Yet
+in no single case did any man hesitate to obey orders, nor
+was the loyalty of any one soldier ever a matter for doubt.</p>
+
+<p>Governor Eyre having, by his prompt and vigorous
+measures, saved the colony of Jamaica from a repetition
+of those horrors which devastated the French West India
+Islands in the early part of the century, was subjected to
+a most vindictive and ungenerous attack on the part of
+the Exeter Hall party in England. By that party the
+judicial executions of the rebels were stigmatised as
+"atrocities," while the massacre at Morant Bay and the
+murders of the planters were only spoken of as "unfortunate
+occurrences." Owing to their clamour, a commission was
+sent out from England to inquire into the state of affairs
+in the colony. The commission arrived at the following
+conclusion: "That though the original design for the overthrow
+of constituted authority was confined to a small
+portion of the parish of St. Thomas-in-the-East, yet that
+the disorder, in fact, spread with singular rapidity over an
+extensive tract of country, and that such was the state
+of excitement prevailing in other parts of the island, that
+had more than a momentary success been obtained by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span>
+insurgents, their ultimate overthrow would have been
+attended with a still more fearful loss of life and property."</p>
+
+<p>Many of the disaffected negroes, finding that they were
+being backed up by an influential party in England, preferred
+the most unfounded charges against several of the
+officers who had been most active in the suppression
+of the rebellion. Amongst others, Ensign Cullen, of
+the 1st West India Regiment, was charged with having
+had three men wantonly shot at Duckinfield Suspension
+Bridge, on the 21st of October, while on the march
+from Manchioneal to Golden Grove; and Staff-Assistant-Surgeon
+Morris, who had been in medical charge of Ensign
+Cullen's detachment, was charged with shooting a fourth man.</p>
+
+<p>After these charges had been allowed to hang over
+these officers' heads for nearly a year, they were given
+an opportunity of clearing themselves before a general court
+martial, which assembled at Up Park Camp on the 2nd of
+October, 1866, and terminated its proceedings on the 4th of
+December. It is needless to say that both were acquitted.<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a></p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span></p>
+<p>For the valuable and efficient services rendered by
+the regiment during this rebellion, the House of Assembly
+in Jamaica voted the sum of &pound;100 to be expended in
+plate.</p>
+
+<p>In March, 1866, all being quiet in Jamaica, Captain
+Smithwick's company returned to Nassau in H.M.S. <i>Sphynx</i>,
+being followed by Captain Ormsby's company, in August,
+in H.M.S. <i>Barracouta</i>.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> The following was the composition of the court:
+</p><p class="center">Lieutenant-Colonel R.T. Farren, C.B., Dep&ocirc;t Battalion&mdash;President.</p>
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="battalion">
+<tr><td align='left'>Major</td><td>W.R. Williamson,</td><td>48th</td><td> Regiment</td><td align='left' rowspan="2" class="bracket3">}</td><td align='left' rowspan="8">Members.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>J.H. Campbell,</td><td align='left'>71st</td><td align='center'>"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Captain</td><td>F.D. Walters,</td><td align='left'>44th</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left' rowspan="2" class="bracket3">}</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>J.G. Day,</td><td align='left'>28th</td><td align='center'>"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>J.A. Barstow,</td><td align='left'>89th</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left' rowspan="2" class="bracket3">}</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>J.L. Seton,</td><td align='left'>102nd</td><td align='center'>"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>C.V. Oliver,</td><td align='left'>66th</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left' rowspan="2" class="bracket3">}</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>J.T. Ready,</td><td align='left'>66th</td><td align='center'>"</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p class="center">Captain Maclean, Rifle Brigade&mdash;Officiating Judge Advocate.<br />
+Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel C.F.J. Daniell, 28th Regiment&mdash;Prosecutor.</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXVII.</h3>
+
+<p class="center">AFRICAN TOUR, 1866-70.</p>
+
+
+<p>In August, 1866, it again became the turn of the 1st
+West India Regiment to furnish a portion of the garrisons
+of the Western Coast of Africa. The system of
+these garrisons had again been changed, and now consisted
+of one battalion divided between Sierra Leone and
+the Gambia, and half a battalion distributed between the
+Gold Coast and Lagos. At this time the left wing of
+the 2nd West India Regiment was garrisoning the two
+latter colonies, and the 1st West India Regiment was to
+garrison the two former.</p>
+
+<p>On the 29th of August, 1866, four companies under
+Major Anton embarked at Jamaica in H.M.S. <i>Simoom</i>,
+and proceeded to Africa; two being landed at the Gambia
+on the 28th of September, and two at Sierra Leone on
+the 6th of October. The <i>Simoom</i>, returning to the West
+Indies, embarked the remaining company at Jamaica in
+November; and proceeding to Nassau, the head-quarters<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span>
+and three companies there stationed were also embarked,
+the whole arriving at Sierra Leone, under Captain Bravo,
+on the 31st of December. The distribution of the regiment
+now was: Head-quarters, with A, B, D, E, F, and G
+Companies at Sierra Leone; C and H Companies at the
+Gambia. Major Anton was in command at the latter
+station, and on the 25th of May, 1867, Lieutenant-Colonel
+Yonge arrived at Sierra Leone and assumed command
+there.</p>
+
+<p>In the beginning of August, 1867, a disturbance of a
+serious character occurred on the Gold Coast at Mumford,
+a town situated half-way between Cape Coast Castle and
+Accra; and Lieutenant H.F.S. Bolton, 1st West India
+Regiment, who, being temporarily in the employ of the
+Colonial Government, was Civil Commandant of the latter
+town, was despatched with a party of the 2nd West
+India Regiment to establish order. The cause of the
+disturbance was an old-standing quarrel between two of
+the native companies at Mumford, and a conflict had
+taken place, resulting in a large number of killed and
+wounded. On the arrival of the troops the principal
+offenders were arrested, and order was restored.</p>
+
+<p>Since the arrival of the regiment in Africa, small detachments
+had been furnished from Sierra Leone to Sherbro,
+Songo-town, and the island of Bulama, at the mouth of
+the Jeba River. In September, 1867, the troops were withdrawn
+from the latter station.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In October, 1867, Lieutenant Bolton was employed in
+arresting some recalcitrant chiefs at Pram-Pram, near
+Accra, Lieutenant Ness, 2nd West India Regiment, with a
+detachment of that corps, acting under his orders. The
+service was attended with considerable difficulty and some
+danger, and the following general order was published on
+the subject, dated Cape Coast Castle, January 15th, 1868:</p>
+
+<p>"The officer commanding the troops has much gratification
+in publishing in orders an extract of a letter received
+from the Horse Guards, expressing the approval of His
+Royal Highness the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief,
+of the manner in which the difficult duties were carried
+out by the officers and troops employed in the recent
+expedition to Pram-Pram.</p>
+
+<p>"'The attention of the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief
+having been drawn to a despatch, received at the
+Colonial Office, from the Administrator-in-Chief of the West
+Africa settlements, containing a very favourable account of
+the conduct of Lieutenant H.F.S. Bolton, of the 1st West
+India Regiment, and Lieutenant (now Captain) Ness, of the
+4th West India Regiment,<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> and of the troops under their
+command, on a recent expedition to some chiefs at Pram-Pram
+and Ningo, on the Gold Coast; I am directed to
+acquaint you that His Royal Highness considers the report<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span>
+to be highly satisfactory, and I have to request that you
+will express to the officers and troops employed on the
+service in question, His Royal Highness's approval of the
+manner in which they carried out the very difficult duties
+they had to perform.'"</p>
+
+<p>On the 9th of August, 1868, at the request of the
+Governor-in-chief, the garrison of the 2nd West India
+Regiment on the Gold Coast being much below its allotted
+strength, E Company, 1st West India Regiment, 100 strong,
+proceeded to Cape Coast Castle, under Lieutenant C.J.L.
+Hill, and, in consequence of this reduction of the Sierra
+Leone garrison, the Songo-town detachment was withdrawn.</p>
+
+<p>In January, 1869, a company under Captain K.R. Niven,
+with Ensign W.A. Broome, was despatched to Sherbro
+Island for the protection of British subjects, an invasion
+of that island being hourly expected. The presence of the
+troops soon produced the desired effect, and the detachment
+returned to Sierra Leone on the 27th of February.</p>
+
+<p>In April, 1869, in consequence of the difficulty experienced
+by the Colonial Government in arresting certain rebellious
+chiefs at the Amissah River, about twenty miles to the east
+of Cape Coast Castle, the police having been attacked and
+driven off, the Acting Administrator, Mr. W.H. Simpson, applied
+for a military party to aid in establishing the authority
+of the Government over the people of that place; and, on
+the 7th of that month, Lieutenant E.G. Macdonald, 1st
+West India Regiment, with twenty-five non-commissioned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span>
+officers and men of letter E Company, marched for Anamaboe,
+leaving that place next morning for Amissah River. On
+arriving there the chiefs were captured with some little
+difficulty, and the party returned to Cape Coast next day.</p>
+
+<p>On the 1st of April, 1869, the 4th West India Regiment
+was disbanded, and the three remaining West India regiments
+were each augmented by one company; the detachment
+of the 4th West India Regiment at Jamaica being
+formed into the ninth, or letter "I," Company of the 1st West
+India Regiment. On the 30th of September, 1869, it embarked
+for Honduras in the brigantine <i>W.N.Z.</i>, under Major
+McAuley, arriving at its destination on the 14th of October.</p>
+
+<p>In May, 1869, the Gambia was visited by a severe epidemic
+of cholera. Owing to the sanitary measures adopted by
+Major W.W.W. Johnston, 1st West India Regiment, commanding
+the troops, the regiment escaped with only eighteen
+deaths out of the 200 men there stationed between the 5th of
+May and the 6th of June, the period when the epidemic was
+at its height; while in the town there were more than 1500
+deaths, out of a population of some 5000.</p>
+
+<p>In 1870 the three years' tour of service of the regiment
+on the West Coast of Africa expired. The 3rd West India
+Regiment having been disbanded, a considerable reduction in
+the West African garrisons became necessary, and it was
+intended that the relief for the eight companies of the 1st
+West India Regiment should consist of four companies of
+the 2nd. On the 24th of May, the head-quarters, with A, B,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span>
+and F Companies, under Captain Samson, embarked at Sierra
+Leone in H.M.S. <i>Orontes</i>, which, proceeding to the Gambia,
+took on board the two companies there on the 29th. The
+head-quarters, with the three companies from Sierra Leone,
+landed at Jamaica on the 27th of June, and the <i>Orontes</i> then
+sailed for Nassau, where the two companies from the Gambia
+were disembarked. On the return of the troopship to the
+West Coast of Africa with the four companies of the 2nd
+West India Regiment, the company of the 1st West India
+Regiment at Cape Coast Castle was embarked on the 24th of
+August, and the remaining two at Sierra Leone on the
+27th. All three proceeded to Jamaica, under the command
+of Captain J.A. Smith, and landed at Kingston on the 3rd
+of October. The distribution of the regiment was now as
+follows: head-quarters and six companies at Jamaica, two at
+Nassau, and one at Honduras. On the 15th of November,
+F Company, under Captain Butler, embarked at Jamaica
+for Honduras; thus making up the detachment at that
+station to two companies.</p>
+
+<p>During the West African tour of 1866-70, two officers
+succumbed to the influence of the climate, Lieutenant Gavin
+having died at Sierra Leone on the 22nd of February, 1869,
+and Lieutenant Maturin on the 7th of December of the same
+year.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> By the Gazette of September 25th, 1867, Lieutenant R.E.D. Ness,
+2nd West India Regiment, was promoted Captain, by purchase, in the
+4th West India Regiment.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h3>
+
+<p class="center">THE DEFENCE OF ORANGE WALK, 1872.</p>
+
+
+<p>On the 1st of September, 1872, a most determined attack
+was made by the Ycaich&eacute; Indians on the outpost of Orange
+Walk, British Honduras, which was garrisoned by thirty-eight
+men of the 1st West India Regiment, under Lieutenant
+Joseph Graham Smith.</p>
+
+<p>Orange Walk is situated on a deep and sluggish stream
+in the northern district, named the New River,<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> at a distance
+of some thirty-three miles from its mouth, and, in 1872,
+contained a population of about 1200 souls, the majority
+of whom were either Indians or Hispano-Indians, and
+indifferent to British rule. The business portion of the
+town, and most of the shops or stores, were on hilly ground,
+considerably above the river-bed, and built here and there,
+without an attempt at order or regularity. About midway
+between the river and this upper portion of the town was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span>
+the barrack, consisting of one large room, sixty feet by thirty
+feet, the two ends of which were partitioned off, leaving
+the central part for the men's quarters. The partitioned
+portion at the south end was used as a guard-room. The
+walls of the building were constructed of <i>pimentos</i>, or round
+straight sticks, varying from half-an-inch to three inches
+in diameter, driven firmly into the ground, in an upright
+position, as close together as possible, and held in their places
+by pine-wood battens. The roof was composed of palm-leaves,
+or "fan-thatch." The floor was boarded.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<img src="images/fp305x.jpg" style="width: 80%;" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>On the south-eastern side of the barrack, the ground
+fell towards the river, which was about fifty yards distant.
+About ten yards from the water's edge was a large quantity
+of logwood, packed in piles four feet high, and some little
+distance from each other. Across the road, on the southern
+side, were several native houses; to the east, and about
+forty yards distant, was a group of four small buildings consisting
+of commissariat stores and the officers' quarters;
+while the nearest building on the north was the Roman
+Catholic Church, about eighty yards off.</p>
+
+<p>How or when the invaders crossed the Rio Hondo, the
+northern boundary of the colony, has not been ascertained;
+but it is a significant fact, suggestive of strong suspicions
+against the loyalty of the Indian and mixed Spanish-Indian
+population, whose small settlements were dotted here and
+there on the line of march of the invaders, that no information
+was conveyed, either to the district magistrate at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span>
+Orange Walk, or to the officer commanding the small
+detachment, that an enemy was at hand, prepared, as the
+settlers must have known, to attack and plunder the town.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians, consisting of about 180 braves, or fighting
+men, and 100 camp followers, led by Marcus Canul, chief
+of the Ycaich&eacute;, approached the town about 8 a.m. on Sunday,
+the 1st of September. They were divided into three sections,
+each of 60 men, and they entered the town at three different
+points; one attacking the upper portion, and pillaging and
+setting fire to the houses and stores, the other two marching
+directly upon the barracks, but from opposite sides. Of these
+latter two, one took up a position behind the stacks of
+logwood, thus commanding one side and one end of the
+barrack; and the other established itself close to the officers'
+quarters, under cover of a stone building, which commanded
+the other side of the barrack and the end already commanded
+from the stacks of logwood.</p>
+
+<p>So sudden and unexpected was the attack, that Lieutenant
+Graham Smith and Staff-Assistant-Surgeon Edge,
+who were both at the time having their morning baths,
+barely had time to escape to the barracks; Lieutenant
+Smith, with nothing on but his trousers, and Dr. Edge
+in a state of nudity; while the first notice the men in the
+barrack had of the approach of the enemy, was the shower
+of lead which rattled on the building.</p>
+
+<p>Lieutenant Graham Smith says: "At about 8 a.m. on
+September 1st, I was bathing, when I heard the report of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span>
+a gun and the whizz of a bullet along the road running past
+the south end of the barrack-room. I looked out of the
+door of my house facing the barracks, and saw the corporal
+of the old guard, which had just been relieved, running
+towards me. He said, 'The Indians have come.' I repeated
+this to Dr. Edge, who was living in the same quarters with
+me, then put on my trousers, ran across to the barrack-room,
+and got the men under arms as quickly as possible."</p>
+
+<p>Before Lieutenant Graham Smith had reached the
+barracks, the two divisions of the enemy had taken up
+their respective positions, and were pouring in unceasing
+discharges of ball, which penetrated the pimento sticks
+and raked the building from end to end. The guard, the
+only men who had ammunition in their possession, returned
+the fire, and at this moment Lieutenant Smith arrived with
+Dr. Edge.</p>
+
+<p>Sergeant Belizario, coming forward and asking for ammunition
+to serve out, reminded Lieutenant Smith that he
+had left the key of the portable magazine, in which the
+ammunition was kept, in his quarters. The open space
+between his quarters and the barrack-room was swept
+with an unceasing shower of lead; but there was no help for
+it, and the key had to be fetched. Accompanied by Sergeant
+Belizario, Lieutenant Smith ran over to his house, seized
+the key, and ran back. Most marvellously both escaped
+injury, though the ground all around them was cut up by
+bullets. The portable magazine was kept in the partitioned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span>
+end that served as a guard-room, and there was no door of
+communication between the central portion, where the men
+lived, and this room. Sergeant Belizario therefore ran out
+of the barrack-room, along the side of the building, into
+the guard-room, and endeavoured to drag the portable
+magazine back with him. He succeeded in moving it
+outside the guard-room and a little way along the wall,
+but further he could not drag it. All this time he was
+exposed to a heavy fire, and every musket-barrel from
+the stone building on the eastern side of the barrack
+was pointed at his body. Finding that all his efforts to
+move the magazine were fruitless, Sergeant Belizario unlocked
+it, and, taking out the ammunition, passed packet
+after packet to the men inside, through the opening under
+the eaves left for ventilation, between the thatched roof
+and the top of the pimento wall, till the magazine was
+emptied. This done, he returned to the barrack-room. He
+seemed to have borne a charmed life, for he was untouched,
+while the portable magazine was starred with the
+white splashes of leaden bullets.</p>
+
+<p>A hot fire was now opened by the soldiers, and Lieutenant
+Graham Smith, taking a rifle, placed himself at the
+west door of the barracks to try and pick off some of the
+most daring of the Indians. Whilst there he was struck
+in the left side, and, at the same instant, Private Robert
+Lynch, who was standing next him, fell dead, pierced by
+two shots.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding his wound, which was very severe, the
+ball penetrating the left breast a little above the heart, and
+passing nearly through him, finally lodging under the left
+shoulder-blade, Lieutenant Smith continued directing and
+encouraging his men; and finding that the whole interior
+was swept by the missiles of the enemy, against which the
+frail pimento-sticks were no protection, he ordered the men
+to turn down their cots, and, lying on their beds, to fire over
+the iron heads of the cots. In this position they were
+tolerably well sheltered, though the Indians were so close
+that several of the iron heads were shot through.</p>
+
+<p>In this place it will be proper to refer to a soldier who,
+all this time, was outside the barrack. This was Private
+Bidwell, who, when the Indians arrived, had just been posted
+sentry on a commissariat store close to the officers' quarters.
+The occupation of one of this group of buildings cut him off
+from the barrack-room; so, after bayoneting one Indian, he
+ran over to an enclosure belonging to Don Escalente, situated
+to the north of the store. From the shelter of the fence of
+this enclosure he fired into the Indians in the stone building
+till his ten rounds of ammunition were exhausted. He then
+said to Don Escalente, "I am going over to the barracks
+for more cartridges," and, before he could be dissuaded, ran
+out from the shelter and endeavoured to cross the open space
+to the barrack. On the way he received a mortal wound, but
+succeeded in joining his comrades.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians, impatient at the delay caused by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span>
+obstinate resistance of the soldiers, now vacated the
+houses on the further side of the road, opposite the
+southern end of the barracks, and set fire to the thatched
+roofs, hoping to involve the barracks in a general conflagration.
+The houses burned fiercely, and the flames
+spreading across the road, caught a small kitchen situated
+not ten yards from the barracks. The Indians raised
+yells of triumph, for they considered it certain that their
+foes would now be driven from their shelter and then
+easily overpowered by force of numbers. Indeed, it is
+difficult to understand how the dry palm-thatch of the
+barracks did fail to ignite, but it did so fail, and the
+kitchen, after blazing up violently for a few minutes, fell
+in and burned itself out harmlessly.</p>
+
+<p>By the destruction of these buildings the position of
+the soldiers was improved, the Indians now having no
+cover immediately opposite the south end of the barrack,
+and being compelled consequently to concentrate behind
+the stacks of logwood. A party, however, of them made
+a circuit and appeared on the north-west corner of the
+barrack, from whence they commanded the road bounding
+the north side of the building.</p>
+
+<p>After the firing had continued for an hour and a
+half, Mr. Price, and another American gentleman from
+Tower Hill Rancho, about four miles from the barracks,
+having heard what was taking place, mounted and rode
+towards the scene of the conflict. Creeping up the river<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span>
+bank unperceived through the thick woods, they suddenly
+rode into and fired upon the Indians who were in rear
+of the stacks of logwood. The latter, taken by surprise,
+and not knowing by what unexpected force they were
+attacked, left their cover for a moment and appeared on
+the side nearest to the barracks. The soldiers perceiving
+this movement, and thinking that the Indians were going
+to attempt to rush the building, fixed bayonets, and some
+ran to the doors to defend the entrances. Mr. Price and
+his companion, taking advantage of this and the momentary
+surprise of the Indians, rushed forward and threw
+themselves into the barracks.</p>
+
+<p>The enemy's fire redoubled after this, and it was hotly
+kept up until about half-past 1 o'clock; it then began to
+slacken, and by 2 o'clock had ceased altogether. For some
+time no one stirred, it being suspected that the cessation
+of the attack was only an Indian ruse; but after a quarter
+of an hour had elapsed, Sergeant Belizario was sent out
+with a party to reconnoitre. He reported that the enemy
+was in full retreat, and was sent to follow them up and watch
+their movements. No pursuit could be attempted. Lieutenant
+Graham Smith was, by this time, incapable of further action,
+and out of the detachment of thirty-eight men, two had been
+killed and fourteen severely wounded.</p>
+
+<p>The attack lasted altogether six hours. The Indian loss
+was about fifty killed; the number of their wounded could
+not, of course, be ascertained, but amongst them was Marcus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span>
+Canul himself, who was mortally wounded, and died before
+recrossing the Hondo. Of the civilians, the son of Don
+Escalente, a boy fourteen years of age, was killed, and seventeen
+were wounded. While the Indians had been occupied
+in their attack on the barracks, the European women and
+children had escaped from the scene of the outrage and
+crossed the river in boats. Thence they had made their
+way through the dense forest to the village of San Estevan,
+about seven miles below Orange Walk. Over 300 bullet-holes
+were counted in the walls of the barrack-room,
+and in many places the palmettos were shot away in
+patches.</p>
+
+<p>On the morning following the attack, a rumour reached
+the barracks that the Indians were again in force near the
+town, and preparing to renew the attack. Every preparation
+for giving them a warm reception was made; but Sergeant
+Belizario and a small party, who went out to reconnoitre,
+found that the rumour was false, although several Indians
+were seen in the bush and fired upon.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime the news of the invasion had reached
+Corosal and Belize, and Captain F.B.P. White, with Lieutenant
+Bulger and twenty men, arrived at Orange Walk at
+midnight on the 4th, being followed next day by a further
+reinforcement of fifty-three officers and men, under Major
+W.W.W. Johnston, but the Indians had already retired
+beyond the frontier.</p>
+
+<p>A colonist, in a letter to <i>The Times</i> on this affair, says:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Concerning the conduct and proceedings of the military
+during and subsequent to the late invasion and attack, I have
+nothing to say but what redounds to their credit and high
+character as British soldiers; and if medals and crosses were
+distributed among the dusky warriors of Her Majesty's land
+forces in this part of her dominions as freely as among other
+branches of the service, all I can say is that every one of the
+brave fellows, who held with such determined valour and
+tenacity the barracks at Orange Walk on that memorable
+Sunday morning against such fearful odds, would be entitled
+to a medal at least."</p>
+
+<p>The following general order was issued: "The Colonel
+commanding the forces in the West Indies has received with
+much satisfaction an account of the successful defence of the
+post of Orange Walk, British Honduras, by a detachment
+of the 1st West India Regiment, under the command of
+Lieutenant J. Graham Smith, against an assault of a large
+force of Indians.</p>
+
+<p>"He has much pleasure in recording his high approbation
+of the gallant conduct of Lieutenant Smith, who,
+severely wounded at the outset of the attack, maintained
+the defence of his post, and retained command as long as
+his strength enabled him to do so; it was then successfully
+maintained under the direction of Staff-Assistant-Surgeon
+Edge, and Sergeant Belizario, 1st West India Regiment,
+to whom also great praise is due for their conduct and
+exertions; the gallant conduct of Lance-Corporals Spencer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span>
+and Stirling, Privates Hoffer, Maxwell, Osborne, Murray,
+and W. Morris, has also been favourably mentioned.</p>
+
+<p>"The Colonel commanding will have great pleasure in
+bringing the conduct of these officers and soldiers to the
+favourable notice of His Royal Highness the Field-Marshal
+Commanding-in-Chief, and also the judicious and energetic
+measures taken by Major W.W.W. Johnston, 1st West
+India Regiment, commanding the troops in British Honduras,
+who proceeded in person to the post which had been assailed,
+and followed up the retreating enemy."</p>
+
+<p>In reply to the report made by Colonel Cox, C.B.,
+commanding the troops, the following letter was received,
+and ordered to be embodied in the records of the regiment:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>
+<span class="smcap" style="margin-left: 27em;">"Horse Guards, War Office, S.W.</span>,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 32em;">"<i>15th November, 1872</i>.</span>
+</p>
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,</p>
+
+<p>"Having had the honour to receive and submit to
+the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief, your letter of
+the 23rd September last, with its several enclosures, containing
+a detailed account of the exemplary and gallant
+conduct of a detachment of the 1st West India Regiment,
+in repelling an attack of Indians on the Orange Walk
+outpost of the Colony of British Honduras, together with
+a letter on the same subject addressed to this department
+by the officer commanding the 1st West India Regiment:</p>
+
+<p>"I have it in command to acquaint you that His Royal
+Highness, after consultation with the Secretary of State
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span>for War on the subject, has decided that the following
+recognition shall be at once made of the services of the
+officers and men employed on that occasion, viz.:</p>
+
+<p>"That Lieutenant Smith, late 1st West India Regiment,
+who was gazetted to the 57th Regiment in August last, shall
+be immediately promoted to a Company in the 97th
+Foot.</p>
+
+<p>"That Staff-Assistant-Surgeon Edge shall be promoted
+to the rank of Surgeon, as soon as he has qualified for
+the higher position, and a notification to this effect will
+be published in the London Gazette, hereafter.</p>
+
+<p>"That Sergeant Edward Belizario shall receive the
+distinguished conduct medal, with an annuity of &pound;10, to
+be given at once, in excess of the vote, until absorbed on
+the occurrence of a vacancy.</p>
+
+<p>"That Lance-Corporals Spencer and Stirling shall be
+granted the distinguished conduct medal without annuity,
+and promoted to the rank of Corporal, to be borne supernumerary
+till absorbed.</p>
+
+<p>"I am also to request that the men of the detachment
+specially named in the margin<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> may be commended for
+their good conduct, and the commanding officer of the
+regiment requested to record their claims, and give such
+recognition of them regimentally as may be possible from
+time to time.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"That you will publish these, His Royal Highness's
+decisions, in your general orders.</p>
+
+<p>"And that a copy of this letter may be furnished to the
+officer commanding the 1st West India Regiment, for the
+purpose of being entered in the Regimental Records.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">"I have, etc.,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 26em;">(Signed)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="smcap">J.W. Armstrong, D.A.G.</span>"</span><br />
+</p></div>
+
+<p>In consequence of the attack on Orange Walk, and on
+the application of the Governor of Honduras, Captain
+Gardner, Lieutenant Bale, and fifty men of the regiment,
+embarked at Jamaica, on the 25th of September, in H.M.S.
+<i>Fly</i>, as a reinforcement for Honduras.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span></p>
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> See Map.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> Privates Hoffer, Maxwell, S. Osborne, Murray, R.A. Morris, and
+W. Tell.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXIX.</h3>
+
+<p class="center">THE ASHANTI WAR, 1873-4.</p>
+
+
+<p>On the 9th of December, 1872, the King of Ashanti
+despatched from Coomassie an army of 40,000 men to
+invade the British Protectorate on the Gold Coast. This
+army crossed the Prah in three divisions on January 29th,
+1873, and spread itself slowly over the country, ravaging
+as it advanced. In August, 1870, the garrisons on the
+West Coast of Africa had been reduced to four companies,
+two at Sierra Leone, and two at Cape Coast. This reduction,
+no doubt, was one of the principal causes which led to the
+invasion, for at that time there were only 160 soldiers of
+the 2nd West India Regiment to defend 160 miles of
+territory.</p>
+
+<p>In June, 1873, the head-quarters of the 2nd West India
+Regiment being ordered from Demerara to Cape Coast
+Castle, A Company of the 1st West India Regiment
+embarked at Kingston, Jamaica, on the 10th of that month,
+and proceeded to Demerara to garrison that place. In<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span>
+September, the native levies that had been raised on the
+Gold Coast to resist the Ashantis being found utterly worthless,
+it was decided to send three battalions from England
+and the 1st West India Regiment from Jamaica, to invade
+in turn the Ashanti territory and dictate terms of peace at
+Coomassie.</p>
+
+<p>On the 15th of November, the two companies (C and H)
+from Nassau, under the command of Major Strachan, arrived
+at Jamaica, and, on the 3rd of December, the head-quarters
+and five companies (B, C, E, G and H), under the command
+of Lieutenant-Colonel Maxwell, embarked at Kingston on
+board the hired transport <i>Manitoban</i>. Proceeding to
+Barbados, A Company, which had been moved from
+Demerara, was embarked on the 9th of December, and
+the same evening the regiment sailed for the Gold Coast,
+arriving at Cape Coast Castle on the 27th, and disembarking
+on the 29th, 575 strong. The officers serving with the
+expeditionary force were Lieutenant-Colonel Maxwell,
+Major W.W.W. Johnston, Captains Sampson, Butler, Niven,
+J.A. Smith, Steward, and Shearman, Lieutenants Allinson,
+C.J.L. Hill, Bale, Molony, Cole, Bell, Clough, Elderton,
+Beale-Browne, and Barne, and Sub-Lieutenants Harward,
+Spitta, Hughes, Burke, Edwardes, Tinkler, and Ellis.</p>
+
+<p>The regiment on landing was encamped on Prospect and
+Connor's Hills, two heights overlooking the town of Cape
+Coast, and Colonel Maxwell assumed command of the
+garrison in the Castle.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Sir Garnet Wolseley having already driven the Ashantis
+out of the Protectorate after the actions at Dunquah and
+Abracampa in November, and having garrisoned the various
+stations between Cape Coast and the Prah, had, a few days
+before the regiment landed, gone on to Prahsu with his
+head-quarter staff. The <i>Himalaya</i> and <i>Tamar</i>, with the
+23rd Royal Welsh Fusiliers and the 2nd Battalion Rifle
+Brigade, which had been cruising about outside for sanitary
+reasons, now came into the roadstead, where the <i>Sarmatian</i>,
+with the 42nd Highlanders, was already lying, and everything
+was ready for the advance on Coomassie.</p>
+
+<p>Accordingly, before daybreak on the 1st of January, the
+right half-battalion of the Rifle Brigade landed and commenced
+its march to the front, followed the next morning
+by the other half-battalion. On the mornings of the 3rd
+and 4th the two half-battalions of the 42nd landed, and
+passed to the front in a similar manner.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 60%;">
+<img src="images/fp319x.jpg" style="width: 60%;" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>The Fantis had shown so much disinclination to act as
+carriers, and so few had been obtained, that the advance
+of these two battalions had exhausted all the available
+carriers, and there were none for the 23rd Fusiliers. It
+was necessary to adopt stronger measures, unless the expedition
+was to fall through, and on the 4th of January the
+1st West India Regiment was posted in a cordon of sentries
+around the town of Cape Coast, while the armed police
+seized all the able-bodied men in the town, except those
+employed as canoe-men. This step was entirely successful,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span>
+and on the morning of the 5th the right half-battalion of
+the 23rd landed and marched to the front, being followed
+next morning by C Company of the 1st West India
+Regiment.</p>
+
+<p>The difficulty with the carriers had in the meantime
+increased instead of diminishing. Numbers had deserted,
+abandoning their loads, and the transport was almost in a
+moribund condition, the 23rd Regiment being even re-embarked
+for want of carriers. Sir Garnet Wolseley in this
+emergency called upon the West India regiments for assistance,
+saying that the fate of the expedition was hanging
+in the balance; and in response to his appeal, they both
+volunteered to carry supplies, in addition to their arms,
+accoutrements, and ammunition.</p>
+
+<p>Accordingly, on the 7th of January, the head-quarters
+of the regiment, under Colonel Maxwell, with A and E
+Companies, marched to Inquabim, the first stage; being
+followed the next morning by G and H Companies, under
+Captain Butler; while B Company remained at Prospect
+Hill to furnish the necessary garrison guards at Cape Coast
+Castle.</p>
+
+<p>The head-quarters arrived at Dunquah on the 8th, where
+C Company had been halted by Colonel Colley, who was
+in charge of the transport and communications, and had
+already been actively engaged driving in carriers and
+furnishing escorts for the convoys of provisions.</p>
+
+<p>On the 9th, at 1.30 a.m., A Company, under Captain<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span>
+Shearman, paraded and marched into the Ecumfie district
+for the purpose of driving in carriers from that neighbourhood,
+and, at the same hour, the head-quarters and E
+Company continued their march to Mansu, where they
+arrived the same evening.</p>
+
+<p>Provisions being now urgently required at the stations
+immediately in front of Mansu, 78 men of E Company,
+being all that were available, and 140 of the 42nd Highlanders,
+started at three o'clock in the morning of the 12th,
+as carriers, each man with a load of 50 lb. weight, besides
+his arms and accoutrements. On the evening of the same
+day Captain Butler, with H Company, arrived at Mansu.</p>
+
+<p>The carriers continued deserting by whole tribes, and the
+need of them had become so urgent, that orders were issued
+to shoot any attempting to desert, while parties of the regiment
+were continually passing backwards and forwards
+between Dunquah and Mansu as guards over the convoys.
+To relieve the pressure, 94 men of G and C Companies left
+Dunquah on the 13th with ninety-four 50-lb. loads, and,
+reaching Mansu the same day, started next morning at daybreak
+for the Prah.</p>
+
+<p>On the 17th, Captain Butler marched with H Company
+to Essecooma, a place about twenty miles due east from
+Mansu, to drive in carriers, and a similar party was sent
+out next day from Dunquah, under Lieutenant Roper, to
+Adjumaco and Essiaman.</p>
+
+<p>During all these arduous duties, and since the 8th of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span>
+January, so great was the scarcity of provisions at the front,
+that the non-commissioned officers and men of the regiment
+were placed upon half rations of salt meat and biscuit,
+without the grocery ration.</p>
+
+<p>On Sunday, the 18th of January, the transport being
+now in sufficient order, owing to the number of carriers
+driven in from the surrounding districts by the regiment,
+the advance of the army commenced, and the head-quarters
+of the 42nd Regiment marched from Mansu; their left
+wing, and 100 men of the 23rd Fusiliers, moving up from
+Yancoomassie Fanti, and occupying their lines for the night.
+The Rifle Brigade moved simultaneously to the front from
+the stations ahead.</p>
+
+<p>Next morning, E Company, under Captain J.A. Smith,
+marched with the left wing of the 42nd for the Prah, and
+G Company, under Captain Steward, came up to Mansu
+from Dunquah, leaving A and C Companies, under
+Captains Niven and Shearman, at Dunquah and the
+Adjumaco district.</p>
+
+<p>On the 23rd, orders were received from the front by
+telegram, that the head-quarters and 200 men were to
+march for the Prah at once, there to receive further orders.
+Captain Butler, who had been ordered in with H Company
+from Essecooma, two days before, arrived at Mansu the
+same evening, and the next morning, the head-quarters and
+G Company marched for the Prah, H Company following
+on the 25th. Halting at Sutah and Yancoomassie Assin,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span>
+the head-quarters arrived at Prahsu on the 27th, and on the
+morning of the 28th, the 200 men required crossed the Prah
+and marched to Essiaman. During this march the men
+had been obliged to carry their <i>tentes d'abri</i>, blankets and
+waterproof sheets, and seventy rounds of ball ammunition,
+in addition to their field kits and arms and accoutrements.
+On arriving at Essiaman, E Company, which, under
+Captain J.A. Smith, had crossed the Prah a day or two
+before, was found occupying an important post at the cross
+roads.</p>
+
+<p>A few minutes after reaching this village, urgent orders
+were received to push on as quickly as possible to the summit
+of the Adansi Hills, and again proceed to the front with all
+speed, leaving fifty men at Fommanah, the capital of Adansi.
+On the 29th, the head-quarters were at Accrofumu; on the
+30th, they crossed the Adansi Hills, and halted at Fommanah
+for the night, leaving E Company, under Captain
+Smith, at the cross-roads at the foot of the hills, in accordance
+with later orders that had been received, and Lieutenant
+Spitta with twenty-five men at the summit. The men were
+now becoming much exhausted from their long marches,
+marching, as they did, double stages every day. Their
+burdens were unusually heavy for troops, and they were still
+kept on half rations.</p>
+
+<p>At Fommanah a very pressing letter was received from
+the chief of the staff, asking at what hour next day the
+regiment might be expected to join the head-quarters of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span>
+army at Insarfu, what numbers it could put into the field,
+and whether the boxes of small-arm ammunition ordered
+up from Prahsu had arrived with it. A considerable action
+was considered imminent on the morrow.</p>
+
+<p>At daylight on the morning of the 31st, the head-quarters
+marched to Ahkankuassie, leaving Captain Steward
+and Lieutenant Hughes with fifty men at Fommanah.
+At about eight o'clock the sound of heavy and sustained
+musketry was heard, and the men, eager to join in the
+first battle fought on Ashanti soil, pushed on. At Adadwasi
+a large number of carriers, with reserve ammunition,
+who had halted there, frightened at the sound of the
+firing, were found, and were at once taken on, arriving
+at Insarfu about 1.30 p.m.</p>
+
+<p>The firing, which had ceased for a short time, now
+recommenced, the Ashantis making one of their favourite
+flank attacks on Quarman, the next village in front.
+The situation appeared grave, the town being crowded
+with terrified carriers and wounded men, and Lieutenant
+Hill with a half-company was sent out to act with the
+2nd West India Regiment and skirmish.</p>
+
+<p>After a time, however, the musketry ceased, and the
+carriers, with the reserve ammunition, were pushed on
+hurriedly under the escort of a company of the Rifle
+Brigade, the 1st and 2nd West India Regiments being
+directed to hold Insarfu. Scarcely had the carriers
+started than the firing again commenced, the ambushed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span>
+Ashantis having attacked the convoy, which fell back
+upon Insarfu. After a short delay, a second attempt was
+made to get the ammunition through to the front, and
+this time it proved successful. It was now dark, and
+Captain Buckle, R.E., who had been killed that morning,
+was buried outside the town, the firing party of the 1st
+West India Regiment being employed as skirmishers to
+protect the funeral party, instead of in the usual manner.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning, orders were received for the 2nd
+West India Regiment to proceed to Amoaful, and hold it
+until the return of the army from Coomassie; while the
+1st West India Regiment was directed to hold Insarfu, in
+which was the 2nd field hospital with 120 wounded officers
+and men. The work was arduous in the extreme, the men,
+when not on sentry or patrol, being employed in clearing the
+thick bush round the town, and endeavouring to strengthen
+the post. While the engagement at Amoaful, Quarman, and
+Insarfu was going on, a party of the 1st West India Regiment,
+which was escorting treasure from Fommanah to
+Dompoassi, was fired upon by some ambushed Ashantis
+about one hundred yards from the latter village. The
+escort promptly returned the fire, but the carriers all dropped
+their loads and ran away. After firing a few desultory shots
+the Ashantis retired, and the escort remained with the
+scattered boxes of specie, which were too numerous for them
+to carry on themselves. Fortunately the fugitive carriers,
+running headlong into Fommanah, spread the alarm, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span>
+Captain North, of the 47th Regiment, immediately marched
+with a party of the 1st West India Regiment, under
+Lieutenant E. Hughes, and a few men of Russell's Regiment,
+to Dompoassi, near which he found the treasure quite safe,
+it having, with the exception of one box, which had been
+dropped by its bearer some three hundred yards down the
+road, away from the rest, and where a turn in the path hid
+it from sight, been collected together by the escort. No
+trace was found of the enemy, and the party of the 1st
+West India Regiment returned to Fommanah.</p>
+
+<p>On the morning of the 2nd of February, the head-quarters
+of the army advanced from Amoaful to march
+on Coomassie. There were, notwithstanding the defeat
+on January 31st, still large numbers of Ashantis on
+the flanks of the road, in the neighbourhood of Quarman
+and Insarfu. During the day succeeding the battle, they
+concentrated lower down the road, and, on the morning of
+the 2nd of February, made a desperate attempt to sever
+our line of communications by attacking the post of
+Fommanah.</p>
+
+<p>"The post was in command of Captain Steward, 1st
+West India Regiment, who had a garrison of 1 officer and
+38 non-commissioned officers and men, 1st West India
+Regiment; and Lieutenant Grant, 6th Regiment, with
+102 of the Mumford Company of Russell's Regiment. There
+were also present two transport officers&mdash;Captain North,
+of the 47th Regiment, and Captain Duncan, R.A.&mdash;three<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span>
+surgeons, and two control officers; and in the palace, which
+was situated in the main street of the long straggling town,
+and used as a hospital, were 24 European soldiers and
+sailors, convalescents. The pickets had reported Ashantis
+in the neighbourhood early in the morning, and had been
+reinforced; but the village was far too large to be capable
+of defence by this small garrison; and when, about 8.30 a.m.,
+the place was attacked from all directions by the enemy,
+they were able to penetrate into it. Captain North, in
+virtue of his seniority, assumed the command, but while
+at the head of his men was shot down in the street of the
+village, and was obliged by severe loss of blood to hand
+over the command to Captain Duncan, R.A.</p>
+
+<p>"The enemy, as has been said, penetrated into all the
+southern side of the village, which they set on fire; meanwhile
+the sick from the hospital were removed to the
+stockade at the north end of the village, which was cleared
+as rapidly as possible, the houses being pulled down by the
+troops and labourers acting under Colonel Colley's order.<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a></p>
+
+<p>"At half-past two, Colonel Colley reported as follows:
+'We have now cleared the greater part of the village,
+preserving the hospital and store enclosure. Difficult to
+judge of numbers of the Ashantis; they attack on all sides,
+and occasional ones creep boldly into the village, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span>
+generally keep under cover of the thick bush, which in
+places comes close to the houses.' The firing ceased about
+1 p.m.; but on a party going down for water an hour later,
+they were hotly fired upon. No further attack was made
+upon the post.</p>
+
+<p>"This attack on Fommanah seriously interfered with the
+transport arrangements. Hitherto, though a few shots had
+been fired at different convoys, the panics and difficulties
+had always been overcome by the energy of the transport
+officers; but the vigour and strength of this attack frightened
+the carriers so thoroughly that it was impossible to move
+them for some days." In this affair the 1st West India
+Regiment lost one sergeant and five privates wounded, and
+Russell's irregulars three men wounded.</p>
+
+<p>The Ashantis, although repulsed, still remained in the
+neighbourhood of Fommanah, and on February 3rd, an escort
+over a convoy of carriers, consisting of a sergeant and three
+men of the 1st West India Regiment, was fired upon between
+Dompoassi and Fommanah, the sergeant and one private
+being wounded.</p>
+
+<p>The European Brigade pushed on to Coomassie, after
+several days' hard fighting, entered the Ashanti capital on
+the evening of the 4th of February, burned it and marched
+out on the 6th, and arrived at Insarfu on the downward
+journey on the 9th. Lieutenant-Colonel Johnston, commanding
+the head-quarters of the 1st West India Regiment
+at Insarfu, was directed to break up his post, burn the town<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span>
+as soon as all the troops had passed through, and then to
+follow to Fommanah, where Sir Garnet Wolseley intended
+remaining a few days, in order to endeavour to arrange a
+treaty with the Ashantis.</p>
+
+<p>The head-quarter staff left Fommanah on February 14th
+for Cape Coast, and the European troops being ordered to
+push on, on account of the commencement of the rains, the
+1st West India Regiment was detailed to relieve the 42nd
+as the rear-guard of the army. On it fell the duty of
+destroying the fortified posts to the north of the Prah, and
+the removal of the sick and wounded and stores. Carriers
+were still so scarce that it was not until the 20th that
+Essiaman was cleared out and the stockade destroyed, and
+the three rear companies of the regiment marched into the
+bridge-head at Prahsu&mdash;which, during the advance to
+Coomassie, had been held by C Company, under Captain
+Niven&mdash;on the 21st. On the 23rd they crossed the Prah,
+and the bridge was then destroyed.</p>
+
+<p>By the 27th of February all the European regiments had
+embarked for England, the 2nd West India Regiment was
+under orders for the West Indies, and upon the 1st West
+India Regiment fell the duty of garrisoning the colony. Two
+hundred men were left at Prahsu, where a strong redoubt had
+been constructed, fifty at Mansu, and the remainder at Cape
+Coast. On the departure of Sir Garnet Wolseley, on the
+4th of March, Colonel Maxwell, of the 1st West India
+Regiment, administered the government of the Gold Coast.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Previous to the departure of the General the following
+general order was published:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p class="center">"(General Order No. 43.)</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="smcap" style="margin-left: 26em;">"Head-Quarters, Cape Coast Castle</span>,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 35em;">"<i>3rd March, 1874</i>.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"Before leaving for England the Major-General commanding
+wishes to convey to the soldiers of the 1st and 2nd
+West India Regiments his appreciation of their soldierlike
+qualities, and of the manner in which they have performed
+their duties during the recent campaign. Portions of the
+2nd West India Regiment have been in every affair in
+the war, and the regiment generally has undergone fatigue
+and exposure in a most creditable manner.</p>
+
+<p>"When, owing to the desertion of carriers, the transport
+difficulties became serious, the men of both these regiments
+responded most cheerfully to the call made upon them,
+and, by daily carrying loads, helped to relieve the force
+from its most pressing difficulties.</p>
+
+<p>"In saying 'good-bye,' the Major-General assures them
+he will always remember with pride and pleasure that
+he had the honour of commanding men whose loyalty to
+their Queen, and whose soldierlike qualities, have been so
+well proved in the war now happily at an end."</p></div>
+
+<p>The rains having set in at the Prah, and much sickness
+prevailing, it was decided to relieve the posts between
+that river and the coast. In fact, the mortality that had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span>
+occurred at Prahsu in 1864 showed that West India troops
+should not be encamped there without urgent necessity;
+and no such necessity now existed, as the King of Ashanti
+had agreed to the treaty, which had been left unsettled
+up to Sir Garnet Wolseley's departure. Captain J.A. Smith,
+with fifty men of the regiment, escorted the Ashanti chiefs
+sent down by the king, and arrived at Cape Coast on the
+12th of March. On the 18th, H Company marched in
+from Prahsu, and embarked on the 20th for Sierra Leone
+in the transport <i>Nebraska</i>, which vessel also conveyed the
+2nd West India Regiment to the West Indies. C Company
+was the last withdrawn from the Prah, arriving at Cape
+Coast on April 2nd.</p>
+
+<p>It had been most disappointing to the two West India
+regiments to have been prevented from entering Coomassie,
+within some twenty-five miles from which their head-quarters
+were halted. West India regiments rarely have opportunities
+of seeing active service elsewhere than on the West
+Coast of Africa; and, although the duties assigned to them
+in the second phase of the war were most important, holding,
+as they did, the detached posts from the Prah up to the
+front, keeping open the communications, protecting the
+convoys, sick and wounded, and constantly furnishing
+patrols and escorts, yet they felt it rather hard to have
+been deprived, in their solitary field for distinguishing themselves,
+of the honours of fighting beside their European
+comrades at Amoaful and Ordahsu.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>On the return of the regiment from the bush, the fatigues
+and exposures of the campaign began to have their effect
+upon both officers and men. In ordinary years, in times of
+peace, Europeans who are seasoned to tropical service, can
+serve for twelve months in the deadly climate of West
+Africa without suffering much loss; but any unusual exposure
+or hardship is at once followed by an alarming
+increase of sickness. The 1st West India Regiment was the
+only corps which, after enduring all the fatigues of a
+campaign in the most deadly climate in the world, did
+not enjoy the advantage of a change to a healthier station.
+Added to this, the season proved to be unusually unhealthy,
+and that variety of African fever known as "bilious remittent,"
+which can only be distinguished from yellow fever
+by the fact of its not being contagious, broke out. Sub-Lieutenant
+L. Burke succumbed to this scourge on March
+1st, Lieutenant T. Williams on April 9th, Lieutenant W.S.
+Elderton on May 10th, and Sub-Lieutenant E.W. Huntingford
+on June 12th, while Lieutenant-Colonel Maxwell, Lieutenant
+Clough and Lieutenant Roper, being invalided, died
+on passage to England, and Captain Butler after arriving
+in England. In addition to these deaths, eight other officers
+were invalided, and out of twenty-six officers who were
+serving with the regiment on the 28th of February, only
+ten were left in West Africa on the 30th of June.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> Colonel Colley had arrived at the northern side of the village, from
+Ahkankuassie, soon after the command had devolved upon Captain
+Duncan.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX"></a>CHAPTER XXX.</h3>
+
+<p class="center">AFFAIRS IN HONDURAS, 1874&mdash;THE SHERBRO EXPEDITION
+1875&mdash;THE ASHANTI EXPEDITION, 1881.</p>
+
+
+<p>While the regiment had thus been engaged on the Gold
+Coast, the detachment left at Orange Walk had, in January
+1874, had a narrow escape of a brush with the Santa Cruz
+Indians. On the 2nd of that month, in accordance with a
+requisition from the magistrate at Orange Walk, Captain
+F.B.P. White and Lieutenant J.R.H. Wilton, with forty men
+of the 1st West India Regiment, left that station about noon
+for Albion Island, in the River Hondo, distant about twelve
+miles, to demand the restitution of a woman who had been
+abducted by an armed party of Santa Cruz Indians from a
+place called Douglas, in British territory. The Hondo was
+reached about 4.30 p.m., and Captain White, finding a number
+of Santa Cruz Indians cutting bush, as if for an encampment, on
+the British side of the river, directed them to accompany him;
+and crossing to the island in their boats, sent them to tell the
+chief that he had a message to deliver to him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>On landing on Albion Island it was found that the public
+ball-room of San Antonio, a large, open, shed-like building
+peculiar to these Spanish-Indian towns, which was situated
+on a small hill, was occupied by an armed force of the
+Indians, about seventy strong. Opposite to them, on the
+nearest rising ground, the detachment was at once formed
+up, partly covered by a chapel.</p>
+
+<p>After some time the chief of the Santa Cruz came over to
+Captain White's party, and inquired what was wanted of
+him; when he was told that no message could be delivered
+to him as long as he had an armed party on British soil,
+and that he must surrender his arms. After some little
+discussion the chief agreed to do so, provided that they
+were returned when his men left the island; and, on these
+terms, ten or eleven rifles were brought in; but while this
+was being done, a trumpet sounded in the public ball-room,
+and the Santa Cruz, quickly gathering together, began to
+load their rifles. The chief, being asked for an explanation
+of this sudden change, replied that his braves were only
+cleaning their guns, but at the same moment a sub-chief
+came up, and loudly declared that the Santa Cruz would
+not give up their arms.</p>
+
+<p>The troops were rapidly posted in advantageous positions,
+and Captain White then informed the chiefs that if their
+men would not lay down their arms they must leave San
+Antonio at once, first handing over the woman who had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span>
+been abducted. Some discussion ensued, but Captain White
+remaining firm, the chiefs agreed to go, and moved their
+men down to the boats. At the last moment, however,
+it was discovered that the woman, who was the cause of
+the expedition, was in one of the boats, and their departure
+was stopped until she was landed, and given in charge of the
+troops.</p>
+
+<p>The Santa Cruz now refused to stir, but remained in
+their boats, which were moored to the bank. It being
+feared that the Indians were only delaying for reinforcements,
+thinking to overpower the British in the darkness, Captain
+White sent Lieutenant Wilton with ten men to give them
+a peremptory order to push off within a quarter of an hour.
+The Indians received the message with laughter, asking,
+"What will you do, if we do not go?" It was now rapidly
+becoming dark, and the country, wild and savage in itself,
+was entirely strange to both officers and men. After ten
+minutes had elapsed, without the Indians giving any sign
+of departure, Captain White had the "close" sounded, drew
+in his sentries, and descended towards the boats with fixed
+bayonets. Upon this the Indians pushed off, and were
+soon lost to sight in the darkness. The detachment remained
+under arms all night at San Antonio, and next
+morning, it having been ascertained that the Indians had
+retired across the frontier, the troops returned to Orange
+Walk.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The following letter was forwarded upon this subject:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>
+<span class="smcap" style="margin-left: 28em;">"Horse Guards, War Office</span>,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 34em;">"<i>17th March, 1874.</i></span></p>
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,
+</p>
+
+<p>"The Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief has
+perused the report which you forwarded to the Adjutant-General
+on the 29th of January, of the proceedings of
+the troops at Orange Walk, in British Honduras, who
+were called out in aid of the civil power against a band
+of Santa Cruz Indians in January last, and I am to
+request that you will cause Captain White, 1st West
+India Regiment, by whom they were commanded, to be
+informed that His Royal Highness considers that the
+discretion and firmness displayed by him in the performance
+of this difficult duty is very commendable to
+that officer.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 26em;">"I have, etc.,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">(Signed)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "<span class="smcap">R.B. Hawley</span>,</span><br />
+<span  class="smcap" style="margin-left: 30em;">"Asst. Mil. Sec."</span><br />
+</p></div>
+
+<p>In July, 1874, the head-quarters of the regiment were
+moved from the Gold Coast to Sierra Leone, one company
+being left in garrison at Cape Coast Castle, and
+one at Elmina. As in June the two companies stationed
+in Honduras had, with the one left in Jamaica, been
+removed to Demerara, the distribution of the regiment
+in July, 1874, was: Head-quarters and four companies<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span>
+(A, B, C, and H) at Sierra Leone, two (E and G) on
+the Gold Coast, and three (D, F, and I) in Demerara.</p>
+
+<p>In July, 1875, disturbances once more broke out in
+British Sherbro. The inhabitants of the town of Mongray,
+on the river of the same name, in that month made a raid
+upon Mamaiah, a town on the British frontier, plundered
+several factories there, and carried off thirty-three British
+subjects as slaves. Fresh outrages were committed later on,
+and, on the 8th of October, 1875, Lieutenant-Governor
+Rowe, C.M.G., with forty men of the 1st West India
+Regiment, under Sub-Lieutenant G.V. Harrison, and sixty
+armed police, left Sierra Leone in the colonial steamer <i>Lady
+of the Lake</i>. The detachment was landed at Bendoo in
+Sherbro next day. Negotiations were at once opened with
+the Mongray chiefs, resulting in the surrender of the captives
+on the 15th, and on the 25th the party returned to Sierra
+Leone.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<img src="images/fp337x.jpg" style="width: 80%;" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>Almost immediately after, fresh disturbances broke out
+in another portion of Sherbro, on the Bargroo River, and,
+on the 15th of November, Lieutenant-Governor Rowe left
+Freetown in the colonial steamer <i>Sir A. Kennedy</i>, with
+Captain A.C. Allinson, Lieutenants J.H. Jones, and A.S.
+Roberts, and ninety men of the 1st West India Regiment,
+fifty armed police, a 4-2/5-inch howitzer, and a rocket-trough.
+The disturbance arose from a raid of Mendis upon villages
+in British territory, thirteen of which they plundered and
+destroyed, afterwards erecting a "war-fence" at a place<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span>
+called Paytaycoomar, in British Sherbro. Here the Commandant
+of Sherbro, Mr. Darnell Davis, attacked them with
+a few policemen, and was repulsed with a loss of three
+killed and several wounded, himself severely.</p>
+
+<p>The expedition, on arriving at Sherbro, established a
+camp at Tyama Woroo in Bargroo, and all preparations
+for an advance being completed by the 27th of November,
+the troops marched on that day, occupying Mosangrah on
+the 30th. On the 3rd of December, Lowarnar, a town to
+the eastward, was entered, and on the 5th a move was
+made on the stockaded town of Gundomar, which was
+abandoned by the enemy on the approach of the force.
+The dead body of one of the captives taken from British
+Sherbro, recently strangled, was found in the stockade, and
+the town was accordingly burned.</p>
+
+<p>On the 6th the force advanced on Moyamba, which was
+also found to be evacuated by the enemy, and was burned.
+On the 9th the troops left Moyamba and marched to
+Yahwi-yamah, which was also destroyed, with the outlying
+stockaded villages of Mocorreh, Bettimah and Mangaymihoon.
+On the 10th Modena was destroyed, and the force
+marched through Mowato and Geeavar to Sennehoo, arriving
+there on the 16th. To this latter town several of the chiefs
+came in to treat, bringing 212 of the captives with them,
+and on the 18th a treaty of peace was arranged, the Mendis
+promising to pay a fine of 10,000 bushels of rice. The troops
+returned to Sierra Leone on the 24th of December.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The country through which the detachment of the 1st
+West India Regiment had marched was most difficult. It
+consisted of dense forest, through which the only advance
+could be made along narrow paths, wide enough only for the
+passage of men in single file, and obstructed by fallen trees,
+swamps, and unbridged streams. Numerous swamps, black
+and full of malaria, had to be crossed, and, though the noon-day
+sun was excessively hot, the nights, owing to excessive
+damp, were very cold. Heavy showers of rain fell almost
+daily, and from sunset till an hour after sunrise the whole
+country was buried in an impenetrable fog.</p>
+
+<p>The stockades were of the same character as those found
+at Mongray, but were here in some instances further fortified
+by mud walls, fifteen feet high, and about twelve feet thick
+at the base. Inside the walls were ditches about six feet
+wide and eight feet deep. In some of the towns, machicoulis
+galleries had been constructed over the gates, and the
+entrances further protected by semicircular mud bastions.</p>
+
+<p>In March, 1877, the 1st West India Regiment was relieved
+on the West Coast of Africa by the 2nd West India
+Regiment, E and G Companies embarking in H.M.S.
+<i>Simoom</i>, at Cape Coast Castle, on the 24th of February, and
+the head-quarters, with A, B, C, and H Companies, at Sierra
+Leone on the 3rd of March. On arriving at the West Indies
+the regiment was thus distributed: Head-quarters, with
+A, D, E, and I Companies, at Jamaica, C and F at Honduras,
+G and H at Barbados, and B at Nassau.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>During its three years' tour of West African service the
+regiment had suffered very heavy loss amongst the officers.
+In addition to the eight deaths that occurred in 1874, directly
+after the Ashanti war, Captain W. Cole died in Ireland
+of fever contracted on the Gold Coast; Lieutenant-Colonel
+Strachan and Sub-Lieutenant Turner in England; and Sub-Lieutenants
+S.B. Orr and G.V. Harrison at Sierra Leone
+in 1876.</p>
+
+<p>The regiment remained without change in the West
+Indies until December, 1879, when the head-quarters and
+six companies embarked in H.M.S. <i>Tamar</i> for West Africa,
+leaving D, E, and I Companies at the dep&ocirc;t at Demerara.
+The head-quarters and four companies disembarked at Sierra
+Leone on the 17th of January, 1880, and the two remaining
+companies proceeded to Cape Coast Castle.</p>
+
+<p>In February, 1880, there being some slight disturbance
+in the neighbourhood of the Ribbie River, a small party of
+the 1st West India Regiment proceeded thither as an escort
+to the Governor, with Lieutenants Madden and Tipping.
+The whole returned to Sierra Leone without any casualty,
+after an absence of a few weeks.</p>
+
+<p>On the 28th of January, 1881, news was received at Sierra
+Leone that the Ashanti king, Mensah, had threatened an
+invasion of the Gold Coast Colony, and a reinforcement was
+urgently demanded. In consequence, Captain H.W. Pollard,
+1st West India Regiment, commanding the troops on the
+West Coast of Africa, despatched to Cape Coast Castle next<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span>
+day in the mail steamer <i>Cameroon</i> letter B Company, under
+Captain Ellis, and letter H Company, under Lieutenant
+Garland. These two companies arrived at their destination
+on the 2nd of February, and on the 9th the former proceeded
+to Anamaboe. This rapid arrival of reinforcements induced
+the king to repudiate the action of his envoys, but affairs
+were still in a very critical situation, and much alarm prevailed
+in the colony. Early in March, Lieutenant-Colonels
+Niven and Smith and Major White arrived from England,
+bringing with them letter A Company from Sierra Leone.
+On the 18th of March, five companies of the 2nd West India
+Regiment arrived in the hired transport <i>Humber</i>. Negotiations
+were protracted till April, when an embassy arrived
+from Coomassie, and the difficulty was finally settled. On
+the 2nd of May, the head-quarters, with A, F, and G Companies,
+returned to Sierra Leone, leaving B, C, and H at
+Cape Coast Castle and Anamaboe. In February, 1882,
+C Company also proceeded to Sierra Leone.</p>
+
+<p>It was intended at the termination of the African tour
+of the regiment, in January, 1883, to reduce the garrisons
+in West Africa from six to three companies, and the steamship
+<i>Bolivar</i> was chartered to carry out the relief in two
+trips. That vessel, however, was wrecked off the Cobbler's
+Reef, at Barbados, and H.M.S. <i>Tyne</i> was sent in her place.
+The latter embarked H Company at Cape Coast Castle on
+the 6th of February, 1883, and F and G Companies at Sierra
+Leone on the 14th, all three proceeding to Jamaica under<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span>
+the command of Major C.J.L. Hill. On the return of
+the <i>Tyne</i> to West Africa with three companies of the 2nd
+West India Regiment, the head-quarters and remaining three
+companies of the 1st West India Regiment, at Cape Coast
+Castle and Sierra Leone, were embarked on the 1st and 11th
+of April respectively, and sailed for Jamaica under the
+command of Captain Ellis, arriving at their destination on
+the 28th of April. On the 5th of May, B, G, and F Companies
+embarked in the <i>Tyne</i>, the first two for Honduras
+and the third for Nassau. On the conclusion of the inter-island
+trooping, the <i>Tyne</i> proceeded with the head-quarters
+and three companies of the 2nd West India Regiment to
+West Africa, the Government having, in consequence of
+threatened complications with Ashanti, abandoned their
+scheme of reducing the African garrisons.</p>
+
+<p>The distribution of the 1st West India Regiment is now
+(May, 1883): Head-quarters and three companies (A, C, and
+H) at Jamaica, two (B and G) in Honduras, one (F) in Nassau,
+and three (D, E, and I) in Demerara.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="APPENDIX" id="APPENDIX"></a>APPENDIX.</h3>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Succession of Honorary Colonels.</span></p>
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="colonels">
+<tr><td align='left'>Major-General John Whyte</td><td align='left'>24th April, 1795.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Lord Charles Henry Somerset</td><td align='left'>5th January, 1804.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Sir Peregrine Maitland, K.C.B</td><td align='left'>22nd February, 1830.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Major-General the Hon. Sir Henry King, K.C.B.</td><td align='left'>19th July, 1834.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Lieutenant-General Sir William Nicolay, K.C.H.</td><td align='left'>30th November, 1839.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Lieutenant-General Sir Henry F. Bouverie, K.C.B., G.C.M.G&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>13th May, 1842.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Lieutenant-General Sir G.H. Bromley Way</td><td align='left'>21st November, 1843.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>General Sir George Thomas Napier, K.C.B.</td><td align='left'>29th February, 1844.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Lieutenant-General Sir George Bowles, K.C.B.</td><td align='left'>9th September, 1855.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>General Sir Arthur Borton, K.C.B</td><td align='left'>2nd May, 1876.</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Succession of Lieutenant-Colonels.</span></p>
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="succession">
+<tr><td align='left'>1. Leeds Booth</td><td align='left'>23rd May, 1795</td><td align='left'>From Brevet-Major, 32nd Foot.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>2. George Rutherford</td><td align='left'>30th Dec., 1797</td><td align='left'>From Major, 27th Foot, <i>vice</i> Booth to 87th Regiment.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>3. James Maitland</td><td align='left'>22nd April, 1803</td><td align='left'>From 60th by purchase, <i>vice</i> Rutherford, who retires.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>4. Alexander Cumine</td><td align='left'>20th March, 1804</td><td align='left'>From 75th Foot, <i>vice</i> Maitland, who exchanges.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>5. C.D. Broughton</td><td align='left'>21st April, 1804</td><td align='left'>By purchase, <i>vice</i> Cumine, who retires.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>6. Samuel Huskisson</td><td align='left'>2nd June, 1807</td><td align='left'>From Major, 8th Foot, without purchase, on establishment of a second<br /> Lieutenant-Colonelcy.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>7. Benjamin D'Urban</td><td align='left'>29th Sept., 1807 </td><td align='left'>From 9th Garrison Battalion, <i>vice</i> Huskisson, who exchanges.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>8. John Irving</td><td align='left'>9th Jan., 1808 </td><td align='left'>From 2nd West India Regiment, <i>vice</i> D'Urban, who exchanges.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>9. George H. Duckworth</td><td align='left'>16th Jan., 1808 </td><td align='left'>From Major, 67th Foot, by purchase, <i>vice</i> Irving, who retires.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>10. Henry Tolley</td><td align='left'>27th Feb., 1808 </td><td align='left'>From Major, 71st Foot, without purchase, <i>vice</i> Broughton, cashiered.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>11. W.S. Wemyss</td><td align='left'>18th June, 1808 </td><td align='left'>From 48th Foot, <i>vice</i> Duckworth, who exchanges.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>12. Joseph Morrison</td><td align='left'>2nd Dec., 1809 </td><td align='left'>From Major, 89th Foot, with purchase <i>vice</i> Tolley, appointed to 16th Foot.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>13. Jonathan Yates</td><td align='left'>21st July, 1810 </td><td align='left'>From Major, 47th Foot, by purchase, <i>vice</i> Wemyss, who retires.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>14. Clement Whitby</td><td align='left'>16 July, 1811 </td><td align='left'>From Major, 17th Foot, with purchase, <i>vice</i> Morrison, appointed to 89th Foot.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>15. J.M. Clifton</td><td align='left'>10th Sept., 1814 </td><td align='left'>Without purchase, <i>vice</i> Yates, appointed to 49th Foot.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left' colspan="4"><br />(Lieutenant-Colonel Clifton retired, Jan. 23rd 1819, and the second Lieutenant-Colonelcy was abolished.)<br />&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>16. James Cassidy</td><td align='left'>12th Dec., 1822 </td><td align='left'>By purchase, <i>vice</i> Whitby, who retires.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>17. Francis Frye Brown</td><td align='left'>12th Jan., 1824 </td><td align='left'>From half-pay, 6th West India Regiment,
+<i>vice</i> Cassidy, who exchanges.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>18. Richard Doherty</td><td align='left'>6th Dec., 1827 </td><td align='left'>From half-pay, <i>vice</i> Brown, who retires.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>19. William Bush</td><td align='left'>4th Sept., 1835 </td><td align='left'>From half-pay, <i>vice</i> Doherty, appointed to 89th Foot.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>20. Henry Capadose</td><td align='left'>22nd April, 1836 </td><td align='left'>Without purchase, on re-establishment of a second Lieutenant-Colonelcy.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>21. Edward Rowley Hill</td><td align='left'>1st Jan., 1847 </td><td align='left'>Without purchase, <i>vice</i> Bush, appointed Inspecting Field Officer of a recruiting<br /> district.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>22. Robert Hughes</td><td align='left'>14th April, 1848 </td><td align='left'> <i>Vice</i> Capadose, deceased.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>23. Fred. Aug. Wetherall</td><td align='left'>1st May, 1855 </td><td align='left'>From Major, 3rd West India Regiment, by purchase,  who retires.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>24. Luke Smyth O'Connor</td><td align='left'>21st Sept., 1855 </td><td align='left'>Without purchase, <i>vice</i> Hill, appointed to a Provisional Dep&ocirc;t Battalion.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>25. Edward Last</td><td align='left'>24th Nov., 1857 </td><td align='left'>From Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel, 99th Foot, <i>vice</i> Wetherall, deceased.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>26. Henry Dunn O'Halloran</td><td align='left'>23rd March, 1858&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>From Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel, Dep&ocirc;t Battalion, <i>vice</i> Last,
+ appointed to<br /> 21st Foot.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>27. Augustus William Murray</td><td align='left'>16th March, 1860 </td><td align='left'>Without purchase, <i>vice</i> O'Halloran, retired upon full pay.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>28. Bowland Moffatt</td><td align='left'>4th March, 1862 </td><td align='left'> From half-pay, <i>vice</i> O'Connor, who retires upon half-pay.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>29. James Travers</td><td align='left'>4th March, 1862 </td><td align='left'> Without purchase, <i>vice</i> Murray, who retires upon half-pay on being
+ appointed <br />Deputy-Adjutant-General, Windward and Leeward Islands.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>30. James Shortall Macauley</td><td align='left'>29th July, 1862 </td><td align='left'>Without purchase, <i>vice</i> Travers, retired on full pay.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>31. William M'Bean</td><td align='left'>18th Dec., 1866 </td><td align='left'>By purchase, Moffatt, who retires.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>32. G. Nigel K.A. Yonge</td><td align='left'>3rd April, 1867 </td><td align='left'>From half-pay, late 67th Foot, <i>vice</i> Macauley, who retires on half-pay.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>33. Henry Anton</td><td align='left'>8th June, 1867 </td><td align='left'>Without purchase, <i>vice</i> M'Bean, who retires.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>34. James Maxwell</td><td align='left'>17th Aug., 1870 </td><td align='left'>From half-pay, late 34th Foot, <i>vice</i> Yonge, who retires on half-pay.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>35. J.M. M'Auley</td><td align='left'>4th Oct., 1871</td><td align='left'><i>Vice</i> Anton, deceased.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>36. W.W.W. Johnston</td><td align='left'>24th Dec., 1873 </td><td align='left'><i>Vice</i> M'Auley, who retires.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>37. W.H.P.F. Strachan</td><td align='left'>15th April, 1874 </td><td align='left'><i>Vice</i> Maxwell, deceased.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>38. Knox Rowan Niven</td><td align='left'>24th March, 1877 </td><td align='left'><i>Vice</i> Strachan, deceased.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>39. Joseph Alexander Smith</td><td align='left'>29th Jan., 1879</td><td align='left'><i>Vice</i> Johnston, retired.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>40. F.B.P. White</td><td align='left'>4th March, 1882</td><td align='left'><i>Vice</i> Niven, retired.</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Stations of the 1st West India Regiment from June, 1795,
+to June, 1883.</span></p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1795 (June).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 8 companies at Martinique.<br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1798 (December).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 6 companies at Morne Fortune, St. Lucia.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">2 companies at Maboya, St. Lucia.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1801 (July).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 8 companies at Martinique.<br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1802 (January).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 6 companies at Martinique.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">2 companies at St. Vincent.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1802 (July).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 6 companies at St. Vincent.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Martinique.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Antigua.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1802 (October).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 8 companies at St. Vincent.<br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1803 (April).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 6 companies at St. Vincent.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">2 companies at Grenada.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1804 (May).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 6 companies at Dominica.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at St. Vincent.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Grenada.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1807 (January).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 6 companies at Barbados.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">3 companies at Grenada.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Tobago.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1807 (November).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 10 companies at Barbados.<br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1808 (January).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 6 companies at Barbados.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">3 companies at Antigua.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Tobago.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1808 (October).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 9 companies at Barbados.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Tobago.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1809 (February).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 8 companies at Martinique.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">2 companies at Barbados.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1809 (June).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 6 companies at Trinidad.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">2 companies at Martinique.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">2 companies at Barbados.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1809 (August).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 10 companies at Trinidad.<br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1814 (March).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 4 companies at Martinique.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">4 companies at St. Lucia.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">2 companies at Dominica.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1814 (July).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 8 companies at Guadaloupe.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Marie-Galante.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at St. Martin's.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1814 (December).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 10 companies at New Orleans.<br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1815 (February).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 10 companies at Barbados.<br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1815 (August).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 6 companies at Barbados.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">4 companies at Guadaloupe.</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1815 (December).</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">Bermuda.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1816 (March).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 10 companies at Barbados.<br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1816 (November).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 3 companies at Antigua.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Montserrat.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">2 companies at St. Christopher's.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">2 companies at St. Lucia.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">2 companies at Dominica.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">10</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1819 (January).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 3 companies at Barbados.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">2 companies at Antigua.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">2 companies at St. Lucia.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">2 companies at Dominica.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Tobago.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">10</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1821 (October).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 3 companies at Barbados.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Demerara.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Tobago.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at St. Lucia.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Dominica.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Antigua.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">8</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1823 (May).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 4 companies at Barbados.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Demerara.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at St. Lucia.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Dominica.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Antigua.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">8</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">==</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1823 (September).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 2 companies at Barbados.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">3 companies at Demerara.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at St. Lucia.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Dominica.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Antigua.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">8</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1824 (October).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 5 companies at Barbados.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at St. Lucia.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Dominica.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Antigua.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">8</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1825 (February).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 4 companies at Trinidad.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Barbados.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at St. Lucia.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Dominica.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Antigua.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">8</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1826 (February).</span><br />
+<br />
+Same as in 1825, with the addition of a recruiting company at Sierra<br />
+Leone.<br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1827 (January).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 3 companies at Trinidad.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Barbados.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at St. Lucia.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Dominica.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Antigua.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Grenada.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Sierra Leone.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">9</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">==</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1834 (May).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 2 companies at Trinidad.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Barbados.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at St. Lucia.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Dominica.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Antigua.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Grenada.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Tortola.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Sierra Leone.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">9</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1837 (December).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 5 companies at St. Lucia.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Trinidad.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Tobago.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Demerara.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at St. Vincent.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Sierra Leone.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">10</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1839 (December).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 2 companies at Demerara.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">3 companies at Barbados.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Trinidad.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Tobago.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at St. Lucia.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at St. Vincent.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Grenada.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Dominica.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Antigua.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Sierra Leone.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">13</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">==</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1840 (September).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 2 companies at Demerara.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">2 companies at Barbados.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Trinidad.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Tobago.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at St. Vincent.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Grenada.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Dominica.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Sierra Leone.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">10</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1843 (November).</span><br />
+Head-quarters and 5 companies at Demerara.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">2 companies at Sierra Leone.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Grenada.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at Tobago.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">1 company at St. Vincent.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">10</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1844 (June).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) Grenadier, No. 8 and No. 5 at Demerara = 3 companies.<br />
+Light and &nbsp;No. 1 at Jamaica&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;= 2<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">No. 2 at Trinidad&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">No. 3 at Dominica&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">No. 4 at Sierra Leone = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">No. 6 at Grenada&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">No. 7 at Cape Coast&nbsp; = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 13em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 13em;">10</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 13em;">==</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1845 (March).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) Grenadier, Light, No. 1 and No. 8 at Jamaica = 4 companies.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">No. 5 at Demerara&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;= 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">No. 2 at Trinidad&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">No. 3 at Dominica&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">No. 4 at Sierra Leone = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">No. 6 at Grenada&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;= 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">No. 7 at Cape Coast&nbsp;&nbsp;= 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 14em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 14em;">10</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 14em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1846 (June).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) Grenadier, Light, Nos. 1, 3, 6, and 8 at Jamaica = 6 companies.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">No. 2 at Trinidad&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;= 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">No. 4 at Sierra Leone = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">No. 5 at Tobago&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;= 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">No. 7 at Cape Coast&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;= 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 14em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 14em;">10</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 14em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1847 (December).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) Grenadier, Light, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8 at Jamaica = 8 companies.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">No. 4 at Sierra Leone&nbsp;&nbsp;= 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">No. 7 at Cape Coast&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;= 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 14em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 14em;">10</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 14em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1848 (August).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) Grenadier, Nos. 3, 4, 6, and 7 at Jamaica = 5 companies.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">&nbsp;Light and No. 8 at Nassau&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;= 2<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">No. 1 at Honduras&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;= 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">No. 5 at Sierra Leone&nbsp;= 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">No. 2 at Cape Coast&nbsp;&nbsp;= 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 14em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 14em;">10</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 14em;">==</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 8.5em;">1849 (March).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) Grenadier, No. 3 and No. 6 at Jamaica&nbsp; = 3 companies.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Light, No. 7, and No. 8 at Nassau&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; = 3</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">No. 1 and No. 4 at Honduras = 2</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">No. 5 at Sierra Leone&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;= 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">No. 2 at Cape Coast&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;= 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15.5em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15.5em;">10</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15.5em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1852 (September).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) Grenadier, No. 3, and No. 6 at Jamaica = 3 companies.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Light, No. 7, and No. 8 at Nassau  = 3</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">No. 1 at St. Christopher's&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">No. 4 at Barbados&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;= 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">No. 5 at Sierra Leone&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">No. 2 at Cape Coast&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 14.5em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 14.5em;">10</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 14.5em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1853 (December).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) Grenadier, Light, No. 2, and No. 5 at Jamaica = 4 companies.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">No. 4 and No. 7 at Barbados&nbsp;&nbsp; = 2</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">No. 1 at St. Christopher's = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">No. 8 at Dominica&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">No. 3 at Sierra Leone&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">No. 6 at the Gambia&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;= 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 13.5em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 13.5em;">10</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 13.5em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1855 (December).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) Grenadier, Light, Nos. 2, 5, and 8 at Jamaica = 5 companies.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">No. 4 and No. 7 at Barbados&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; = 2</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">No. 1 at Demerara&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;= 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">No. 3 at Sierra Leone = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">No. 6 at the Gambia&nbsp;&nbsp; = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 14em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 14em;">10</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 14em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1856 (December).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) Grenadier, Light, and No. 8 at Jamaica = 3 companies.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nos. 4, 5, and 7 at Barbados&nbsp;&nbsp;= 3</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">No. 1 at Demerara&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;= 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">No. 3 at Sierra Leone = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">No. 2 and No. 6 at the Gambia = 2</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 14em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 14em;">10</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 14em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1857 (June).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) Grenadier, Light, No. 5 and No. 8 at Nassau = 4 companies.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Nos. 1, 3, and 7 at Sierra Leone = 3</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Nos. 2, 4, and 6 at the Gambia&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;= 3</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 14em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 14em;">10</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 14em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1861 (April).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) Grenadier, Light, Nos. 5, 7, and 8 at Barbados = 5 companies.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">No. 4 and No. 6 at Demerara&nbsp; = 2</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">No. 1 and No. 2 at St. Lucia&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; = 2</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">No. 3 at Trinidad&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;= 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 13em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 13em;">10</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 13em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1862 (December).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) Grenadier, Light, and No. 1 at Barbados = 3 companies.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Nos. 5, 7, and 8 at Honduras&nbsp;&nbsp; = 3</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">No. 4 and No. 6 at Demerara&nbsp;  = 2</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">No. 2 at St. Lucia&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">No. 3 at Trinidad&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 13em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 13em;">10</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 13em;">==</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1863 (July).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) A at Barbados&nbsp;&nbsp; = 1 company.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">B at St. Lucia&nbsp; = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">C at Trinidad&nbsp;&nbsp; = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">D and F at Demerara&nbsp;&nbsp; = 2 companies.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">E, G, and H at Honduras = 3</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 13em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 13.5em;">8</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 13em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1863 (November).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) A, B, D, and F at Nassau = 4 companies.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 6.5em;">E, G, and H at Honduras = 3</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11em;">C at Trinidad = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16.5em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 17em;">8</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16.5em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1864 (April).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) A, D, and F at Nassau = 3 companies.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">B, E, and G on the Gold Coast&nbsp; = 3</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;">C at Trinidad = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9.5em;">H in Honduras = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15.5em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;">8</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15.5em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1864 (October).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) A, D, and F at Nassau = 3 companies.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">B, C, E, G, and H in Jamaica = 5</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15.5em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;">8</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15.5em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1865 (November).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) A at Nassau&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; = 1 company.<br />
+B, C, D, E, F, G, and H in Jamaica       = 7 companies.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 14em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 14.5em;">8</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 14em;">==</span><br />
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1866 (August).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) A, D, and F at Nassau    = 3 companies.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">B, C, E, G, and H in Jamaica&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; = 5</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15.5em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;">8</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15.5em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1867 (January).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) A, B, E, F, D, and G at Sierra Leone = 6 companies.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11.5em;">H and C at the Gambia&nbsp; = 2</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21.5em;">8</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">==</span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1868 (August).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) A, B, D, F, and G at Sierra Leone = 5 companies.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10.5em;">C and H at the Gambia = 2</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 13em;">E at Cape Coast = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20.5em;">8</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1870 (November).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) A, B, D, E, and G in Jamaica      = 5 companies.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;">C and H at Nassau&nbsp;  = 2</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;">F and I in Honduras = 2</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18.5em;">9</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1874 (January).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) A, B, C, E, G, and H on the Gold Coast = 6 companies.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 14em;">F and I in Honduras = 2</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16.5em;">D in Jamaica&nbsp; = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 22em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 22.5em;">9</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 22em;">==</span><br />
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1874 (July).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) A, B, C, and H at Sierra Leone = 4 companies.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">E and G at Cape Coast&nbsp;  = 2</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">D, F, and I at Demerara = 3</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18.5em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">9</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18.5em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1877 (April).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) A, D, E, and I at Jamaica = 4 companies.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 8em;">C and F in Honduras = 2</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 8em;">G and H in Barbados = 2</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 8em;">B at Nassau&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16.5em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 17em;">9</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16.5em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1880 (February).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) A, B, H, and F at Sierra Leone = 4 companies.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">C and G at Cape Coast&nbsp;  = 2</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">D, E, and I in Demerara&nbsp; = 3</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19.5em;">9</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1881 (March).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) A, C, G, and H at Cape Coast   = 4 companies.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 12em;">B at Anamaboe = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11em;">F at Sierra Leone&nbsp; = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 8.5em;">D, E, and I in Demerara&nbsp; = 3</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18.5em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left:19em;">9</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18.5em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1881 (June).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) A, F, and G at Sierra Leone    = 3 companies.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 6.5em;">B, C, and H at Cape Coast&nbsp; = 3</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">D, E, and I in Demerara&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;= 3</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 17.5em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">9</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 17.5em;">==</span><br />
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1882 (March).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) A, C, F, and G at Sierra Leone = 4 companies.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">B and H at Cape Coast&nbsp;  = 2</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">D, E, and I in Demerara&nbsp; = 3</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18.5em;">&nbsp;&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">&nbsp;9</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18.5em;">&nbsp;==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1883 (March).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) A and C at Sierra Leone = 2 companies.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">B at Cape Coast&nbsp; = 1 company.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 6.5em;">F, G, and H in Jamaica&nbsp;&nbsp; = 3 companies.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 6.5em;">D, E, and I in Demerara = 3</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16.5em;">9</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;">==</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">1883 (June).</span><br />
+(Head-quarters) A, C, and H in Jamaica  = 3 companies.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">B and G in Honduras&nbsp; = 2</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 6em;">D, E, and I in Demerara&nbsp; = 3</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10.5em;">F at Nassau&nbsp;  = 1</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;">&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16.5em;">9</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;">==</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 360-361]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<h3><a name="INDEX" id="INDEX"></a>INDEX.</h3>
+
+<h4>TO THE</h4>
+
+<h4>NAMES OF OFFICERS, NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS, AND PRIVATES</h4>
+
+<h4>OF THE</h4>
+
+<h4>FIRST WEST INDIA REGIMENT,</h4>
+
+<h4>MENTIONED IN THE FOREGOING PAGES.</h4>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Abercrombie, J., <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a><br /></li>
+<li>Allinson, A.C., <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a><br /></li>
+<li>Alt, <i>Ensign</i>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a><br /></li>
+<li>Anderson, <i>Capt.</i>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, <i>Ensign</i>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a><br /></li>
+<li>Anton, H., <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a><br /></li>
+<li>Archdale, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a><br /></li>
+<li>Atkins, R.W., <a href="#Page_80">80</a><br /></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Bale, J.E., <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a><br /></li>
+<li>Balmer, J., <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br /></li>
+<li>Barlow, E.H., <a href="#Page_279">279</a><br /></li>
+<li>Barne, W.C., <a href="#Page_318">318</a><br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span></li>
+<li>Beale-Browne, G.E., <a href="#Page_318">318</a><br /></li>
+<li>Belizario, E. <i>Sergt.</i>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a><br /></li>
+<li>Bell, <i>Ensign</i>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, T., <a href="#Page_318">318</a><br /></li>
+<li>Bentley, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a><br /></li>
+<li>Bidwell, <i>Pte.</i>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a><br /></li>
+<li>Bingham, E.H., <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a><br /></li>
+<li>Bishop, <i>Surg.</i>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a><br /></li>
+<li>Blackwell, N., <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a><br /></li>
+<li>Bolton, H.F.S., <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a><br /></li>
+<li>Booth, Leeds, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a><br /></li>
+<li>Borton, <i>Sir</i> A., <a href="#Page_343">343</a><br /></li>
+<li>Bourke, J., <a href="#Page_263">263</a><br /></li>
+<li>Bouverie, <i>Sir</i> H.F., <a href="#Page_343">343</a><br /></li>
+<li>Bowles, <i>Sir</i> G., <a href="#Page_343">343</a><br /></li>
+<li>Bravo, A., <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a><br /></li>
+<li>Brennan, <i>Ensign</i>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a><br /></li>
+<li>Brew, R., <a href="#Page_275">275</a><br /></li>
+<li>Brocklass, H., <a href="#Page_183">183</a><br /></li>
+<li>Broome, W.A., <a href="#Page_301">301</a><br /></li>
+<li>Broughton, C.D., <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a><br /></li>
+<li>Brown, F.F., <a href="#Page_345">345</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, R., <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br /></li>
+<li>Bulger, C.O., <a href="#Page_312">312</a><br /></li>
+<li>Burdett, G.S., <a href="#Page_169">169</a><br /></li>
+<li>Burke, L., <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a><br /></li>
+<li>Bush, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, W., <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a><br /></li>
+<li>Butler, D., <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, F. le B., <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a><br /></li>
+<li>Byrne, T., <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br /></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Calder, J., <a href="#Page_79">79</a><br /></li>
+<li>Campbell, N., <a href="#Page_100">100</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, W., <a href="#Page_32">32</a><br /></li>
+<li>Cantrell, D. <i>Sergt. Major</i>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a><br /></li>
+<li>Capadose, H., <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a><br /></li>
+<li>Carden, J., <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br /></li>
+<li>Cassidy, J., <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a><br /></li>
+<li>Cave, <i>Ensign</i>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a><br /></li>
+<li>Chads, <i>Major</i>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a><br /></li>
+<li>Chadwick, B., <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a><br /></li>
+<li>Chamberlayne, W.J., <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a><br /></li>
+<li>Clarke, <i>Bt. Lieut.-Col.</i>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a><br /></li>
+<li>Clerk, A., <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br /></li>
+<li>Clifton, J.M., <a href="#Page_344">344</a><br /></li>
+<li>Clough, H.T., <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a><br /></li>
+<li>Coffin, E. <i>Pte.</i>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a><br /></li>
+<li>Coghlan, A., <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br /></li>
+<li>Cole, W., <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a><br /></li>
+<li>Collins, F., <a href="#Page_148">148</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, J.P., <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br /></li>
+<li>Connell, F.J., <a href="#Page_237">237</a><br /></li>
+<li>Connor, W., <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br /></li>
+<li>Costello, F., <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br /></li>
+<li>Cotter, E., <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br /></li>
+<li>Craddock, H., <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br /></li>
+<li>Craven, <i>Corporal</i>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a><br /></li>
+<li>Crump, <i>Corporal</i>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a><br /></li>
+<li>Cullen, <i>Ensign</i>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a><br /></li>
+<li>Cumine, A., <a href="#Page_343">343</a><br /></li>
+<li>Cunninghame, T., <a href="#Page_79">79</a><br /></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Dalomel, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a><br /></li>
+<li>Dalton, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a><br /></li>
+<li>Darley, C.B., <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a><br /></li>
+<li>Deane, T., <a href="#Page_79">79</a><br /></li>
+<li>De Winton, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a><br /></li>
+<li>Dixon, C. <i>Pte.</i>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a><br /></li>
+<li>Doherty, R., <a href="#Page_345">345</a><br /></li>
+<li>Downie, H., <a href="#Page_138">138</a><br /></li>
+<li>Duckworth, G.H., <a href="#Page_344">344</a><br /></li>
+<li>D'Urban, B., <a href="#Page_344">344</a><br /></li>
+<li>Duyer, G.H., <a href="#Page_275">275</a><br /></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Edmunds, T., <a href="#Page_275">275</a><br /></li>
+<li>Edwardes, C.G.W.E., <a href="#Page_318">318</a><br /></li>
+<li>Egan, J., <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br /></li>
+<li>Elderton, W.S., <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a><br /></li>
+<li>Ellis, A.B., <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a><br /></li>
+<li>Evans, <i>Capt.</i>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a><br /></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Fanning, J., <a href="#Page_275">275</a><br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span></li>
+<li>Farquhar, <i>Ensign</i>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br /></li>
+<li>Fitzgerald, C.L., <a href="#Page_261">261</a><br /></li>
+<li>Fletcher, R. D'O., <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a><br /></li>
+<li>Fraser, J.A., <a href="#Page_275">275</a><br /></li>
+<li>French, <i>Capt.</i>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a><br /></li>
+<li>Froggart, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br /></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Gardner, D., <a href="#Page_316">316</a><br /></li>
+<li>Garland, V.J., <a href="#Page_341">341</a><br /></li>
+<li>Garsia, M.C., <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a><br /></li>
+<li>Gavin, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a><br /></li>
+<li>Gillard, <i>Bt. Major</i>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a><br /></li>
+<li>Gillespie, R., <a href="#Page_79">79</a><br /></li>
+<li>Goodinge, H., <a href="#Page_80">80</a><br /></li>
+<li>Graham, W., <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br /></li>
+<li>Grange, <i>Capt.</i>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a><br /></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Harris, W.W., <a href="#Page_233">233</a><br /></li>
+<li>Harrison, G.V., <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a><br /></li>
+<li>Harward, <i>Sub. Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a><br /></li>
+<li>Hemsworth, G., <a href="#Page_177">177</a><br /></li>
+<li>Henderson, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a><br /></li>
+<li>Henry, <i>Capt.</i>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a><br /></li>
+<li>Hill, C.J.L., <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, E.R., <a href="#Page_345">345</a><br /></li>
+<li>Hoffer, <i>Pte.</i>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a><br /></li>
+<li>Holbrook, T., <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a><br /></li>
+<li>Horsford, T., <a href="#Page_100">100</a><br /></li>
+<li>Hughes, E., <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, R. <i>Lieut.-Col.</i>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, R., <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a><br /></li>
+<li>Huntingford, E.W., <a href="#Page_332">332</a><br /></li>
+<li>Huskisson, S., <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a><br /></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Innes, <i>Colonel</i>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a><br /></li>
+<li>Irving, J., <a href="#Page_344">344</a><br /></li>
+<li>Isles, E. Ellis, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a><br /></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Johnston, W.W.W., <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a><br /></li>
+<li>Jones, J.H., <a href="#Page_337">337</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a><br /></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Kenrick, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a><br /></li>
+<li>Kent, J., <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br /></li>
+<li>King, <i>Sir</i> H., <a href="#Page_343">343</a><br /></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Lafontaine, J. <i>Corporal</i>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a><br /></li>
+<li>Last, E., <a href="#Page_345">345</a><br /></li>
+<li>Leggatt, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a><br /></li>
+<li>Lightfoot, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br /></li>
+<li>Lindsay, J., <a href="#Page_100">100</a><br /></li>
+<li>Lowe, W., <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br /></li>
+<li>Lowry, A.G., <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a><br /></li>
+<li>Luke, E.F., <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a><br /></li>
+<li>Lynch, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, R. <i>Pte.</i>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a><br /></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Macauley, <i>Capt.</i>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a><br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, J.S., <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a><br /></li>
+<li>McAuley, J.M., <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a><br /></li>
+<li>McBean, W., <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a><br /></li>
+<li>M'Callum, <i>Ensign</i>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br /></li>
+<li>M'Connell, D., <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br /></li>
+<li>McDonald, A., <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a><br /></li>
+<li>Macdonald, E.G., <a href="#Page_301">301</a><br /></li>
+<li>M'Grace, D., <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a><br /></li>
+<li>M'Kay, J.C., <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br /></li>
+<li>Mackay, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a><br /></li>
+<li>McKenzie, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a><br /></li>
+<li>Mackrill, <i>Capt.</i>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a><br /></li>
+<li>McLean, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br /></li>
+<li>McShee, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br /></li>
+<li>McWilliam, D., <a href="#Page_100">100</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a><br /></li>
+<li>Madden, G.C., <a href="#Page_340">340</a><br /></li>
+<li>Magee, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a><br /></li>
+<li>Maitland, J., <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, Sir P., <a href="#Page_343">343</a><br /></li>
+<li>Malcolm, R., <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br /></li>
+<li>Marraud, C., <a href="#Page_100">100</a><br /></li>
+<li>Marshall, R., <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br /></li>
+<li>Mason, <i>Sergt.-Major</i>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a><br /></li>
+<li>Maturin, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a><br /></li>
+<li>Mawe, T.G., <a href="#Page_261">261</a><br /></li>
+<li>Maxwell, H., <a href="#Page_79">79</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, J., <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, <i>Pte.</i>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a><br /></li>
+<li>Meehan, <i>Capt.</i>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a><br /></li>
+<li>Meighan, B., <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br /></li>
+<li>Merry, <i>Sergt.</i>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a><br /></li>
+<li>Miles, <i>Ensign</i>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a><br /></li>
+<li>Millar, <i>Capt.</i>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a><br /></li>
+<li>Miller, C., <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a><br /></li>
+<li>Moffatt, B., <a href="#Page_346">346</a><br /></li>
+<li>Moffitt, J., <a href="#Page_275">275</a><br /></li>
+<li>Molony, C.A., <a href="#Page_318">318</a><br /></li>
+<li>Montagu, C., <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, G.C., <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br /></li>
+<li>Montgomery, W., <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a><br /></li>
+<li>Morgan, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a><br /></li>
+<li>Morris, W. or R.A. <i>Pte.</i>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a><br /></li>
+<li>Morrison, John, <a href="#Page_80">80</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, Joseph, <a href="#Page_344">344</a><br /></li>
+<li>Murray, A.W., <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, <i>Pte.</i>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a><br /></li>
+<li>Myers, <i>Capt.</i>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a><br /></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Napier, <i>Sir</i> G. T, <a href="#Page_343">343</a><br /></li>
+<li>Nicholson, T., <a href="#Page_275">275</a><br /></li>
+<li>Nicolay, <i>Sir</i> W., <a href="#Page_343">343</a><br /></li>
+<li>Niven, K.R., <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a><br /></li>
+<li>Nixon, L., <a href="#Page_124">124</a><br /></li>
+<li>Nunn, A.A., <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a><br /></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>O'Connell, <i>Capt.</i> 105, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a><br /></li>
+<li>O'Connor, L.S., <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a><br /></li>
+<li>Odonnell, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span><br /></li>
+<li>Ogston, M. <i>Pte.</i>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a> et seq.<br /></li>
+<li>O'Halloran, H.D., <a href="#Page_345">345</a><br /></li>
+<li>Oliphant, W., <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br /></li>
+<li>O'Meara, M., <a href="#Page_100">100</a><br /></li>
+<li>Ormsby, W., <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a><br /></li>
+<li>Orr, S.B., <a href="#Page_340">340</a><br /></li>
+<li>Osborne, S. <i>Pte.</i>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a><br /></li>
+<li>Owens, <i>Capt.</i>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a><br /></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Page, T., <a href="#Page_80">80</a><br /></li>
+<li>Palmer, R., <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br /></li>
+<li>Petrie, J., <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br /></li>
+<li>Pilkington, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a><br /></li>
+<li>Plague, <i>Corporal</i>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a><br /></li>
+<li>Pogson, <i>Ensign</i>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a><br /></li>
+<li>Pollard, H.W., <a href="#Page_340">340</a><br /></li>
+<li>Powell, <i>Capt.</i>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, W., <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br /></li>
+<li>Pratt, <i>Bt. Major</i>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a><br /></li>
+<li>Prendergast, <i>Capt.</i>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a><br /></li>
+<li>Pye, A.H., <a href="#Page_79">79</a><br /></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Rainford, M., <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br /></li>
+<li>Reed, J., <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br /></li>
+<li>Reid, J., <a href="#Page_79">79</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, W., <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br /></li>
+<li>Roberts, A.S., <a href="#Page_337">337</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, C.T., <a href="#Page_80">80</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, J.C., <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a><br /></li>
+<li>Robeson, <i>Capt.</i>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a><br /></li>
+<li>Roper, J., <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a><br /></li>
+<li>Ross, W.J., <a href="#Page_289">289</a><br /></li>
+<li>Rudgley, H., <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br /></li>
+<li>Russell, <i>Ensign</i>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a><br /></li>
+<li>Rutherford, G., <a href="#Page_343">343</a><br /></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Samson, A.M.W., <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a><br /></li>
+<li>Satchell, W. <i>Pte.</i>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a><br /></li>
+<li>Scott, D., <a href="#Page_83">83</a><br /></li>
+<li>Shearman, F., <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a><br /></li>
+<li>Smith, E., <a href="#Page_276">276</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, Hopewell, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, J.A., <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, J.G., <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, <i>Ensign</i>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br /></li>
+<li>Smithwick, W. FitzW., <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a><br /></li>
+<li>Somerset, <i>Lord</i> C.H., <a href="#Page_343">343</a><br /></li>
+<li>Speed, W.J., <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br /></li>
+<li>Spencer, <i>Lce. Corpl.</i>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a><br /></li>
+<li>Spitta, H.H., <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a><br /></li>
+<li>Splain, W., <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br /></li>
+<li>Steward, C.B., <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a><br /></li>
+<li>Stewart, <i>Capt.</i>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, <i>Ensign</i>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a><br /></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash;, J., <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br /></li>
+<li>Stirling, <i>Lce. Corpl.</i>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span><br /></li>
+<li>Strachan, W.H.P.F., <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a><br /></li>
+<li>Strong, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a><br /></li>
+<li>Sutherland, J., <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a><br /></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Tell, W. <i>Pte.</i>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a><br /></li>
+<li>Temple, A., <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a><br /></li>
+<li>Thomas, <i>Ensign</i>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br /></li>
+<li>Tinkler, J., <a href="#Page_318">318</a><br /></li>
+<li>Tipping, C.W.G., <a href="#Page_340">340</a><br /></li>
+<li>Tolley, H., <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a><br /></li>
+<li>Torrens, <i>Pte.</i>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a><br /></li>
+<li>Travers, J., <a href="#Page_346">346</a><br /></li>
+<li>Tunstall, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a><br /></li>
+<li>Turner, J.M.S., <a href="#Page_340">340</a><br /></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Upton, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a><br /></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Way, <i>Sir</i> G.H.B., <a href="#Page_343">343</a><br /></li>
+<li>Wemyss, W.S., <a href="#Page_344">344</a><br /></li>
+<li>Weston, R., <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a><br /></li>
+<li>Wetherall, F.A., <a href="#Page_259">259</a><br /></li>
+<li>Whitby, C., <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a><br /></li>
+<li>White, F.B.P., <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a><br /></li>
+<li>Whyte, J., <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a><br /></li>
+<li>Wieburg, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a><br /></li>
+<li>Williams, T., <a href="#Page_332">332</a><br /></li>
+<li>Wilson, R., <a href="#Page_79">79</a><br /></li>
+<li>Wilton, J.R.H., <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a><br /></li>
+<li>Winkler, J., <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a><br /></li>
+<li>Wylie, <i>Lieut.</i>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a><br /></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Yates, J., <a href="#Page_344">344</a><br /></li>
+<li>Yonge, G.N.K.A., <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a><br /></li>
+</ul>
+
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3>THE END.</h3>
+
+
+<h4>CHARLES DICKENS AND EVANS, CRYSTAL PALACE PRESS.</h4>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
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+</body>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of the First West India Regiment, by
+A. B. Ellis
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The History of the First West India Regiment
+
+Author: A. B. Ellis
+
+Release Date: September 14, 2009 [EBook #29984]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FIRST WEST INDIA REGIMENT ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven Gibbs, Jane Hyland and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE HISTORY
+
+OF THE
+
+FIRST WEST INDIA REGIMENT.
+
+
+THE HISTORY
+
+OF THE
+
+FIRST WEST INDIA
+REGIMENT.
+
+
+BY
+
+A.B. ELLIS,
+
+_Major, First West India Regiment._
+
+AUTHOR OF "WEST AFRICAN ISLANDS" AND "THE LAND OF FETISH".
+
+
+London:
+
+CHAPMAN AND HALL, LIMITED,
+
+HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
+
+1885.
+
+CHARLES DICKENS AND EVANS,
+
+CRYSTAL PALACE PRESS.
+
+
+
+
+I beg to return my best thanks to A.E. HAVELOCK, Esq., C.M.G.
+Administrator-in-Chief of the West African Settlements;
+Lieutenant-Colonel F.B.P. WHITE, of the 1st West India Regiment; V.S.
+GOULDSBURY, Esq., Administrator of the Gambia Settlements; A. YOUNG,
+Esq., Lieutenant-Governor of Demerara; F. EVANS, Esq., C.M.G., Assistant
+Colonial Secretary of the Gold Coast Colony; ALFRED KINGSTON, Esq., of
+the Record Office; and RICHARD GARNETT, Esq., of the British Museum, for
+the very valuable assistance which they have rendered me in the
+collection of materials for this Work.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+                                                                   PAGE
+    INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER                                                  1
+
+
+    CHAPTER I.
+
+    THE ACTION AT BRIAR CREEK, 1779--THE ACTION AT STONO
+    FERRY, 1779                                                          26
+
+
+    CHAPTER II.
+
+    THE SIEGE OF SAVANNAH, 1779--THE SIEGE OF CHARLESTOWN,
+    1780--THE BATTLE OF HOBKERK'S HILL, 1781                             33
+
+
+    CHAPTER III.
+
+    THE RELIEF OF NINETY-SIX, 1781--THE BATTLE OF EUTAW
+    SPRINGS, 1781--REMOVAL TO THE WEST INDIES                            43
+
+
+    CHAPTER IV.
+
+    THE EXPEDITION TO MARTINIQUE, 1793--THE CAPTURE OF
+    MARTINIQUE, ST. LUCIA, AND GUADALOUPE, 1794--THE
+    DEFENCE OF FORT MATILDA, 1794                                        53
+
+
+    CHAPTER V.
+
+    MALCOLM'S ROYAL RANGERS--THE EVACUATION OF ST. LUCIA,
+    1795                                                                 63
+
+
+    CHAPTER VI.
+
+    THE CARIB WAR IN ST. VINCENT, 1795                                   69
+
+
+    CHAPTER VII.
+
+    MAJOR-GENERAL WHYTE'S REGIMENT OF FOOT, 1795                         77
+
+
+    CHAPTER VIII.
+
+    THE CAPTURE OF ST. LUCIA, 1796                                       85
+
+
+    CHAPTER IX.
+
+    THE RELIEF OF GRENADA, 1796--THE REPULSE AT PORTO RICO,
+    1797                                                                 93
+
+
+    CHAPTER X.
+
+    THE DEFENCE OF DOMINICA, 1805                                       103
+
+
+    CHAPTER XI.
+
+    THE HURRICANE AT DOMINICA, 1806--THE REDUCTION OF ST.
+    THOMAS AND ST. CROIX, 1807--THE RELIEF OF MARIE-GALANTE,
+    1808                                                                117
+
+
+    CHAPTER XII.
+
+    THE CAPTURE OF MARTINIQUE, 1809--THE CAPTURE OF GUADALOUPE,
+    1810                                                                125
+
+
+    CHAPTER XIII.
+
+    THE EXPEDITION TO NEW ORLEANS, 1814-15                              141
+
+
+    CHAPTER XIV.
+
+    THE OCCUPATION OF GUADALOUPE, 1815--THE BARBADOS INSURRECTION,
+    1816--THE HURRICANE OF 1817                                         160
+
+
+    CHAPTER XV.
+
+    THE DEMERARA REBELLION, 1823                                        170
+
+
+    CHAPTER XVI.
+
+    THE BARRA WAR, 1831--THE HURRICANE OF 1831--THE COBOLO
+    EXPEDITION, 1832                                                    178
+
+
+    CHAPTER XVII.
+
+    THE MUTINY OF THE RECRUITS AT TRINIDAD, 1837                        188
+
+
+    CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+    THE PIRARA EXPEDITION, 1842--CHANGES IN THE WEST AFRICAN
+    GARRISONS--THE APPOLLONIA EXPEDITION, 1848                          208
+
+
+    CHAPTER XIX.
+
+    INDIAN DISTURBANCES IN HONDURAS, 1848-49--THE ESCORT TO
+    COOMASSIE, 1848--THE SHERBRO EXPEDITION, 1849--THE
+    ESCORT TO RIO NUNEZ, 1850                                           218
+
+
+    CHAPTER XX.
+
+    THE STORMING OF SABBAJEE, 1853--THE RELIEF OF CHRISTIANSBORG,
+    1854                                                                228
+
+
+    CHAPTER XXI.
+
+    THE TWO EXPEDITIONS TO MALAGEAH, 1854-55                            236
+
+
+    CHAPTER XXII.
+
+    THE BATTLE OF BAKKOW, AND STORMING OF SABBAJEE, 1855                248
+
+
+    CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+    CHANGES IN THE WEST AFRICAN GARRISONS, 1856-57--THE
+    GREAT SCARCIES RIVER EXPEDITION, 1859--FIRE AT NASSAU,
+    1859                                                                257
+
+
+    CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+    THE BADDIBOO WAR, 1860-61                                           265
+
+
+    CHAPTER XXV.
+
+    THE ASHANTI EXPEDITION, 1863-64                                     276
+
+
+    CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+    THE JAMAICA REBELLION, 1865                                         286
+
+
+    CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+    AFRICAN TOUR, 1866-70                                               298
+
+
+    CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+    THE DEFENCE OF ORANGE WALK, 1872                                    304
+
+
+    CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+    THE ASHANTI WAR, 1873-74                                            317
+
+
+    CHAPTER XXX.
+
+    AFFAIRS IN HONDURAS, 1874--THE SHERBRO EXPEDITION, 1875--THE
+    ASHANTI EXPEDITION, 1881                                            333
+
+
+    APPENDIX                                                            343
+
+    INDEX                                                               361
+
+
+
+
+MAPS.
+
+    1. ST. VINCENT                     _facing page 69_
+
+    2. GRENADA                                 "    93
+
+    3. DOMINICA                                "   103
+
+    4. MARTINIQUE                              "   125
+
+    5. GUADALOUPE                              "   133
+
+    6. THE GAMBIA SETTLEMENTS                  "   178
+
+    7. THE GOLD COAST                          "   215
+
+    8. BRITISH HONDURAS                        "   219
+
+    9. THE MELLICOURIE RIVER                   "   236
+
+    10. SWARRA CUNDA CREEK                     "   265
+
+    11. THE COUNTY OF SURREY, JAMAICA          "   287
+
+    12. ORANGE WALK                            "   305
+
+    13. THE ROUTE TO COOMASSIE                 "   319
+
+    14. BRITISH SHERBRO                        "   337
+
+
+THE HISTORY OF THE FIRST WEST INDIA REGIMENT.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
+
+
+At the present day, when our Continental neighbours are outvying each
+other in the completeness of their military organisations and the size
+of their armies, while in the United Kingdom complaints are daily heard
+that the supply of recruits for the British Army is not equal to the
+demand, it may not be out of place to draw the attention of the public
+to a source from which the army may be most economically reinforced.
+
+The principal difficulty experienced by military reformers in their
+endeavours to remodel the British Army on the Continental system, is
+that caused by the necessity of providing troops for the defence of our
+vast and scattered Colonial Empire. Without taking into consideration
+India, our European and North American possessions, a considerable
+portion of the army has to be employed in furnishing garrisons for the
+Cape Colony, Natal, Mauritius, St. Helena, the Bermudas, the West
+Indies, Burmah, the Straits Settlements, Hong Kong, etc.; which
+garrisons, though creating a constant drain on the Home Establishment,
+are notoriously inadequate for the defence of the various colonies in
+which they are placed; and the result is that, whenever a colonial war
+breaks out, fresh battalions have to be hurriedly sent out from the
+United Kingdom at immense expense, and the entire military machine is
+temporarily disarranged.
+
+In size, and in diversity of subject races, the British Empire may be
+not inaptly compared with that of Rome in its palmiest days; and we
+have, in a measure, adopted a Roman scheme for the defence of a portion
+of our dominions. The Romans were accustomed, as each new territory was
+conquered, to raise levies of troops from the subject race, and then,
+most politicly, to send them to serve in distant parts of the Empire,
+where they could have no sympathies with the inhabitants. In India we,
+like the Romans, raise troops from the conquered peoples, but, unlike
+them, we retain those troops for service in their own country. The
+result of this attempt to modify the scheme was the Indian mutiny.
+
+The plan of a local colonial army was, however, first tried in the West
+Indies. At the close of the last century, when the West India Islands,
+or the Plantations, as they were then called, were of as much importance
+to, and held the same position in, the British Empire as India does
+now, there was in existence a West India Army, consisting of twelve
+battalions of negro troops, raised exclusively for service in the West
+Indies.
+
+As India was gradually conquered, and the West India trade declined
+(from the abolition of the slave trade and other causes), the West India
+Colonies, by a regular process, fell from their former pre-eminent
+position. Each step in the descent was marked by the disbandment of a
+West India regiment, until, at the present day, two only remain in
+existence; and it is a matter of common notoriety that those two are
+principally preserved to garrison Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast Colony,
+British Honduras, and British Guiana--colonies the climates of which,
+experience has shown, are fatal to European soldiers, who are
+necessarily in time of peace, from the nature of their duties, more
+exposed to climatic influence than are officers. Economy was, of course,
+the cause of this continued process of reduction, for, until recently,
+such gigantic military establishments as those of Germany, Russia, and
+France were unheard of; and Great Britain was satisfied, and felt
+secure, with a miniature army, a paper militia, and no reserve. All this
+is now changed, and the necessity of an increase in our defensive power
+is admitted.
+
+These negro West India troops won the highest encomiums from every
+British commander under whom they served. Sir Ralph Abercromby in 1796,
+Sir John Moore in 1797, Lieutenant-General Trigge in 1801, Sir George
+Provost in 1805, Lieutenant-General Beckwith and Major-General Maitland
+in 1809 and 1810, all testified to the gallantry, steadiness, and
+discipline of the negro soldiers. Sir John Moore, speaking of the new
+corps in 1796, said "they are invaluable," and "the very best troops for
+the climate." To come to more recent times, in 1873 the 2nd West India
+Regiment bore for six months the entire brunt of the Ashanti attack, and
+had actually forced the invading army to retire across the Prah before
+the men of a single line battalion were landed. In fact, the efficiency
+of West India troops was, and is, unquestioned.
+
+This being so, it may be asked, why should not the present number of
+regiments composed of negro soldiers be increased for the purpose of
+garrisoning the colonies, especially those of which the climate is most
+prejudicial to English soldiers? This would not be a return to the
+former state of affairs, for when we had twelve negro regiments they
+were all stationed in the West Indies, whereas the essence of the
+present scheme is to send them on service in other colonies. Such an
+augmentation of our West India, or Zouave, regiments certainly appears
+politic and easy. I will also endeavour to show that it would be
+economical.
+
+Each West India battalion would take the place of a Territorial
+battalion now serving abroad. The latter would return to the United
+Kingdom, be reduced to the Home Establishment, and have from 300 to 400
+men passed into the Reserve. Repeat this process seven or eight times,
+and the services with the colours of between 2000 and 3000 European
+soldiers are dispensed with, the Reserve being increased by that number.
+In addition, negro soldiers being enlisted for twelve years' service
+with the colours, negro regiments on foreign service would not require
+those large drafts sent to white battalions to replace time-expired men,
+transport for which so swells the army estimates; while the negro being
+a native of the tropics, invaliding home would be reduced to a minimum.
+
+The pay of the black soldier is ninepence per diem, against a shilling
+per diem to the white, so that there would be some saving effected in
+that way. In fact, it has been calculated that for an annual addition to
+the army estimates of some L27,000, six new negro battalions, each 800
+strong, could be maintained; giving, on the one hand, an addition of
+4800 to our present military force, and on the other, an increased
+Reserve, and six more Territorial battalions in the United Kingdom,
+ready to hand on a European emergency. To this may be added the lives of
+scores of Englishmen yearly saved to their country.
+
+By the Territorial scheme now in force in Great Britain, an attempt has
+been made to localise corps on the German system, irrespective of the
+fact that Germany has no colonies, while those of Great Britain are most
+numerous. In Germany, in time of peace, each army corps is located in a
+district, from which it never moves, and in which the Reserve men,
+destined to complete the regiments to war strength, are compelled to
+live. Thus, when a general mobilisation takes place, the men are on the
+spot, and join the regiments in which they have already served. France
+has adopted this system, with the exception that army corps are not
+permanently located in districts, and the army thus localised is the one
+for European service only. For her colonies an entirely distinct army is
+maintained, composed of men specially enlisted for foreign service. In
+Great Britain we have neither adopted the German system nor the French
+modification of that system; but a scheme of localisation, with the
+main-spring of localisation removed, has been endeavoured to be grafted
+upon our old system, under which the regular army is sent on service in
+time of peace to distant portions of the globe. Should the mobilisation
+of an army corps be necessary in England, the Reserve men would, in a
+large number of cases, find the regiments in which they had formerly
+served, on foreign service. It would then be necessary to draft them
+into regiments to which they were strangers, in which they would take no
+interest, and where they would be unknown to their officers. On the
+other hand, should it be necessary to despatch suddenly six or seven
+battalions to India or the Cape, they have to be made up to a war
+strength from other corps, for they have been reduced to a skeleton
+establishment in order that men may be provided for the Reserve.
+
+Localisation, to be effectual, must be thorough; but it and the demands
+of foreign service are so incompatible that they cannot be efficiently
+combined. At the present time, neither is said to be in a satisfactory
+condition, and the Reserve, which was expected to have risen to a total
+of 80,000 men, consists of 32,000 only.
+
+Military reformers have long since arrived at the conclusion that if the
+British Army is to be maintained at such a footing as to give weight to
+the voice of Great Britain in the councils of Europe, we must have two
+distinct armies; namely, one for home service, ready for a European
+imbroglio, and a second to which the defence of the colonies can be
+entrusted. The objection to this has been, hitherto, the great expense,
+for it has always been taken for granted that this Colonial Army would
+consist of white soldiers; and the question of increased pay, supply of
+recruits, and periodical removal of men to the United Kingdom, over and
+above the cost of the Territorial Army, had to be considered. With negro
+troops, however, for the Colonial Army, this objection, if it does not
+entirely disappear, is reduced at least by three-quarters. Should it be
+tried on a small scale and found successful, there need be no reason why
+in time almost the whole of the Territorial battalions should not be
+withdrawn from foreign service. In this way localisation could be made a
+reality; and with such vast untouched recruiting grounds as our colonies
+offer, there can be no doubt as to the practicability of raising the
+negro regiments required. Such regiments might also partly compose the
+garrisons of Gibraltar, Malta, Cyprus, Aden, and Ceylon. There is,
+indeed, no reason, except the hatred of the Hindoo for the negro, why
+such regiments might not serve in India. As the negro would never
+coalesce with the natives of India, a new and entirely reliable force,
+indifferent to tropical heat, and not requiring a vast retinue of
+camp-followers, would be always at hand. Of course, negro battalions
+could never be employed in cold latitudes, for the negro suffers from
+cold in a manner which is incomprehensible even to Europeans who have
+passed the best part of their lives in the tropics. Instead of being
+braced by and deriving activity from the cold, he becomes languid and
+inert; and nothing but the rays of the sun can arouse him to any
+exertion. Even in West Africa, during the Harmattan season, natives may
+be observed in the early morning, hugging their scanty clothing around
+them and shivering with cold; while the ill-fated expedition to New
+Orleans showed what deadly havoc an inclement climate will play with
+negro troops.
+
+Next, as to the men of whom these negro regiments would be composed. It
+is too much the custom in Great Britain, in describing a man of colour,
+to consider that all has been said that is necessary when he is called a
+negro; yet there are as many nationalities, and as many types of the
+African race, as there are of the Caucasian. No one would imagine that a
+European was sufficiently described by the title of "white man." It
+would be asked if the individual in question were an Englishman,
+German, Frenchman, and so on; and the same kind of classification is
+necessary for the negro. On the western coast of Africa, the portion of
+the African continent from which North and South America and the West
+Indies obtained their negro population, there are at least twenty
+different varieties of the African race, distinct from each other in
+features and even in colour; and these are again subdivided into several
+hundred nations or tribes, each of which possesses a language, manners,
+and customs of its own.
+
+In the days of the slave-trade, the slave-dealers adopted certain
+arbitrary designations to denote from what portion of the coast their
+wares were obtained. For instance, slaves shipped from Sierra Leone and
+the rivers to the north and east of that peninsula, and who were
+principally Timmanees, Kossus, Acoos, Mendis, Foulahs, and Jolloffs,
+were called Mandingoes, from the dominant tribe of that name which
+supplied the slave-market. Negroes from the Gold Coast kingdoms of
+Ashanti, Fanti, Assin, Akim, Wassaw, Aquapim, Ahanta, and Accra were
+denominated Koromantyns, or Coromantees, a corruption of Cormantine, the
+name of a fort some sixteen miles to the east of Cape Coast Castle, and
+which was the earliest British slave-station on the Gold Coast.
+Similarly, slaves from the tribes inhabiting the Slave Coast, that is to
+say, Awoonahs, Agbosomehs, Flohows, Popos, Dahomans, Egbas, and Yorubas,
+were all termed Papaws; while those from the numerous petty states of
+the Niger delta, where the lowest type of the negro is to be found, were
+known as Eboes.
+
+Thousands of men of these tribes, and others too numerous to mention,
+were carried across the Atlantic and scattered at hap-hazard all over
+the West India Islands. At first tribal distinctions were maintained,
+but in the course of years, in each island they gradually disappeared
+and were forgotten; until at the present day a West India negro does not
+describe himself as a Kossu or a Koromantyn, but as a Jamaican, a
+Barbadian, an Antiguan, etc. It would naturally be supposed that as the
+West India Islands all received their slave population in the same
+manner, and that as in each there was the same original diversity of
+nationalities, subsequently blended together by intermarriages and
+community of wants and language, a West India negro of the present
+generation from any one island would be hardly distinguishable from one
+from any other. Nothing, however, would be further from the truth. Since
+the abolition of slavery, the conditions of life in the various islands
+have been so different--in some the dense population necessitating daily
+labour for an existence, while in others large uncultivated stretches of
+wood and mountain have afforded squatting grounds for the majority of
+the black population--that, in conjunction with diversity of climate,
+each group of islands is now populated with a race of negroes morally
+distinct _per se_. The difference between a negro born and bred in
+Barbados and one born and bred in Jamaica is as great as between an
+American and an Englishman, and the clannish spirit of the negro tends
+to increase that difference. At the present time the negro of Jamaica
+does not care to enlist in the 2nd West India Regiment, which is largely
+recruited in Barbados; and, in the same way, the Barbadian declines to
+serve in the 1st West India Regiment, because it is almost entirely
+composed of Jamaicans.
+
+While the negroes of the West Indies have thus lost all their tribal
+peculiarities in the natural course of progress and civilisation, those
+of West Africa have remained at a standstill; and there is to-day as
+much difference between the hideous and debased Eboe and the stately and
+dignified Mandingo, between the docile Fanti and the bloodthirsty
+Ashanti, as there was one hundred and fifty years ago. Civilising
+influences have made this contrast between the Africans and their West
+India descendants still more striking. The latter have, since the
+abolition of slavery, been living independent lives, in close contact
+with civilisation, and enjoying all the rights of manhood under British
+laws. From their earliest infancy they have known no language but the
+English, and no religion but Christianity; while the former are still
+barbarians, grovelling in fetishism, cursed with slavery, ignorant,
+debased, and wantonly cruel. The West India negro has so much contempt
+for his African cousin, that he invariably speaks of him by the
+ignominious title of "bushman." In fact, the former considers himself in
+every respect an Englishman, and the anecdote of the West India negro,
+who, being rather roughly jolted by a Frenchman on board a mail steamer,
+turned round to him and ejaculated, "I think you forget that we beat you
+at Waterloo," is no exaggeration.
+
+Just as the negro races of West Africa are distinct from one another,
+and the West India negro from all, so are the coloured inhabitants of
+both those parts of the world entirely distinct from the Kaffir tribes
+of South Africa; and a coalition between Galeka or Zulu inhabitants and
+West India troops would be as impossible as the fraternisation of a
+Territorial battalion with the natives of India. Apart, however, from
+the fact that negro troops could always be safely employed alone outside
+the colony in which they were bred, history has shown that the fidelity
+of West India soldiers is beyond question. Indeed it would be difficult
+to say what stronger ties there could be than those of sentiment,
+language, and religion, and the association from childhood with British
+manners, customs, laws, and modes of thought. When to these are added
+discipline, the habit of obedience, and that well-known affection for
+their officers and their regiment which is so particularly an attribute
+of the West India soldier, it must be acknowledged that the guarantees
+of fidelity are, with the single exception of race, at least as good as
+those of the linesmen.
+
+In India, the native army consists of men hostile to us by tradition,
+creed, and race, who consider their food defiled if even the shadow of a
+British officer should chance to fall across it, and assuredly it would
+be as safe a proceeding to garrison our colonies with English negroes as
+to garrison India with such men. Yet that is done at the present day,
+and excites no remark.
+
+The English-speaking negro of the West Indies is most excellent material
+for a soldier. He is docile, patient, brave, and faithful, and for an
+officer who knows how to gain his affection--an easy matter, requiring
+only justness, good temper, and an ear ready to listen patiently to any
+tale of real or imaginary grievance--he will do anything. Of course they
+are not perfect; they have their faults, like all soldiers, and when
+they chance to be commanded by an officer who is unnecessarily harsh, or
+who speaks roughly to them, they manifest their displeasure by passive
+obedience and a stubborn sullenness. English soldiers, on the other
+hand, under such circumstances, proceed to acts of insubordination, and
+it is for military judges to say which mode of expression they prefer.
+
+The West African negro does not appear to such advantage as a soldier.
+Although all the specimens, with the exception of the Sierra Leone
+negro, possess the first necessary qualification of personal courage,
+they are dull and stupid, and cannot be transformed into intelligent
+soldiers. It may be wondered why the Sierra Leonean, who alone among the
+West Africans is an English-speaking negro, should be worse than his
+more barbarian neighbours; but I believe the solution may be found in
+the fact that the large proportion of slaves landed in former days at
+Sierra Leone from captured slavers were so-called Eboes, from the tribes
+of the Niger delta; which tribes all ethnologists are agreed in
+describing as among the lowest of the African races, and which, it may
+be remarked, are even at the present day addicted to cannibalism. The
+West African soldier is a mere machine, who mechanically obeys orders,
+and never ventures, under any circumstances, to act or think for
+himself. Should an African be placed on sentry, he fulfils to the letter
+the orders read to him by the non-commissioned officer who posts him,
+but frequently entirely ignores their spirit. Sometimes this is
+productive of amusing incidents. For instance, some years ago, among the
+orders for the sentry posted at Government House, Sierra Leone, was one
+to the effect that no one was to be permitted to leave the premises
+after dark carrying a parcel. This order had been issued at the request
+of the Governor, to prevent pilfering on the part of his servants. One
+evening the Governor was coming out of his house with a small
+despatch-box, when, to his surprise, he was stopped by the sentry, an
+old African.
+
+"But I'm the Governor," said the astonished administrator, "and I had
+that order made myself. You mustn't stop me."
+
+"Me no care if you be Gubnor or not," replied the imperturbable African.
+"The corporal gib de order, and you no can pass." And Her Majesty's
+representative had to turn back and leave his despatch-box at home.
+
+The greatest objection to the African, however, is the strange fact that
+no amount of care or attention on the part of his instructors can ever
+make him a good or even a fair shot. In the 1st West India Regiment
+there are still a few Africans remaining, most of whom have from twelve
+to eighteen years' service; and who have annually expended their rounds
+without hitting the target more than once or twice during the whole
+musketry course. Give these men a rifle rested on a tripod, and tell
+them to align the sights upon some given mark, and they cannot do it.
+They will frequently aim a foot or two to the right or left of an object
+only a few yards distant. Every possible plan has been tried to make
+them improve, but all have equally failed; and, in consequence, Africans
+are not now enlisted. Still, although on account of this failing,
+African troops could never, in these days of long-range firing, meet
+Europeans in the field, a battalion of Africans would be quite good
+enough for bush fighting against an enemy like the Ashanti, a still
+worse marksman, and worse armed; or against tribes armed with the spear
+or assegai.
+
+Of course one reason of the African's dulness is that until he enlists,
+that is until he is from twenty-four to thirty years of age, he has
+never exercised his mind in any way; and the long years of mental
+idleness have produced a sluggishness which makes it extremely difficult
+for him to acquire anything new that requires thought. After enlisting,
+he picks up a species of unintelligible English, but that is the most
+that he can do. It is pitiful to see these men, some of them now old,
+struggling day after day, according to regulation, in the regimental
+school, to learn their letters. It is to them the greatest punishment
+that could be inflicted, and though they attend school for years, they
+rarely succeed in doing more than master the alphabet.
+
+In former days, whenever the cargo of a captured slaver was landed at
+Sierra Leone, a party from the garrison used to be admitted to the
+Liberated African Yard for the purpose of seeking recruits amongst the
+slaves. Many of the latter, pleased with the brilliant uniform, and
+talked over by the recruiting party, who were men specially selected for
+this duty on account of their knowledge of African languages, offered
+themselves as recruits. If medically fit, they were invariably accepted,
+though it must have been well known that they could not possibly have
+had any idea of the nature of the engagement into which they were
+entering. Some fifteen or twenty recruits being thus obtained, they were
+given high-sounding names, such as Mark Antony, Scipio Africanus, etc.,
+their own barbaric appellations being too unpronounceable, and then
+marched down in a body to the cathedral to be baptised. Some might be
+Mohammedans, and the majority certainly believers in fetish, but the
+form of requiring their assent to a change in their religion was never
+gone through; and the following Sunday they were marched into church as
+a matter of course, along with their Christian comrades. Although thus
+nominally christianised, they still remained at heart believers in
+fetish, for it is a remarkable fact that no adult West African has ever
+become a bona-fide convert, and the missionaries have long since given
+up attempting to proselytise grown persons, reserving all their efforts
+for children. Holding, as they did, in great dread all fetish, or obeah,
+practices; usually someone amongst them, more cunning than the rest,
+professed an acquaintance with the supposed diabolical ritual; and
+gained influence with, and extorted money from, his more timid comrades.
+Officers now in the 1st West India Regiment can remember the time when,
+there being many Africans in the regiment, the feathers of parrots or
+scraps of rags might be found in the neighbourhood of the orderly room.
+Whenever this was the case, it was known that an African was about to be
+brought before his commanding officer for some neglect of duty or breach
+of discipline; and these fetishes had been placed there to induce the
+colonel to deal leniently with the offender. Ridiculous as this practice
+must seem to every educated person, it sometimes produced the most
+serious effects upon the credulous Africans; and I have heard old
+officers speak of instances, which came within their own knowledge, of
+soldiers who, having found old bones, broken pieces of calabashes, or
+glass, placed on their beds, immediately resigned themselves to death,
+saying that "fetish was thrown upon them," and in nine cases out of
+twelve, so certain were they that it was impossible to escape the coming
+doom, they positively frightened or worried themselves to death. The
+professors of fetishism likewise drove a good trade in amulets which
+rendered the wearer invulnerable. On one occasion at Sierra Leone, a
+young African who had been recently enlisted displayed with much pride a
+gri-gri or amulet which he wore on his wrist, and which, he asserted,
+rendered him invulnerable. His West India comrades laughed at him; and
+the African, indignant at the doubt thrown upon the efficacy of his
+charm, drew his knife, and, before he could be stopped, plunged it into
+his thigh to prove that he spoke the truth. His eyes were opened,
+unfortunately, too late; for though he was at once removed to the
+hospital, he died from the effects of this self-inflicted wound. In West
+India regiments the practice of fetish was made a military crime, and
+was severely punished. Sufferers or imaginary sufferers from fetishism,
+however, rarely complained to their officers, for they believed that the
+occult art practised by the professor was superior to any power held by
+man, and consequently, culprits were but seldom detected. With the
+disappearance of Africans from West India regiments, the offence of
+fetishism has, however, also disappeared.
+
+Military crime in West India regiments is of comparatively rare
+occurrence. Even when the 3rd West India Regiment was in existence,
+there was less in the three negro regiments than in one of the Line;
+while drunkenness is confined to the few black sheep who will be found
+in every body of men. Riots or disturbances between West India soldiers
+and the inhabitants of the towns in which they are quartered are unheard
+of, and in every garrison they receive the highest praise for their
+unvarying good and quiet behaviour. In fact they are merry,
+good-tempered, and orderly men, who do not wish to interfere with
+anyone; and, owing to their temperate habits, they are not led into the
+commission of offences by the influence of drink. Of course, the popular
+idea in Great Britain of the negro is that he is a person who commonly
+wears a dilapidated tall hat, cotton garments of brilliant hue, carries
+a banjo or concertina, and indulges in extraordinary cachinnations at
+the smallest pretext; but this is as far from the truth as the creature
+of imagination in the opposite extreme, evoked by the vivid fancy of
+Mrs. Beecher Stowe.
+
+The bravery of the West India soldier in action has often been tested,
+and as long as an officer remains alive to lead not a man will flinch.
+His favourite weapon is the bayonet; and the principal difficulty with
+him in action is to hold him back, so anxious is he to close with his
+enemy. It is unnecessary here to refer to individual acts of gallantry
+performed by soldiers of the 1st West India Regiment, they being fully
+set forth in the following history; but of such performed by soldiers of
+other West India regiments the two following now occur to me.
+
+Private Samuel Hodge, a pioneer of the 3rd West India Regiment, was
+awarded the Victoria Cross for conspicuous bravery at the storming of
+the Mohammedan stockade at Tubarcolong (the White Man's Well), on the
+River Gambia, on the 30th of May, 1866. Under a heavy fire from the
+concealed enemy, by which one officer was killed and an officer and
+thirteen men severely wounded, Hodge, and another pioneer named Boswell,
+chopped and tore away with their hands the logs of wood forming the
+stockade, Boswell falling nobly just as an opening was effected. Again,
+in 1873, during the Ashanti War--when it was reported, on the 5th of
+December, by natives at Yancoomassie Assin that the Ashanti army had
+retired across the Prah--two soldiers of the 2nd West India Regiment
+volunteered to go on alone to the river and ascertain if the report were
+true. On their return they reported all clear to the Prah; and said they
+had written their names on a piece of paper and posted it up. Six days
+later, when the advanced party of the expeditionary force marched into
+Prahsu, this paper was found fastened to a tree on the banks of the
+river. At the time that this voluntary act was performed it must be
+remembered that, on the 27th of November, the British and their allies
+had met with a serious repulse at Faisowah, through pressing too closely
+upon the retiring Ashantis; that this repulse was considered both by the
+Ashantis and by our native allies as a set-off against the failure of
+the attack on Abracampa; that the Houssa levy was in a state of panic,
+and no reliable information as to the position of the enemy was
+obtainable. It was under such circumstances that these two men advanced
+nearly sixteen miles into an (to them) unknown tract of solitary
+forest, to follow up an enemy that never spared life, and whose
+whereabouts was doubtful.
+
+Other qualifications apart, however, West India troops have proved
+themselves of the very greatest value on active service in tropical
+climates from the very fact that, being natives of the tropics, they can
+undergo fatigue and exposure that would be fatal to European soldiers.
+In campaigns in which both the West India and the European soldier are
+employed, all the hard and unpleasant work is thrown upon the former,
+and the publication in general orders of the thanks of the officer in
+command of the force is the only acknowledgment he receives; for
+newspaper correspondents, naturally anxious to swell the circulation of
+the journals they represent, while giving the most minute details of the
+doings of the white soldier, leave out in the cold his black comrade,
+who has few friends among the reading public of Great Britain.
+Occasionally, facts are even misrepresented. For instance, the defence
+of Fommanah, on the 2nd of February, 1874, which was really effected by
+a detachment of the 1st West India Regiment, was, in an account
+telegraphed to one London daily paper, attributed to the 23rd Regiment,
+of which corps there were only six or seven men in the place, and those
+in hospital.
+
+On the last occasion on which West India troops served with Line
+battalions, namely in the Ashanti War of 1873-74, West India soldiers
+daily marched twice and even three times the distance traversed by the
+white troops; and, south of the Prah, searched the country for miles on
+both sides of the line of advance, in search of carriers. It is not too
+much to say, that if the two West India regiments had not been on the
+Gold Coast, no advance on Coomassie would, that year, have been
+possible. In December, 1873, the transport broke down; there was a
+deadlock along the road; each half-battalion of the European troops was
+detained in the camp it occupied, and the 23rd Regiment had to be
+re-embarked for want of carriers. The fate of the expedition was
+trembling in the balance, and the control officers were unanimous in
+declaring that a further advance was impossible, and that the troops in
+front would have to return by forced marches. Prior to this, the want of
+transport had been felt to such an extent that the West India soldiers
+had been placed on half rations; a step, however, which was not followed
+by any diminution of work, which remained as hard as ever. In this
+emergency the two West India regiments, with the 42nd--to whom all
+honour be due--volunteered to carry supplies, in addition to their arms,
+accoutrements, and ammunition. They acted as carriers for several days,
+and moved such quantities of provisions to the front that the pressure
+was removed and a further advance made possible. Even if more carriers
+had been obtained from the already ransacked native villages, they could
+not have arrived in time, for the rainy season was fast approaching and
+the delay of a fortnight would have been fatal.
+
+There was a peculiar irony of fate in the expedition being thus relieved
+of its most pressing difficulties through the exertions of the West
+India regiments. It had been Sir Garnet Wolseley's original intention to
+take into Ashanti territory only the Rifle Brigade, the 23rd, and the
+1st and 2nd West India Regiments; and, on the arrival of the hired
+transport, _Sarmatian_, he wrote, on the 15th of December, that he did
+not propose landing the 42nd. In the course of the next three days,
+however, he changed his views, and, in his letter of the 18th December,
+gave as his reason: "I find that the one great obstacle to the
+employment of a third battalion of English troops, viz., the difficulty
+of transport, is as great in the case of a West India regiment. The West
+India soldier has the same rations as the European soldier, and a West
+India regiment requires, man for man, exactly the same amount of
+transport as a European regiment." The 42nd, therefore, was to be landed
+and taken to the front, while the 1st West India Regiment was to remain
+at Cape Coast Castle and Elmina as a reserve. Afterwards, when the
+transport failed, it was found that the West India soldier could do the
+work of the European on half rations, and carry his own supplies as
+well.
+
+West India regiments at the present day labour under many disadvantages.
+Owing to the two battalions having to furnish garrisons for colonies
+which really require three, they are alternately for one period of three
+years divided into three detachments, and for the next period of three
+years into six. No lieutenant-colonel of a West India regiment can ever
+see the whole of his regiment together. The largest number that, under
+present circumstances, he can ever have under him at any one station is
+four companies; and the most he can have under his actual command at any
+one time is six companies on board a troopship. Thus in a regiment there
+are sometimes three, and sometimes six, officers vested with the power
+of an officer commanding a detachment; and however conscientiously they
+may endeavour to follow out a regimental system, every individual has
+naturally a different manner of dealing with men, and a certain amount
+of homogeneousness is lost to the regiment as a whole.
+
+Endless correspondence is entailed, and sometimes questions have to
+remain open for months, until answers can be received from distant
+detachments. In small garrisons, also, drill becomes a mere farce; for,
+after the clerks, employed men, and men on guard and in hospital are
+deducted, there are perhaps only a dozen men or so left for parade. In
+spite of all these drawbacks the regiments still maintain a wonderful
+efficiency, and afford another proof of the soldierlike qualities of the
+West India negro.
+
+Another disadvantage is that a West India regiment is never seen in
+England, the British public knows nothing of such regiments, has no
+friends, relatives, or acquaintances in their ranks, and consequently
+takes no interest in them. Yet they are a remarkably fine body of men,
+and a picked battalion of the Guards would look small beside them if
+brigaded with them in Hyde Park. So little is known, that I have
+sometimes been asked if the officers of West India regiments are also
+black, and it is with a view to making the regiment to which I have the
+honour to belong better known to the public at large, that the following
+history has been written. There has been no attempt at descriptive
+writing, facts being merely collected from official documents, so that
+the authenticity of the narrative may be unquestionable.
+
+In order that the earlier chapters may be the more readily understood,
+it may be as well to state that, with the 1st West India Regiment, which
+was called into existence in the _London Gazette_ of the 2nd of May,
+1795, were incorporated two other corps; of which one, the Carolina
+Corps, had been in existence since 1779, while the other--Malcolm's, or
+the Royal Rangers--had been raised in January or February, 1795. It is
+from the Carolina Corps that the 1st West India Regiment derives the
+Carolina laurel, borne on the crest of the regiment.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE ACTION AT BRIAR CREEK, 1779--THE ACTION AT STONO FERRY, 1779.
+
+
+In the autumn of 1778, during the War of the American Independence, the
+British commanders in North America determined to make another attempt
+for the royal cause in the Southern States of Georgia and South
+Carolina, which, since the failure of Lord Cornwallis at the siege of
+Charlestown in July, 1776, had been allowed to remain unmolested. With
+this view they despatched Colonel Campbell, in November, from New York,
+with the 71st Regiment, two battalions of Hessians, three of Loyal
+Provincials,[1] and a detachment of Artillery, the whole amounting to
+about 3500, to make an attempt upon the town of Savannah, the capital of
+Georgia. Arriving off the mouth of the Savannah River on the 23rd of
+December, Colonel Campbell was so rapidly successful, that, by the
+middle of January, not only was Savannah in his hands, but Georgia
+itself was entirely cleared of American troops.
+
+It was about this time that the South Carolina Regiment, the oldest
+branch of the 1st West India Regiment, was raised. Numerous royalists
+joined the British camp and were formed into various corps;[2] and the
+South Carolina Regiment is first mentioned as taking part in the action
+at Briar Creek on the 3rd of March, 1779,[3] the corps then being,
+according to Major-General Prevost's despatch, about 100 strong. The
+action at Briar Creek occurred as follows:
+
+In the early part of 1779, General Prevost's[4] force was distributed in
+posts along the frontier of Georgia; Hudson's Ferry, twenty-four miles
+above Savannah, being the upper extremity of the chain. Watching these
+posts was the American general, Lincoln, with the main body of the
+American Army of the South, at Purrysburgh, about twenty miles above
+Savannah, and General Ashe, who was posted with about 2000 of the
+Militia of North and South Carolina and Georgia, at Briar Creek, near
+the point where it falls into the Savannah River.
+
+General Ashe's position appeared most secure, his left being covered by
+the Savannah with its marshes, and his front by Briar Creek, which was
+about twenty feet broad, and unfordable at that point and for several
+miles above it; nevertheless, General Prevost determined to surprise
+him. For the purpose of amusing General Lincoln, he made a show of an
+intention to pass the river; and, in order to occupy the attention of
+Ashe, he ordered a party to appear in his front, on the opposite side of
+Briar Creek. Meanwhile General Prevost, with 900 chosen men, made an
+extensive circuit, passed Briar Creek fifteen miles above the American
+position, gained their rear unperceived, and was almost in their camp
+before they discovered his approach. The surprise was as complete as
+could be wished. Whole regiments fled without firing a shot, and numbers
+without even attempting to seize their arms; they ran in their confusion
+into the marsh, and swam across the river, in which numbers of them were
+drowned. The Continental troops, under General Elbert, and a regiment of
+North Carolina Militia, alone offered resistance; but they were not long
+able to maintain the unequal conflict, and, being overpowered, were
+compelled to surrender. The Americans lost from 300 to 400 men, and
+seven pieces of cannon. The British lost five men killed, and one
+officer and ten men wounded.
+
+After this success, the British and American forces remained on opposite
+sides of the River Savannah, until the end of April, when General
+Lincoln, thinking the swollen state of the river and the inundation of
+the marshes was sufficient protection for the lower districts, withdrew
+his forces further inland, leaving General Moultrie with 1000 men at
+Black Swamp. By this movement Lincoln left Charlestown exposed to the
+British. General Prevost at once took advantage of this, and, on the
+29th of April, suddenly crossed the river, near Purrysburgh, with 2500
+men, among whom was the South Carolina Regiment, which had been
+considerably increased by accessions of loyalists and freed negroes.
+
+General Prevost advanced rapidly into the country, the militia under
+Moultrie, who had considered the swamps impassable, offering but a
+feeble resistance, and retiring hastily, destroying the bridges in their
+rear. On the 11th of May, the British force crossed the Ashley River a
+few miles above Charlestown, and, advancing along the neck formed by the
+Ashley and Cooper Rivers, established itself at a little more than
+cannon-shot from the city. A continued succession of skirmishes took
+place on that day and the ensuing night, and on the following morning
+Charlestown was summoned to surrender.
+
+Negotiations were broken off in the evening, much to the disappointment
+of the British general, who had been led to suppose that a large
+proportion of the inhabitants were favourable to the royal cause, and
+that the city would fall easily into his hands. He now found himself in
+a dangerous predicament. He was without siege guns, before lines
+defended by a considerable force of artillery, and flanked by shipping;
+he was involved in a labyrinth of creeks and rivers, where a defeat
+would have been fatal, and General Lincoln with a force equal, if not
+superior to his own, was fast approaching for the relief of the city.
+Taking all this into consideration, General Prevost prudently struck
+camp that night, and, under cover of the darkness, the direct line of
+retreat on Savannah being closed, returned to the south side of the
+Ashley River. From thence the army passed to the islands of St. James
+and St. John, lying to the southward of Charlestown harbour, and
+commencing that succession of islands and creeks which extends along the
+coast from Charlestown to Savannah.
+
+In these islands the army awaited supplies from New York, of which it
+was much in need; and, on the arrival of two frigates, it commenced to
+move to the island of Port Royal, which at the same time would afford
+good quarters for the troops during the intense heats, and, from its
+vicinity to Savannah, and its excellent harbour, was the best position
+that could be chosen for covering Georgia.
+
+Directly General Lincoln discovered what was taking place, he advanced
+to attack. St. John's Island is separated from the mainland by a narrow
+inlet, called Stono River, and communication between the mainland and
+the island was kept up by a ferry. On the mainland, at this ferry,
+General Prevost had established a post, consisting of three redoubts,
+joined by lines of communication; and, to cover the movement of the army
+to Port Royal Island, he here posted Lieutenant-Colonel Maitland with
+the 1st Battalion of the 71st Regiment, a weak battalion of Hessians,
+the North Carolina Regiment, and the South Carolina Regiment, amounting
+in the whole to about 800 men.
+
+On the 20th of June, General Lincoln made a determined attempt to force
+the passage, attacking with a force variously estimated at from 1200 to
+5000 men and eight guns. Lieutenant-Colonel Maitland's advanced posts,
+consisting of the South Carolina Regiment, were some distance in front
+of his works; and a smart firing between them and the Americans gave him
+the first warning of the approach of the enemy. He instantly sent out
+two companies of the 71st from his right to ascertain the force of the
+assailants. The Highlanders had proceeded only a quarter of a mile when
+they met the outposts retiring before the enemy. A fierce conflict
+ensued. Instead of retreating before superior numbers, the Highlanders
+persisted in the unequal combat till all their officers were either
+killed or wounded, of the two companies eleven men only returned to the
+garrison; and the British force was sadly diminished, and its safety
+consequently imperilled by this mistaken valour.
+
+The whole American line now advanced to within three hundred yards of
+the works, and a general engagement began, which was maintained with
+much courage and steadiness on both sides. At length the regiment of
+Hessians on the British left gave way, and the Americans, in spite of
+the obstinate resistance of the two Carolina regiments, were on the
+point of entering the works, when a judicious flank movement of the
+remainder of the 71st checked the advance; and General Lincoln,
+apprehensive of the arrival of British reinforcements from the island,
+drew off his men, and retired in good order, taking his wounded with
+him.
+
+The battle lasted upwards of an hour. The British had 3 officers and 19
+rank and file killed, and 4 officers and 85 rank and file wounded. The
+South Carolina Regiment had Major William Campbell and 1 sergeant
+killed, 1 captain, 1 sergeant, and 3 rank and file wounded.[5] The
+Americans lost 5 officers and 35 men killed, 19 officers and 120 men
+wounded.
+
+Three days after the battle, the British troops evacuated the post at
+Stono Ferry, and also the island of St. John, passing along the coast
+from island to island till they reached Beaufort in the island of Port
+Royal. Here General Prevost left a garrison under the command of
+Lieutenant-Colonel Maitland, and proceeded with the remainder of his
+force, with which was the South Carolina Regiment, to the town of
+Savannah.
+
+The heat had now become too intense for active service; and the care of
+the officers was employed in preserving their men from the fevers of the
+season, and keeping them in a condition for service next campaign, which
+was expected to open in October.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 1: De Lancey's Corps, the New York Volunteers, and Skinner's
+Corps.]
+
+[Footnote 2: "Annual Register," 1779, Beatson's "Memoirs," Gordon's
+"History of the American War," etc. etc.]
+
+[Footnote 3: Beatson's "Naval and Military Memoirs," vol. iv. p. 492.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Major-General Prevost had come from Florida and assumed
+command in January.]
+
+[Footnote 5: "Return of the killed, wounded, and missing at the repulse
+of the Rebels at Stono Ferry, South Carolina, June 20th, 1779."]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE SIEGE OF SAVANNAH, 1779--THE SIEGE OF CHARLESTOWN, 1780--THE BATTLE
+OF HOBKERK'S HILL, 1781.
+
+
+At the opening of the next campaign, although General Prevost had been
+obliged to retire from Charlestown and to abandon the upper parts of
+Georgia, yet, so long as he kept possession of the town of Savannah and
+maintained a post at Port Royal Island, South Carolina was exposed to
+incursions. The Americans, therefore, pressed the French admiral, Count
+D'Estaing, to repair to the Savannah River, hoping, by his aid, to drive
+the British from Georgia. D'Estaing, in compliance, sailed from Cape
+Francois, in St. Domingo; and with twenty-two sail of the line and a
+number of smaller vessels, having 4800 French regular troops on board
+and several hundred black troops from the West Indies, appeared off the
+Savannah so unexpectedly that the _Experiment_, a British fifty-gun
+ship, fell into his hands. On the appearance of the French fleet, on
+September 9th, General Prevost immediately called in all his outposts
+in Georgia, sent orders to Lieutenant-Colonel Maitland, at Port Royal,
+to rejoin him at once, and exerted himself to strengthen the defences of
+the town of Savannah.
+
+For the first three or four days after the arrival of the fleet, the
+French were employed in moving their troops through the Ossabaw Inlet to
+Beaulieu, about thirteen miles above the town of Savannah. On the 15th
+of September, the French, with a party of American light horse, attacked
+the British outposts, and General Prevost withdrew all his force into
+his works.
+
+On the 16th, D'Estaing summoned the place to surrender.
+Lieutenant-Colonel Maitland's force had not yet arrived, the works were
+still incomplete, and General Prevost was desirous of gaining time; he
+consequently requested a suspension of hostilities for twenty-four hours.
+This was granted, and in that critical interval Lieutenant-Colonel
+Maitland, by the most extraordinary efforts--for one of General
+Prevost's messengers had fallen into the hands of the enemy, who had at
+once seized all the principal lines of communication--arrived with the
+garrison of Port Royal, and entered the town. Encouraged by this
+accession of strength, General Prevost now informed Count D'Estaing that
+he was resolved to defend the place to the last extremity. On the 17th,
+D'Estaing had been joined by General Lincoln with some 3000 men, which,
+with the French troops, raised the total besieging force to something
+over 8000. The besieged did not exceed 3000.
+
+The enemy spent several days in bringing up guns and stores from the
+fleet, and on the 23rd the besieging army broke ground before the town.
+On the 1st of October, they had advanced to within 300 yards of the
+British works. On the morning of the 4th of October, several batteries,
+mounting thirty-three pieces of heavy cannon and nine mortars, with a
+floating battery of sixteen guns on the river, opened fire on the town.
+For several days they played incessantly on the garrison, and there was
+continued skirmishing between the negroes of the Carolina regiments and
+the enemy.[6]
+
+On the morning of the 9th of October, the enemy, under a furious
+cannonade, advanced to storm in three columns, with a force of 3000
+French under D'Estaing in person, and 1500 Americans under Lincoln.
+General Prevost, in his despatch to Lord George Germain, dated Savannah,
+November 1st, 1779, says: "However, the principal attack, composed of
+the flower of the French and rebel armies, and led by D'Estaing in
+person, with all the principal officers of either, was made upon our
+right. Under cover of the hollow, they advanced in three columns; but
+having taken a wider circuit than they needed, and gone deeper in the
+bog, they neither came so early as they intended nor, I believe, in the
+same order. The attack, however, was very spirited, and for some time
+obstinately persevered in, particularly on the Ebenezer Road Redoubt.
+Two stand of colours were actually planted, and several of the
+assailants killed upon the parapet; but they met with so determined a
+resistance, and the fire of three seamen batteries, taking them in
+almost every direction, was so severe, that they were thrown into some
+disorder, at least at a stand; and at this most critical moment, Major
+Glasier, of the 60th, with the 60th Grenadiers and the Marines,
+advancing rapidly from the lines, charged (it may be said) with a degree
+of fury; in an instant the ditches of the redoubt and a battery to its
+right in rear were cleared.... Lieutenant-Colonel de Porbeck, of
+Weissenbach's, being field officer of the day of the right wing, and,
+being in the redoubt when the attack began, had an opportunity, which he
+well improved, to signalise himself in a most gallant manner; and it is
+but justice to mention to your lordships the troops who defended it.
+They were part of the South Carolina Royalists, the Light Dragoons
+(dismounted), and the battalion men of the 4th 60th, in all about 100
+men, commanded (by a special order) by Captain James, of the Dragoons
+(Lieutenant 71st), a good and gallant officer, and who nobly fell with
+his sword in the body of the third he had killed with his own hand."
+
+After their repulse from the Ebenezer Redoubt, the enemy retired, and, a
+few days afterwards, the siege was raised, the Americans crossing the
+Savannah at Zubly's Ferry and taking up a position in South Carolina,
+while the French embarked in their fleet and sailed away. During the
+assault the French lost 700 and the Americans 240 killed. The British
+loss was 55, four of whom belonged to the South Carolina Regiment, who
+were killed in the redoubt, where also Captain Henry, of that corps, was
+wounded.
+
+According to the "Journal of the Siege of Savannah," p. 39, the garrison
+of the redoubt in the Ebenezer Road was as follows:
+
+    28 Dismounted Dragoons.
+    28 Battalion men of the 60th Regiment.
+    54 South Carolina Regiment.
+    ---
+    110
+
+In the same work is the following: "Two rebel standards were once fixed
+on the redoubt in the Ebenezer Road; one of them was carried off again,
+and the other, which belonged to the 2nd Carolina Regiment, was taken.
+After the retreat of the enemy from our right, 270 men, chiefly French,
+were found dead; upwards of 80 of whom lay in the ditch and on the
+parapet of the redoubt, and 93 were within our abattis."
+
+The strength of the South Carolina Regiment at the termination of the
+siege was: 1 colonel (Colonel Innes), 1 major, 4 captains, 7
+lieutenants, 3 ensigns, 15 sergeants, 7 drummers, and 216 rank and file.
+
+Nothing of note took place in Georgia and South Carolina till January,
+1780, when Sir Henry Clinton arrived in the Savannah River with a force
+destined for the reduction of Charlestown. He had sailed from New York
+on the 26th of December, 1779, and, having experienced bad weather, put
+into the Savannah to repair damages. Sir H. Clinton selected a portion
+of General Prevost's force at Savannah to take part in the coming
+operations, and among the corps so selected was the South Carolina
+Regiment, which is shown in the return of troops at the capture of
+Charlestown as "joined from Savannah."
+
+On the 10th of February, the armament sailed to North Edisto, where the
+troops disembarked, taking possession of the island of St. John next day
+without opposition. On the 29th of March, the army reached Ashley River
+and crossed it ten miles above Charlestown; then, the artillery and
+stores having been brought over, Sir H. Clinton marched down Charlestown
+Neck, and, on the night of the 1st of April, broke ground at 800 yards
+from the American works. The garrison of the city consisted of 2000
+regular troops, 1000 North Carolina Militia, and the male inhabitants of
+the place.
+
+On the 9th of April, the first parallel was finished, and the batteries
+opened fire; and Charlestown finally capitulated, after an uneventful
+siege, on the 12th of May. In the "Return of the killed and wounded"
+during the siege, the South Carolina Regiment is shown as having had
+three rank and file wounded.
+
+Sir H. Clinton sailed from Charlestown on the 5th of June, leaving Lord
+Cornwallis in command. The latter meditated an expedition into North
+Carolina, and, for the preservation of South Carolina during his absence
+with the main body of the troops, he established a chain of posts along
+the frontier. One of these posts was at Ninety-six, and for its defence
+was detailed the South Carolina Regiment, under Colonel Innes, with
+Allen's corps, "the 16th and three other companies of Light
+Infantry."[7] Lieutenant-Colonel Balfour was then in command of the
+post, but was soon after relieved by Lieutenant-Colonel Cruger.
+
+The garrison of Ninety-six remained undisturbed till September, 1780,
+when, Lord Cornwallis having moved into North Carolina and occupied
+Charlotte, Georgia was almost denuded of troops; and an American leader,
+Colonel Clarke, took advantage of this to attack the British post at
+Augusta. Lieutenant-Colonel Brown, who commanded there with 150 men,
+finding the town untenable, retired towards an eminence on the banks of
+the Savannah, named Garden Hill, and sent intelligence of his situation
+to Ninety-six. Lieutenant-Colonel Cruger, with the 16th and the South
+Carolina Regiment, at once marched to his relief. Colonel Clarke, who
+had captured the British guns and was besieging the garrison of Garden
+Hill, upon being informed of Cruger's approach raised the siege, and,
+abandoning the guns which he had taken, retreated so hurriedly that,
+though pursued for some distance, he effected his escape.
+
+In the spring of 1781, Lord Cornwallis had again invaded North Carolina,
+and, having defeated the American general, Greene, at Guildford Court
+House, had continued his march towards Virginia, expecting the enemy to
+make every effort to prevent the army entering that state. General
+Greene, however, allowed Lord Cornwallis to pass on, and then, having
+assembled a considerable body of troops, made a sudden descent upon the
+British posts in South Carolina, where Lord Rawdon had been left in
+command. These posts were in a line from Charlestown by the way of
+Camden and Ninety-six, to Augusta in Georgia. Camden was the most
+important, and there Lord Rawdon had taken post with 900 men.
+
+On the 20th of April, 1781, General Greene appeared before Camden, which
+was a village situated on a plain, covered on the south by the Wateree,
+a river which higher up is called the Catawba; and below, after its
+confluence with the Congaree from the south, assumes the name of the
+Santee. On the east of it flowed Pinetree Creek; on the northern and
+western sides it was defended by a strong chain of redoubts, six in
+number, extending from the river to the creek. Lord Rawdon's force was
+so small that the approach of Greene to Camden necessitated the
+abandonment of the ferry on the Wateree, "although the South Carolina
+Regiment was on its way to join him from Ninety-six, and that was its
+direct course; he had, however, taken his measures so well as to secure
+the passage of that regiment upon its arrival three days after."[8]
+
+General Greene, whose force amounted to 1200 men, determined to await
+reinforcements before attacking, and on the 24th of April he retired to
+Hobkerk's Hill, an eminence about a mile north of Camden, on the road to
+the Waxhaws. Here Lord Rawdon resolved to attack him, and on the morning
+of the 25th, with 900 men, he marched from Camden, and, by making a
+circuit, and keeping close to the edge of the swamp, under cover of the
+woods, he gained the left flank of the Americans, where the hill was
+most accessible, undiscovered.
+
+The alarm was given, while the Americans were at breakfast, by the
+firing of the outposts, and at this critical moment a reinforcement of
+American militia arrived. So confident was General Greene of success
+that he ordered Lieutenant-Colonel Washington, with his cavalry, to turn
+the right flank of the British and to charge them in the rear, while
+bodies of infantry were to assail them in front and on both flanks.
+
+The American advanced parties were driven in by the British after a
+sharp skirmish, and Lord Rawdon advanced steadily to attack the main
+body of the enemy. The 63rd Regiment, with the volunteers of Ireland,
+formed his right; the King's American Regiment, with Robertson's corps,
+composed his left; the New York volunteers were in the centre. The South
+Carolina Regiment and the cavalry were in the rear and formed a
+reserve.[9]
+
+Such was the impetuosity of the British that, in the face of a
+destructive discharge of grape, they gained the summit of the hill and
+pierced the American centre. The militia fell into confusion, their
+officers were unable to rally them, and General Greene ordered a
+retreat. The pursuit was continued for nearly three miles. The Americans
+halted for the night at Saunders' Creek, about four miles from Hobkerk's
+Hill, and next day proceeded to Rugeley Mills, about twelve miles from
+Camden. After the engagement the British returned to Camden. The
+American loss was 300; the British lost 258 out of about 900 who were on
+the field.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 6: "The True History of the Siege of Savannah," published
+1780.]
+
+[Footnote 7: "The Campaigns of 1780 and 1781, in the Southern Provinces
+of North America," by Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton, London, 1787.]
+
+[Footnote 8: Tarleton, p. 461.]
+
+[Footnote 9: "Martial Register," vol. iii. p. 110.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE RELIEF OF NINETY-SIX, 1781--THE BATTLE OF EUTAW SPRINGS,
+1781--REMOVAL TO THE WEST INDIES.
+
+
+Lord Rawdon was not in a position to follow up his success at Hobkerk's
+Hill, and on the 3rd of May, 1781, Greene passed the Wateree, and
+occupied such positions as to prevent the garrison at Camden obtaining
+supplies. Generals Marion and Lee were also posted at Nelson's Ferry, to
+prevent Colonel Watson, who was advancing with 400 men, from joining
+Lord Rawdon, and Watson was obliged to alter his route. He marched down
+the north side of the Santee, crossed it near its mouth, with incredible
+labour advanced up its southern bank, recrossed it above the encampment
+of Marion and Lee, and arrived safely with his detachment at Camden on
+the 7th of May.
+
+Thus reinforced, Lord Rawdon determined to attack Greene, and, on the
+night of the 8th, marched from Camden with his whole force. Greene, who
+had been informed of this movement, passed the Wateree and took up a
+strong position behind Saunders' Creek. Lord Rawdon followed him and
+drove in his outposts, but, finding the position was too strong for his
+small force, he returned to Camden.
+
+Camden being too far advanced a post for Lord Rawdon to hold with the
+few troops at his disposal, he evacuated it on the 10th of May, and
+retired by Nelson's Ferry to the south of the Santee, and afterwards to
+Monk's Corner. In the meantime, attacks were made on the British posts
+in Georgia, Augusta itself being taken on the 5th of June, while the
+post of Ninety-six in South Carolina was closely invested by General
+Greene with the main American army in the Southern States.
+
+About this time, a change took place in the South Carolina Regiment.
+Lord Rawdon, in a letter to Lieutenant-General Earl Cornwallis, dated
+Charlestown, June 5th, 1781, speaks of the difficulty which he has
+experienced in the formation of cavalry, and goes on to say that the
+inhabitants of Charlestown having subscribed 3000 guineas for a corps of
+dragoons, out of compliment to those gentlemen "I have ordered the South
+Carolina Regiment to be converted into cavalry, and I have the prospect
+of their being mounted and completely appointed in a few days."
+
+On the 3rd of June, Lord Rawdon had received considerable reinforcements
+from England, and on the 9th he left Charlestown with about 2000 men,
+including the South Carolina Regiment in its new capacity, for the
+relief of Ninety-six. In their rapid progress over the whole extent of
+South Carolina, through a wild country and under a burning sun, the
+sufferings of the troops were severe, but they advanced with celerity to
+the assistance of their comrades. On the 11th of June, General Greene
+received notice of Lord Rawdon's march, and immediately sent Sumpter
+with the whole of the cavalry to keep in front of the British army and
+retard its progress. Lord Rawdon, however, passed Sumpter a little below
+the junction of the Saluda and Broad Rivers, and that officer was never
+able to regain his front.
+
+In the meantime, the Americans were pushing hard the garrison of
+Ninety-six; they were nearly reduced to extremities, and in a few days
+must have surrendered; but the rapid advance of Lord Rawdon left Greene
+no alternative but to storm or raise the siege. On the 18th of June, he
+made a furious assault upon the place; but, after a desperate conflict
+of nearly an hour, was compelled to retire. Next day he retreated,
+crossing the Saluda on the 20th, and encamping at Little River.
+
+On the morning of the 21st, Lord Rawdon arrived at Ninety-six, and the
+same evening set out in pursuit of Greene, who, however, retreated; and
+Rawdon, despairing of overtaking him, returned to Ninety-six. He now
+found it necessary to evacuate that position and contract his posts;
+and, having destroyed the works, he marched towards the Congaree. There,
+on the 1st of July, while out foraging, two officers and forty dragoons
+of the South Carolina Regiment were surrounded and taken prisoners by
+Lee's Legion. This blow sadly crippled Lord Rawdon, who was much in need
+of cavalry, and two days later he retreated to Orangeburgh.
+
+The summer heats now coming on, Lord Rawdon proceeded to England on sick
+leave, leaving Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart in command of the troops in
+South Carolina and Georgia. The new commander at once proceeded with the
+army to the Congaree, and formed an encampment near its junction with
+the Wateree.
+
+Towards the end of August, while Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart was expecting
+a convoy of provisions from Charlestown, he received information that
+General Greene, who had been reinforced and was now at the head of 2500
+men, was moving towards Friday's Ferry on the Congaree. The American
+cavalry was so numerous and enterprising that the expected convoy, then
+at Martin's, fifty-six miles from the British camp, would inevitably
+fall into their hands unless protected by an escort of at least 400 men;
+and Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart's force being too small to admit of so
+considerable a body being detached without risk, he determined to
+retreat by slow marches to Eutaw Springs, about sixty miles north of
+Charlestown, and meet the convoy on the way.
+
+General Greene followed the retiring British, and, on the 7th of
+September, arrived within seven miles of Eutaw Springs. Being there
+reinforced by General Marion and his corps, he resolved to attack next
+day. At six in the morning, two deserters from the American army entered
+the British camp, and informed Stuart of the approach of the enemy; but
+little credit was given to their report. At that time Major Coffin, with
+140 infantry and 50 of the South Carolina Regiment, was out foraging for
+roots and vegetables--the army having neither corn nor bread--in the
+direction in which the Americans were advancing. About four miles from
+the camp at Eutaw, that party was attacked by the American advanced
+guard and driven in with loss. Their return convinced Colonel Stuart of
+the approach of the enemy, and the British army was soon drawn up
+obliquely across the road on the height near Eutaw Springs.
+
+The firing began between two and three miles from the British camp. The
+British light parties were driven in on their main body, and the first
+line of the Americans attacked with great impetuosity. For a short time
+the conflicting ranks were intermingled, and the officers fought hand to
+hand. At that critical moment, General Lee, who had turned the left
+flank of the British, charged them in the rear. They were broken and
+driven off the field, their guns falling into the hands of the
+Americans, who eagerly pressed on their retreating adversaries.
+
+At this crisis, Colonel Stuart ordered a strong detachment to take post
+in a large three-storey brick house, which was in rear of the army on
+the right, while another occupied an adjoining palisaded garden, and
+some close underwood. The Americans made the most desperate efforts to
+dislodge them from their posts; but every attack was met with determined
+courage. Four pieces of artillery were brought to bear on the house, but
+made no impression on its solid walls, from which a close and
+destructive fire was kept up, as well as from the adjoining enclosure.
+Almost all the gunners were killed and wounded; and the guns had been
+pushed so near the house that they could not be brought off. Colonel
+Washington attempted to turn the British right, and charge them in rear;
+but his horse was shot under him, and he was wounded and made prisoner.
+After every attempt to dislodge the British from their position had
+failed, General Greene drew off his men, and retired to the ground which
+he had left in the morning. This conflict had lasted nearly four hours.
+The Americans lost 555, the British 693. The British kept their ground
+during the night, and next day began to retreat. About fourteen miles
+from the field of battle, Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart was met by a
+reinforcement, under Major McArthur, marching from Charlestown to his
+assistance. Thus strengthened, he proceeded to Monk's Corner.
+
+Eutaw Springs was the last engagement of importance in the southern
+provinces. The British soon retreated to a position on Charlestown Neck,
+and confined their operations to the defence of the posts in that
+vicinity; while in Georgia, the British force was concentrated at
+Savannah. The surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, in October,
+1781, and the subsequent peace negotiations, put an end to the
+hostilities in America.
+
+Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton says: "It is impossible to do justice to the
+spirit, patience, and invincible fortitude displayed by the commanders,
+officers, and soldiers during these dreadful campaigns in the Carolinas.
+They had not only to contend with men, and these by no means deficient
+in bravery and enterprise, but they encountered and surmounted
+difficulties and fatigues from the climate and the country, which would
+appear insuperable in theory and almost incredible in the relation. They
+displayed military and, we may add, moral virtues far above all praise.
+During renewed successions of forced marches, under the rage of a
+burning sun and in a climate at that season peculiarly inimical to man,
+they were frequently, when sinking under the most excessive fatigue, not
+only destitute of every comfort but almost of every necessary which
+seems essential to existence. During the greater part of the time they
+were totally destitute of bread, and the country afforded no vegetables
+for a substitute. Salt at length failed, and their only resources were
+water and the wild cattle which they found in the woods. About fifty
+men, in this last expedition, sunk under the vigour of their exertions
+and perished through mere fatigue."
+
+At the cessation of hostilities, the South Carolina Regiment and the
+Loyal American Rangers were removed to Jamaica, and as they are shown in
+the Jamaica Almanack for 1782 as being then in the island, they
+presumably arrived there about December, 1781. The South Carolina
+Regiment was probably dismounted, as it is shown as being stationed at
+Fort Augusta in Kingston harbour. At this time, the reinforcing of the
+West India Islands by provincial corps was considered most important,
+and in a letter to Sir Guy Carleton we find the following: "The object
+of reinforcing those islands is so important, that His Majesty wishes to
+have it understood that every provincial corps embarking for the West
+Indies shall immediately be put upon the British Establishment." It was,
+probably, on some such understanding that the two corps above mentioned
+proceeded from South Carolina; but the promise, if made, was never
+fulfilled, and neither of the two ever appeared in any Army List. The
+following is the list of officers of the South Carolina Regiment given
+in the Jamaica Almanack:
+
+    Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant--CAPTAIN LORD CHARLES
+    MONTAGU, 88th Regiment.
+
+    Major--JAMES BALMER.
+
+    Captains--G.C. MONTAGU, ROBERT PALMER, W. OLIPHANT, W. LOWE.
+
+    Lieutenants.
+
+    R. MARSHALL.
+    J. CARDEN.
+    H. RUDGLEY.
+    M. RAINFORD.
+    H. CRADDOCK.
+    D. M'CONNELL.
+    P. SERGEANT.
+    J.P. COLLINS.
+    -- ODONNELL.
+    A. CLERK.
+    J. PETRIE.
+    -- SMITH.
+
+    Ensigns.
+
+    W. SPLAIN.
+    -- BELL.
+    -- SMITH.
+    J. KENT.
+    -- FARQUHAR.
+    B. MEIGHAN.
+    -- THOMAS.
+
+The South Carolina Regiment remained in Jamaica until the general
+disbandment of the provincial corps in 1783. The lieutenant-colonel
+commandant was given an independent company, and the whites, both
+officers and men, were pacified with grants of land. The black troopers,
+however, were a source of difficulty. These troopers, some of whom were
+originally free, while some had been purchased by the British
+Government, were in those days of slavery something of a "white
+elephant" in a large slave-holding colony like Jamaica. The planters,
+fearful of the consequences of the example to their slaves of a free
+body of negroes who had served as soldiers, agitated for their removal
+from the island, but, on the other hand, no other island was willing to
+receive them. There is no trace of how the difficulty was finally
+settled, but in a letter, dated War Office, June 15th, 1783, signed R.
+Fitzpatrick, and addressed to Major-General Campbell, commanding in
+Jamaica, the receipt of his letter concerning the disbandment of the
+provincial troops in the island is acknowledged, and the removal of "the
+blacks of the South Carolina Regiment" to the Leeward command approved
+of.
+
+Some time, then, in September, 1783, the black troopers were removed to
+the Leeward Islands, and in the "Monthly Return of His Majesty's Forces
+in the Leeward and Charibee Islands, under the command of
+Lieutenant-General Edward Mathew," we find them formed into a corps,
+with a body of black artificers, who had served in South Carolina at the
+sieges of Charlestown and Ninety-six, and thirty-three black pioneers
+who had been included in the surrender of Yorktown. The following is the
+state of this corps:
+
+    RETURN OF THE BLACK CORPS OF DRAGOONS, PIONEERS, AND ARTIFICERS.
+
+    A. Captains.
+    B. 1st Lieutenants.
+    C. 2nd Lieutenants.
+    D. Sergeants Present.
+    E. Drummers and Trumpeters Present.
+    F. Present, fit for duty.
+    G. Sick in Quarters.
+    H. Sick in Hospital.
+    I. On Command.
+    J. Total.
+    K. Total of the Whole.
+
+    +------------+----------------+-----------+---+---+-------------------+---+
+    |            |                | Officers  |   |   |  Effective Rank   |   |
+    |            |                | Present.  |   |   |    and File.      |   |
+    |Where       |                +---+---+---+   |   +-------------------+   |
+    |Stationed.  | Companies.     | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K |
+    +------------+----------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
+    |Grenada     | Capt. Mackrill | 1 | - | - |  3| 1 | 25| 7 | 10| 23| 65| 70|
+    |St. Vincent | Capt. Anderson | 1 | - | 1 | 14| 5 | 46| 4 |  -|138|188|209|
+    |Grenada     | Capt. Millar   | 1 | - | - |  3| - | 19| 4 |  4| 19| 46| 50|
+    +------------+----------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
+    |            | Total          | 3 | - | 1 | 20| 6 | 90| 15| 14|180|299|329|
+    +------------+----------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
+
+The officers of this corps were, according to Bryan Edwards, vol. i. p.
+386, taken from the regular army, and the companies were commanded by
+lieutenants of regulars, having captains' rank. Artificers, it may be as
+well to observe, were sappers and miners. The Royal Engineers at about
+this date consisted of various companies of Artificers; later on they
+were called Sappers and Miners; and, finally, Royal Engineers.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE EXPEDITION TO MARTINIQUE, 1793--THE CAPTURE OF MARTINIQUE, ST.
+LUCIA, AND GUADALOUPE, 1794--THE DEFENCE OF FORT MATILDA, 1794.
+
+
+In February, 1789, all three companies of the "Black Corps of Dragoons,
+Pioneers, and Artificers" were stationed in Grenada, and from that date
+until June, 1793, they are shown in every monthly return, with a
+strength varying from 279 to 268, and an increase of four first
+lieutenants.
+
+In February, 1793, the news of the French declaration of war was
+received in the West Indies, and orders were soon after transmitted from
+England to the Commander-in-Chief in the Windward and Leeward Islands to
+attempt the reduction of the French islands. Tobago was taken on the
+17th of April without much trouble, the majority of the planters in that
+island being English; and an attack on Martinique was next meditated.
+The whole of the British force in the West Indies was known and
+acknowledged to be inadequate to the reduction of that island; but such
+representations had been spread throughout the army, concerning the
+disaffection of the greater part of the inhabitants of all the French
+islands towards the Republican Government lately established, as to
+create a very general belief that the appearance of a British armament
+before the capital of Martinique would alone produce an immediate
+surrender. Major-General Bruce, on whom the chief command of the troops
+had devolved, was assured by a deputation from the principal planters of
+the island that "a body of 800 regular troops would be more than
+sufficient to overcome all possible resistance."
+
+These representations induced Major-General Bruce, in conjunction with
+Admiral Gardner, to undertake an expedition; and the troops having been
+embarked at Grenada in the men-of-war, the armament arrived off Cape
+Navire, Martinique,[10] on the 11th of June, 1793. There the general met
+the officer commanding the French Royalists, and, as the latter proposed
+an attack upon the town of St. Pierre, the 21st Regiment was landed at
+Cape Navire on the 14th, and there posted, to enable the Royalists to
+concentrate in the neighbourhood of St. Pierre, where the remainder of
+the British force joined them on the 16th. "The British troops consisted
+of the Grenadiers, Light Infantry, and Marines from the fleet, with the
+Black Carolina Corps, amounting in all to about 1100 men."[11] The
+Royalists were said to number 800.
+
+On the afternoon of the 17th, the enemy made an attack, but were driven
+back by the pickets, with the loss of one officer and three men killed
+on the part of the British. An attack on the two batteries which
+defended St. Pierre was planned for the morning of the 18th, but failed,
+owing to the want of discipline on the part of the Royalists.
+Major-General Bruce says: "The morning of the 18th was the time fixed
+for the attack, and we were to move forward in two columns, the one
+consisting of the British troops, the other of the French Royalists; and
+for this purpose the troops were put in motion before daybreak; but,
+unfortunately, some alarm having taken place amongst the Royalists, they
+began, in a mistake, firing on one another, and their commander being
+severely wounded on the occasion, the whole body, refusing to submit to
+any of the other officers, retired to the post from which they had
+marched."
+
+This conduct showed the general that no reliance could be placed on the
+Royalists, and that the attack on St. Pierre, if carried out at all,
+would have to be done by the British troops alone, whose numbers were
+not equal to the task. He, consequently, ordered the troops to return to
+their former positions, and on the 19th they re-embarked. As to have
+left the Royalists in Martinique would only have been to leave them to
+be massacred by the Republicans, those unfortunate people were embarked
+on the 19th and 20th, and the 21st Regiment being taken on board at
+Cape Navire on the 21st, the expedition returned to Grenada.
+
+It may be wondered whence came the Black Carolina Corps mentioned by
+Major-General Bruce, but it is evident that by that designation the
+Black Corps of Dragoons, Pioneers, and Artificers was locally known; for
+in the monthly return, dated May 1st, 1794, the "state" of the corps is
+headed, "Return of the Black Carolina Corps," and the title, "Black
+Corps of Dragoons, Pioneers, and Artificers" ceases, from that date, to
+be used in any official document. The strength of the corps in that
+return is 258 of all ranks.
+
+The failure of Major-General Bruce's attempt on Martinique induced the
+British Ministers to send out an armament under Sir Charles Grey for the
+reduction of all the French West India Islands; and, until the arrival
+of this force at Barbados, in January, 1794, the Black Carolina Corps
+remained quietly in garrison at Grenada. The troops from the various
+islands--and amongst them all three companies of that corps--were
+collected at Barbados during the remainder of January, and, on the 4th
+of February, the expeditionary force, 6085 strong, set sail from
+Carlisle Bay. The army, in three divisions, landed at three separate
+points in Martinique; the first at Gallion Bay, on the northern side of
+the island, on the evening of the 5th of February; the second at Cape
+Navire, nearly opposite on the south, on the 8th of February; and the
+third at Trois Rivieres, towards the south-east. The British were so
+rapidly successful that, by the 17th of February, the whole of the
+island, except the two fortresses of Bourbon and Fort Royal, were in
+their hands. The services of the Black Carolina Corps up to that date
+are not known in detail, but the return of killed and wounded shows the
+Dragoons as having had one rank and file killed.
+
+On the 20th of February, Forts Bourbon and Fort Royal were completely
+invested, and the pioneers and artificers of the Carolina Corps were
+busily engaged on the siege works. On the north-east side the army broke
+ground on the 25th of February; and on the western side, towards La
+Caste, fascine batteries were erected with all possible expedition. By
+the 16th of March, the advanced batteries were pushed to within 500
+yards of Fort Bourbon, and 200 yards of the enemy's nearest redoubt. On
+the 20th of March, the fortress of Fort Royal was carried by Captain
+Faulkner, of the _Zebra_; and General Rochambeau at once sent a flag
+from Fort Bourbon offering to capitulate. The terms were accordingly
+adjusted on the 23rd, and on the 25th, the garrison, reduced to 900 men,
+marched out prisoners of war.
+
+Martinique being now entirely conquered, Sir Charles Grey left there, as
+a garrison under General Prescott, five regiments, and one company of
+the Carolina Corps; and proceeded, on the 31st of March, with the
+remainder of the force to the attack of St. Lucia. That island had no
+means of defence against so considerable an invading force; and, on the
+4th of April, the British colours were hoisted on the chief fortress of
+Morne Fortune; the garrison, consisting of 300 men, having surrendered
+on the same terms of capitulation that had been granted to General
+Rochambeau. The 6th and 9th Regiments, with a company of the Carolina
+Corps, being left as a garrison for St. Lucia, Sir Charles Grey returned
+to Martinique, and commenced his preparations for an expedition to
+Guadaloupe.[12]
+
+Guadaloupe really consists of two islands, separated from each other by
+a narrow arm of the sea, called La Riviere Salee, which is navigable for
+vessels of fifty tons. The eastern island, or division, which is flat
+and low-lying, is called Grandeterre; while the western, which is rugged
+and mountainous, is named Basseterre.
+
+On the 8th of April, the troops, with the remaining company of the
+Carolina Corps, sailed from Fort Royal, Martinique; and, about one
+o'clock in the morning of the 11th, a landing was effected at Grosier
+Bay. Before daybreak on the 12th, the fort of La Fleur d'Epee was
+carried by assault, and the greater part of the garrison put to the
+sword. Fort St. Louis, the town of Point a Pitre, and a new battery upon
+Islet a Cochon being afterwards abandoned, the possession of Grandeterre
+was complete. The reduction of Basseterre was effected on the 21st of
+the same month; and the company of the Carolina Corps, with other
+troops, being left in garrison in Guadaloupe, the general returned to
+Martinique.
+
+The British, however, were not permitted to remain long in peaceable
+possession of their most recent conquest; for on the 3rd of June, a
+considerable French armament arrived off Point a Pitre. Fort Fleur
+d'Epee was taken by storm, and the place not being tenable after this
+loss, the British crossed over to Basseterre. Several prisoners were
+taken by the French, and amongst them were some of the Carolina Corps,
+for in the return of that corps for February, 1795, dated March 1st,
+there is the following note: "Some of the corps are prisoners at Point a
+Pitre, but their number cannot be ascertained." In a later return,
+however, we find that they consisted of one sergeant and eight rank and
+file.
+
+On the 2nd of July, the British made an ineffectual attempt to recover
+Point a Pitre, and soon after established their head-quarters at
+Berville, in Basseterre. The camp at Berville was invested in September,
+and on the 6th of October it was compelled to capitulate. Thus the whole
+of Guadaloupe, with the exception of Fort Matilda, situated above the
+town of Basseterre, and which was still held by a British garrison, was
+recovered by the French. At the surrender of Berville, 300 French
+Royalists, who were in the British camp, were massacred by the orders of
+Victor Hugues, the French commander.
+
+Fort St. Charles, Basseterre, had been rechristened Fort Matilda by the
+British on its surrender on the 21st of April, 1794, and against it
+Victor Hugues now moved all his forces. The fort was commanded by
+Lieutenant-General Prescott with a garrison of 610 men, including the
+company of the Carolina Corps which had come to Guadaloupe. General
+Prescott, in his despatch, dated "On board H.M.S. _Vanguard_, at sea,
+December 11th, 1794," says: "To enter into a minute detail of the siege,
+which commenced on the 14th of October, and terminated by evacuating it
+on the 10th of December, would not only too much occupy your time, but
+might be deemed equally unnecessary. It may be sufficient to remark that
+on entering the fort I found it totally out of repair, the materials
+composing the wall-work thereof being of the worst kind, and having
+apparently but little lime to cement them properly. By the middle of
+last month the works were very much injured by the daily and frequent
+heavy fire of the enemy, and almost all the carriages of our guns
+rendered useless. These were in general in a very decayed state, but
+even the new ones for the brass mortars that were made during the siege
+gave way from the almost incessant fire we kept up; so that upon the
+whole, what from the nature of our defences and the small number of our
+garrison, we were in a very unfit state to resist the very vigorous
+exertions of our enemy, who began to prepare additional forces about the
+20th of last month, but who, from a number of causes, and especially
+from heavy and continued rains, could not open their new batteries till
+the 6th of this month. On that day they began to fire from twenty-three
+pieces of cannon, four of which were thirty-six-pounders, and the rest
+twenty-four-pounders, and from eight mortars, two of thirteen inches and
+two of ten. The fire was very heavy and continued all day and night, and
+by it all the guns on the Gallion bastion were dismounted, and the
+bastion itself a heap of ruins. Every day after this grew worse until
+the 9th, on the evening of which day I went into the ditch accompanied
+by the engineer, when we were both but too well convinced of the
+tottering state of the works from the Gallion along the curtain, and
+indeed the whole, from the east to the north-east. I could not hesitate
+a moment about the necessity of evacuating the fort. I therefore sent
+off immediately to Rear-Admiral Thompson, who commanded the detachment
+of the squadron left for our protection, to acquaint him with the
+necessity of evacuating the fort next evening, and to request that he
+would have the boats ready to take off the garrison at seven o'clock. I
+kept this my design a profound secret until half-past six o'clock of the
+evening of the 10th, when I arranged the march of the garrison.... The
+embarkation continued with little or no interruption, and was happily
+completed about ten o'clock at night, without its being discovered by
+the enemy, who continued firing as usual on the fort till two or three
+o'clock on the morning of the 11th, as we could plainly perceive from
+the ships. My satisfaction was great at having thus preserved my brave
+garrison to their king and country."
+
+During the siege of Fort Matilda, the Carolina Corps lost 1 killed and 3
+wounded, 2 of whom afterwards died of their wounds. In the "State of the
+Garrison of Fort Matilda, as embarked on the 10th of December, 1794,"
+the strength of the company of the Carolina Corps is shown as 1 captain,
+1 lieutenant, 4 sergeants, and 30 rank and file. After the evacuation,
+this company was stationed at Martinique; so that at the close of the
+year 1794, two companies were in that island, and one in St. Lucia.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 10: See map.]
+
+[Footnote 11: Major-General Bruce's despatch.]
+
+[Footnote 12: See map.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+MALCOLM'S ROYAL RANGERS--THE EVACUATION OF ST. LUCIA, 1795.
+
+
+In the commencement of the year 1795, a new corps was raised in the West
+Indies, which was sometimes called Malcolm's Corps, sometimes Malcolm's
+Rangers, and at others the Royal Rangers. It first appears in the
+"Monthly Return of His Majesty's Forces in the Windward, Leeward, and
+Caribee Islands," dated the 1st of May, 1795, as follows:
+
+    ROYAL RANGERS, COMMANDED BY CAPTAIN MALCOLM, 41ST REGIMENT.
+
+    A: Capt. Commandant.
+    B: Captains.
+    C: 1st Lieutenants.
+    D: 2nd Lieutenants.
+    E: Sergeants Present.
+    F: Drummers Present.
+    G: Present fit for Duty.
+    H: In Hospital.
+    I: In Quarters.
+
+    +-------------+---------------+---+---+------------------------+
+    |             | Commissioned  |   |   |Effective Rank and File.|
+    |             | Officers.     |   |   |                        |
+    |             +---+---+---+---+   |   +-----+-----+----+-------+
+    |             |   |   |   |   |   |   |     | Sick and |       |
+    |  Stations.  |   |   |   |   |   |   |     | Wounded. |       |
+    |             |   |   |   |   |   |   |     +-----+----+       |
+    |             | A | B | C | D | E | F |  G  | H   | I  | Total.|
+    +-------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+-----+-----+----+-------+
+    | Martinico   | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 149 | 28  | 27 |  204  |
+    +-------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+-----+-----+----+-------+
+
+This officer is mentioned by Bryan Edwards, vol. iii. p. 452:
+"Lieutenant Malcolm, of the 41st Grenadiers, was appointed Town Major"
+(of St. Pierre, Martinique, in 1794) "in consideration of his
+distinguished conduct and active services at the head of a body of
+riflemen, which was composed of two men selected from each company of
+the 1st Battalion of Grenadiers. We shall have occasion to mention this
+officer afterwards."
+
+This body of riflemen, raised during the operations in Martinique, in
+March, 1794, must, if the above statement of its formation be correct,
+have been European, for there were no black troops employed in the
+reduction of that island, except the Carolina Corps. The corps of
+riflemen is not shown in any return, and it is probable that at the
+termination of the active operations the men rejoined their respective
+battalions. The Royal Rangers, shown in the return of the 1st of May,
+1795, were black; for Sir John Vaughan, in a letter dated Martinique,
+April 25th, 1795, which gives an account of the operations in St. Lucia
+in that month, says: "The flank companies of the 9th Regiment and the
+black corps under Captain Malcolm were the troops engaged." These Royal
+Rangers, then, were almost certainly entirely distinct from the "body of
+riflemen," and the success which had attended Captain Malcolm's efforts
+with the first body probably led to his being employed in raising the
+second, about February or March, 1795. In the month of April, 1795, one
+company of this corps, numbering 121 of all ranks, was in St. Lucia,
+and the other company, 112 strong, in Martinique.
+
+Victor Hugues, having succeeded in ousting the British from Guadaloupe,
+commenced, early in 1795, active measures for the recovery of the other
+islands that had been wrested from France in the previous year, and the
+plan which was first ripened appears to have been that against St.
+Lucia.[13] "No official and scarcely any other accounts of the event are
+to be found, but the invasion of this colony appears to have been
+effected about the middle of February.... Nor can the strength of the
+invading force be now ascertained. That force was probably few in
+number, and stolen into the island in small bodies, and under cover of
+the night. Aided, however, by an insurrection of the slaves, people of
+colour, and democratical whites, it was sufficient to wrest from us the
+whole of the colony, with the exception of the two posts of the Carenage
+and the Morne Fortune."[14]
+
+Affairs remained in this situation till about the middle of April, when
+Brigadier-General Stewart resumed active operations, in the hope of
+recovering the lost ground. On the 14th of that month, he suddenly
+disembarked near Vieux Fort, with a force consisting of a portion of the
+6th and 9th Regiments, the company of the Carolina Corps which had
+remained in the island since its capture in 1794, and one company of the
+new corps of Malcolm's Rangers; and, after two days' skirmishing, that
+town was abandoned by the French on the 16th, and immediately taken
+possession of by the British, the enemy falling back upon Souffriere,
+their chief stronghold.
+
+"Resolved to follow up his blow, General Stewart advanced against
+Souffriere. Undismayed, however, by their recent defeats, the
+Republicans had collected together a very formidable force, for the
+defence of their main position. On his march, the British general was
+suddenly attacked by a division which had been placed in ambush, and it
+was not till after a severe struggle that the enemy were driven back."
+
+Sir John Vaughan, in a despatch dated Martinique, April 25th, 1795,
+says: "He was attacked by the enemy upon his march on the 20th instant,
+who had formed an ambuscade. The flank companies of the 9th Regiment,
+and the Black Corps under Captain Malcolm, were the troops engaged. The
+enemy, after a severe conflict, were driven back. Captain Malcolm, and
+Captain Nesbitt of the 9th, were wounded, after behaving in a most
+gallant manner."
+
+On the 22nd of April, the troops reached the neighbourhood of
+Souffriere, near to which, on the mountainous ground, the attack was
+made. The contest continued warmly for seven hours, and though the
+greatest exertions were made by the British, they were finally compelled
+to retreat to Choiseul, with a loss of 30 killed, 150 wounded, and 5
+missing. In the four days' fighting between the 14th and the 22nd of
+April, Malcolm's corps lost 48 out of a total of 121.[15] At Choiseul
+the troops embarked and returned to Vieux Fort, and thence to Morne
+Fortune and the Carenage, which General Stewart considered his force
+strong enough to hold until the arrival of reinforcements.
+
+Two months passed away without the occurrence of any event worthy of
+notice. Sickness, in the meantime, was making great ravages amongst the
+British, one-half of whose force was generally unfit for service. The
+enemy, on the other hand, were daily gaining fresh accession of
+strength. From Guadaloupe arms and other supplies were frequently
+transmitted; and though some of the vessels fell into the hands of the
+British cruisers, many more of them reached their destination in safety.
+The French now began to act decisively. They first reduced Pigeon
+Island, and, on the 17th of June, made themselves masters of the Vigie.
+On this last post the communication between the Carenage and Morne
+Fortune depended, and the enemy now prepared for a general assault upon
+the latter. As, in the weak condition of the garrison, it would have
+been imprudent to await the meditated attack, Brigadier-General Stewart
+determined to evacuate the position; and, on the evening of the 18th,
+the whole of the troops embarked on board H.M.S. _Experiment_,
+undiscovered by the enemy, and proceeded to Martinique.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 13: Bryan Edwards.]
+
+[Footnote 14: See map.]
+
+[Footnote 15: Return of the killed, wounded, and missing in the actions
+on the following days, of the troops under the command of
+Brigadier-General Stewart, in the island of St. Lucia.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+14th of April, 1795.
+
+Royal Rangers--1 sergeant, 5 rank and file, wounded.
+
+15th of April.
+
+Royal Rangers--2 rank and file, killed; 1 sergeant, 4 rank and file,
+wounded.
+
+20th of April.
+
+Royal Rangers--6 rank and file, killed; 1 captain, 1 sergeant, and 18
+rank and file, wounded.
+
+22nd of April.
+
+Carolina Corps--1 rank and file, wounded.
+
+Royal Rangers--4 rank and file, killed; 5 rank and file, wounded.
+
+Names of the Officers killed and wounded.
+
+Captain Robert Malcolm, of the Royal Rangers, wounded.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE CARIB WAR IN ST. VINCENT, 1795.
+
+
+Some little time before the arrival, at Martinique, of the company of
+Malcolm's Rangers from St. Lucia, the company of that corps which had
+remained in the former island had been despatched, with the 3rd
+Battalion of the 60th Regiment, to St. Vincent. Since the month of
+March, 1795, that island had been devastated by a war between the
+Caribs, assisted by the French, and the British garrison. This war had
+been carried on with varying success, and the most horrible atrocities
+on the part of the Caribs, until the end of May, when the
+Commander-in-Chief, Sir John Vaughan, went over to St. Vincent from
+Martinique, to satisfy himself as to the state and military wants of the
+colony; and, finding the enemy strongly posted within a short distance
+of the town of Kingston itself, immediately on his return to Martinique
+despatched the above-mentioned reinforcement, which arrived at St.
+Vincent in the beginning of June.
+
+The principal position of the enemy was at the Vigie This post was
+situated on a ridge, forming the south-west side of the valley of
+Marriaqua, and consisted of three small eminences of different heights;
+that nearest the sea, though the lowest, being the most extensive of
+them all, and that to the fortifying of which they had paid the most
+attention.
+
+Lieutenant-Colonel Leighton, commanding the troops in St. Vincent, on
+being reinforced, determined to carry into execution a long meditated
+attack upon the Vigie. Accordingly, on the night of the 11th[16] of
+June, the troops marched through the town, and halted about ten o'clock
+at Warawarrow River, within four miles of the Vigie. The force was
+composed of detachments from the 46th and 60th Regiments, the company of
+Malcolm's Rangers, the St. Vincent Rangers, almost all the southern and
+windward regiments of the militia, and a small party of artillery. At
+Warawarrow River the troops were divided into three columns; and the
+third was further divided into small bodies to hold the passes at Calder
+Ridge, and prevent the escape of the enemy.
+
+Just before daybreak, the westernmost redoubt, which overlooked the road
+coming from Kingston, was attacked and carried almost without
+opposition, the enemy retiring to their principal stronghold. The
+grenadiers and Malcolm's Corps had in the meantime forced their way
+through the bush on Ross Ridge, and being met by the light company,
+which had kept along the road, the whole of the British advanced against
+the third and strongest redoubt. At the upper end of the road a deep
+trench had been dug, which obstacle for some little time delayed the
+guns; but, by great exertions they were lifted up a bank eight or ten
+feet in height, and then opened fire.
+
+For some time the enemy returned the British fire with great spirit.
+About eight o'clock, however, they beat a parley, and sent out a flag of
+truce to propose terms, which were refused. The troops were now led to
+the assault, and in a short time carried the works, which were defended
+by the French from Guadaloupe, the Caribs having retired early in the
+morning, and escaped to the windward portion of the island. "Never did
+troops display greater gallantry than did the British, militia, and
+rangers on this occasion."[17] The British killed and wounded amounted
+to 30; 250 of the enemy are said to have fallen. In the redoubts were
+taken three four-pounders and sixteen or seventeen swivels.
+
+At the close of the action, Malcolm's and the St. Vincent Rangers were
+sent out to scour the valley of Marriaqua, and destroy the huts of the
+Caribs. This service they effectually accomplished before nightfall,
+having killed and taken prisoners many of the fugitives, and driven the
+remainder into Massirica.
+
+A detachment of the 60th being left in the Vigie Lieutenant-Colonel
+Leighton, on the morning of the 13th of June, marched with the remainder
+of the troops, by several routes, towards the Carib district. So little
+opposition was made to their march, the enemy constantly falling back
+from ridge to ridge, that on the afternoon of the 16th they reached
+Mount Young, from which the Caribs fled with such haste that they left
+standing their houses, in all of which considerable quantities of corn
+were found. This carelessness of the enemy provided the British with a
+very welcome shelter. It was fortunate, also, that they had not
+attempted to dispute the hills and passes; for, had they done so, the
+troops would have suffered greatly, seven men, even as it was, having
+expired on the march from fatigue alone.
+
+As soon as Mount Young was in our possession, the troops were busily
+employed in spreading devastation through the Carib district. In Grand
+Sable and other parts of the country, many houses were burned, and more
+than 200 pettiaugres and canoes destroyed. Several hundred slaves were
+also sent out, under the protection of military detachments, to dig up
+and destroy the provisions of the enemy. On the 4th of July, a
+detachment of the 46th and Malcolm's Rangers took, after a sharp action,
+the enemy's post at Chateaubellair, near Walliabon, with a loss of 14
+killed and 39 wounded of the 46th, and 2 killed and several wounded of
+Malcolm's.
+
+The evacuation of St. Lucia by Brigadier-General Stewart was, however,
+as far as St. Vincent was concerned, attended by fatal consequences.
+The proximity of the former island enabled the French unceasingly to
+pour in new reinforcements to their Carib allies in St. Vincent; and,
+towards the end of August, a small British post which had been
+established at Owia was surprised by a detachment from St. Lucia, and
+the whole of the guns and large quantities of supplies captured.
+
+Encouraged by this success, Victor Hugues resolved to endeavour to wrest
+St. Vincent from the British, as he had already wrested Guadaloupe and
+St. Lucia; and, in the middle of September, he landed in St. Lucia with
+a force of some 800 men. These, embarked in four vessels, which escaped
+the _Thorn_ and _Experiment_, the British ships of war on the station,
+landed at Owia Bay, St. Vincent, on the morning of the 18th of
+September; and the force of the enemy was now so vastly superior to that
+of the British, that it became impossible for the latter to retain their
+advanced positions.
+
+Orders were at once sent to Lieutenant-Colonel Leighton to abandon Mount
+Young without delay, and retire to the vicinity of Kingston. They were
+carried into execution on the night of the 19th. Having destroyed their
+supplies and left their lights burning in their huts as usual, to
+deceive the enemy, the troops were silently put in motion. They reached
+Biabou the next evening, and, bringing in the detachment which was there
+quartered, reached Zion Hill on the 21st; being then distributed among
+the posts in the neighbourhood.
+
+The retreating British were speedily followed by the Caribs and French,
+who drove off the cattle from several estates, and finally took up a
+position on Fairbairn's Ridge, by which the communication was cut off
+between Kingston and the Vigie. The detachment of the 60th at the latter
+post being short of supplies, Lieutenant-Colonel Ritche, of the 60th,
+with 200 of that corps and 150 of the St. Vincent Rangers, was detached
+to escort the necessary stores. His division had nearly reached its
+destination when it fell in with the enemy; a sharp action ensued,
+victory was on the eve of declaring for the British, when, struck by an
+unaccountable panic, they suddenly gave way and fled in all directions.
+The supplies fell into the hands of the enemy, and a number of the mules
+were killed.
+
+The news of this terrible disaster spread dismay through Kingston, for
+it was thought that the enemy would at once attack all the British
+posts. It was resolved to at once abandon the Vigie; and to facilitate
+this step, Brigadier-General Myers, with the 46th and Malcolm's Rangers,
+marched from Dorsetshire Hill, and posted himself opposite the enemy, as
+if threatening an attack. This movement had the desired effect. The
+enemy called in all the detachments which invested the Vigie, and thus
+enabled the officer commanding that post to retreat at night through
+heavy rain to Calliaqua, and thence proceed to Kingston in boats.
+
+While the troops were using the utmost exertion to strengthen the posts
+in the neighbourhood of Kingston, an unexpected reinforcement arrived
+from Martinique, on the 29th of September. It consisted of the 40th,
+54th, 59th, and 2nd West India Regiments,[18] into which latter the St.
+Vincent Rangers were at once drafted. Major-General Irving also came
+over from Martinique to assume the command.
+
+The first effect produced by the arrival of this succour, was the
+retiring of the enemy from their advanced position on Fairbairn's Ridge
+to the Vigie, where they now collected the whole of their strength. From
+this post Major-General Irving determined to dislodge them; and, on the
+night of the 1st of October, the troops marched for that purpose. One
+column, consisting of 750 men, under Lieutenant-Colonel Strutt, marched
+by the high road and took post upon Calder Ridge, on the east of the
+Vigie, about three in the morning. A second column, consisting of 900
+men, under Brigadier-General Myers, crossed the Warawarrow River, and
+detached one party to proceed round by Calliaqua, and another to move up
+the valley, and climb the heights near Joseph Dubuc's. With this last
+force was Malcolm's Corps; and, to gain the point to which they were
+directed, it was necessary to cross a deep rivulet and ascend a steep
+hill covered with bushes and wood. In doing this it suffered a heavy
+loss, both of officers and men, from the enemy, who fired upon it almost
+in security under shelter of the bushes. The British, however, still
+pressed on, and at length arrived on the top of the Marriaqua or Vigie
+Ridge. During the ascent of the hill, Malcolm's Corps lost one man
+killed and two wounded.
+
+In the meantime, the remainder of the second column were struggling in
+vain to reach the summit of the same ridge; at a point where the enemy
+had strongly occupied a thick wood, and thrown up a small work. Though
+the opposing forces were within fifty paces of each other, not an inch
+of ground was won on either side. Firing commenced at seven in the
+morning, and was kept up till nightfall. All this time the British were
+exposed to a violent tropical downpour of rain, which rendered the
+abrupt declivity so slippery that it was almost impossible to maintain a
+foothold on it; and, finding he could make no impression on the enemy,
+the general, about 7 p.m., gave orders for the troops to retire.
+
+During the night, the enemy, from some unknown cause, abandoned the
+Vigie, and that so hastily that they left behind them, undestroyed, both
+guns and ammunition. They continued their retreat till they reached the
+windward part of the island, and the British in their turn advanced. For
+the remainder of the year, the troops were employed in circumscribing,
+within as narrow limits as possible, the French and their Carib allies;
+and, though great hardships were endured, no engagement worthy of note
+took place.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 16: Coke; Bryan Edwards says the 8th.]
+
+[Footnote 17: Coke.]
+
+[Footnote 18: See next chapter.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+MAJOR-GENERAL WHYTE'S REGIMENT OF FOOT, 1795.
+
+
+The terrible mortality which thinned the ranks of the British troops in
+the West Indies, induced the British Ministers to think of reinforcing
+the army with men better calculated to resist the influence of the
+climate. The West India Governors were instructed, therefore, in 1795,
+to bring forward in their respective legislatures a project for raising
+five black regiments, consisting of 500 men each, to become a permanent
+branch of the military establishment. There were already several black
+corps in existence, for Mr. Dundas, during a debate in the House of
+Commons on the West India Expedition, on the 28th of April, 1795, said
+that "the West India Army of Europeans and Creoles consisted of 3000
+militia and 6000 blacks."[19]
+
+These black corps were distributed amongst the various islands, and
+were the Carolina Corps, Malcolm's or the Royal Rangers, the Island
+Rangers (Martinique), the St. Vincent Rangers, the Black Rangers
+(Grenada), Angus' Black Corps (Grenada), the Tobago Blacks, and the
+Dominica Rangers. Some of them, notably the Carolina Corps, Malcolm's
+Corps, and the St. Vincent Rangers,[20] were paid by the Imperial
+Government, and were consequently Imperial troops; although none of the
+corps appeared in any Army List, nor were appointments thereto and
+promotions therein notified in the _London Gazette_.
+
+The five black regiments, now proposed to be raised, were to be in
+addition to those small black corps already in Imperial pay, and which
+were to be blended into three permanent regiments. Consequently, in the
+Army List dated March 11th, 1796, showing the state of the army in
+1795,[21] we find the following eight corps, indexed under the heading
+of "Regiments raised to serve in the West Indies:"
+
+    Whyte's Regiment of Foot     (Carolina and Malcolm's Corps).
+    Myers'       "       "       (St. Vincent Rangers).
+    Keppell's    "       "       (probably the Dominica Rangers).
+    Nicoll's     "       "       }
+    Howe's       "       "       }
+    Whitelock's  "       "       }(the five new regiments).
+    Lewes'       "       "       }
+    Skerrett's   "       "       }
+
+
+Major-General Whyte's regiment was called into existence by the
+_Gazette_ of the 2nd of May, 1795; Major-General John Whyte, from the
+6th Foot, being appointed colonel. On the 20th of May, Major Leeds
+Booth, from the 32nd Foot, was appointed lieutenant-colonel; and other
+officers were rapidly gazetted to it. On the 8th of August, Captain
+Robert Malcolm, of the 41st Foot, was promoted major in Whyte's
+regiment. The following is the list of officers appointed to the
+regiment in 1795:
+
+    MAJOR-GENERAL WHYTE'S REGIMENT OF FOOT.
+
+    Rank.      Name.                 Rank in the Regt.         Army.
+
+    Colonel    John Whyte            April 24, 1795    M.G., Feb. 26, 1795
+    Lt.-Col.   Leeds Booth             May 20, 1795
+    Major      Robert Malcolm          July 1, 1795    Lieut.-Col.,
+                                                         Oct. 5, 1795
+    Capts.     James Abercrombie         "      "      Major, March 1, 1794
+               Edward Cotter             "      "
+               Francis Costello          "      "
+               Alan Hampden Pye          "      "
+               Ralph Wilson              "      "
+               Thomas Cunninghame        "      "
+        (C.)   William Powell         Aug. 24, 1795
+               Thomas Deane           Sept. 1, 1795
+               ..............
+               ..............
+               ..............
+               ..............
+
+    Lieuts.    Ross Gillespie          July 1, 1795    Dec. 20, 1794
+               Henry Maxwell             "      "      March 8, 1795
+               David Butler              "      "
+               Benjamin Chadwick         "      "
+               James Reid                "      "
+               James Stewart             "      "
+               James Sutherland          "      "
+               James Calder              "      "
+               Andrew Coghlan         Aug. 24, 1795    Sept. 14, 1792
+               Henry Goodinge         Sept. 1, 1795
+               Thos. Page            Sept. 16, 1795
+               ..............
+               (11 vacancies)
+               ..............
+    Ensigns    William Graham          July 1, 1795
+               James Cassidy              "     "
+               -- McShee                  "     "
+               -- Lightfoot               "     "
+               -- M'Callum                "     "
+               -- Froggart                "     "
+               -- McLean                  "     "
+               R.W. Atkins                "     "
+               John Egan                  "     "
+               James Reed                 "     "
+    (Cornet)   W. Connor                  "     "
+               -- Crump                   "     "
+               John Morrison              "     "
+               Donald M'Grace             "     "
+               William Reid               "     "
+               -- Dalton              Sept. 1, 1795
+               Thomas Byrne               "     "
+               C.B. Darley            Sept. 9, 1795
+               Christ. Thos. Roberts   Oct. 5, 1795
+               ..............
+               ..............
+               ..............
+    Adjutant   ..............
+    Qrmr.      -- McWilliam           Nov. 18, 1795
+    Surgeon    -- Bishop              June 10, 1795
+    Chaplain   ..............
+
+It was intended that each of these regiments raised for service in the
+West Indies should have a cavalry troop, and in the _London Gazette_ are
+the following:
+
+MAJOR-GENERAL WHYTE'S REGIMENT OF FOOT.
+
+    August 1, 1795     Lieutenant--Powell, from the 8th Foot, to be
+                         Lieutenant of Cavalry.
+
+    August 29          Lieutenant--Powell, Lieutenant of Cavalry, to be
+                         Captain of Cavalry.
+
+    July 11            Acting Adjutant--Connor, from Lieutenant-Colonel
+                         McDonnel's regiment, to be Cornet.
+
+But this idea was soon abandoned, and in 1797 the cavalry troop
+disappeared.
+
+The 1st West India Regiment (for so it was at once styled in the West
+Indies, although in the Army List and the _London Gazette_, the
+designation "Major-General Whyte's Regiment of Foot" was not
+discontinued until February, 1798) first appears in the "Monthly Return
+for the Windward, Leeward, and Caribee Islands," in September, 1795, as
+follows:
+
+    A: Colonel.
+    B: Lieut.-Colonel.
+    C: Majors.
+    D: Captains.
+    E: Lieutenants.
+    F: Ensigns.
+    G: Chaplain.
+    H: Adjutant.
+    I: Quarter-Master.
+    J: Surgeon.
+    K: Mate.
+    L: Sergeants Present.
+    M: Drummers Present.
+    N: Present, fit for duty.
+    O: Sick.
+    P: Recruiting.
+    Q: Total.
+
+    +-----------------+---------+-----------------------+--+--+----------+
+    |                 |         |  Officers Present.    |  |  |          |
+    |                 |         +-------------+---------+  |  |Effective |
+    |                 |         |Commissioned.| Staff.  |  |  |Rank&File.|
+    |     Regiments   |Stations.+-------------+---------+  |  +----------+
+    |     or Corps.   |         |A|B|C|D|E | F|G|H|I|J|K| L| M| N|O|P| Q |
+    +-----------------+---------+-+-+-+-+--+--+-+-+-+-+-+--+--+--+-+-+---+
+    |Maj.-Gen. Whyte's|Martinico|-|-|-|3| 1| 5|-|-|1|-|-| 6| 6|43|4|4| 51|
+    |                 |         | | | | |  |  | | | | | |  |  |  | | |   |
+    |Brig.-Gen. Myers'|Martinico|1|-|-|2| 1| 1|-|-|1|-|-| 5| 6|41|5|5| 51|
+    +-----------------+---------+-+-+-+-+--+--+-+-+-+-+-+--+--|--+-+-+---+
+    |                 |Total.   |1|-|-|5| 2| 6|-|-|2|-|-|11|12|84|9|9|102|
+    +-----------------+---------+-+-+-+-+--+--+-+-+-+-+-+--+--+--+-+-+---+
+
+and the following note is, in the same Return, appended to the state of
+the company of the "Black Carolina Corps," which was in Grenada; the
+other two companies having remained in Martinique since their removal
+there from St. Lucia at the end of April, 1795. "This corps has been
+reformed, and fifty of the men, who were fit for service, have been
+drafted into the 1st New West India Regiment. When the remainder of the
+corps can be collected together, it is possible a few more may be found
+fit for service."
+
+Major-General Whyte's, or the 1st West India Regiment, remained at
+Martinique, without any further accession to its strength than these
+fifty men from the Carolina Corps, till December, 1795.
+
+In the "Muster Roll of His Majesty's 1st West India Regiment of Foot,
+for 183 days, from the 25th of June to the 24th of December, 1795,
+inclusive," the list of officers is given as already shown. Captain
+James Abercrombie, Lieutenants David Butler, Benjamin Chadwick, and
+James Sutherland are shown as "drowned on passage," and the following
+note is added: "Some few of the dates of enlistments and enrolments of
+the non-commissioned officers and drummers may not probably be quite
+exact, and some others may have been engaged in England not down on the
+muster roll, all the regimental books, attestation papers, etc., having
+been left in possession of the paymaster, Brevet-Major Abercrombie (no
+adjutant at that time being appointed), who was lost in December or
+January last on board the _Robert and William_ transport, No. 44, on
+the voyage to this country." The non-commissioned officers and drummers
+were Europeans, one sergeant and three corporals being shown as "sick
+and absent in England" in this roll; and, in the next, a drummer is
+similarly shown. The roll is signed by Leeds Booth, Lieutenant-Colonel;
+Ed. S. Cotter, Captain and Paymaster; and Thomas Holbrook, Acting
+Adjutant. The following is the proof table:
+
+    A: Colonel.
+    B: Lieut.-Colonel.
+    C: Major.
+    D: Captains.
+    E: Lieutenants.
+    F: Cornets.
+    G: Ensigns.
+    H. Adjutant.
+    I. Chaplain.
+    J. Quartermaster.
+    K. Surgeon.
+    L. Mate.
+    M. Sergeants.
+    N. Corporals.
+    O. Drummers.
+    P. Privates.
+
++--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
+|              | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P |
++--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
+|Present       | - | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | 1 |  5| - | - | 1 | - | - | 10| - | 12|  9|
+|Absent        | 1 | - | 1 | 8 | 6 | - | 13| - | - | - | 1 | - |  7| 3 |  3| 27|
+|Non-effective | - | - | - | 5 | 7 | - |  5| - | - | 1 | - | - |  5| 8 |  5| 13|
++--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
+|  Total.      | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14| 14| 1 | 23| - | - | 2 | 1 | - | 22| 11| 20| 49|
++--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
+
+Although it was intended that the privates of West India regiments
+should be black, yet, apparently, white men were not prohibited from
+serving in the ranks; for, in later muster rolls, two or three privates
+are shown as "enrolled in England," and one of these is afterwards shown
+as "transferred to 60th." A volunteer, David Scott, who joined 29th May,
+1797, was also promoted ensign in November of that year. These
+enrolments of Europeans only occur in the first three years of the
+regiment's existence, and negro privates were available for promotion
+to, at least, the rank of corporal very early; for a Private John
+Lafontaine, who was promoted corporal, is shown in the muster roll
+terminating December 24th, 1796, as "claimed as a slave." The pay of a
+private in a West India regiment was then sixpence per diem.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 19: In the Account of the Extraordinary Expenditure of the
+Army, from 25th December, 1795, to 6th December, 1796, is the following:
+
+    On account of pay for sundry black corps for the
+      year 1795, raised for service in the West Indies     L10,120 12 9
+
+    On account of ditto for the year 1796                   60,095 10 3
+                                                           ------------
+                                                           L70,216  3 0
+]
+
+[Footnote 20: "The military force in St. Vincent consists at present of
+a regiment of infantry and a company of artillery, sent from England;
+and a black corps raised in the country, but provided for, with the
+former, on the British Establishment, and receiving no additional pay
+from the island."--Bryan Edwards, vol. i. p. 428.]
+
+[Footnote 21: The Army List for 1795 is dated January 1st.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE CAPTURE OF ST. LUCIA, 1796.
+
+
+In January, 1796, the company of Malcolm's Royal Rangers that was at St.
+Vincent was moved to St. Christopher; the other company still remained
+at Martinique, and both, in April, 1796, were selected to take part in
+the expedition to St. Lucia. "That island could then muster for its
+defence about 2000 well-disciplined black soldiers, a number of less
+effective blacks, and some hundred whites, who held positions both
+naturally and artificially strong, and were plentifully supplied with
+artillery, ammunition, and stores. The post on which the Republicans
+chiefly confided for their defence was that of Morne Fortune. It is
+situated on the western side of the island, between the rivers of the
+Carenage and the Grand Cul de Sac, which empty their waters into bays
+bearing the same name. Difficult of access by nature, it had been
+rendered still more so by various works. In aid of this they had also
+fortified others of the mornes, or eminences, in its vicinity. The whole
+of this position, embracing a considerable extent of ground, it was of
+the utmost importance to invest closely, with as little delay as
+possible, that the enemy might not escape into the rugged country of the
+interior, and thus be in a condition to carry on a protracted and
+harassing war, which experience had already more than once proved to be
+highly detrimental to an unseasoned invading force.
+
+"To accomplish this desirable purpose, the British general determined to
+direct his troops on three points, two of them to the north, and the
+third to the south of Morne Fortune. The first division was to land most
+to the north, in Longueville Bay, covered by several vessels, which were
+intended to silence the batteries on Pigeon Island. Choc Bay was the
+spot where the centre division was to be put on shore; and the third was
+to disembark at Ance la Raye, some distance to the southward of the
+hostile post."[22]
+
+The fleet with the troops destined for the attack of St. Lucia, under
+Sir Ralph Abercromby, sailed from Carlisle Bay, Barbados, on the 22nd of
+April, and anchored in Marin Bay, Martinique, on the evening of the
+23rd, where Malcolm's Rangers joined the force, sailing for St. Lucia on
+the 26th. The troops arrived off that island on the evening of the same
+day, and 1700 men, under the command of Major-General Campbell,
+composing the first division, were immediately landed in Longueville
+Bay; without encountering any further opposition than a few shots from
+the battery on Pigeon Island, the fire of which was speedily silenced by
+that of the ships.
+
+A strong current had driven the transports so far to the leeward that it
+was not practicable to land the centre division till the following
+morning. Major-General Campbell was meanwhile on his march, and his
+progress was only feebly opposed by about 500 of the enemy, who
+ultimately retired from Angier's Plantation to Morne Chabot, and allowed
+him to effect a junction with the centre division. The current having
+acted still more powerfully on the vessels which conveyed the third
+division, under Brigadier-General Morshead, two or three days elapsed
+before the disembarkation in Ance la Raye could be entirely executed.
+The troops at length took up their appointed station, and thus held
+Morne Fortune invested on its southern side.
+
+To complete the investment on the northern quarter it was necessary to
+obtain possession of Morne Chabot, which was one of the strongest posts
+in the vicinity of Morne Fortune. At midnight of the 27th, therefore,
+two columns, under Brigadier-Generals Moore and Hope, were despatched to
+attack the Morne on two opposite sides; and, by this means, not only to
+carry the position, but likewise to prevent the escape of the troops by
+which it was defended. This plan, the complete success of which would
+have materially diminished the strength of the Republican force, was in
+part rendered abortive by a miscalculation of time. The column of
+Brigadier-General Moore, consisting of seven companies of the 53rd
+Regiment, 100 of Malcolm's Rangers, and 50 of Lowenstein's,[23] advanced
+by the most circuitous route; while Brigadier-General Hope, with 350 men
+of the 57th, 150 of Malcolm's Rangers, and 50 of Lowenstein's, took the
+shorter road. Misinformed by the guides, Brigadier-General Moore's
+column fell in, an hour and a half sooner than it had expected, with the
+advanced picket of the enemy, who were thus put on their guard. At the
+moment when they were discovered, the troops, in consequence of the
+narrowness of the road, were marching in single file, and to halt them
+was impossible. In this state of things their leader resolved not to
+give his opponents time to recollect themselves, but to fall on them
+with his single division. The spirit of the soldiers fully justified the
+gallant resolution of their commander. Having been formed as speedily as
+the ruggedness of the ground would admit of, they proceeded to the
+assault. The Republicans made a stubborn resistance, but it was an
+unavailing one, as they were finally driven from the Morne with
+considerable loss. Nevertheless, as the second column did not arrive
+till the combat was over, the fugitives succeeded in making good their
+retreat. On the following day the victors also occupied Morne
+Duchasseaux, which is situated in rear of Morne Fortune.
+
+In the hope of obtaining some advantage to counterbalance this
+misfortune, the enemy, on the 1st of May, made a brisk attack on the
+advanced post of grenadiers commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel MacDonald,
+of the 55th Regiment. They were, however, repulsed with much slaughter,
+though not till forty or fifty men, and several officers, were killed or
+wounded on the side of the British, among them being Captain Coghlan,
+1st West India Regiment, attached to the 48th Regiment, who was wounded.
+
+At the south side of the Morne Fortune the enemy had erected batteries,
+which precluded any vessels from entering into the bay of the Grand Cul
+de Sac. To open this bay to our fleet was an object of much importance,
+as at present it was necessary to convey the artillery and stores from a
+great distance, which could not be done without the previous labour of
+opening roads through an almost impracticable country. It was,
+therefore, resolved to make an attempt on these batteries. The principal
+attack was to be conducted by Major-General Morshead, whose division, in
+two columns, was to pass the river of the Grand Cul de Sac; the columns
+of the right at Cools, and that of the left at the point where the
+waters of the stream are discharged into the bay. To second this force,
+Brigadier-General Hope, on the night of the 2nd of May, was to advance
+from Morne Chabot with 350 men of the 42nd Regiment, the light company
+of the 57th, and part of Malcolm's Rangers, the whole being supported by
+the 55th Regiment, which was posted at Ferrands. A part of the squadron
+was likewise to lend its assistance, by keeping up a cannonade on the
+works of the enemy. Before the time arrived for putting this plan into
+execution, Major-General Morshead was taken ill, and the command
+devolved upon Brigadier-General Perryn. No change, however, took place
+in the arrangements which had been formed.
+
+"At dawn of day, the division under Brigadier-General Hope began to
+accomplish its part of the service by carrying the battery Seche, which
+was situated within a short distance of the works of Morne Fortune. The
+assailants suffered so little in the assault, that they would scarcely
+have had anything to regret, had it not been for the fall of the gallant
+Lieutenant-Colonel Malcolm.[24] On the south side of the Morne, and at
+the extremity of the line of attack, Colonel Riddel, who led the column
+of the left, made himself master of the battery of Chapuis, and
+established himself there. Had the remainder of the project been as well
+executed, the proposed object would have been completely attained.
+Unfortunately, however, from some unexplained cause, the division which
+was the connecting link of the whole, that which was entrusted to
+Brigadier-General Perryn, did not perform its allotted part, by crossing
+the river at Cools. The consequence of this was that the victorious
+columns were left insulated, and would have been exposed to no trivial
+danger, had the enemy felt a sufficient reliance upon their own strength
+to incite them to act with the requisite promptitude and vigour.
+Painful, therefore, as it was to retire before a routed foe, the British
+troops were compelled to abandon the batteries which they had won, and
+to fall back upon their original stations. The ships at the same time
+returned to their former anchorage. Our loss on this occasion was 105
+men; of whom only a very few were among the slain."
+
+The Vigie was now the only post occupied by the enemy in the vicinity of
+Morne Fortune, and this was attacked by the 31st Regiment on the night
+of May 7th; the assault, however, being repulsed with a loss of 200 men.
+The main position was now invested by regular siege works, and the task
+which the British had to perform was attended with no small difficulty.
+"The country itself was of the most inaccessible kind, the chain of
+investment was ten miles in extent, all the roads that were necessary
+were to be made, of carriages there were none, horses were scarce, and
+the Republicans had been industrious in availing themselves of all the
+natural obstacles to our progress, and in creating as many others as
+their ingenuity could contrive." Malcolm's Corps rendered good service
+on these works, and the men being better able to stand the fatigue and
+exposure than Europeans, were constantly employed.
+
+By May 16th, the first parallel was completed, and on the morning of the
+24th, the 27th Regiment, supported by the 53rd and 57th, succeeded in
+effecting a lodgment within 500 yards of the fort. The Governor,
+acknowledging that further resistance was futile, demanded a suspension
+of hostilities; terms of surrender were agreed upon, and on May 26th,
+2000 men marched out as prisoners of war. One hundred pieces of
+ordnance, ten vessels, and large stores of ammunition fell into the
+hands of the British.
+
+Sir Ralph Abercromby sailed from St. Lucia on the 4th of June to the
+relief of Grenada and St. Vincent, leaving Brigadier-General Moore for
+the pacification of the first island with the 31st, 44th, 38th, and 55th
+Regiments, O'Meara's corps of Rangers,[25] and the German Yagers.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 22: Bryan Edwards.]
+
+[Footnote 23: Lowenstein's Rangers were Europeans. They were afterwards
+drafted into the 60th.]
+
+[Footnote 24: Return of killed, wounded, and missing, in the attack made
+on the enemy's batteries, May 3rd, 1796. Lieutenant-Colonel Malcolm's
+Rangers: 3 rank and file, killed; 2 rank and file, wounded; 2 captains,
+1 lieutenant, 7 rank and file, missing. Lieutenant-Colonel Malcolm dead
+of his wounds. The names of the officers of Malcolm's returned missing,
+not known.]
+
+[Footnote 25: Raised in 1796. This corps became the 12th West India
+Regiment in 1799.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE RELIEF OF GRENADA, 1796--THE REPULSE AT PORTO RICO, 1797.
+
+
+Grenada, like St. Vincent, had been ravaged by the French and insurgent
+slaves since March, 1795, and the relief of that island was one of the
+first cares of Sir R. Abercromby. On leaving St. Lucia, the division of
+the troops intended for Grenada was ordered to rendezvous at Cariacou,
+one of the Grenadines; there Sir Ralph Abercromby met Major-General
+Nicolls, then commanding in Grenada, and arranged with him the general
+plan of operations. Before, however, those operations are described, it
+will be necessary to go back to the month of March, 1796, when a company
+of the Carolina Corps arrived in Grenada from Martinique, with
+detachments from the 8th, 63rd, and 3rd Regiments, under Major-General
+Nicolls.
+
+Shortly before the arrival of this reinforcement, the French and
+insurgents had compelled the British to evacuate Pilot Hill, in the
+neighbourhood of Grenville, and had taken up a strong position at Port
+Royal. On the 23rd of March, Major-General Nicolls landed to the south
+of Port Royal; during the night the guns were got in position, and at
+daybreak opened on the enemy's works. The post occupied by the enemy was
+a hill of very steep ascent, particularly towards the summit, upon which
+a fort was constructed, and furnished with four six-pounders and some
+swivels. The first object of the British commander was to gain a
+position between the enemy and the open country, and thus leave them no
+alternative but to surrender at discretion, or precipitate themselves
+over a high cliff; but they had established themselves so strongly to
+protect their right that this failed. In the meantime two large vessels
+full of troops to reinforce the enemy arrived in the bay under Port
+Royal, from Guadaloupe; and Brigadier-General Nicolls found it necessary
+to storm the enemy's post without further delay. The troops employed in
+this service were detachments from the 3rd, 29th, and 63rd Regiments,
+under Brigadier-General Campbell; at the same time, 50 men of the 88th,
+with the company of the Carolina Corps, Colonel Webster's Black Rangers,
+and Angus' Black Corps, moved against the enemy's right flank, to
+dislodge some strong parties which were posted on the heights.
+
+Owing to the difficult nature of the ground, it was nearly two hours
+before the latter column could reach the enemy, when a heavy fire
+commenced on both sides. The ascent was steep and difficult, encumbered
+with rocks and loose stones and covered with dense bush. From the summit
+of the ridge the enemy poured in a destructive fire, to which the
+British could only reply at a great disadvantage, and, after losing
+heavily, the column commenced to retire. Observing this retrograde
+movement, Major-General Nicolls sent the 8th Regiment in support and
+ordered Brigadier-General Campbell to proceed to the assault of the
+redoubt.
+
+Repulsed at the first attempt the troops again pushed on, at length
+gained the summit of the ridge, drove the enemy into their redoubt and
+scrambled in after them through the embrasures. The enemy then fled in
+all directions, some threw themselves down the precipices, whilst others
+tried to escape down the hill through the thick underwood; but there was
+so heavy a fire kept up on them from above by the British that they were
+forced to attempt to escape along a valley, where they were charged by a
+detachment of the 17th Light Dragoons, and cut to pieces. The British
+loss consisted, in killed and wounded, of 110 Europeans and 40 of the
+various black corps. The Carolina Corps lost one man killed and six
+wounded.
+
+Affairs were thus situated when the fall of St. Lucia enabled Sir R.
+Abercromby to send reinforcements to Grenada. The troops, with whom were
+Malcolm's Rangers, disembarked at Palmiste, on the 9th June, while
+Brigadier-General Campbell, with the troops already in the island,
+advanced from the windward side to take the enemy in rear. Captain
+Jossey, the commandant of the French troops at Goyave, near Palmiste,
+seeing that resistance must be unavailing, surrendered that post, with
+those of Mabouia and Dalincourt; but Fedon, the leader of the insurgent
+slaves, who knew he could expect no mercy, retired at the head of about
+300 men to two strong and almost unapproachable positions, called Morne
+Quaquo and Ache's Camp, or Foret Noir, in the mountains of the interior.
+
+In these recesses he did not despair of being able to tire out his
+pursuers; but Major-General Nicolls did not give him time to throw any
+additional obstacles in the way of the troops. On the 18th of June he
+despatched against him, from opposite quarters, two divisions, under
+Brigadier-General Campbell and Count d'Heillemer; while
+Lieutenant-Colonel Gledstanes was posted with the 57th Regiment at the
+head of Grand Roy Valley, and the grenadiers of the 38th Regiment, with
+the Carolina Corps and Malcolm's Rangers, advanced against a post which
+the enemy had at the head of Beau Sejour Valley. The dispositions were
+so admirably carried into effect, that the whole of the enemy's posts
+were captured, nearly at the same moment, on the morning of the 19th.
+"Many of the blacks were slain upon the spot, and the remainder were
+promptly hunted down in the woods by detachments of the military. No
+quarter was given to these ruffians, nor was any deserved by them, their
+last efforts having been marked by a foul and wanton murder. When they
+saw that their position at Morne Quaquo, which they had regarded as
+impregnable, was on the eve of being forced, they led out twenty white
+prisoners, stripped them, tied their hands behind them, and put them to
+death. It was impossible, after having witnessed this act of baseness
+and cruelty, that anything short of their extermination should satisfy
+the victors."[26]
+
+Fedon, and a number of his followers, escaped to the woods; what became
+of the former was never known, but the black corps were employed up to
+December, 1796, in hunting down and capturing the stragglers, and it was
+not until the end of that month that peace was entirely restored to
+Grenada.
+
+Whyte's, or the 1st West India, Regiment had remained at Martinique
+without any addition to its strength during the operations in St. Lucia
+and Grenada. It had, however, according to the muster rolls for 1796,
+transferred, on the 24th of March of that year, four sergeants and nine
+corporals to Malcolm's Rangers, probably in anticipation of the speedy
+drafting of the whole of that corps into its own ranks. In the Monthly
+Returns of troops for March and April, 1796, Malcolm's Royal Rangers are
+shown as "under orders for drafting into the 1st West India Regiment,"
+and in the May Return the corps ceases to be shown separately, and has
+no "state" of its own. As we have seen, however, it continued to act
+separately in St. Lucia in April and May, and in Grenada from June to
+December; and it was not until its return to Martinique on the 28th of
+December, 1796, that the drafting was finally completed. Of the
+Carolina Corps all the men fit for service were collected at Martinique,
+the remainder being formed into an invalid company at Grenada. It may be
+thought that the process of forming the 1st West India Regiment was
+being carried on very slowly, but it was more rapid than that of any
+other West India Regiment, except the 2nd; while the 3rd, even on the
+24th of December, 1797, had no non-commissioned officers, no privates,
+and only two drummers.
+
+No military event worthy of note took place in the year 1797, in which
+the Carolina Corps or the 1st West India Regiment took part, except the
+expedition to Porto Rico, in which the pioneers of the former corps were
+engaged. Sir Ralph Abercromby, with a force of 3000 men, sailed from
+Martinique on the 8th of April, and, after a delay at St. Christopher's,
+for the purpose of procuring pilots and guides, reached Porto Rico on
+the 17th and anchored off Cangrejos Point. Next day the troops
+disembarked, and, after a slight skirmish with the enemy, took up a
+position before the town. The siege continued for a fortnight without
+the British making any appreciable progress, while the force of the
+enemy, originally larger than that of the besiegers, was receiving
+continual accessions from various parts of the island. Sir Ralph
+Abercromby, therefore, determined to abandon the attempt, and the troops
+were accordingly re-embarked on the 30th of April.
+
+In March, 1797, one company of the Carolina Corps that was at
+Martinique, 78 strong, was drafted into the 1st West India Regiment;
+and, on the return of the expedition from Porto Rico, the remaining
+company (Pioneer) was also drafted, and the Carolina Corps ceased to
+exist.
+
+The following is the list of the officers who were serving in the 1st
+West India Regiment in 1797, and it may be observed that so many changes
+had taken place that, out of 43 officers who were gazetted to the
+regiment in 1795, only 22 were left in 1797:
+
+    Rank.        Name.          Rank in Regiment.          Army.
+
+    Colonel    John Whyte        April 24, 1795      M.-G., Feb. 26, 1795.
+    Lt.-Col.   Leeds Booth         May 20, 1795
+    Major      Charles Miller     Nov. 30, 1796
+    Captains   Edward Cotter       July 1, 1795
+               Francis Costello    July 1, 1795
+               William Powell     Aug. 24, 1795
+               A.A. Nunn           Feb. 2, 1797      November 17, 1795.
+               Robert Brown        June 1, 1797      September 30, 1796.
+               James Maitland     July 23, 1797
+               James Stewart      July 24, 1797
+    Lieuts.    William Graham     Nov. 30, 1796
+               James Cassidy       Dec. 1, 1796
+               -- M'Shee           Dec. 2, 1796
+               -- Lightfoot        Dec. 3, 1796
+               -- M'Callum         Dec. 4, 1796
+               -- Froggart         Dec. 5, 1796
+               -- M'Lean           Dec. 6, 1796
+               John Egan           Dec. 8, 1796
+               James Reed          Dec. 9, 1796
+               W.J. Speed         Jan. 11, 1797
+               -- Connor          March 1, 1797
+               William Reid       March 2, 1796
+               Thomas Byrne       March 3, 1796
+               J.C. Roberts        July 1, 1796
+               John C. M'Kay       July 2, 1796
+    Ensigns    Donald M'Grace      July 1, 1795
+               -- Dalton          Sept. 1, 1795
+               C.B. Darley        Sept. 9, 1795
+               -- Horsford         July 1, 1797
+               David M'William     July 2, 1797
+               Morgan O'Meara      July 3, 1797
+               Charles Marraud     July 4, 1797
+               Niel Campbell       July 5, 1797
+    Adjutant   Thomas Holbrooke  April 17, 1796
+    Qtrmastr.  -- M'William       Nov. 18, 1795
+    Surgeon    John Lindsay       Dec. 25, 1796
+
+During the active operations of the year 1796 the West India colonists
+had offered no objection to the scheme of raising five new black
+regiments, but, in 1797, when the question of providing for them was
+brought before the various Legislatures, the plan met with the most
+determined opposition. When, on the 17th of January, Governor Ricketts
+communicated it to the House of Assembly in Barbados, and requested the
+concurrence of that House, the Speaker, Sir John Gay Alleyne,
+immediately rose and moved:
+
+"That the design of five regiments, etc. (as expressed in the message),
+will, as far as such a design is likely to affect this island, prove
+rather the means of its destruction than its defence."
+
+This resolution was carried, with two others, without a dissenting
+voice.
+
+"The Assembly of Jamaica was no less decided and unanimous in its
+opposition to the measure. It refused to make any provision whatever
+for the subsistence of the 6th West India Regiment, which was commanded
+by Lieutenant-Colonel Whitelocke. In this decision it was sanctioned by
+the general voice of the white population. Meetings were held in almost
+every parish of the island, in all of which the scheme of raising black
+corps was heavily censured, as being, in the first place, unnecessary,
+the negroes being already compellable to serve in case of emergency;
+and, in the second place, as being of a nature to produce ultimately,
+and perhaps at no distant period, the most destructive effects to the
+persons and the property of the colonial proprietors."[27]
+
+The British ministers were reluctant to abandon that which appeared to
+be a cheap and ready mode of recruiting in the western hemisphere, and
+consequently persevered in their project, even increasing the number of
+West India regiments in 1799 to twelve. That the fears of the colonists
+were groundless time soon showed. In 1801, at St. Martin's, the 8th West
+India Regiment, "composed of new negroes, who had never before faced a
+foe, behaved with the utmost gallantry." In 1803, the 3rd West India
+Regiment did good service at the capture of St. Lucia, as did the 6th at
+the reduction of Surinam in 1804. In 1809, at the Saintes, where the 3rd
+and 8th West India Regiments were engaged, "the black troops
+distinguished themselves by their discipline and valour." How the 1st
+West India Regiment remained true to its colours the succeeding chapters
+will show.[28]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 26: Bryan Edwards.]
+
+[Footnote 27: Bryan Edwards.]
+
+[Footnote 28: It is true that the 8th West India Regiment mutinied at
+Dominica, in 1802, but it was under conditions which, to a certain
+extent, extenuated it. For more than six months the men had been
+defrauded of their pay. Being utterly uneducated and all new negroes,
+they were ignorant of the proper methods of obtaining redress, and
+consequently showed their resentment by violence.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE DEFENCE OF DOMINICA, 1805.
+
+
+The 1st West India Regiment remained stationed at Fort Edward,
+Martinique, during the whole of 1797, and up to the month of December,
+1798; its strength at no time during this period being above 350 men. In
+December, 1798, it was removed to St. Lucia, six companies being
+quartered at Vieux Fort and two at Maboya, in the same island. The
+strength then was 343, and the "state" shows 157 as wanting to complete
+the establishment. The regiment remained at St. Lucia until July, 1801,
+when it was moved to Port Royal, Martinique. In January, 1802, two
+companies were detached to St. Vincent, and, in July, the remainder of
+the regiment, with the exception of one company that remained in
+Martinique, followed them to that island, from whence a company was soon
+afterwards detached to Antigua. In October, these detachments rejoined
+head-quarters, but, in April, 1803, two other companies were sent to
+Grenada. In May, 1804, the regiment, with the exception of one company
+at Grenada and another sent to St. Vincent, was moved to Dominica. In
+this year the establishment of West India regiments was increased from
+500 to 1000 men; and in December, 1804, the strength was 618.
+
+The rupture of the Treaty of Amiens had, in 1803, led to fresh conflicts
+in the West Indies, in which, however, the 1st West India Regiment had
+taken no share; but in the spring of 1805, while it was still stationed
+at Dominica, the light company being with the 46th Regiment at Morne
+Bruce, and the remainder of the regiment (except the two detachments) at
+Prince Rupert's, its turn for active service came.
+
+On the 22nd of February of that year, the island was attacked by a
+French combined naval and military force, under Admiral Missiessy and
+General La Grange, which force had been despatched from France specially
+for the reduction of Dominica. The enemy's flotilla consisted of the
+following vessels:
+
+                      Guns.
+    Majestueuse       120
+    Magnanime          74
+    Suffren            74
+    Jemmappes          74
+    Lion               74
+    Armide             44
+    Gloire             44
+    Infatigable        44
+    Lynx               16
+    Acteon             16
+                      ---
+                      580
+
+The French regular troops employed were:
+
+    26th Regiment                 1600
+    2nd Battalion Piedmontese     2000
+    Dismounted Cavalry             250
+    Artillery                      250
+    Detachments of Corps           500
+                                  ----
+                                  4600
+
+Exclusive of the marines of the various ships.
+
+The enemy's force sailed from Martinique on the afternoon of February
+21st, 1805; and, flying the British flag, arrived off Dominica between 3
+and 4 a.m. on February 22nd. The British commander-in-chief,
+Brigadier-General Prevost, deceived by the colours of the ships, sent
+the captain of the fort, an artillery officer, on board the
+_Majestueuse_, to conduct the supposed British admiral and his fleet to
+a safe anchorage.[29] Shortly afterwards the boats pushed off with the
+troops, and the squadron changed its colours to French.
+
+Directly this was perceived, the grenadier company of the 46th, with the
+light company of the 1st West India Regiment (107 rank and file), under
+Captain O'Connell, and a company of militia, marched from the garrison
+at Morne Bruce to Point Michell, about three miles distant. At this spot
+the enemy concentrated, and effected a landing under a heavy fire from
+the fleet. Two thousand eight hundred troops having been landed at the
+extremity of a cape within a short distance of Point Michell, they
+advanced towards that place in column of subdivisions, the only
+formation which the restricted space would admit, the point being
+bounded by inaccessible heights on the right, and a broken and rugged
+shore on the left.
+
+The two companies of the 46th and the light company of the 1st West
+India Regiment were posted behind the walls of some ruined buildings in
+the village of Point Michell, which afforded excellent cover, and where
+they were entirely sheltered from the fire of the enemy's shipping;
+while the French had to advance on a narrow front, entirely exposed to
+their fire.
+
+The attack commenced about 5 a.m. Four times the enemy were led to the
+assault, and as many times they were repulsed. At about 6.30 a.m. the
+remainder of the 46th and some local militia arrived, and the struggle
+continued; but not without loss on our side, Major Nunn and Captain
+O'Connell, 1st West India Regiment, being wounded, the former mortally,
+and four men killed. At last, the enemy, finding all his endeavours to
+force the position were ineffectual, landed the remainder of his troops
+to leeward of the town of Roseau, on the British right, and attacked
+Fort Daniel, a small redoubt mounting a six-pounder gun, and defended by
+2 artillerymen, and 1 sergeant and 5 men of the 1st West India Regiment.
+These were all made prisoners in the work, which the enemy had attacked
+with 500 men. Brigadier-General Prevost then retired with the militia to
+the heights of Woodbridge Estate; and, the British right being now
+turned, the regulars, some 200 in number, who had been so gallantly
+defending the left, retired to effect a junction with the garrison at
+Fort Rupert, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Broughton, 1st West India
+Regiment. This was effected by Captain O'Connell, although wounded, in
+four days, by the mountain paths, while Brigadier-General Prevost
+arrived at the same place by the Carib Trail.[30]
+
+In the meantime the town of Roseau had been set on fire, and the whole
+of it destroyed, except a few small houses belonging to free negroes.
+The French, after blowing up the fortifications, embarking some guns and
+spiking others, re-embarked; taking with them such of their prisoners as
+were regulars, and levying a contribution of L5500 upon the inhabitants,
+and on February 27th the force set sail for Guadaloupe.
+
+The French in their attack on Point Michell had lost over 300 men, and
+in selecting that spot for landing they had displayed a most astonishing
+ignorance of the locality, for, if a force had at once been put ashore
+between Point Michell and Fort Young at Roseau, the British could hardly
+have ventured upon a serious defence. The loss sustained by the British
+regulars was 21 killed, 21 wounded, and 8 prisoners. The loss of the
+militia is not stated, but was considerable, the French accounts fixing
+it at 200.
+
+The following despatch addressed to Earl Camden, K.G., one of His
+Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, by Lieutenant-General Sir
+William Myers, Bart., commanding the troops in the Windward and Leeward
+Islands, gives the official account of this affair:
+
+                                          "BARBADOES, _March 9th, 1805_.
+
+    "MY LORD,
+
+    "I have the honour to enclose to your Lordship a copy of a despatch
+    from Brigadier-General Prevost, dated Dominica, 1st of March, 1805.
+    The details contained therein are so highly reputable to the
+    Brigadier-General and the small portion of troops employed against
+    so numerous an enemy, that I have great satisfaction in recommending
+    that their gallant exertions may be laid before His Majesty.
+
+    "The zeal and talent manifested by the Brigadier-General upon this
+    occasion, it is my duty to present for the Royal consideration, and
+    at the same time I beg to be permitted to express the high sense I
+    entertain of the distinguished bravery of His Majesty's troops and
+    the militia of the colony employed on that service.
+
+    "The vigorous resistance which the enemy have experienced, and the
+    loss which they have sustained in this attack, must evince to him,
+    that however inferior our numbers were on this occasion, British
+    troops are not to be hostilely approached with impunity; and had not
+    the town of Roseau been accidentally destroyed by fire, we should
+    have little to regret, and much to exult in.
+
+    "Your Lordship will perceive by the Returns that our loss in men,
+    compared to that of the enemy, is but trifling; but I have sincerely
+    to lament that of Major Nunn, of the 1st West India Regiment, whose
+    wound is reported to be of a dangerous kind; he is an excellent man,
+    and a meritorious officer.
+
+                                             "I have, etc.,
+                                                 (Signed) "W. MYERS,
+                                                    "Lieutenant-General."
+
+    "Copy".               "HEAD QUARTERS, PRINCE RUPERT'S,
+                                "DOMINICA, _March 1st, 1805_.
+    "SIR,
+
+    "About an hour before the dawn of day on the 22nd ultimo, an alarm
+    was fired from Scot's Head, and soon after a cluster of ships was
+    discovered off Roseau. As our light increased, I made out five large
+    ships, three frigates, two brigs, and small craft under British
+    colours, a ship of three decks carrying a flag at the mizen. The
+    frigates ranging too close to Fort Young, I ordered them to be fired
+    on, and soon after nineteen large barges, full of troops, appeared
+    coming from the lee of the other ships, attended and protected by an
+    armed schooner, full of men, and seven other boats carrying
+    carronades. The English flag was lowered, and that of the French
+    hoisted.
+
+    "A landing was immediately attempted on my left flank, between the
+    town of Roseau and the post of Cachecrow. The light infantry of the
+    1st West India Regiment were the first to march to support Captain
+    Smart's company of militia, which throughout the day behaved with
+    great gallantry; it was immediately supported by the grenadiers of
+    the 46th Regiment. The first boats were beat off, but the schooner
+    and one of the brigs coming close on shore to cover the landing,
+    compelled our troops to occupy a better position in a defile leading
+    to the town. At this moment I brought up the grenadiers of the St.
+    George's Regiment of militia, and soon after the remainder of the
+    46th Regiment, and gave over to Major Nunn these brave troops with
+    orders not to yield to the enemy one inch of ground. Two
+    field-pieces (an amuzette and a six-pounder) were brought into
+    action for their support under the command of Sergeant Creed of the
+    46th Regiment, manned by additional gunners and sailors. These guns,
+    and a twenty-four-pounder from Melville battery, shook the French
+    advancing column by the execution they did.
+
+    "I sent two companies of St. George's Militia, under the command of
+    Lieutenant-Colonel Constable, and a company of the 46th, to prevent
+    the enemy from getting into the rear of the position occupied by
+    Major Nunn.
+
+    "On my return I found the _Majestueuse_, of 120 guns, lying opposite
+    to Fort Young, pouring into the town and batteries her broadsides,
+    followed by the other seventy-fours and frigates doing the same.
+
+    "Some artillery, several captains of merchantmen with their sailors,
+    and the militia artillery, manned five twenty-four-pounders and
+    three eighteens at the fort, and five twenty-fours at Melville
+    battery, and returned an uninterrupted fire; from the first post
+    red-hot shot were thrown. At about 10 o'clock, a.m., Major Nunn,
+    most unfortunately for His Majesty's service, whilst faithfully
+    executing the order I had given him, was wounded, I fear mortally.
+
+    "This did not discourage the brave fellows. Captain O'Connell, of
+    the 1st West India Regiment, received the command and a wound almost
+    at the same time; however, the last circumstance could not induce
+    him to give up the honour of the first, and he continued on the
+    field animating his men and resisting the repeated charges of the
+    enemy until about one o'clock, when he obliged them to retire from
+    their position with great slaughter. It is impossible for me to do
+    justice to the merit of that officer; you will, I doubt not,
+    favourably report his conduct to His Majesty, and at the same time
+    that of Captain James of the 46th Regiment, and Captain Archibald
+    Campbell, who commanded the grenadiers of that corps.
+
+    "Foiled and beat off on the left, the right flank was attempted, and
+    a considerable force was landed near Morne Daniel. The regulars, not
+    exceeding 200, employed on the left in opposing the advance of three
+    columns, consisting of upwards of 2000 men, could afford me no
+    reinforcement; I had only the right wing of the St. George's
+    Regiment of militia to oppose them, of about a hundred men. They
+    attacked with spirit, but unfortunately the frigates had stood in so
+    close to the shore to protect this disembarkation, that after
+    receiving a destructive fire, they fell back and occupied the
+    heights of Woodbridge Estate. Then it was that a column of the enemy
+    marched up to Morne Daniel, and stormed the redoubt defended by a
+    small detachment, which, after an obstinate resistance, they
+    carried. On my left, Captain O'Connell was gaining ground,
+    notwithstanding a fresh supply of troops and several field-pieces,
+    which had been brought on shore by the enemy. I now observed a large
+    column climbing the mountains to get in his rear.
+
+    "The town, which had been for some time in flames, was only
+    protected by a light howitzer and a six-pounder to the right,
+    supported by part of the light company of the St. George's Regiment.
+    The enemy's large ships in Woodbridge Bay, out of the reach of my
+    guns, my right flank gained, and my retreat to Prince Rupert's
+    almost cut off, I determined on one attempt to keep the sovereignty
+    of the island, which the excellent troops I had, warranted. I
+    ordered the militia to remain at the posts, except such as were
+    inclined to encounter more hardships and severe service; and Captain
+    O'Connell, with the 46th Regiment, under the command of Captain
+    James, and the light company of the 1st West India Regiment, were
+    directed to make a forced march to Prince Rupert's. I then allowed
+    the President to enter into terms for the town of Roseau; and then
+    demanded from the French general that private property should be
+    respected, and that no wanton or disgraceful pillage should be
+    allowed; this done, only attended by Brigade-Major Prevost, and
+    Deputy Quartermaster-General Hopley, of the militia forces, I
+    crossed the island, and in twenty-four hours, with the aid of the
+    inhabitants and the exertions of the Caribs, I got to this garrison
+    on the 23rd. After four days' continued march through the most
+    difficult country, I might almost say, existing, Captain O'Connell
+    joined me at Prince Rupert's, himself wounded, and bringing in his
+    wounded, with a few of the Royal Artillery, and the precious
+    remainder of the 46th and the 1st West India Light Company.
+
+    "I had no sooner got to the fort than I ordered cattle to be driven
+    in, and took measures for getting a store of water from the river
+    and the bay. I found my signals to Lieutenant-Colonel Charles
+    Broughton, of the 1st West India Regiment, made from Roseau soon
+    after the enemy had landed, had been received, and that in
+    consequence he had made the most judicious arrangements his garrison
+    would allow for the defence of this important post.
+
+    "On the 25th, I received the summons[31] I have now the honour to
+    transmit, from General of Division La Grange, and without delay sent
+    the reply[32] you will find accompanying it.
+
+    "On the 27th the enemy's cruisers hovered about the Head; however,
+    the _Centaur's_ tender, _Vigilante_, came in and was saved by our
+    guns. I landed Mr. Henderson, her commander, and crew, to assist in
+    the defence we were prepared to make.
+
+    "As far as can be collected, the enemy had about 4000 men on board,
+    and the whole of their force was compelled to disembark before they
+    gained one inch of ground.
+
+    "I entrust this despatch to Captain O'Connell, to whom I beg to
+    refer you. His services entitle him to consideration. I am much
+    indebted to the zeal and discernment of Fort-Adjutant Gualy, who was
+    very accessary to the due execution of my orders.
+
+    "I cannot pass unnoticed the very soldierlike conduct of Lieutenant
+    Wallis, of the 46th Regiment, to whom I had entrusted the post of
+    Cachecrow, or Scot's Head. On perceiving our retreat he spiked his
+    guns, destroyed his ammunition, and immediately commenced his march
+    to join me at Prince Rupert's with his detachment. Nor that of
+    Lieutenant Schaw of the same corps, who acted as an officer of
+    artillery and behaved with uncommon coolness and judgment while on
+    the battery, and great presence of mind in securing the retreat of
+    the additional gunners belonging to the 46th Regiment. On the 27th,
+    after levying a contribution on Roseau, the enemy re-embarked, and
+    hovered that day and the next about this post. This morning, the
+    French fleet is seen off the south end of Guadaloupe, under easy
+    sail.
+
+    "Our loss--you will perceive by the returns I have the honour to
+    transmit--was inconsiderable when compared with that of the enemy,
+    which included several officers of rank and about 300 others.
+
+                                           "I have, etc.,
+                                           (Signed)      "GEORGE PREVOST.
+
+    "Lieutenant-General Sir William Myers,
+          "Bart., etc., etc., etc.
+
+    "P.S.--As I find I cannot spare Captain O'Connell from the duty of
+    this garrison, I must refer you to the master of a neutral vessel,
+    who has engaged to deliver this despatch."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Extract from Minutes of the House of Assembly, Dominica, dated Roseau,
+2nd May, 1805:
+
+"Resolved, that the Committee of Public Assembly be instructed to write
+to England for a monument to be erected to the memory of Major Nunn, of
+the 1st West India Regiment, who gallantly fell on Feb. 22nd, 1805.
+
+"Resolved, that the thanks of this House be presented to Captain
+O'Connell, of the 1st West India Regiment, and that the sum of one
+hundred guineas be appropriated for the purchase of a sword for him.
+
+"Resolved, that the thanks of this House be presented to the officers,
+non-commissioned officers, and privates of the 1st West India Regiment,
+for their gallant conduct on the same occasion."
+
+Similar sentiments were expressed, and conveyed to the regiment, at a
+meeting held on May 23rd, 1805, at the London Tavern, Lord Penrhyn
+president.
+
+Captain O'Connell was promoted to Major, 5th West India Regiment, and
+Lieutenant Winkler to Captain, vice O'Connell.
+
+Return of the killed and wounded in the actions of the 22nd of February,
+1805, at Point Michell, Morne Daniel, and Roseau, in the island of
+Dominica.
+
+1st West India Regiment--9 rank and file, killed; 1 field officer, 1
+captain, and 8 rank and file, wounded.
+
+For its services on this occasion the 1st West India Regiment was
+permitted to inscribe the word "Dominica" on its colours.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 29: This does not appear in Brigadier-General Prevost's
+letter, but is mentioned in that of General La Grange.]
+
+[Footnote 30: "During a continued march of four days, through an
+exceedingly difficult country, that brave officer (Captain O'Connell)
+did not leave behind even one of his wounded men."--BRYAN EDWARDS.]
+
+[Footnote 31: A summons to surrender.]
+
+[Footnote 32: A refusal.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE HURRICANE AT DOMINICA, 1806--THE REDUCTION OF ST. THOMAS AND ST.
+CROIX, 1807--THE RELIEF OF MARIE-GALANTE, 1808.
+
+
+In 1806, Dominica was visited by a terrific hurricane, from which the
+1st West India Regiment suffered some loss. On the afternoon of the 9th
+of September the sky became totally overcast, and masses of clouds
+gathered over the island. About 7 p.m. a tremendous thunderstorm
+commenced, accompanied by violent gusts of wind, which increased in
+strength, until by 10 p.m., every vessel in the harbour, to the number
+of sixteen, was either sunk or driven ashore. The rain fell in such
+torrents that the whole of the barracks on Morne Bruce, where a
+company-of the 1st West India Regiment was stationed, and nearly the
+whole of those on Morne Cabot, were carried away, and three men of the
+1st West India Regiment were killed, and several injured. Every house
+from the River Mohaut to Prince Rupert's was overthrown, and the town of
+Portsmouth was laid in ruins. In Roseau, 131 persons were killed or
+wounded, the greatest mischief being there caused by the overflowing of
+the river, which inundated the town in all directions, every house which
+obstructed its passage being swept away by the torrent. "No pen," says a
+witness of the scene, "can paint the horrors of that dreadful night! The
+tremendous noise occasioned by the wind and rain--the roaring of the
+waters, together with the shock of an earthquake, which was sensibly
+felt about midnight--the shrieks of the poor sufferers crying out for
+assistance--the terror of those who in their houses heard them, and
+dared not open a door or window to give succour, and who momentarily
+expected to share the same fate, formed a scene which can hardly be
+conceived, and is still more difficult to be described."
+
+The regiment remained stationed at Dominica until the month of April,
+1807, when it was removed to Barbados, with the exception of four
+companies which had been detached to Grenada and Tobago, and which soon
+after rejoined head-quarters at Barbados.
+
+In this year also, the establishment of West India regiments was
+augmented by a second lieutenant-colonel, Major Samuel Huskisson, from
+the 8th Foot, being appointed the second lieutenant-colonel of the 1st
+West India Regiment by the _Gazette_ of the 2nd of June.
+
+A war having broken out with Denmark, the British Ministers, early in
+September, 1807, sent out orders to the Commander of the Forces in the
+West Indies, to reduce the Danish islands of St. John, St. Thomas and
+Saint Croix, and the 1st West India Regiment, with the other troops
+stationed at Barbados, embarked in men-of-war under General Bowyer, on
+the 15th of December, to proceed on this duty. On the 19th of December
+the expedition reached Sandy Point, Saint Christopher's, and receiving
+some troops from that garrison, sailed again the same day; arriving at
+St. Thomas, where it was joined by reinforcements from Antigua and
+Grenada, on the 21st. A summons to surrender was at once sent to the
+Governor, Von Scholten, the terms of which he accepted next day, and
+surrendered the islands of St. Thomas and St. John with their
+dependencies. A small garrison of the 70th Regiment being left at St.
+Thomas, the 1st division of the troops, in which was included the 1st
+West India Regiment, sailed on the evening of the 23rd for Saint Croix.
+The expedition arrived off the town of Frederickstadt on the 24th; and
+the Governor having capitulated on the 25th, the troops were landed, and
+the forts and batteries taken possession of, a royal salute being fired
+as the British colours were hoisted. Next night, the garrison and town
+of Christianstadt, on the other side of the island, were also occupied.
+The 1st West India Regiment during this expedition was commanded by
+Major Nathaniel Blackwell; and after the surrender of Saint Croix, it at
+once returned to Barbados. In January, 1808, three companies were
+detached from Barbados to Antigua, and one to Tobago; the detachment at
+Antigua rejoining head-quarters in October of the same year.
+
+The next service seen by the regiment was at Marie-Galante,[33] in 1808.
+Deseada and Marie-Galante, the former a few miles to the north-east, and
+the latter a few miles to the south-east of Guadaloupe, had been
+captured by Captain Selby and a naval force in March, 1808. Deseada, the
+French Governor of Guadaloupe allowed to remain unmolested; but
+Marie-Galante was so good a privateer station, and its loss also brought
+the British so much more nearly in contact with him, that he determined
+to try to recover it.
+
+The attempt was made on the 23rd of August, by Colonel Cambriel, who,
+with about 200 men in seventeen boats stole over from Guadaloupe and
+landed near Grand Bourg. They were preparing to attack the battery when
+they were espied from the _Circe_; thirty of whose seamen hurried on
+shore, threw themselves into the battery before the French could reach
+it, and gave them such a warm reception as to compel them to retreat.
+The enemy's boats were seized by the _Circe_, and the escape of the
+French being thus cut off, they retired to the centre of the island.
+Intelligence of their landing was forwarded to General Beckwith, at
+Barbados, who lost no time in sending Lieutenant-Colonel Blackwell[34]
+with three companies of the 1st West India Regiment against them.
+
+The following is Lieutenant-Colonel Blackwell's report to General
+Beckwith:
+
+                                         "GRAND BOURG, MARIE-GALANTE,
+                                     "_Sept. 4th, 1808_.
+
+    "SIR,
+
+    "I have the honour to inform you that the troops which you were
+    pleased to place under my command arrived here, in H.M. Ship
+    _Captain_, on the 29th of August; and finding from Captain Pigot,
+    commander of this island, that the French troops were strongly
+    posted within three miles of Grand Bourg, I was immediately landed
+    with the three companies of the 1st West India Regiment; and having
+    obtained an increase of my force, of about 140 marines, and some
+    sailors, together with a six-pounder, from the army schooner
+    _Maria_, I lost no time in fulfilling the instructions I received
+    from you.
+
+    "I have now much satisfaction in reporting, that after a pursuit of
+    the enemy for five days and nights, and having during that period
+    had four engagements with him, in each of which he was repulsed, and
+    obliged to make most precipitate retreat, leaving behind him arms,
+    ammunition, etc., at every different post that had been attacked,
+    and at one place in particular, nine mariners (who had been taken
+    prisoners on the first landing of the enemy), and at another, a
+    brass six-pounder, which had only arrived from Guadaloupe two days,
+    and which was found spiked; by constantly marching and harassing
+    him, we found, on coming within one hundred yards of his front
+    yesterday morning, that he was willing to surrender, and sending out
+    a flag of truce, I granted the following terms: 'That the French
+    troops might march out from the ground they then occupied with the
+    honours of war, but that they should lay down their arms in front of
+    the troops, and surrender themselves as prisoners of war, and that
+    all prisoners taken since their arrival in the island should be
+    immediately returned.' I was, however, much astonished to find that
+    Colonel Cambriel, who had commanded the army, was not present when
+    they surrendered, but I have since understood that he had quitted it
+    the morning previous, and had returned to Guadaloupe, but I have
+    some reason to imagine he is still in this island.
+
+    "The field-piece I had taken from the army schooner became useless
+    after the first day, from the tract of the country the enemy led us
+    over; I therefore sent it back to Grand Bourg, and at the same time
+    I directed fifty marines to occupy the post of Delosses, three miles
+    from town, which kept up the communication with the interior of the
+    island.
+
+    "In our several attacks, it gives me pleasure to say that we have
+    had only two privates wounded, one of them since dead. The loss on
+    the part of the enemy I have not ascertained, but imagine it to have
+    been considerable. I am sorry to mention to you that a gentleman
+    from Antigua, of the name of Brown, being a prisoner of war, was in
+    rear of the enemy's picket when attacked on the evening of the 2nd
+    instant, and received a mortal wound. The force which has been
+    brought from Guadaloupe I have not yet exactly found out, but from
+    all accounts must have been above 200 rank and file.
+
+    "From the return I send herewith, you will find that 162 privates
+    have laid down their arms, and there are at present many who have
+    been sick dispersed through the country. The inhabitants that joined
+    were very considerable. I believe their number amounted to from four
+    to five hundred....
+
+    "I have likewise to return my best thanks to all the officers,
+    non-commissioned officers, and privates who were under my command,
+    for the cheerfulness with which they went through the long and
+    harassing marches, and I think it is a duty incumbent upon me to
+    mention to you their extreme good conduct since they have been in
+    the field.
+
+    "I have the honour to be, etc.,
+      (Signed)      "NATH. BLACKWELL,
+                  "Lieut.-Colonel 4th W.I. Regiment."
+
+    "Return of prisoners who surrendered on the 3rd of September, 1808: 4
+    captains, 8 lieutenants, 162 rank and file, 1 staff.
+
+    "Return of arms, ammunition, and accoutrements taken and destroyed from
+    30th August to 3rd September: 1 field-piece, 450 firelocks, 200 belts
+    and pouches, and 24 kegs of ball-cartridge.
+
+    "Ammunition for field-piece not ascertained."
+
+On this occasion was captured the drum-major's staff of the French 26th
+Regiment (now in the possession of the 1st West India Regiment), bearing
+the motto: "La Republique Francaise une et indivisible. Battalion
+26me," and surmounted by the cap of Liberty.
+
+Of the companies of the regiment employed on this service, one was the
+grenadier company under Captain Cassidy, another the light company under
+Captain Winkler, and the third a battalion company under Lieutenant
+Nixon. On the return of the detachment to Barbados it was formed up on a
+garrison parade at St. Ann's on the right of the regiment; and
+Lieutenant-General Beckwith, after thanking Lieutenant-Colonel Blackwell
+and the officers and men engaged for their meritorious exertions,
+presented the former with a sword.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 33: See map of Guadaloupe.]
+
+[Footnote 34: Major Nathaniel Blackwell, 1st West India Regiment, was,
+by the _Gazette_ of May 24th, 1808, promoted Lieutenant-Colonel of the
+4th West India Regiment, for his services at the reduction of the Danish
+West India Islands. At this time he had not yet joined his new corps.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE CAPTURE OF MARTINIQUE, 1809[35]--THE CAPTURE OF GUADALOUPE, 1810.
+
+
+The 1st West India Regiment continued doing duty at Barbados until
+January 27th, 1809, when eight companies joined the expedition against
+the Island of Martinique.
+
+The interception, in the summer of 1808, of some despatches from the
+Governor of Martinique to the French Ministry asking for supplies and
+additional troops, and describing the condition of the island as almost
+defenceless, first directed the attention of the British Government to
+the reduction of this French colony. Preparations for the attack began
+at Barbados in November, 1808, the expedition assembled at Carlisle Bay,
+Barbados, in January, 1809, and on the 28th of that month the force
+sailed for Martinique.
+
+The expeditionary force was under the command of Lieutenant-General
+Beckwith, and consisted of two divisions, each of two brigades, the 1st
+Division being commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir George Prevost, and
+the 2nd Division by Major-General Maitland. The 1st West India Regiment
+was included in the 1st Division. Six battalion companies, with the 13th
+and 8th Regiments, formed the 2nd Brigade under Brigadier-General
+Colville; while the grenadier company (Captain Winkler), with the 7th,
+23rd, and a light battalion, in which latter was the light company, 1st
+West India Regiment, formed the 1st Brigade, under Brigadier-General
+Hoghton.
+
+On the 30th of January the expedition arrived off the Island of
+Martinique, and on the evening of the 31st the troops disembarked, the
+1st Division landing at Malgre Tout, Bay Robert, and the 2nd near St.
+Luce and Point Solomon on the opposite side of the island.
+
+The 1st Division marched the same night to De Manceaux Estate. The roads
+were in a wretched condition from the rains, and the horses being done
+up from the length of time which they had been on board ship, the troops
+were obliged to drag the guns themselves. After a short rest the force
+continued its march to Papin's, which it reached at midnight. Here the
+main body of the 1st Division halted for the night, while the grenadier
+company of the 1st West India Regiment, with the 7th Regiment, pushed on
+to the heights on De Bork's Estate.
+
+On the day following they were joined by the 23rd and the light
+infantry battalion, and advanced to the heights of Morne Bruno, the
+French skirmishers falling back slowly before them, while keeping up a
+smart fire. From this point the grenadier company, 1st West India
+Regiment, advanced with the 7th, the 23rd being in support, against the
+French position on the heights of Desfourneaux.
+
+The enemy, under General De Hondelot, were well placed on the crest of
+the ridge, with a mountain torrent in their front, and a strong force of
+artillery drawn up on their left flank. The flank companies of the 7th
+were ordered to turn the French right, while the light battalion, with
+which was the light company, 1st West India Regiment, moved against his
+left, and the grenadiers of the 1st West India Regiment, with the
+remainder of the 7th, advanced against the centre. The troops rushed
+forward, fording the stream under a heavy fire, and attacking the enemy,
+who was greatly superior in numbers, with the bayonet, drove him from
+his position.
+
+From this point, with the co-operation of the 2nd Brigade, the French
+were beaten back to the heights of Surirey, where they made a determined
+stand, but by a brilliant charge, the British carried the hill, and
+forced them to take shelter under the guns of their redoubts.[36]
+
+The troops encamped for the night on the position which they had won,
+while the enemy took up a second position, strengthened by two redoubts
+connected by an entrenchment.
+
+Next morning, February 2nd, the British made a movement to turn the
+French right, and, being much annoyed by the enemy's advanced redoubt,
+the light battalion and the 7th Regiment were ordered to take it. They
+were repulsed with considerable loss, but, on the following night, the
+2nd division of the British having come up, the enemy abandoned the work
+and spiked the guns, retiring with all his force to Fort Bourbon, or
+Desaix.
+
+While the 1st Division had thus been engaged at Morne Bruno and Surirey,
+the 2nd had been equally successful. Upon landing at St. Luce, a
+detachment of the Royal York Rangers took possession of the battery at
+Point Solomon, on the south side of Fort Royal Bay, thus securing a safe
+anchorage for the fleet. The same corps then pushed on and invested
+Pigeon Island, a small fortified island which commanded the anchorage in
+the upper part of the bay, and which had to be captured before any
+attempt could be made against the formidable fortresses of Bourbon and
+Fort Republique. Batteries were erected on Morne Vanier, from which
+Pigeon Island was shelled with such success that the garrison
+surrendered.
+
+The way being now open for the fleet, preparations were commenced for
+the capture of Fort Bourbon. It was decided to attempt to take the place
+by storm, and on February 4th, the 1st Division, which, under Sir
+George Prevost, had marched over from Surirey, advanced to the assault,
+the grenadier companies forming the "forlorn hope." The fire from the
+enemy's guns was, however, so heavy and well-directed that the attempt
+failed, notwithstanding the most conspicuous gallantry on the part of
+the British, and the troops retired with a loss of 330 killed and
+wounded, the grenadier company of the 1st West India Regiment having
+suffered heavily.
+
+General Villaret, the French commander, supposing Fort Bourbon to be
+impregnable, abandoned Fort Republique, leaving in it 4 mortars and 38
+heavy guns, and collected his entire force, some 3000 in number, in Fort
+Bourbon. Being well supplied with food and ammunition, he resolved
+quietly to wait in the citadel; confident that the British army would
+gradually melt away from the sickness caused by the heavy rains, which
+had now set in and fell incessantly. On the 7th February a British force
+entered by night the abandoned Fort Republique; and, though the work was
+furiously bombarded from Fort Bourbon, in two days the guns which had
+been left in the fort were unspiked and the fire returned. In the
+meantime other batteries had been in course of construction, and by
+February 18th Fort Bourbon was completely invested.
+
+The enemy were then summoned to surrender, but General Villaret
+declaring that he would rather bury himself under the ruins of the
+citadel, the bombardment commenced. The British batteries, six in
+number, opened fire simultaneously at 3.30 p.m. on Sunday, February
+19th, and the fire was hotly returned. At Colville's battery, where were
+four companies of the 1st West India Regiment, the brushwood in front of
+the guns was set on fire, and was only extinguished with much
+difficulty, and a terrific fire was kept up on both sides. On February
+20th the enemy ceased firing during the whole day, recommencing again on
+February 21st; but on the 22nd a shell from our batteries having blown
+up the magazine, the enemy sent out terms of capitulation. These were
+rejected, but on the 24th the place surrendered; the garrison, 2700 in
+number, became prisoners of war, and three eagles remained as trophies
+in the British hands.
+
+The following general orders were issued during this brilliant campaign:
+
+1. Morne Bruno, February 3rd, 1809.--"The benefit the advanced corps,
+under Lieutenant-General Sir George Prevost, have produced to His
+Majesty's service, from the gallant and successful attack made upon
+Morne Bruno and the heights of Surirey, on the 1st instant, by the 1st
+Brigade of the army and the light battalion, under Brigadier-General
+Hoghton, demands from the Commander of the Forces a reiteration of his
+acknowledgments, and his assurance to the brigadier-general, and to the
+commanding officer of the Royal Fusiliers, of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers,
+and of the light battalion, also to the officers, non-commissioned
+officers, and soldiers of those regiments, that he will not fail to lay
+their meritorious exertions before the King. The exertions of all the
+corps engaged yesterday were conspicuous; and, although the state of the
+works possessed by the enemy did not admit of their being carried by the
+bayonet, which rendered it the general's duty to direct the corps
+employed to retire, they manifested a spirit and determination which,
+when tempered by less impetuosity, will lead to the happiest results."
+
+2. February 27th, 1809.--"The grenadier company, with a detachment of
+the battalion of the 1st West India Regiment, who were engaged with the
+enemy both on the 1st and 2nd of February, 1809, having been omitted to
+be mentioned in the general orders of February 3rd, referring to those
+operations, the Commander of the Forces takes the present occasion to
+acknowledge their services. From the day of the regiment landing, to
+that of the enemy's surrender, it served with the greatest credit under
+all the disadvantages to which a West India regiment is exposed. The
+hard and severe work is generally performed by them, which the European
+soldiers could not undergo from the climate."
+
+During this campaign the 1st West India Regiment was commanded by
+Lieutenant-Colonel Tolley; and, in token of its services, it was
+permitted to retain two brass side-drums and five battle-axes, which it
+had captured from the enemy.
+
+The 1st West India Regiment continued to serve in Martinique till the
+17th of May, 1809, when the head-quarters and six companies were removed
+to the Island of Trinidad. There they remained until the month of
+December following, when an expedition was formed for the reduction of
+Guadaloupe.
+
+Since the expulsion of the British in 1794, that island had enjoyed a
+period of tranquility; its armament had been considerably increased
+under successive governors, slavery had been re-established, and its
+harbours swarmed with privateers, which preyed upon British commerce.
+The incessant annoyance and loss to our trade caused by these vessels,
+was a strong incentive for a descent upon the island. Added to this, it
+was a colony of considerable importance to France; the mother country
+depending, in a great measure, upon it for colonial produce.
+
+The British army was assembled at Prince Rupert's Bay, Dominica, where,
+on the 22nd of January, 1810, the flank companies of the 1st West India
+Regiment joined. The force was under the command of Lieutenant-General
+Sir George Beckwith, and was thus composed:
+
+    1ST DIVISION--MAJOR-GENERAL HISLOP.
+
+                                {Light Companies of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th,
+    3rd Brigade--Brig.-General  {  6th, and 8th West India Regiments    500
+      Maclean                   {90th Foot                              500
+                                {8th West India Regiment                400
+
+                                {Battalion made up of 13th and 63rd
+    4th Brigade--Brig.-General  {  Regiments                            600
+      Skinner                   {York Light Infantry Volunteers         200
+                                {4th West India Regiment                400
+
+    2ND DIVISION--BRIGADIER-GENERAL HARCOURT.
+
+                                {Light infantry                         500
+    1st Brigade--Brig.-General  {15th Foot                              300
+      Harcourt                  {3rd West India Regiment                400
+
+                                {Grenadiers of the 1st, 4th, and 8th
+    2nd Brigade--Brig.-General  {  West India Regiments                 300
+      Barrow                    {25th Foot                              600
+                                {6th West India Regiment                350
+
+    RESERVE.
+
+                                {Grenadiers                             300
+    5th Brigade--Brig.-General  {Royal York Rangers                     900
+      Wale                      {Royal Artillery                        300
+                                {Military Artificers                    100
+
+On the 23rd of January the fleet sailed from Dominica, the 2nd Division
+being ordered to proceed to the Saintes, to prepare for disembarking
+near Basseterre, while the 1st Division and the Reserve made for the
+north-eastern quarter of that part of Guadaloupe which is called
+Cabesterre.
+
+The light infantry battalion of the 3rd Brigade effected its landing at
+9 a.m. on the 28th of January, without opposition, at the Bay of St.
+Marie; and immediately possessed itself of the heights, so as to cover
+the disembarkation of the remainder of the 1st Division and the Reserve.
+The whole of the troops were landed about half-an-hour after noon, and
+the light infantry battalion was ordered forward as the advance guard of
+the division. It reached the village of Marigot about sunset, and
+crossing the river (called Riviere des Peres Blancs), halted in the
+mountains in the most advantageous position for maintaining itself
+during the night. The remainder of the division encamped at Marigot.
+The troops had marched this day with three days' cooked provisions in
+their havresacks. The Reserve remained at St. Marie to cover the landing
+of munitions and supplies.
+
+On the 29th of January, the troops were under arms an hour before
+daylight, and the light battalion, being again pushed to the front,
+reached Bannaniers by sunset. There the division encamped for the night,
+while the light companies of the 1st and 3rd West India Regiments were
+ordered to possess themselves of the strong pass of Lacasse, above the
+British position.
+
+On the same day, the 29th, the 2nd Division, after making a feint of
+disembarking at Trois Rivieres to draw off the attention of the enemy,
+proceeded in the ships to the western side of the island.
+
+On the 30th of January, at daybreak, the 1st Division again advanced.
+Between 9 and 10 a.m. the light battalion, which was still leading,
+descended the heights on the side of Trois Rivieres, and coming up with
+the rear of a detachment of the enemy, dispersed it after a short
+conflict. Pursuing its march it reached the open ground, or savannah, at
+Loriols Trois Rivieres about 11 a.m., and there halted to allow the
+column to come up.
+
+The enemy's position was now in front, and consisted of a line of
+redoubts and entrenchments on the commanding heights of Petrizel.
+Major-General Hislop at once made his dispositions for an attack on the
+following morning; the light battalion moving to the left, and the 4th
+Brigade, with the remainder of the 3rd, extending along the heights to
+the right. In the execution of this order, the light battalion,
+advancing along the high road towards the enemy's position, alarmed him
+to such a degree as to induce him to open fire from all his batteries
+and entrenched lines, not only from Petrizel, but also from his post at
+Dole; from which he kept up for some time an incessant fire, without
+doing any other injury than killing one man, and wounding another. The
+troops took up their positions in the meantime without further
+inconvenience. Towards the close of the evening numbers of the enemy
+were seen ascending the mountains above their works at Petrizel. The
+heat this day had been excessive, and the country through which the
+troops marched exceedingly difficult, the strong pass of Trou au Chien
+lying in their way. The night closed in with heavy rain.
+
+On the 31st, at daylight, not a soul was to be seen near the enemy's
+works; and, it having been ascertained that they were evacuated, the
+light company of the 1st West India Regiment was ordered to march at
+noon and take possession.
+
+The 1st Division remained halted during the 1st of February, and on the
+2nd, the light battalion, as advanced guard of the 4th Brigade, was
+ordered to march, by a very difficult ascent, to the centre of the
+Palmiste heights; while the remainder of the 3rd Brigade moved to the
+right of the same heights, by an easier route. The troops bivouacked on
+the heights for the night.
+
+While these operations had been going on, the 2nd Division had, at 10
+a.m. on the 30th of January, disembarked at a bay to the northward of
+the village of Les Vieux Habitans and about three leagues to the north
+of the town of Basseterre. The troops gained the heights above the
+village after a slight skirmish, and encamped on the ground for the
+night. During the two succeeding days the 2nd Division was employed in
+bringing up guns to a height near Post Bellair.
+
+By the combined movements of the two divisions, General Ernouf, the
+French commander, was now, by the night of the 2nd of February, hemmed
+in at the extremity of the island between the sea and the British army.
+He had judiciously chosen his position, which was naturally strong, and
+which he had strengthened by all the artificial means in his power. He
+was posted on heights, his left supported by the mountains of Matouba,
+and every accessible point of his line covered by abattis and stockaded
+redoubts. In his front was a river, the passage of which, exceedingly
+difficult in itself, was rendered much more so by a detachment of troops
+stationed behind abattis. The ground also, between the river and the
+heights, was bushy and full of rugged rocks, and of course highly
+unfavourable to the march of the assailants.
+
+It was on the 3rd of February that the British troops were put in motion
+to dislodge him from his advantageous position. The 1st Division, soon
+after dawn, descended the north side of Palmiste, passed the river
+Gallion, and under a heavy fire from a battery at the bridge of Voziere,
+formed on the opposite heights, taking up a position so as to intercept
+the communication between the town of Basseterre and the enemy's camp.
+The 2nd Division had, during the night of the 2nd, pushed forward the
+grenadiers of the 2nd Brigade and a detachment of the 6th West India
+Regiment to occupy the ridge Beaupere St. Louis, on the upper part of
+which the strong post of Bellair was situated. On the morning of the 3rd
+the enemy perceived what had been done, and moved out in force to
+dislodge the British. The 1st Brigade was immediately ordered up in
+support; but, before it could gain the heights, a smart action had taken
+place, and it only arrived in time to complete the defeat of the enemy.
+In this engagement the grenadier company of the 1st West India Regiment
+lost 2 rank and file killed, Captain Cassidy and 9 rank and file
+wounded. During the remainder of the day the troops of the 2nd Division
+were moved up to Bellair, and the whole army remained on the ground
+during the night.
+
+Next morning, the 4th, the British advanced to the final assault of the
+position. The 1st Division was charged with the operations on the right,
+while the task of turning the left was entrusted to Brigadier-General
+Wale with the Reserve. At dawn of day the light company of the 1st West
+India Regiment and the York Light Infantry were ordered to advance to
+the enemy's post at the bridge of Voziere. For some time they were
+unseen, but a picket of the enemy, moving along the opposite side of the
+ravine, discovered them; and, opening fire, a general discharge soon
+followed, in the face of which the British rushed forward and carried
+the work. Almost at the same moment, Brigadier-General Wale, who, with
+the Reserve, had forded the Gallion River, and under a heavy fire
+ascended the heights, carried the enemy's works on the left; and General
+Ernouf's situation had become so critical, that he at once hoisted flags
+of truce in the works which he still retained at Matouba.
+
+On the 5th of February, the terms of capitulation were signed, the
+French marching out with military honours, and becoming prisoners of
+war. The British loss was 52 officers and men killed, 250 wounded, and 7
+missing. The French lost 600 killed, and 2000 prisoners. Captain H.
+Downie, of the 1st West India Regiment, was mentioned in despatches for
+gallantry at the storming of the work at the bridge of Voziere.
+
+The following general order was published, dated Beau Vallon,
+Guadaloupe, 6th Feb., 1810: "The enemy are now prisoners of war, to be
+sent to England, and not to serve until duly exchanged. Thus through the
+exertions and general co-operation of the fleet and the army, has been
+effected the important conquest of this colony in nine days from the
+landing of the 1st Division. The Commander of the Forces returns his
+public thanks to the officers of all ranks for their meritorious
+exertions, and to the non-commissioned officers and soldiers for the
+cheerfulness with which they have undergone the fatigues of a march,
+difficult in its nature, through the strongest country in the world, and
+the spirit which they have manifested upon all occasions to close with
+the enemy."
+
+In this campaign, it may be observed, all the hard work had fallen to
+the lot of the 1st Division, and especially to that of the light
+infantry battalion of the 3rd Brigade, which had, by forced marches,
+moved across the whole breadth of the island, from St. Marie to the
+neighbourhood of Basseterre, over a wild and broken country, in six
+days.
+
+For their services at the capture of Guadaloupe, Captains Cassidy and
+Winkler were appointed brigade-majors at Trinidad and Grenada
+respectively; and the words "Martinique" and "Guadaloupe" were inscribed
+on the colours of the regiment, "as a mark of royal favour and
+approbation of its gallant conduct at the capture of those islands in
+1809 and 1810."
+
+On the completion of this service the flank companies rejoined
+head-quarters at Trinidad, as did the two companies detached at
+Martinique and the two at Barbados. The whole regiment was then
+stationed in Trinidad, seven companies being at St. Joseph's and three
+at Orange Grove. This arrangement lasted until March, 1814, when the
+head-quarters and four companies were moved to Martinique, four
+companies to St. Lucia, and two to Dominica.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 35: This island had been restored to France by the Treaty of
+Amiens.]
+
+[Footnote 36: The grenadier company of the 1st West India Regiment lost
+1 rank and file, killed; 1 drummer, 18 rank and file, wounded; 1
+subaltern, missing.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE EXPEDITION TO NEW ORLEANS, 1814-15.
+
+
+In July, 1814, the 1st West India Regiment was removed to Guadaloupe,
+except two companies detached to St. Martin's and Marie-Galante, and
+remained so stationed until it was selected to take part in the
+expedition to New Orleans.
+
+In June, 1812, the United States of America had declared war against
+Great Britain, Washington had been captured by the British on July 24th,
+1813, and the war had been carried on with varying success until towards
+the close of the year 1814. In October of that year an expedition to New
+Orleans was decided upon; the force was to rendezvous at Negril Bay,
+Jamaica, and for that place the 1st West India Regiment embarked at
+Point a Prene, Guadaloupe, on November 14th, 1814. Lieutenant-Colonel
+Whitby, who had for the first time joined the regiment on the previous
+day, was then in command.
+
+The assembly of the fleet, and the concentration of troops at a point
+so near to their own coast, had aroused the suspicions of the Americans;
+and the treachery of an official in the garrison office at Jamaica
+enabled them to receive positive information as to the aim and
+destination of the expedition. This official communicated the
+intelligence to an American trader residing in Kingston, and the latter
+at once sailed in a coasting schooner for Pensacola; where General
+Jackson, who commanded the United States army of the South, was on the
+point of marching to the relief of St. Mary's, then being attacked by a
+naval force under Rear-Admiral Cockburn. The American general, upon
+learning of the proposed expedition, at once marched to the Mississippi,
+concentrated a force of 13,000 men in and around New Orleans, and threw
+up works on either side of the river to defend the passage in the
+neighbourhood of the town.
+
+On the 26th of November, 1814, the British fleet, under the command of
+Vice-Admiral Sir A. Cochrane, having on board a force of some 5000 men
+under Major-General Keane, sailed from Negril Bay and arrived off the
+Chandeleur Islands near the entrance of Lake Borgne, on December 10th.
+
+"To reduce the forts which command the navigation of the Mississippi was
+regarded as a task too difficult to be attempted, and for any ships to
+pass without their reduction seemed impossible. Trusting, therefore,
+that the object of the enterprise was unknown to the Americans, Sir
+Alexander Cochrane and General Keane determined to effect a landing
+somewhere on the banks of Lake Borgne, and pushing directly on, to take
+possession of the town before any effectual preparation could be made
+for its defence. With this view the troops were removed from the larger
+into the lighter vessels, and these, under convoy of such gun-brigs as
+the shallowness of the water would float, began on the 13th to enter
+Lake Borgne."[37]
+
+The Americans, however, being well acquainted with what was taking
+place, opposed the passage of the lake with five large cutters, each
+armed with six heavy guns, and these were immediately attacked by the
+smaller craft of the British. Avoiding a serious engagement, they
+retired into the shoal water where they could only be attacked by boats,
+and owing to the delay in getting together a sufficiently powerful
+flotilla, it was not till the 15th that they were captured, and the
+navigation of the lake cleared. The vessels of a lighter draught having
+all run aground in a vain endeavour to pass up the lake, the troops were
+embarked in boats to carry them up to Pine Island, a distance of thirty
+miles.
+
+"To be confined for so long a time as the prosecution of this voyage
+would require, in one posture, was of itself no very agreeable prospect;
+but the confinement was but a trifling misery when compared with that
+which arose from the change in the weather. Instead of a constant
+bracing frost, heavy rains, such as an inhabitant of England cannot
+dream of, and against which no cloak could furnish protection, began. In
+the midst of these were the troops embarked in their new and straitened
+transports, and each division, after an exposure of ten hours, landed
+upon a small desert spot of earth, called Pine Island, where it was
+determined to collect the whole army, previous to its crossing over to
+the main.
+
+"Than this spot it is scarcely possible to imagine any place more
+completely wretched. It was a swamp, containing a small space of firm
+ground at one end, and almost wholly unadorned with trees of any sort or
+description. The interior was the resort of waterfowl; and the pools and
+creeks with which it was intercepted abounded in dormant alligators.
+
+"Upon this miserable desert the army was assembled, without tents or
+huts, or any covering to shelter them from the inclemency of the
+weather.... After having been exposed all day to the cold and pelting
+rain, we landed upon a barren island, incapable of furnishing even fuel
+enough to supply our fires. To add to our miseries, as night closed, the
+rain generally ceased, and severe frosts set in, which, congealing our
+wet clothes upon our bodies, left little animal warmth to keep the limbs
+in a state of activity; and the consequence was, that many of the
+wretched negroes, to whom frost and cold were altogether new, fell fast
+asleep and perished before morning."
+
+By December 21st the whole army was collected at Pine Island, and next
+day it was formed into three brigades, the 1st West India Regiment with
+the 21st and 44th Regiments composing the 2nd Brigade. The 1st West
+India Regiment, which had left Negril Bay 500 strong, was now so reduced
+by mortality and sickness that barely 400 men were in a condition to
+take the field. The cold was intense, and, considering the latitude, 29 deg.
+N., almost incredible. It appears that when the regiment left Jamaica no
+attempt was made to furnish the men with warm clothing, and their
+sufferings from this cause, they being all natives of the tropics, can
+be better imagined than described. During the voyage the regiment had
+been much scattered in small craft, where the soldiers were obliged to
+sleep on deck, exposed to the torrents of rain which fell by day and to
+the frosts that came on at night; and, being unaccustomed to the
+severity of an American winter, large numbers of them died from cold and
+exposure, the 5th West India Regiment suffering equally with the 1st.
+
+On December 22nd, the 1st Brigade (1600 strong) left Pine Island in
+boats to proceed to Bayou Catalan, a small creek eighty miles distant,
+which ran up from Lake Ponchartrain, through the middle of an extensive
+swamp, to within ten miles of New Orleans. Next day it landed at the
+mouth of the creek and advanced along an overgrown footpath on the
+banks of a canal, its movements being concealed by the tall reeds of the
+swamp. After being delayed by several small streams, it finally emerged
+from the morass, and entering the cultivated portion of the district
+took up a position across the main road from Proctorsville to New
+Orleans, the Mississippi being on its left and the swamp on its right.
+
+The exhausted troops, without any camp equipment, encamped for the night
+on the position. They were not, however, allowed to enjoy a long period
+of rest. Late in the evening a large schooner was observed stealing up
+the river, until she arrived opposite the bivouac fires around which the
+men were asleep; and before it could be ascertained whether she was a
+friend or foe, a broadside of grape swept through the camp. Having no
+artillery with them, and no means of attacking this formidable
+adversary, the troops sheltered themselves behind a bank. The night was
+as dark as pitch, and the only light to be seen was the flash of the
+enemy's guns as he continued to pour broadside after broadside into the
+camp. To add to the miseries of the condition of the British it began to
+rain heavily, and the earth, barely raised above the level of the river,
+became a vast puddle of slime, in which the soldiers were compelled to
+lie down to avoid the iron showers of grape that tore through the air.
+
+In the meantime the 2nd Brigade, with the 1st West India Regiment, had
+embarked in the remainder of the boats from Pine Island, about ten
+hours after the departure of the 1st Brigade, and after being exposed to
+an incessant downpour of rain during the night of December 22nd, had
+arrived at the mouth of the Bayou Catalan at nightfall on the 23rd. In
+the stillness of the night the sound of the guns of the schooner as she
+opened fire on the 1st Brigade were distinctly heard, and the troops,
+stimulated to fresh exertions, hurried on to the assistance of their
+comrades. As they drew nearer to the camp, the roll of musketry was
+heard, for the enemy had brought up a force of 5000 men from New
+Orleans, thinking to overwhelm the solitary 1st Brigade in the dark, and
+had unexpectedly opened a semicircle of fire upon it. The 2nd Brigade
+pushed on, and arrived just in time to prevent the Americans turning the
+British right, which, owing to their local knowledge, they had partially
+succeeded in doing. Coming up the canal bank, the 2nd Brigade in their
+turn took the enemy in flank, and a hand-to-hand conflict took place
+along the whole line, the British fighting with the energy of despair in
+the darkness and depths of the wood, and trusting to the bayonet alone.
+At last, about 3 a.m. on the 24th, the enemy retired, beaten off at all
+points.
+
+The losses in the night's engagement, and the deaths from cold and
+exposure that had occurred during the passage from Pine Island, had so
+thinned the already attenuated ranks of the 1st West India Regiment,
+that on the morning of the 24th, only 16 sergeants and 240 rank and
+file were available for duty. The officers serving with them were Major
+Weston, Captains Isles and Collins, Lieutenants McDonald, Morgan,
+Miller, Magee, Pilkington, McKenzie, and Dalomel.
+
+Notwithstanding the repulse which the Americans had experienced, the
+schooner continued to annoy our troops. She had anchored in the river
+beyond musket range, and, from that safe distance, continued to pour
+round-shot and grape into the camp, which had been increased on the
+evening of the 24th by the arrival of the 3rd Brigade, consisting of the
+93rd and the 5th West India Regiment. On December 25th, Captain Collins,
+1st West India Regiment, was killed by a shot from one of her guns, and
+there were several other casualties in the regiment. On that day,
+however, Sir Edward Pakenham, who had been sent out from England to
+assume the command, arrived, bringing some guns with him. During the
+night a battery was quietly thrown up opposite the schooner, and at
+daybreak a heavy cannonade was opened on her with red-hot shot. Before
+long she was set on fire, and blew up, while another vessel, which had
+come to her assistance, was compelled to cut and run up the river.
+
+The main obstacle to an advance being now removed, Sir Edward Pakenham
+divided the army into two columns. The right column, commanded by
+Major-General Gibbs, consisted of the 4th, 21st, 44th, and 1st West
+India Regiments; the left, under Major-General Keane, was composed of
+the 85th, 93rd, 95th, and 5th West India Regiments.
+
+In the meantime the American general had occupied a position facing the
+British, with the Mississippi on his right, and an impenetrable morass
+on his left, covering New Orleans, and rendering an advance on that town
+impossible, until his position had been carried by a front attack. The
+ground thus occupied, about 1000 yards in breadth, had been fortified so
+as to be almost impregnable. Three deep parallel ditches had been dug
+across the whole front; in rear of these was a strong loop-holed
+palisade, and several batteries had been erected so as to bring a
+cross-fire to bear upon the level plain, across which the British would
+have to advance to the assault. The right flank of the enemy was further
+protected by a strong work thrown up on the right bank of the
+Mississippi, which effectually prevented our gun-boats turning the
+position, should they succeed in entering the river.
+
+The night of December 26th was spent in continual alarms. Small bodies
+of American riflemen would creep down upon the pickets under cover of
+the darkness, and, firing upon the sentries, prevent the main body from
+obtaining any sleep. "Scarcely had the troops lain down, when they were
+aroused by sharp firing at the outposts, which lasted only till they
+were in order, and then ceased; but as soon as they had dispersed, and
+had once more addressed themselves to repose, the same cause of alarm
+returned, and they were again called to their ranks. Thus was the night
+spent in watching, or at best in broken and disturbed slumbers, than
+which nothing is more trying, both to the health and spirits of an
+army."
+
+At daybreak on the 27th, the pickets were withdrawn, and the British
+formed in order of attack. The right column took post near the skirts of
+the morass, throwing out skirmishers half-way across the plain to meet
+the American riflemen, while the left column drew up upon the road. It
+was a clear, frosty morning, and in this formation the troops advanced,
+the enemy's skirmishers slowly falling back before them.
+
+After an advance of about four miles the American position was sighted,
+and the British were saluted by a heavy cannonade from the batteries and
+shipping. "Scarce a ball passed over or fell short of its mark, but all
+striking full into the midst of our ranks, occasioned terrible havoc.
+The shrieks of the wounded, therefore, the crash of firelocks, and the
+fall of such as were killed, caused at first some little confusion; and
+what added to the panic was, that from the farm-houses beside which we
+stood bright flames suddenly burst forth. The Americans, expecting this
+attack, had filled them with combustibles for the purpose; and directing
+against them one or two guns, loaded with red-hot shot, in an instant
+set them on fire. The scene was altogether very sublime. A tremendous
+cannonade mowed down our ranks, and deafened us with its roar; whilst
+two large chateaux and their out-buildings almost scorched us with the
+flames, and blinded us with the smoke which they emitted."
+
+The troops having formed line, advanced to storm the enemy's works. The
+right column, after a sharp and victorious skirmish with an advanced
+body of the enemy, arrived at the edge of the marsh, through which it
+endeavoured in vain to penetrate. At the same time the left column
+reached the first ditch, or canal, and, being unable to cross it, there
+halted, the men endeavouring to shelter themselves from the enemy's fire
+in a wet ditch about knee-deep. The troops being unable to close with
+the enemy, Sir Edward Pakenham ordered them to retire. This was effected
+by battalions, the last corps moving off about noon; and by nightfall
+the army was encamped about two miles from the former camping-ground,
+and the same distance from the enemy's position.
+
+The 28th, 29th, and 30th, were occupied in bringing up guns from the
+fleet, on which duty the two West India Regiments and the seamen were
+employed. Major Weston and Lieutenant Magee, 1st West India Regiment,
+died from exposure and fatigue while engaged in this work.
+
+During the night of the 31st, six batteries, mounting in all 30 pieces
+of heavy cannon, were completed, at a distance of some 300 yards from
+the American lines, and at dawn the artillery duel commenced. During the
+whole of the day a heavy cannonade continued, till, towards evening,
+the British ammunition began to fail, and the fire in consequence to
+slacken. The fire of the Americans, on the other hand, increased; and,
+landing a number of guns from their vessels, they soon compelled the
+British to abandon their works. The enemy made no attempt to secure the
+guns, and during the night they were removed.
+
+Sir Edward Pakenham now decided to send a portion of his force across
+the river to attack the fort on the right bank and turn its guns upon
+the main position, whilst the remainder should at the same time make a
+general assault along the whole entrenchment. "But before this plan
+could be put into execution, it would be necessary to cut a canal across
+the entire neck of land from the Bayo de Catiline to the river, of
+sufficient depth and width to admit of boats being brought up from the
+lake. Upon this arduous undertaking were the troops immediately
+employed. Being divided into four companies, they laboured by turns, day
+and night.... The fatigue undergone during the prosecution of this
+attempt no words can sufficiently describe; yet it was pursued without
+repining, and at length, by unremitting exertions, they succeeded in
+effecting their purpose by the 6th of January."
+
+On January 1st H.M.S. _Vengeur_ arrived off the Chandeleur Islands with
+a convoy of transports, containing the 7th and 43rd Regiments, under
+Major-General Lambert, and these two battalions, each 800 strong, joined
+the army on the evening of January 6th. Next day the final arrangements
+were made. Colonel Thornton, with the 85th, the marines, and a body of
+seamen, in all 1400 men, were to cross the river immediately after dark,
+seize the batteries on the right bank, and at daylight commence firing
+on the enemy's line, which at the same moment was to be attacked by the
+remainder of the army. Major-General Keane, with the 95th, the light
+battalion, and the 1st and 5th[38] West India Regiments, was to attack
+the enemy's right, Major-General Gibbs, with the 4th, 21st, 44th, and
+93rd, force the left, whilst Major-General Lambert was to hold the 7th
+and 43rd in reserve.
+
+In accordance with this scheme, Colonel Thornton at nightfall moved his
+force down to the brink of the river, but no boats had arrived. Hour
+after hour elapsed, and then at last only a sufficient number to
+transport 350 men made their appearance. With this small force Colonel
+Thornton determined to make the attempt, and pushed off. The loss of
+time which had occurred was however fatal, for day began to break before
+the boats had crossed the river, and though the troops carried the
+batteries by assault, after a short but obstinate resistance, the alarm
+had already been carried to the main body of the enemy, and they were
+thoroughly prepared for defence.
+
+The capture of the works on the right bank had, however, really made the
+front attack upon the American lines unnecessary; for the passage of the
+river now being clear, the armed boats from the canal could have passed
+up the stream and taken the whole of the position in rear. Had this been
+done, the American general would inevitably have been obliged to abandon
+his defences, falling back upon New Orleans, and we should have obtained
+possession of his formidable position without the loss of a man.
+Major-General Pakenham, however, still persevered in his original
+intention, and ordered the assault to take place.
+
+There had been so much mismanagement, that the advance, which should
+have taken place at dawn, did not commence till some time after
+daylight. The officer, whose duty it was to have prepared fascines for
+the purpose of filling the ditches, had neglected his work; and, at 2
+a.m., the hour at which he had been directed to have them ready, not one
+was made.[39] Eventually an insufficient number were got together, but
+"the 44th, which was appointed to carry them, had either misunderstood
+or neglected their orders, and now headed the column of attack, without
+any means being provided for crossing the enemy's ditch, or scaling his
+ramparts."
+
+"The indignation of our brave leader on this occasion may be imagined,
+but cannot be described. Galloping towards Colonel Mullens, who led the
+44th, he commanded him instantly to return for the fascines and ladders,
+but the opportunity of planting them was lost; and, though they were
+brought up, it was only to be scattered over the field by the frightened
+bearers, for our troops were by this time visible to the enemy. A
+dreadful fire was accordingly opened upon them, and they were mowed down
+by hundreds while they stood waiting for orders."
+
+The word being given to advance, the other regiments rushed on to the
+assault. On reaching the first ditch a horrible scene of carnage ensued;
+the few fascines that were thrown down floated away; there were no
+ladders, and the men, crowding to the edge of the ditch in the hope of
+closing with the enemy, fell in heaps. Many threw themselves into the
+water, and endeavoured to struggle across, but were shot down, or
+drowned. On the right, Major-General Keane's column had, though reduced
+to half its strength, succeeded in passing the ditches near their
+junction with the marsh, and pushed on desperately to the palisade. But
+to scale this obstacle without ladders was no easy matter. Some few,
+indeed, by climbing upon their comrades' shoulders succeeded in entering
+the works, but only to be at once shot down; while those who remained
+outside were exposed to a flanking fire that swept them down by scores.
+The two West India regiments distinguished themselves by their desperate
+valour, so much so, indeed, as to win encomiums from the American
+general, Jackson.
+
+On the left there had been a slight success, the 21st Regiment having
+stormed and taken a three-gun battery; but they were not supported, and
+the enemy, forcing their way into the work, retook it with great
+slaughter. In vain was the most obstinate courage displayed, the British
+were beaten off at all points.
+
+"Sir Edward saw how things were going, and did all that a general could
+do to rally his broken troops. Riding towards the 44th, which had
+returned to the ground, but in great disorder, he called out to Colonel
+Mullens to advance; but that officer had disappeared, and was not to be
+found. He therefore prepared to lead them himself, and had put himself
+at their head for that purpose, when he received a slight wound in the
+knee from a musket-ball, which killed his horse. Mounting another, he
+again headed the 44th, when a second ball took effect more fatally, and
+he dropped lifeless into the arms of his aide-de-camp."
+
+Major-Generals Keane and Gibb were, almost at the same moment, borne off
+the field severely wounded. "All was now confusion and dismay. Without
+leaders, ignorant of what was to be done, the troops first halted and
+then began to retire; till finally the retreat was changed into a
+flight, and they quitted the ground in the utmost disorder. But the
+retreat was covered in gallant style by the reserve. Making a forward
+motion, the 7th and 43rd presented the appearance of a renewed attack,
+by which the enemy were so much awed that they did not venture beyond
+their lines in pursuit of the fugitives."
+
+The British loss in this action was over 1000 killed; while the
+Americans stated their total loss to be 8 killed and 14 wounded. The 1st
+West India Regiment had 5 rank and file killed, 2 sergeants and 16 rank
+and file wounded. The following officers were wounded: Captain Isles,
+Lieutenants McDonald and Morgan, Ensigns Miller and Pilkington; and all,
+with the exception of Ensign Miller, severely so. Lieutenants McKenzie
+and Dalomel, the only remaining officers of the regiment with the
+expedition, were publicly thanked by Major-General Lambert for the
+courage which they had displayed, and the able manner in which they had
+withdrawn the remnant of their corps from the enemy's palisades.
+
+The capture of New Orleans being now despaired of in the shattered
+condition of the force, a retreat was determined upon. As it was
+impossible, without great risk, to return to the fleet by the route by
+which the army had come--there not being sufficient boats to embark more
+than a third of the force at a time--it was decided to make a road from
+the firm ground to the water's edge, a distance of many miles, through
+the very centre of a morass, where human foot had never before trodden.
+The difficulties experienced in making this road were immense. Sometimes
+for miles together no firm soil could be found, nor trees to furnish
+brushwood, and all that could be done was to lay down bundles of reeds
+on the morass. Nor were the enemy idle; there was constant skirmishing
+at the outposts, and a continual fire was kept up on the camp from a
+six-gun battery mounted on the bank of the river.
+
+After nine days' incessant toil the road was completed; the sick and
+wounded were first removed, then the baggage and stores, and on January
+17th, the infantry alone remained in the camp. On the evening of the
+18th it also began its retreat. Leaving the camp-fires burning as if no
+movement were taking place, battalion after battalion stole away in the
+darkness in the most profound silence. Marching all night over the
+fragile road of reeds, through which the men sank knee-deep into the
+mud, the army reached the borders of the lake at dawn. Boats were in
+readiness, and regiment after regiment embarked and set sail for the
+fleet, the only loss being the capture of a boat containing two officers
+and forty men of the 14th Light Dragoons.
+
+After remaining a few days at the Chandeleur Islands, the naval
+commander decided, in concert with Major-General Lambert, to make an
+attack on Mobile, and the fleet accordingly proceeded to that place. On
+February 12th, Fort Bowyer, which commanded the entrance to the harbour,
+surrendered, and a British garrison being left in the citadel, the fleet
+retired to Isle Dauphin, West Florida. Hostilities were then terminated
+by a treaty of peace, and the 1st West India Regiment returned to
+Barbados, where early in March, Brigade-Majors Cassidy and Winkler
+rejoined from the West India staff. The former succeeded to the
+majority, vice Weston, deceased.[40]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 37: "The Campaigns of the British Army at Washington and New
+Orleans," by an Officer.]
+
+[Footnote 38: According to Major-General Lambert's despatch to Earl
+Bathurst, the 5th West India Regiment was to cross the river with
+Colonel Thornton.]
+
+[Footnote 39: This officer was afterwards dismissed the service.]
+
+[Footnote 40: The British force employed in this expedition has been
+thus estimated:
+
+    14th Dragoons                           295
+    Royal Artillery                         570
+    Sappers and Miners                       98
+    4th Foot                                747
+    21st Foot                               800
+    44th Foot                               427
+    85th Foot                               298
+    93rd Foot                               775
+    95th Foot                               276
+    1st and 5th West India Regiments       1040
+    Seamen and Marines                     1200
+    Staff Corps                              57
+                                           ----
+                                           6583
+    7th Foot   }  arrived on January 6th  { 750
+    43rd Foot  }                          { 820
+                                           ----
+                                           8153
+
+Out of the ten officers who accompanied the regiment on this ill-fated
+expedition one was killed, two died from exposure, and five were
+wounded.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE OCCUPATION OF GUADALOUPE, 1815--THE BARBADOS INSURRECTION, 1816--THE
+HURRICANE OF 1817.
+
+
+A few months after the disastrous expedition to New Orleans, and while
+the 1st West India Regiment was still stationed at Barbados, an
+expedition was formed by Lieutenant-General Sir James Leith, commanding
+the forces in the Windward and Leeward Islands, against the Island of
+Guadaloupe, the Governor of which, Admiral Comte de Linois, a staunch
+Bonapartist, had thrown off his allegiance to Louis XVIII., when the
+news of the escape of Napoleon from Elba had reached the West Indies,
+and had, on June 18th, 1815, proclaimed the latter Emperor. On the
+formation of this expedition, Captain Winkler, 1st West India Regiment,
+was appointed to the staff.
+
+The fleet with the troops from Barbados, among whom were 400 picked men
+of the 1st West India Regiment, under Major Cassidy, attached to the 2nd
+Brigade, commanded by Major-General Murray, sailed from Carlisle Bay,
+Barbados, on the 31st of July, while other troops from St. Lucia,
+Martinique, and Dominica, rendezvoused at the Saintes. The force from
+Barbados anchored in the Bay of St. Louis, Marie-Galante, on the 2nd of
+August; but it was not until the night of the 7th that the troops from
+the Leeward were all assembled at the Saintes.
+
+The internal state of Guadaloupe and the season were both so critical
+that Sir James Leith determined to attack at once; and on the morning of
+the 8th the whole fleet stood towards the Ance St. Sauveur. It was the
+intention of the general to attack in three columns, each of one
+brigade, but the scarcity of boats and the heavy surf necessitated that
+each brigade, should disembark in succession.
+
+A portion of the 1st Brigade being landed without opposition at Ance St.
+Sauveur, and ordered to drive the enemy from the broken ground and
+ravines about Trou au Chien and Petit Carbet, the fleet dropped down to
+Grand Ance, where the principal attack was to be made. There, after the
+enemy's batteries had been silenced by the fleet, the 2nd Brigade, with
+the remainder of the 1st, were landed; and after a short but sharp
+skirmish with a body of the enemy, advanced with the bayonet and drove
+him from his position at Petrizel. The approach of night put an end to
+further advance, and the troops bivouacked on the ground they had won.
+
+Next morning, the 9th, at daybreak, the troops advanced in two columns.
+The 1st Brigade moved upon and occupied Dole, while the 2nd Brigade
+marched by difficult mountain paths upon the left of Morne Palmiste, by
+Petrizel, and by this turning movement compelled the enemy to withdraw
+his posts and retreat to Morne Palmiste by noon. While this had been
+taking place the 3rd Brigade had disembarked in the vicinity of Bailiff,
+to leeward of Basseterre, and after a short struggle had occupied that
+capital.
+
+In the afternoon of the 9th, the 1st and 2nd Brigades converged upon
+Morne Palmiste, and clambering up the rugged and bush-covered heights,
+compelled the enemy, after the exchange of a few shots, to evacuate his
+works and retire to Morne Houel, where he had eight guns in position.
+
+While the British were still occupying the defences on Morne Palmiste,
+intelligence was brought to Sir James Leith that the French Commander of
+Grandeterre, with the whole of his available force, was moving in rear
+of the 1st and 2nd Brigades to endeavour to form a junction with the
+main body of the enemy at Morne Houel. The detachment of the 1st West
+India Regiment was at once despatched to reinforce the rear-guard, and
+to occupy in force all the passes of the Gallion, a river running
+through a formidable ravine at the foot of Morne Palmiste. The troops
+from Grandeterre being thus cut off, endeavoured to form a junction by
+unfrequented paths through the woods; but, being met at every point by
+the skirmishers of the 1st West India Regiment, who searched the woods
+in every direction, they were compelled to abandon the attempt and
+retire at dusk.
+
+The night closed in with torrents of rain, and the British, having been
+told off in columns in readiness to attack the formidable position of
+Morne Houel at daybreak next morning, bivouacked on the ground, without
+shelter, and drenched to the skin. About 11 p.m., the Comte de Linois
+sent a messenger to propose terms of surrender; but nothing being
+definitely settled, the troops were put in motion at daybreak on the
+10th. As they drew near to the works, however, the French hoisted the
+British flag on Morne Houel in token of surrender, and the position was
+occupied without resistance. This success put an end to the active
+operations.
+
+The British loss in this, the third invasion of Guadaloupe, amounted to
+16 killed and 40 wounded. The 1st West India Regiment suffered no loss.
+
+The following general order was issued, dated Head-Quarters, Government
+House, Basseterre, Guadaloupe, 10th August, 1815: "The Commander of the
+Forces congratulates the army on the conquest of Guadaloupe being
+accomplished, and desires the generals and other officers, and the
+troops employed on that important service, to accept his best thanks for
+the gallant, zealous, and active manner in which they have compelled the
+enemy to surrender.
+
+"It is certainly a matter of gratifying reflection to the troops
+employed, not only that a colony of such importance should be placed
+under the British flag, but that the exertions of the army have, in two
+days, defeated all the preparations and force of the enemy; thus
+sheltering the peaceable inhabitants from a formidable and sanguinary
+system of revolutionary violence which had been practised against their
+persons and property, and which threatened the entire destruction of
+social order.
+
+"Lieutenant-General Sir James Leith will not fail to represent the
+steadiness and good conduct of the troops to H.R.H. the
+Commander-in-Chief."
+
+Guadaloupe, however, was not at once reduced to a state of tranquility.
+A number of French soldiers, who had deserted previous to the surrender
+of the island, took refuge in the woods, whence they carried on a
+desultory and ferocious war against the British posts. The 1st West
+India Regiment, being composed of men better able to support the
+hardships of a guerilla war, carried on in a country naturally
+difficult, during the height of the tropical rains, was continually
+employed against these insurgent bands, and several men were killed and
+wounded in unknown and forgotten skirmishes.
+
+Major Cassidy and Captain Winkler were each presented with a sword of
+honour by the major-general; and the order of the Fleur de Lys was
+transmitted to them by Louis XVIII., for their services in Guadaloupe.
+
+Major Cassidy and the detachment of the 1st West India Regiment,
+remained in Guadaloupe until the 10th of October, 1815, on which day
+they embarked for Barbados, arriving at that island on the 26th. The
+regiment being then very much below its strength, on account of the
+heavy losses which it had sustained during the expedition to New
+Orleans, it was determined to transfer the majority of the privates who
+remained to the 3rd, 4th, 6th and 8th West India Regiments, and reform
+the regiment from a body of some 700 American negroes, who, in the late
+war with the United States, had served with the British, and had been
+temporarily organised as Colonial Marines.
+
+On the 14th of December, the skeleton of the regiment embarked in H.M.S.
+_Niobe_ for Bermuda, where the Colonial Marines were then stationed, and
+arrived at St. George's on the 9th of January, 1816. It was only then
+discovered that the number of men with whom it was intended to reform
+the regiment, did not exceed 400; most of whom were of but poor
+physique, and, moreover, unwilling to engage. At first the authorities
+determined to force these men to enlist, but ultimately the whole plan
+was abandoned; and the skeleton of the regiment left Bermuda on the 18th
+of March to return to the West Indies. It arrived at Barbados on the 1st
+of April; and the men who had already been transferred being sent back
+to it, the corps was completed with drafts from the late disbanded
+Bombor Regiment.
+
+This was effected in time to enable the 1st West India Regiment to take
+a very active part in the suppression of an alarming insurrection of
+slaves, which broke out suddenly at Barbados on Easter Sunday, the 14th
+of April, 1816. "The revolt broke out in St. Philip's parish, shortly
+after sunset, and it extended, in the two following days, to the
+parishes of Christ Church, St. John and St. George. A conflagration upon
+a high ridge of copse-wood called Bishop's Hill, in the parish of St.
+Philip's, was the first signal. Shortly after, the canes upon eight or
+nine of the surrounding estates were set on fire. Some few of the rebels
+were furnished with fire-arms, and a scanty supply of ammunition, and
+the remainder were armed with swords, bludgeons, and such rude weapons
+as they had been able to procure. Their approach was announced by the
+beating of drums, the blowing of shells, and other discordant sounds.
+They demolished the houses of the overseers, destroyed the sugar works,
+and fired the canes.... Sixty estates were more or less damaged, many of
+them to a considerable amount."[41]
+
+As soon as the news reached Bridgetown, martial law was proclaimed, the
+1st West India Regiment was at once ordered to march, and the militia of
+the island were called out. Major Cassidy, who was in command of the 1st
+West India Regiment, found the rebels occupying a position on the
+heights of Christ Church, on Grazett's Estate, a dense mob of half-armed
+slaves crowning the summits of the low hills. He endeavoured to parley
+with them, but without success; and an advance being ordered, the 1st
+West India Regiment stormed the heights, and at the point of the bayonet
+drove the rebels from their position. Not a shot was fired by the
+regiment on this occasion, Major Cassidy being anxious to save bloodshed
+as much as possible; but a large body of the slaves offered a furious
+resistance, closing with and aiming blows at the soldiers with their
+rude weapons, and endeavouring to wrench the muskets from their hands,
+so that a considerable number of the insurgents were thus killed and
+wounded. This resistance only lasted for a few minutes, and the slaves,
+broken and dispirited, fled in all directions; only to be hunted down
+and fired upon by the militia all over the disaffected portions of the
+island. The 1st West India Regiment took no part in the pursuit and the
+capture or slaughter of the fugitives, this duty being left to the
+European militia, who, if the author of "Remarks on the Insurrection in
+Barbados"[42] may be believed, were guilty of many excesses.
+
+By the planters this revolt was attributed to the introduction of the
+Slave Registry Bill into the British Parliament, and it was discovered
+that several free men of colour, who had for several months previous
+attended nocturnal meetings of slaves on the estates where the
+insurrection began, had told the slaves that a law was being passed in
+England to make them free, and that as the King was giving them their
+freedom the King's troops would not be employed against them.
+
+Amongst other articles taken from the rebels by the 1st West India
+Regiment was a flag bearing the figure of a general officer (supposed to
+be intended for the King), placing a crown in the hands of a negro who
+had a white woman on his arm. Beneath these figures was the following
+motto: "Brittanie are happy to assist all such friends as
+endeavourance." In the struggle on Christ Church heights the regiment
+lost one man killed and seventeen wounded.
+
+The following general order was issued, dated August 26th, 1816:
+"Colonel Codd, in communicating the following letters conveying the
+thanks of the Members in Council and House of Assembly at Barbados to
+himself and the officers, non-commissioned officers, and men employed
+during the late insurrection of slaves, feels it his duty to specify the
+commanding officer and corps whose good conduct on that occasion he has
+already reported in his official despatch to the Commander of the
+Forces, namely, Major Cassidy and the 1st West India Regiment."
+
+In November, 1816, the regiment was removed from Barbados and
+distributed amongst the following islands:
+
+    Head-quarters. The Grenadier, Light, and 1 Company at Antigua = 3
+                                  2 Companies at St. Christopher  = 2
+                                  1 Company at Montserrat         = 1
+                                  2 Companies at St. Lucia        = 2
+                                  2 Companies at Dominica         = 2
+                                                                   --
+                                                                   10
+
+Lieutenant-Colonel Whitby commanded at head-quarters.
+
+Nothing of note occurred till October, 1817, when, on the 21st of that
+month the Island of St. Lucia was visited with a most violent hurricane
+in which the Governor, Major-General Seymour, was so severely injured
+that he died a few days afterwards; and Brevet-Major Burdett, 1st West
+India Regiment (then commanding the garrison), together with his wife,
+child, and servants, was killed by the fall of his house and buried
+under its ruins. The distress that the troops endured was great. The
+whole of the buildings on Morne Fortune and Pigeon Island, with the
+exception of the magazine and tanks, were levelled with the ground, and
+the fragments, together with the men's clothing and equipment, carried
+off by the wind to the woods about Morne Fortune. The hurricane had
+struck the island so rapidly that, although an order to evacuate the
+barracks was given at once, the men had barely time to escape from the
+buildings before they fell with a crash. The town of Castries was laid
+in ruins, and twelve vessels that were in harbour were driven ashore.
+When the hurricane abated, the killed and wounded were moved under the
+parapet of Fort Charlotte and temporary shelter erected from the ruins.
+
+In January, 1819, when Lieutenant-Colonel J.M. Clifton retired, the
+second lieutenant-colonelcy in the regiment was abolished. In May of
+that year the head-quarters and three companies were moved to Barbados,
+two companies remaining at Antigua, two at St. Lucia, two at Dominica,
+and one at Tobago.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 41: Bryan Edwards.]
+
+[Footnote 42: Published in London in 1816.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE DEMERARA REBELLION, 1823.
+
+
+On the 25th of October, 1821, the establishment of the 1st West India
+Regiment was reduced from ten to eight companies, which were thus
+distributed:
+
+    Head-quarters and 3 Companies at Barbados.
+                      1 Company at Demerara.
+                      1    "    "  St. Lucia.
+                      1    "    "  Dominica.
+                      1    "    "  Antigua.
+                      1    "    "  Tobago.
+                     --
+                      8
+
+No change took place in this distribution until 1823, when the light
+company rejoined the head-quarters at Barbados, from Tobago.
+
+In August, 1823, an alarming insurrection broke out among the slaves in
+the district of Mahaica, on the east coast of Demerara. The first notice
+of the impending rising was communicated, on the morning of the 18th of
+August, by a mulatto servant, to Mr. Simpson, of Plantation Reduit (now
+Plantation Ogle), a place distant some six miles from Georgetown. The
+servant stated that all the negroes on the coast plantations would rise
+that night; and Mr. Simpson at once proceeded with the intelligence to
+Georgetown, warning the various planters at their habitations _en
+route_. The Governor appeared to doubt the reliability of the
+information, but called out a troop of burgher horse, and proceeded with
+a portion of it to Plantation Reduit. There a considerable body of
+negroes, armed with cutlasses, sticks, and a few muskets, was met; and,
+after a short parley with them, which led to no result, the Governor
+returned at once to Georgetown, and called upon the officer commanding
+the troops for assistance.
+
+A detachment of the 21st Regiment, and No. 8 Company of the 1st West
+India Regiment, the whole being under the command of Captain Stewart, of
+the latter corps, at once marched up the coast; while the militia of
+Georgetown was called out and patrolled the town. A body of the rebels,
+who had with them as prisoners several Europeans, was met near
+Wittenburg Plantation. On the approach of the troops the slaves opened a
+desultory fire, which did no damage, and a volley being returned, they
+dispersed in all directions. The force under Captain Stewart then
+proceeded further up the coast, encountering and dispersing other
+parties of slaves.
+
+Next day, the 19th of August, martial law was proclaimed, for nearly all
+the negroes employed upon the coast estates had risen and were
+overrunning the country, capturing every European they met. Continually
+dispersed by the troops, they reassembled again, and, after being
+repulsed by a detachment of the 21st in an attack upon the post of
+Mahaica, a body of some 2000 of the better-armed slaves collected
+together and began to advance on Georgetown. By this time another
+detachment of the 21st Regiment had come up from Georgetown, under the
+command of Lieutenant-Colonel Leahy of that corps, who joined the troops
+already in the field, and moved with his whole force against this more
+formidable body of insurgents. Proceeding past pillaged houses and
+destroyed bridges, the troops at last fell in with the rebels, and
+Lieutenant-Colonel Leahy, after reading a proclamation that had been
+issued by the Governor, warned them that if they did not disperse the
+men would open fire. After waiting for some time, the order to advance
+was given, and the slaves at once commenced firing. This was returned by
+the troops, and after a conflict of a few minutes' duration the rebels
+fled in all directions.
+
+This was the last occasion on which the slaves assembled in any
+considerable force, but a constant skirmishing was kept up along the
+whole line of the coast; and two companies of the 1st West India
+Regiment, which were despatched from Barbados when the news of the
+insurrection reached there, and arrived at Demerara on the 26th of
+September, were actively employed in assisting to restore tranquility
+in the colony and in the apprehension of the ringleaders of the
+rebellion. Captain Chads, Lieutenants Strong and Lynch, and Ensign
+Brennan were the officers who were serving with these two companies.
+
+The following general order was published, dated Head-quarters, Camp
+House, 17th December, 1823:
+
+"Major-General Murray has great satisfaction in communicating to the
+troops and militia within this colony the following extracts from
+letters from Lord Bathurst, and the Commander of the Forces, Sir Henry
+Ward, the former conveying the approbation of His Majesty, and the
+latter that of His Royal Highness, the Commander-in-Chief, for their
+conduct during the late insurrection. The Commander-in-Chief takes this
+opportunity of again returning his thanks to the officers and troops for
+the uniform support he has received from the former, and for the good
+conduct of the latter, during the late operations; by these means alone
+have those services been accomplished which have occasioned His
+Majesty's flattering marks of approbation."
+
+Extract (No. 1) of a letter from the Right Honourable Lord Bathurst, to
+His Excellency Sir John Murray:
+
+                              "Downing Street, 23rd October, 1823.
+
+    "I have received your several despatches, as per margin, reciting
+    the series of events that had occurred from the first intimation
+    received by you on the 18th of August last, of a disposition towards
+    insurrectionary movements on the part of the slave population in
+    the District of Mahaica, and concluding with an account of the
+    general termination of the revolt, which had yielded to the prompt
+    and judicious measures of remonstrance and resistance offered by
+    you, and which you represent to have been so admirably enforced by
+    the civil and military authorities under your command. With respect
+    to those measures, I have laid them before His Majesty, and they
+    have received his most gracious approbation, which you will convey
+    to the officers, both civil and military, who have so distinguished
+    themselves on this occasion."
+
+Extract (No. 2) of a letter from His Royal Highness the
+Commander-in-Chief, to Sir Henry Ward, K.C.B., commanding the Windward
+and Leeward Islands:
+
+    "I have received your further despatch reporting to His Lordship the
+    issue of this revolt, so satisfactorily and judiciously terminated
+    by the prompt and vigorous measures taken by Major-General Murray,
+    and the exemplary zeal, discipline and good conduct of the 21st
+    Regiment, the 1st West India Regiment, and the Militia, which
+    entitle officers and men to the greatest credit."
+
+Ensign Miles, of the 1st West India Regiment, the only officer serving
+with No. 8 Company under Captain Stewart, died a few days after the
+termination of the rebellion, of fever produced by fatigue and exposure
+in hunting down the rebel leaders.
+
+In February, 1824, the Court of Policy passed a vote of thanks, and
+conferred a gift of 200 guineas on the regiment, to be expended in the
+purchase of plate, as a mark of the high estimation in which the
+inhabitants of the colony held the services of Captain Stewart and his
+detachment.
+
+                                           "KING'S HOUSE, DEMERARA,
+                                                "_19th July, 1824_.
+
+    "SIR,
+
+    "I have the honour to enclose to you for the information of Captain
+    Stewart and the detachment of the 1st West India Regiment, which
+    served with so much credit to itself under his command during the
+    late revolt in this Colony, the accompanying resolution of the
+    Honourable Court of Policy, expressive of the sense entertained by
+    the Court of that officer's conduct, and that of the officers and
+    men placed under him during that distressing period.
+
+                                          "I have, etc.,
+                                                "JOHN MURRAY,
+                                                     "Major-General.
+
+    "To Major Capadose,
+    "Commanding Detachment, 1st West India Regiment."
+
+    "Extract from the Minutes of the Proceedings of the Honourable Court of
+    Policy of the Colony and dependant Districts of Demerara and Essequibo,
+    at an extraordinary and adjourned meeting held at the Court House,
+    George Town, Demerara, on Tuesday, the 13th of January, 1824.
+
+    "The Court of Policy, feeling anxious to mark its sense of the eminent
+    service performed, in the late unhappy revolt, by the troops composing
+    the garrison, as well as by the Militia of the United Colonies, take
+    the opportunity afforded it by the cessation of Martial Law, to express
+    its highest approbation of, and to return its warmest thanks to His
+    Excellency the Commander-in-Chief for the able and judicious measures
+    adopted by him, which succeeded in putting a speedy termination to a
+    Revolt, in its nature most serious and alarming....
+
+    "The steady and soldierlike conduct of the detachment of the 1st West
+    India Regiment commanded by Captain Stewart, the Court cannot too
+    highly estimate; and it begs, as a testimony of its lasting regard, to
+    be allowed to present to the Mess, through Captain Stewart, the sum of
+    two hundred guineas, to be laid out in plate."
+
+    On the 25th of October, 1824, the three companies stationed at Demerara
+    were removed to Barbados, where they arrived on the 2nd of November.
+    The following brigade order was published at Demerara prior to the
+    embarkation of the detachment:
+
+    "The detachment of the 1st West India Regiment under Major Capadose,
+    will embark on board the _Sovereign_ at half-past six on Monday
+    morning, the 25th instant, and the transport will proceed to Barbados
+    with the evening tide of that day.
+
+    "The Major-General commanding the district cannot allow these excellent
+    troops to embark without expressing to them his approbation of their
+    excellent conduct and discipline, and his cordial wishes for their
+    health and good fortune. The unremitting attention of Major Capadose in
+    the command of the detachment, and of Brevet-Major Gillard, Captain
+    Hemsworth, and Lieutenant Strong, in that of their respective outposts,
+    have given the Major-General unqualified satisfaction, and he requests
+    those officers to accept his thanks."
+
+The distribution of the regiment was now as follows: 5 companies at
+Barbados, 1 at St. Lucia, 1 at Dominica, and 1 at Antigua, and this was
+continued till the 21st of February, 1825, when the head-quarters, with
+4 companies, embarked on board the _Sovereign_ transport, and proceeded
+to the Island of Trinidad, to relieve the 3rd West India Regiment,
+ordered to be disbanded. The head-quarters landed at Port of Spain,
+Trinidad, on February 23rd, and were quartered at Orange Grove Barracks,
+being removed to San Josef Barracks on May 1st, 1828.
+
+In April, 1826, a second lieutenant-colonelcy was re-established in the
+regiment, Major Henry Capadose being promoted Lieutenant-Colonel,
+without purchase, on the 22nd of that month.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+THE BARRA WAR, 1831--THE HURRICANE OF 1831--THE COBOLO EXPEDITION, 1832.
+
+
+In 1826, owing to the difficulty found in obtaining a sufficiency of
+recruits in the West Indies, it was decided to send a company of the 1st
+West India Regiment to Sierra Leone, there to be stationed as a
+recruiting company, the recruits to be sent to the head-quarters of the
+regiment as opportunities occurred. The recruiting company embarked at
+Trinidad on the 17th of April, 1826, in the _Duke of York_ brigantine,
+and proceeded to Dominica, where it was transhipped to the _Jupiter_
+transport. Captain Myers proceeded in charge of it to England, where it
+was inspected by Major-General Sir James Lyon, and it finally arrived at
+Sierra Leone on August 16th, 1826. Captain Myers having obtained sick
+leave in England, Captain Stewart, Lieutenant Brennan, and Ensign
+Russell, were the officers who had charge of the company.
+
+The recruiting was so successfully carried on, that on July 9th, 1827,
+73 recruits joined the head-quarters of the regiment at Trinidad; on
+December 27th, 1828, 182; and on February 28th, 1829, 39; the last being
+volunteers from the Royal African Corps. In 1829, Captain Evans and
+Lieutenant Montgomery proceeded to Sierra Leone to join the recruiting
+company.
+
+The recruiting company continued being occupied with its peace duties
+until the year 1831, when the Barra War broke out. Towards the end of
+September, 1831, the Lieutenant-Governor of the Gambia Settlements sent
+an urgent despatch for assistance to the Governor of Sierra Leone. The
+news arrived at the latter place on October 1st, and on the 4th a force
+under Captain Stewart, 1st West India Regiment, consisting of
+detachments from the recruiting companies of the 1st and 2nd West India
+Regiments, from the Sierra Leone Militia, and from the Royal African
+Corps, sailed for the Gambia in H.M. brig _Plumper_, and the _Parmilia_
+transport. The events which led to this movement were as follows:
+
+In August, 1831, disturbances having occurred amongst the Mandingoes[43]
+living in the neighbourhood of Fort Bullen, Barra Point, Ensign Fearon,
+of the Royal African Corps, by direction of Lieutenant-Governor Rendall,
+had proceeded with thirty men of his corps and a few pensioners, on the
+night of August 22nd, to the stockaded town of Essaw, or Yahassu, the
+capital of Barra, to demand hostages from the king. At Essaw this small
+force was attacked by a large body of Mandingoes, and compelled to
+retire to Fort Bullen, to which place the victorious Mandingoes
+advanced, completely investing it on the land side. The day following,
+Ensign Fearon, having lost twenty-three men out of his little force,
+evacuated the work, which was in an almost defenceless condition, and
+retired across the river to the town of Bathurst. After this defeat the
+chiefs of the neighbouring Mohammedan towns sent large contingents of
+men to the King of Barra; several thousand armed natives were collected
+at a distance of three miles only from Bathurst, and that settlement was
+in such imminent danger that the Lieutenant-Governor was compelled to
+send to Sierra Leone for assistance.
+
+On November 9th the reinforcements arrived in the Gambia, and found Fort
+Bullen still in the hands of the natives, who fortunately had confined
+themselves to making mere demonstrations, instead of falling upon the
+settlement, which lay entirely at their mercy. On the morning of
+November 11th a landing was effected at Barra Point by the force,
+consisting of 451 of all ranks, under cover of a heavy fire from H.M.
+brig _Plumper_ (Lieutenant Cresey), the _Parmilia_ transport, and an
+armed colonial schooner. The enemy, estimated at from 2500 to 3000
+strong, were skilfully covered from the fire of the shipping by the
+entrenchments which they had thrown up, and from which, as well as from
+the shelter of the dense bush and high grass, they poured in a heavy
+and well-sustained fire upon the troops who were landing in their front.
+Notwithstanding all disadvantages, however, the British pushed on, and,
+after an hour's hard fighting, during which the enemy contested every
+inch of ground, they succeeded in driving them from their entrenchments
+at the point of the bayonet, and pursued them for some distance through
+the bush. The British loss in this action was 2 killed, 3 officers[44]
+and 47 men wounded.
+
+The next few days were occupied in landing the guns, and placing Fort
+Bullen in a state of defence; and at daybreak on the morning of November
+17th the entire force marched to the attack of Essaw, the king's town,
+leaving the crew of H.M. brig _Plumper_, under Lieutenant Cresey, in
+charge of Fort Bullen.
+
+On approaching the vicinity of the town the troops deployed into line,
+and, the guns having been brought to the front, a heavy fire was opened
+on the stockade. This was kept up for five hours, and was as vigorously
+returned by the enemy from their defences, with artillery and small
+arms. The rockets were brought to bear as soon as possible, and the
+first one thrown set fire to a house in the town; but the buildings
+being principally composed of "swish," and the natives having taken the
+precaution of removing the thatched roofs of the greater number, the
+rockets produced but little effect, as they could do no injury to the
+walls. Towards noon some of the enemy were observed leaving the rear of
+the town, and shortly afterwards a very superior force of natives
+appeared in the bush on the British right, threatening an attack in
+flank. A second body was also observed making a lengthened detour on the
+left, apparently with the intention of attacking the British rear. The
+men's ammunition being almost exhausted, and the artillery fire, though
+well sustained, having produced no effect upon the strong stockades
+which surrounded the town, it was deemed prudent to retire, and the
+force was accordingly withdrawn to Benty Point, having suffered a loss
+during the day of 11 killed and 59 wounded. Lieutenant Leigh, of the
+Sierra Leone militia, and 5 men subsequently died of their wounds.
+
+On December 7th, Lieutenant-Colonel Hingston, Royal African Corps,
+arrived with reinforcements and assumed the command. Immediately upon
+this accession to the British strength, the King of Barra notified his
+desire to open negotiations, and, terms being proposed which he
+accepted, a treaty was finally concluded and signed at Fort Bullen on
+January 4th, 1832. The detachment of the recruiting company, 1st West
+India Regiment, returned to Sierra Leone on the conclusion of the war.
+
+In the West Indies, the detachment of the 1st West India Regiment
+stationed at Barbados, had, in 1831, suffered from a violent hurricane
+which visited that island on the 10th of August of that year. The
+barracks and hospitals at St. Ann's were completely ruined, 36 men of
+various corps were killed, and a commissariat officer, with three of his
+children, and his entire household, entombed in the ruins of his house.
+
+An officer of the garrison, who gives an account of this hurricane,[45]
+says: "Describe the appearance of our barracks, I really cannot. This I
+can say, in truth, that in no part of the world, a more beautiful range
+of buildings, or on a more liberal scale or appropriate site, could have
+been found. The establishment was complete in all respects for every
+branch of a small army. It was the depot of our West India military
+possessions. Well--in two hours during this awful night almost every
+building in the garrison was destroyed.... What a moment was that, when,
+thanks be to Heaven, the gale in some degree abated. The officers crept
+out one after the other, and the scene that followed can be compared
+only to that which one sees and feels after an action--who has
+escaped?--who is dead?... The first person I found wounded was Mrs.
+Brocklass, the lady of an officer of the 1st West India Regiment, who,
+with three fine children, finding the roof over them falling, hastened
+from under it. She had the misfortune to be knocked down by some
+shingles, received a blow on the head, and had two or three ribs broken;
+the children fortunately escaped: her husband was on duty in a most
+perilous situation.... The huts which were the quarters of the married
+people of the 1st West India Regiment were blown to pieces, and four men
+and one woman severely injured. The north building of the men's new
+barracks accommodated the left wing of the 36th Regiment, besides which
+a detachment of the 1st West India Regiment was quartered on the ground
+floor. None of the latter were hurt, but two men of the 36th were
+killed. The greater part of the spacious galleries was carried away,
+some of the arches that supported them fell, and many were very much
+broken. None of the roof remains that will ever be of service."
+
+Towards the end of the year 1832, numerous complaints were made by
+native traders who were in the habit of trading to the Sherbro and the
+adjacent territories, that they were molested and their goods plundered
+by a marauding party of Mohammedan Acoos, who had established themselves
+in the vicinity of the Ribbie River. These Acoos were liberated
+Africans, that is, slaves who had been set free from captured slavers at
+Freetown, Sierra Leone, and had, contrary to the regulations then in
+force, clandestinely left the Colony.
+
+A party of volunteers, having been despatched to gather information
+concerning these rebels, ascertained that they had been joined by other
+parties of marauders, and had established themselves at a place called
+Cobolo, on the northern bank of the Kates, or Ribbie River. The manager
+of the Waterloo District also reported various outrages and depredations
+committed by this band.
+
+On December 13th, 1832, the Hastings company of volunteers, with that of
+Waterloo, marched from the village of Waterloo towards Cobolo, distant
+by road some thirty miles, with orders to capture and bring in the
+leaders of the rebels. Next morning, as this force was approaching
+Cobolo, the Acoos, who were concealed in the bush, fired upon the head
+of the column, and the volunteers at once, and without firing a shot,
+turned and ran in the greatest confusion; nor did they recover from
+their panic till they had reached Waterloo. The Acoos pursued the
+fugitives for some little distance, and killed seven of their number.
+
+The rising, originally trivial, had now, through the shameful behaviour
+of the volunteers, become serious. The news of the defeat spread with
+great rapidity among the unruly tribes on the frontier of the Colony;
+and a Mohammedan priest, proclaiming himself a prophet, placed himself
+at the head of the movement. The Governor acted with promptitude; and
+recognising the great danger of delay, despatched, on December 17th, all
+the available men from the garrison of Sierra Leone, under
+Lieut.-Colonel Hingston, Royal African Corps. The recruiting company of
+the 1st West India Regiment accompanied the force, under the command of
+Lieut. W. Montgomery, 1st West India Regiment.
+
+The troops proceeded to Waterloo in boats, and were there joined by the
+Wellington company of the Sierra Leone militia, and the Hastings company
+of volunteers. At the same time, H.M. brig _Charybdis_ (Lieut. Crawford)
+was sent with the York company of volunteers to the mouth of the Ribbie
+River, with orders for the seamen and marines to ascend the river in
+boats, co-operate with Lieut.-Colonel Hingston's column, and cut off the
+retreat of the rebels.
+
+Lieut.-Colonel Hingston's force marched from Waterloo on December 18th,
+and, halting for the night at Bangowilli, about twenty miles from the
+former village, advanced towards Cobolo next morning at daybreak. The
+march was unusually fatiguing, and for many miles the troops had to move
+through rush beds and mangrove swamps, frequently up to the hips in mud
+and water. On emerging upon the dry ground near Cobolo the report of
+fire-arms was heard in front, and scouts being thrown forward, it was
+learned that the Kossoos, which tribe had suffered most from the
+predatory propensities of the rebels, had taken up arms and were then
+engaged in attacking Cobolo. The troops at once pushed on, and a few
+minutes after their arrival on the scene, the Acoos, completely routed,
+fled in all directions, many being killed and a great number drowned
+while endeavouring to escape across a neighbouring creek.
+
+The British force remained at Cobolo for four days, daily sending out
+small parties in pursuit of the dispersed rebels. By one of these
+parties Oji Corri, the leader of the movement, was shot down; and the
+rebellion being at an end the troops returned to Freetown, Sierra Leone,
+on December 28th; a detachment of the 2nd West India Regiment, under
+Lieutenant Lardner, being left at Waterloo to watch the movements of the
+Mohammedan Acoos in the neighbouring villages.
+
+Lieutenant Montgomery, 1st West India Regiment, died at Freetown of
+fever, on April 9th, 1833, and this event left the recruiting company
+without an officer of the corps until the arrival in Sierra Leone of
+Captain Hughes on November 29th, 1834.
+
+In the West Indies one company had been removed from the head-quarters
+at Trinidad to Tortola in May, 1834, and this detachment was, in
+January, 1836, moved to St. Vincent.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 43: The Mandingoes are a warlike Mohammedan tribe, inhabiting
+the territory inland from the Gambia River to Sierra Leone.]
+
+[Footnote 44: Captain Berwick, Royal African Corps; Lieutenant Lardner,
+2nd West India Regiment; and Captain Hughes, Gambia Militia.]
+
+[Footnote 45: An account of the fatal hurricane by which Barbados
+suffered in 1831, published at Bridgetown, Barbados, 1831.
+
+"DETACHMENT 1ST WEST INDIA REGIMENT.
+
+"Return of the men killed and wounded during the late hurricane, 15th
+August, 1831:
+
+"Killed--Henry Read, private.
+
+"Wounded--4 privates.
+
+    (Signed) "H. BROCKLASS, Lieut., 1st W.I. Regt."
+
+]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE MUTINY OF THE RECRUITS AT TRINIDAD, 1837.
+
+
+On April 1st, 1836, the 1st West India Regiment was increased from eight
+to ten companies, and recruits being obtained with difficulty, the
+Government commenced the injudicious practice of enrolling the slaves,
+disembarked from captured slavers, in the West India regiments. In
+September of that year the slaves from two slavers which had been
+captured off Grenada by H.M.S. _Vestal_, 112 in number, were drafted
+into the 1st West India Regiment. Similarly, in January, 1837, 109; on
+May 20th, 112; and on May 21st, 93 slaves, recently disembarked from
+slavers captured by H.M.S. _Griffon_ and _Harpy_, were sent to the
+regiment. Thus, in the years 1836-7, 426 such slaves were received, 314
+of them in the year 1837 alone.
+
+The formality of asking these men whether they were willing to serve was
+never gone through, many of them did so unwillingly; and it must be
+remembered that they were all savages in the strictest sense of the
+word, entirely unacquainted with civilisation, and with no knowledge of
+the English language. The majority of them were natives of the Congo and
+of Great and Little Popo, two towns on the western frontier of Dahomey;
+and it may be here remarked that the negroes of these districts have
+maintained their reputation for ultra-barbarism even to the present day.
+
+The only result to be anticipated from such a wholesale drafting of
+savages into a regiment was a mutiny, and every inducement to mutiny
+appears to have been afforded them. Instead of dividing them
+proportionately between the head-quarters and the detachments, they were
+nearly all kept at the former; and but three weeks before the actual
+rising, as if to further remove all check, 100 rank and file, all old
+soldiers, were sent from Trinidad and distributed between St. Lucia and
+Dominica. Thus, on June 18th, 1837, the day of the mutiny, with the
+exception of the band, officers servants, and mess-waiters, all the men
+at San Josef's barracks, Trinidad, were slaver recruits. The ringleader
+of the movement was one Daaga, or Donald Stewart, and the following
+account of him, and of the mutiny, is taken from Kingsley's "At Last":
+
+"Donald Stewart, or rather Daaga, was the adopted son of Madershee, the
+old and childless king of the tribe called Paupaus,[46] a race that
+inhabit a tract of country bordering on that of the Yarrabas.[47] These
+races are constantly at war with each other.
+
+"Daaga was just the man whom a savage, warlike, and depredatory tribe
+would select for their chieftain, as the African negroes choose their
+leaders with reference to their personal prowess. Daaga stood six feet
+six inches without shoes. Although scarcely muscular in proportion, yet
+his frame indicated in a singular degree the union of irresistible
+strength and activity.... He had a singular cast in his eyes, not quite
+amounting to that obliquity of the visual organs denominated a squint,
+but sufficient to give his features a peculiarly forbidding appearance;
+his forehead, however, although small in proportion to his enormous
+head, was remarkably compact and well formed. The whole head was
+disproportioned, having the greater part of the brain behind the ears;
+but the greatest peculiarity of this singular being was his voice. In
+the course of my life I never heard such sounds uttered by human organs
+as those formed by Daaga. In ordinary conversation he appeared to me to
+endeavour to soften his voice--it was a deep tenor: but when a little
+excited by any passion (and this savage was the child of passion) his
+voice sounded like the low growl of a lion, but when much excited it
+could be compared to nothing so aptly as the notes of a gigantic brazen
+trumpet.
+
+"Daaga having made a successful predatory expedition into the country
+of the Yarrabas, returned with a number of prisoners of that nation.
+These he, as usual, took bound and guarded towards the coast to sell to
+the Portuguese. The interpreter, his countryman, called these Portuguese
+'white gentlemen.' The white gentlemen proved themselves more than a
+match for the black gentlemen; and the whole transaction between the
+Portuguese and the Paupaus does credit to all concerned in this
+gentlemanly traffic in human flesh.
+
+"Daaga sold his prisoners, and under pretence of paying him, he and his
+Paupau guards were enticed on board a Portuguese vessel: they were
+treacherously overpowered by the Christians, who bound them beside their
+late prisoners, and the vessel sailed over 'the great salt water.'
+
+"This transaction caused in the breast of the savage a deep hatred
+against all white men; a hatred so intense that he frequently, during
+and subsequent to the mutiny, declared he would eat the first white man
+he killed; yet this cannibal was made to swear allegiance to our
+sovereign on the Holy Evangelists, and was then called a British
+soldier.
+
+"On the voyage the vessel on board which Daaga had been entrapped was
+captured by the British. He could not comprehend that his new captors
+liberated him: he had been overreached and trepanned by one set of white
+men, and he naturally looked on his second captors as more successful
+rivals in the human, or rather inhuman, Guinea trade; therefore, this
+event lessened not his hatred for white men in the abstract.
+
+"I was informed by several of the Africans who came with him, that when,
+during the voyage, they upbraided Daaga with being the cause of their
+capture, he pacified them by promising that when they should arrive in
+white man's country he would repay their perfidy by attacking them in
+the night. He further promised that if the Paupaus and Yarrabas would
+follow him, he would fight his way back to Guinea. This account was
+fully corroborated by many of the mutineers, especially those who were
+shot with Daaga; they all said the revolt never would have happened but
+for Donald Stewart, as he was called by the officers; but Africans who
+were not of his tribe called him Longa-longa, on account of his height.
+
+"Such was the extraordinary man who led the mutiny I am about to relate.
+
+"A quantity of captured Africans having been brought hither from the
+islands of Grenada and Dominica, they were most imprudently induced to
+enlist in the 1st West India Regiment. True it is, we have been told
+they did this voluntarily; but it may be asked, if they had any will in
+the matter, how could they understand the duties to be imposed on them
+by becoming soldiers, or how comprehend the nature of an oath of
+allegiance, without which they could not, legally speaking, be
+considered soldiers? I attended the whole of the trials of these men,
+and well know how difficult it was to make them comprehend any idea
+which was at all new to them by means of the best interpreters
+procurable.
+
+"To the African savage, while being drilled into the duties of a
+soldier, many things seem absolute tyranny which would appear to a
+civilised man a mere necessary restraint. To keep the restless body of
+an African negro in a position to which he has not been accustomed; to
+cramp his splay feet, with his great toes standing out, into European
+shoes made for feet of a different form; to place a collar round his
+neck, which is called a stock, and which to him is cruel torture; above
+all, to confine him every night to his barracks--are almost
+insupportable. One unacquainted with the habits of the negro cannot
+conceive with what abhorrence he looks on having his disposition to
+nocturnal rambles checked by barrack regulations.
+
+"Formerly the 'King's man,' as the black soldier loved to call himself,
+looked (not without reason) contemptuously on the planter's slave,
+although he himself was after all but a slave to the State; but these
+recruits were enlisted shortly after a number of their recently imported
+countrymen were wandering freely over the country, working either as
+free labourers, or settling, to use an apt American phrase, as
+squatters; and to assert that the recruit, while under military
+probation, is better off than the free Trinidad labourer, who goes where
+he lists and earns as much in one day as will keep him for three days,
+is an absurdity. Accordingly, we find that Lieutenant-Colonel Bush, who
+commanded the 1st West India Regiment, thought that the mutiny was
+mainly owing to the ill-advice of their civil, or, we should rather say,
+unmilitary countrymen. This, to a certain degree, was the fact; but, by
+the declaration of Daaga and many of his countrymen, it is evident that
+the seeds of the mutiny were sown on the passage from Africa.
+
+"It has been asserted that the recruits were driven to mutiny by hard
+treatment of their commanding officers. There seems not the slightest
+truth in this assertion; they were treated with fully as much kindness
+as their situation would admit of, and their chief was peculiarly a
+favourite of Colonel Bush and the officers, notwithstanding Daaga's
+violent and ferocious temper often caused complaints to be brought
+against him.
+
+"On the night of the 17th of June, 1837, the people of San Josef were
+kept awake by the recruits, about 280 in number, singing the war-song of
+the Paupaus. This wild song consisted of a short air and chorus. The
+tone was, although wild, not inharmonious, and the words rather
+euphonious. As near as our alphabet can convey them, they ran thus:
+
+    "Dangkarree
+    Au fey
+    Oluu werrei
+    Au lay.
+
+which may be rendered almost literally by the following couplet:
+
+    "Air by the chief: 'Come to plunder, come to slay.'
+    "Chorus by followers: 'We are ready to obey.'
+
+"About three o'clock in the morning, their war-song (highly
+characteristic of a predatory tribe) became very loud, and they
+commenced uttering their war-cry. This is different to what we conceive
+the Indian war-whoop to be; it seems to be a kind of imitation of the
+growl of wild beasts, and has a most thrilling effect.
+
+"Fire was now set to a quantity of huts built for the accommodation of
+African soldiers to the northward of the barracks, as well as to the
+house of a poor black woman called Dalrymple. These burnt briskly,
+throwing a dismal glare over the barracks and picturesque town of San
+Josef, and overpowering the light of the full moon, which illumined a
+cloudless sky. The mutineers made a rush at the barrack-room and seized
+on the muskets and fusees in the racks. Their leader, Daaga, and a
+daring Yarraba named Ogston, instantly charged their pieces--the former
+of these had a quantity of ball cartridges, loose powder, and ounce and
+pistol balls, in a kind of gray worsted cap. He must have provided
+himself with these before the mutiny. How he became possessed of them,
+especially the pistol balls, I never could learn; probably he was
+supplied by his unmilitary countrymen; pistol balls are never given to
+infantry. Previous to this Daaga and three others made a rush at the
+regimental store-room, in which was deposited a quantity of powder. An
+old African soldier, named Charles Dixon, interfered to stop them, on
+which Maurice Ogston, the Yarraba chief, who had armed himself with a
+sergeant's sword, cut down the faithful African. When down, Daaga said
+in English, 'Ah, you old soldier, you knock down.' Dixon was not Daaga's
+countryman, hence he could not speak to him in his own language. The
+Paupau then levelled his musket and shot the fallen soldier, who groaned
+and died. The war-yells, or rather growls, of the Paupaus and Yarrabas
+now became awfully thrilling as they helped themselves to cartridges;
+most of them were fortunately blank, or without ball. Never was a
+premeditated mutiny so wild and ill-planned. Their chief, Daaga, and
+Ogston, seem to have had little command of the subordinates, and the
+whole acted more like a set of wild beasts who had broken their cages,
+than men resolved on war.
+
+"At this period, had a rush been made at the officers' quarters by one
+half (they were more than 200 in number), and the other half surrounded
+the building, not one could have escaped. Instead of this they continued
+to shout their war-song, and howl their war-notes; they loaded their
+pieces with ball cartridge or blank cartridge and small stones, and
+commenced firing at the long range of white buildings in which Colonel
+Bush and his officers slept. They wasted so much ammunition on this
+useless display of fury that the buildings were completely riddled. A
+few of the old soldiers opposed them and were wounded, but it
+fortunately happened that they were, to an inconceivable degree,
+ignorant of the right use of fire-arms--holding their muskets in their
+hands when they discharged them, without allowing the butt-end to rest
+against their shoulders or any part of their bodies.[48] This fact
+accounts for the comparatively little mischief they did in proportion to
+the quantity of ammunition thrown away.
+
+"The officers[49] and sergeant-major[50] escaped at the back of the
+building, while Colonel Bush and Adjutant Bentley came down a little
+hill. The colonel commanded the mutineers to lay down their arms, and
+was answered by an irregular discharge of balls, which rattled amongst
+the leaves of a tree under which he and the adjutant were standing. On
+this Colonel Bush desired Mr. Bentley to make the best of his way to St.
+James's Barracks[51] for all the disposable force of the 89th Regiment.
+The officers made good their retreat, and the adjutant got into the
+stable where his horse was. He saddled and bridled the animal while the
+shots were coming into the stable, without either man or beast getting
+injured. The officer mounted, but had to make his way through the
+mutineers before he could get into San Josef, the barracks standing on
+an eminence above the little town. On seeing the adjutant mounted, the
+mutineers set up a thrilling howl, and commenced firing at him. He
+discerned the gigantic figure of Daaga (alias Donald Stewart), with his
+musket at the trail: he spurred his horse through the midst of them;
+they were grouped, but not in line. On looking back he saw Daaga aiming
+at him; he stooped his head beside his horse's neck, and effectually
+sheltered himself from about fifty shots aimed at him. In this position
+he rode furiously down a steep hill leading from the barracks to the
+church, and was out of danger. His escape appears extraordinary: but he
+got safe to town, and thence to St. James's, and in a short time,
+considering it is eleven miles distant, brought out a strong detachment
+of European troops; these, however, did not arrive till the affair was
+over.
+
+"In the meantime a part of the officers' quarters was bravely defended
+by two old African soldiers, Sergeant Merry and Corporal Plague. The
+latter stood in the gallery near the room in which were the colours; he
+was ineffectually fired at by some hundreds, yet he kept his post, shot
+two of the mutineers, and, it is said, wounded a third. Such is the
+difference between a man acquainted with the use of fire-arms and those
+who handle them as mops are held.
+
+"In the meantime Colonel Bush got to a police station above the
+barracks, and got muskets and a few cartridges from a discharged
+African soldier who was in the police establishment. Being joined by the
+policeman, Corporal Craven, and Ensign Pogson, they concealed themselves
+on an eminence above, and, as the mutineers (about 100 in number)
+approached, the fire of muskets opened on them from the little ambush.
+The little party fired separately, loading as fast as they discharged
+their pieces; they succeeded in making the mutineers change their route.
+
+"It is wonderful what little courage the savages in general showed
+against the colonel and his little party, who absolutely beat them,
+although but a twenty-fifth of their number, and at their own tactics,
+_i.e._ bush fighting.
+
+"A body of mutineers now made towards the road to Maraccas, when the
+colonel and his three assistants contrived to get behind a silk-cotton
+tree, and recommenced firing on them. The Africans hesitated, and set
+forward, when the little party continued to fire on them; they set up a
+yell, and retreated down the hill.
+
+"A part of the mutineers now concealed themselves in the bushes about
+San Josef Barracks. These men, after the affair was over, joined Colonel
+Bush, and, with a mixture of cunning and effrontery, smiled as though
+nothing had happened, and as though they were glad to see him; although,
+in general, they each had several shirts and pairs of trousers on,
+preparatory for a start to Guinea, by way of Band de l'Est.
+
+"In the meantime the San Josef militia were assembled to the number of
+forty. Major Giuseppi and Captain and Adjutant Rousseau, of the second
+division of militia forces, took command of them. They were in want of
+flints, powder, and balls; to obtain these they were obliged to break
+open a merchant's store; however, the adjutant so judiciously
+distributed his little force as to hinder the mutineers from entering
+the town or obtaining access to the militia arsenal, wherein there was a
+quantity of arms. Major Chadds and several old African soldiers joined
+the militia, and were by them supplied with arms.
+
+"A good deal of skirmishing occurred between the militia and detached
+parties of the mutineers, which uniformly ended in the defeat of the
+latter. At length Daaga appeared to the right of a party of six at the
+entrance of the town; they were challenged by the militia, and the
+mutineers fired on them, but without effect. Only two of the militia
+returned the fire, when all but Daaga fled. He was deliberately
+reloading his piece, when a militia-man, named Edmond Luce, leaped on
+the gigantic chief, who would have easily beat him off, although the
+former was a strong young man of colour, but Daaga would not let go his
+gun; and, in common with all the mutineers, he seemed to have no idea of
+the use of the bayonet. Daaga was dragging the militia-man away, when
+Adjutant Rousseau came to his assistance, and placed a sword to Daaga's
+breast. Doctor Tardy and several others rushed on the tall negro, who
+was soon, by the united efforts of several, thrown down and secured. It
+was at this period that he repeatedly exclaimed, while he bit his own
+shoulder, 'The first white man I catch after this I will eat him.'
+
+"Meanwhile about sixteen of the mutineers, led by the daring Ogston,
+took the road to Arima, in order, as they said, to commence their march
+to Guinea; but fortunately the militia of that village, composed
+principally of Spaniards, Indians, and Sambos, assembled. A few of these
+met them and stopped their march. A kind of parley (if intercourse
+carried on by signs could be so called) was carried on between the
+parties. The mutineers made signs that they wished to go forward, while
+the few militia-men endeavoured to detain them, expecting a
+reinforcement momently. After a time the militia agreed to allow them to
+approach the town; as they were advancing they were met by the
+Commandant, Martin Sorzano, Esq., with sixteen more militia-men. The
+Commandant judged it imprudent to allow the Africans to enter the town
+with their muskets full-cocked, and poised ready to fire. An interpreter
+was now procured, and the mutineers were told that if they would retire
+to their barracks the gentlemen present would intercede for their
+pardon. The negroes refused to accede to these terms; and while the
+interpreter was addressing some, the rest tried to push forward. Some of
+the militia opposed them by holding their muskets in a horizontal
+position, on which one of the mutineers fired, and the militia returned
+the fire. A melee commenced, in which fourteen mutineers were killed
+and wounded. The fire of the Africans produced little effect: they soon
+took to flight amid the woods which flanked the road. Twenty-eight of
+them were taken, amongst whom was the Yarraba chief, Ogston. Six had
+been killed, and six committed suicide by strangling and hanging
+themselves in the woods. Only one man was wounded among the militia, and
+he but slightly, from a small stone fired from a musket of one of the
+Yarrabas.
+
+"The quantity of ammunition expended by the mutineers, and the
+comparatively little mischief done by them, was truly astonishing. It
+shows how little they understood the use of fire-arms. Dixon was killed,
+and several of the old African soldiers were wounded, but not one of the
+officers was in the slightest degree hurt.
+
+"I have never been able to get a correct account of the number of lives
+this wild mutiny cost, but believe it was not less than forty, including
+those slain by the militia at Arima, those shot at San Josef, those who
+died of their wounds (and most of the wounded men died), the six who
+committed suicide, the three who were shot by sentence of the
+court-martial, and one who was shot while endeavouring to escape
+(Satchell).
+
+"A good-looking young man, named Torrens, was brought as prisoner to the
+presence of Colonel Bush. The colonel wished to speak to him, and
+desired his guards to liberate him; on which the young savage shook his
+sleeve, in which was a concealed razor, made a rush at the colonel, and
+nearly succeeded in cutting his throat. He slashed the razor in all
+directions until he made an opening; he rushed through this: and
+notwithstanding that he was fired at, and, I believe, wounded, he
+effected his escape, was subsequently retaken, and again made his escape
+with Satchell, who after this was shot by a policeman.
+
+"Torrens was retaken, tried, and recommended to mercy. Of this man's
+fate I am unable to speak, not knowing how far the recommendation to
+mercy was attended to.[52] In appearance he seemed the mildest and
+best-looking of the mutineers, but his conduct was the most ferocious of
+any. The whole of the mutineers were captured within one week of the
+mutiny, save this man, who was taken a month after.
+
+"On the 19th of July, Donald Stewart, otherwise Daaga, was brought to a
+court-martial. On the 21st, William Satchell was tried. On the 22nd, a
+court-martial was held on Edward Coffin; and on the 24th one was held on
+the Yarraba chief, Maurice Ogston, whose country name was, I believe,
+Mawee. Torrens was tried on the 29th.
+
+"The sentences of these courts-martial were unknown until the 14th of
+August, having been sent to Barbados in order to be submitted to the
+Commander-in-Chief. Lieutenant-General Whittingham, who approved of the
+decision of the courts, which was that Donald Stewart (Daaga), Maurice
+Ogston, and Edward Coffin, should suffer death by being shot; and that
+William Satchell should be transported beyond seas during the term of
+his natural life. I am unacquainted with the sentence of Torrens.
+
+"Donald Stewart, Maurice Ogston, and Edward Coffin were executed on the
+16th of August, 1837, at San Josef Barracks. Nothing seemed to have been
+neglected which could render the execution solemn and impressive; the
+scenery and the weather gave additional awe to the melancholy
+proceedings. Fronting the little eminence where the prisoners were shot
+was the scene where their ill-concerted mutiny commenced. To the right
+stood the long range of building on which they had expended much of
+their ammunition for the purpose of destroying their officers. The rest
+of the panorama was made up of an immense view of forest below them, and
+upright masses of mountains above them. Over these, heavy bodies of mist
+were slowly sailing, giving a sombre appearance to the primeval woods
+which, in general, covered both mountains and plains. The atmosphere
+indicated an inter-tropical morning during the rainy season, and the sun
+shone resplendently between dense columns of clouds.
+
+"At half-past seven o'clock the condemned men asked to be allowed to eat
+a hearty meal, as they said persons about to be executed in Guinea were
+always indulged with a good repast. It is remarkable that these unhappy
+creatures ate most voraciously, even while they were being brought out
+of their cell for execution.
+
+"A little before the mournful procession commenced, the condemned men
+were dressed from head to foot in white habiliments trimmed with black;
+their arms were bound with cords. This is not usual in military
+executions, but was deemed necessary on the present occasion. An attempt
+to escape on the part of the condemned would have been productive of
+much confusion, and was properly guarded against.
+
+"The condemned men displayed no unmanly fear. On the contrary, they
+steadily kept step to the Dead March which the band played; yet the
+certainty of death threw a cadaverous and ghastly hue over their black
+features, while their singular and appropriate costume, and the three
+coffins being borne before them, altogether rendered it a frightful
+picture; hence it was not to be wondered at that two European soldiers
+fainted.
+
+"The mutineers marched abreast. The tall form and horrid looks of Daaga
+were almost appalling. The looks of Ogston were sullen, calm, and
+determined; those of Coffin seemed to indicate resignation.
+
+"At eight o'clock they arrived at the spot where three graves were dug;
+here their coffins were deposited. The condemned men were made to face
+to westward; three sides of a hollow square were formed, flanked on one
+side by a detachment of the 89th Regiment and a party of artillery,
+while the recruits, many of whom shared the guilt of the culprits, were
+appropriately placed in the line opposite them. The firing party were a
+little in advance of the recruits.
+
+"The sentence of the courts-martial and other necessary documents having
+been read by the fort adjutant, Mr. Meehan, the chaplain of the forces,
+read some prayers appropriated for these melancholy occasions. The
+clergyman then shook hands with the three men about to be sent into
+another state of existence. Daaga and Ogston coolly gave their hands;
+Coffin wrang the chaplain's hand affectionately, saying, in tolerable
+English, 'I am now done with the world.'
+
+"The arms of the condemned men, as has been before stated, were bound,
+but in such a manner as to allow them to bring their hands to their
+heads. Their nightcaps were drawn over their eyes. Coffin allowed his to
+remain, but Ogston and Daaga pushed theirs up again. The former did this
+calmly; the latter showed great wrath, seeming to think himself
+insulted; and his deep, metallic voice sounded in anger above that of
+the provost-marshal, as the latter gave the words, 'Ready! present!' But
+at this instant his vociferous daring forsook him. As the men levelled
+their muskets at him, with inconceivable rapidity he sprang bodily
+round, still preserving his squatting posture, and received the fire
+from behind; while the less noisy, but more brave, Ogston, looked the
+firing-party full in the face as they discharged their fatal volley.
+
+"In one instant all three fell dead, almost all the balls of the firing
+party having taken effect.[53] The savage appearance and manner of Daaga
+excited awe. Admiration was felt for the calm bravery of Ogston, while
+Edward Coffin's fate excited commiseration.
+
+"There were many spectators of this dreadful scene, and amongst others a
+great concourse of negroes. Most of these expressed their hopes that
+after this terrible example the recruits would make good soldiers."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The foregoing account is identical with that in the regimental records,
+with the exception that the Yorubas are not in the latter credited with
+so large a share in the mutiny. According to Colonel Bush's account, the
+greater majority of the mutineers were Popos, Congos, and Eboes; the
+Yorubas who took part in it being very few in number. On the other hand,
+both Sergeant Merry and Corporal Plague, who defended the officers'
+quarters against the recruits, were Yorubas.
+
+It is, perhaps, needless to add, that after this no more wholesale
+draftings of slaves into the regiment took place.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 46: Now spelt Popos.]
+
+[Footnote 47: The Yorubas are a warlike Mohammedan tribe living in and
+around Lagos. The Houssa Constabulary is largely recruited from them.]
+
+[Footnote 48: This is the manner in which West African savages usually
+fire, and it is dictated by motives of sound prudence, for the
+Birmingham muskets with which they are supplied by British traders are
+so unsafe (the barrel not uncommonly being made of old iron piping), and
+the charges of powder used are so immense, that the bursting of a piece
+is looked upon as an ordinary occurrence; and when firing they like to
+keep their muskets as far removed from their bodies as possible. The
+majority of the mutineers fired in this manner, because, having been
+less than three weeks in the regiment, they had not yet been drilled
+with arms.]
+
+[Footnote 49: All young ensigns just arrived from England to join the
+regiment.]
+
+[Footnote 50: Sergeant-Major D. Cantrell. He had been the first to give
+the alarm.]
+
+[Footnote 51: Eleven miles distant from San Josef.]
+
+[Footnote 52: Torrens was sentenced to death, but, at the intercession
+of Colonel Bush, the sentence was commuted to imprisonment for life.]
+
+[Footnote 53: The firing party was furnished by the 1st West India
+Regiment.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+THE PIRARA EXPEDITION, 1842--CHANGES IN THE WEST AFRICAN GARRISONS--THE
+APPOLLONIA EXPEDITION, 1848.
+
+
+On the 7th of December, 1837, the head-quarters of the 1st West India
+Regiment embarked at Trinidad for St. Lucia, leaving one company at St.
+James' in the former island; and, after a detention of ten days in
+quarantine at Pigeon Island, landed on the 24th of December at Gros
+Islet, St. Lucia, and occupied Morne Fortune Barracks and Fort. The
+detachments were stationed in Tobago, Demerara, and St. Vincent.
+
+In the early part of the year 1839, the strength of the regiment being
+very much above its establishment, owing to the large drafts of recruits
+from Sierra Leone, Lieutenant-General Sir S.F. Whittingham issued an
+order, dated February 1st, authorising an augmentation to twelve
+companies. On the 1st of July of the same year the regiment was further
+increased to thirteen companies, it being notified at the same time that
+it was to be considered only a temporary arrangement, as the surplus
+over 1000 men were eventually to form another corps.
+
+On December 7th, 1839, the head-quarters of the regiment proceeded from
+St. Lucia to Demerara, to relieve the 76th Regiment, which was suffering
+heavily from the prevailing epidemic of yellow fever, arriving at the
+latter colony, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Capadose, on
+December 13th. The distribution of the regiment was then: Head-quarters
+and 2 companies at Demerara, 3 companies at Barbados, 1 at Trinidad, 1
+at Tobago, 1 at St. Lucia, 1 at St. Vincent, 1 at Grenada, 1 at
+Dominica, and 1 at Antigua.
+
+By Horse Guards order of the 1st of July, 1840, the Royal African Corps
+and the three supernumerary companies of the 1st West India Regiment
+were formed into one corps, and designated the 3rd West India Regiment;
+the 1st West India Regiment remaining at the ordinary establishment of
+ten companies.
+
+New colours were presented to the regiment at Demerara on May 24th,
+1841.
+
+In September and October of the same year a violent epidemic of yellow
+fever broke out in Demerara, and the mortality amongst the men of the
+52nd Regiment was so alarming that that corps was moved to Berbice, and
+the entire duties of the garrison fell upon the 1st West India Regiment.
+The whole of the officers of the 52nd Regiment occupying the west wing
+of the Georgetown Barracks fell victims to this dreadful scourge, as
+did Captain French and Lieutenants de Winton and Archdale of the 1st
+West India Regiment.
+
+On the 11th of January, 1842, a detachment of the regiment, consisting
+of two lieutenants (Bingham and Wieburg), two sergeants and twenty-seven
+rank and file, left Georgetown, Demerara, by direction of the
+Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies (Lord John Russell), to
+proceed to Pirara, on the south-western frontier of British Guiana, and
+expel a party of Brazilians who had for some time encroached on British
+territory. The country through which the party had to pass was
+unexplored and almost unknown, and the duties were most arduous. It was
+intended to reach Pirara by ascending the Essequibo and Rypumani Rivers,
+and, to effect this, a particular description of boat, locally called
+_corials_, had to be built, each capable of holding eight men, including
+the Indians who paddled. During the journey seventy-three rapids or
+falls were crossed, in most instances the _corials_ being unladen and
+the stores carried above the falls; and it was not until February 12th
+that Lieutenant Bingham's party reached a point on the Rypumani, eleven
+miles from Pirara. Next day they took possession of the village of
+Pirara, which they found occupied by a detachment of Brazilian troops
+who had been quietly sent over the border. Having selected and fortified
+a position, and raised temporary shelter for his men, Lieutenant
+Bingham--as the Brazilian commander declined to withdraw--despatched
+Lieutenant Bush, 1st West India Regiment, who had accompanied the party
+as a volunteer, to Georgetown for further instructions. That officer
+arrived there on March 11th, and on April 19th he again started with a
+small reinforcement under Ensign Stewart. This second party reached
+Pirara on May 21st, and found the detachment all well, but half-starved,
+as the Brazilians refused to sell them anything, and the stores had been
+some time exhausted. However, on the arrival of the reinforcement the
+Brazilian troops considered it advisable to withdraw across the
+frontier; and, with the exception of a few occasional night forays made
+by half-breeds and Indians in the pay of the Brazilians, the detachment
+met with no further opposition.
+
+In 1843 it was decided to make an alteration in the system under which
+the West Coast of Africa was continuously garrisoned by the 3rd West
+India Regiment, and to remove that corps to the West Indies. The West
+African garrisons were to be composed of two companies from each of the
+three West India regiments; and, in accordance with this scheme, two
+companies of the 1st West India Regiment, under Captain L.S. O'Connor,
+embarked at Barbados for Sierra Leone on March 22nd, 1843, arriving at
+the latter place in the month of May of the same year. Early in 1844 the
+3rd West India Regiment left West Africa for the Bahamas, and the two
+companies of the 1st West India Regiment, with one of the 3rd West India
+Regiment, composed the garrison of Sierra Leone, while that of the
+Gambia consisted of two companies of the 2nd West India Regiment and
+one of the 3rd. This arrangement was almost at once upset by the
+necessity of furnishing a garrison for the Gold Coast, over which the
+Crown had, in 1843, resumed jurisdiction, as it was suspected that the
+Government of the merchants, which had been established at Cape Coast
+Castle since 1831, connived at the maintenance of the slave trade; and,
+in January, 1844, one captain, two subalterns, and 100 men of the 1st
+West India Regiment left Sierra Leone for the Gold Coast.
+
+In the same year, two companies of the regiment, under the command of
+Captain Robeson, proceeded from Demerara to Jamaica, disembarking there
+on June 1st. This was the first occasion on which any portion of the
+corps was stationed in that island.
+
+On the 25th of February, 1845, the head-quarters, with the Grenadier and
+No. 8 Companies, embarked at Demerara in the _Princess Royal_ transport,
+and sailed for Jamaica, to relieve the head-quarters of the 2nd West
+India Regiment ordered to Nassau, disembarking at Port Royal on March
+6th. The distribution of the regiment was then as follows: The
+Grenadier, No. 1, No. 8, and the Light Company in Jamaica,[54] No. 5 at
+Demerara, No. 2 at Trinidad, No. 3 at Dominica, No. 6 at Grenada, No. 4
+at Sierra Leone, and No. 7 at Cape Coast Castle. During the last six
+months of this year (1845) over 300 recruits joined the head-quarters
+from West Africa.
+
+In 1846, No. 5 Company was removed from Demerara to Tobago, and the
+detachments at Dominica and Grenada rejoined head-quarters in Jamaica,
+where No. 2 and No. 5 Companies also rejoined on the 16th of December,
+1847.[55]
+
+In the beginning of the year 1848, the King of Appollonia, a state on
+the western frontier of the Gold Coast Colony, closed the roads leading
+to Cape Coast Castle, stopped all trade, and maltreated several British
+subjects. Messengers were sent to him by the Lieutenant-Governor
+demanding explanation and redress, with no other result than the
+detention and imprisonment of the messengers; and matters were at last
+brought to a crisis by the murder of the French Commandant of Assinee
+and his boat's crew, the pillaging of Dutch canoes at Axim, and the
+capture of some Dutch subjects.
+
+The only force Mr. Winniett, the Lieutenant-Governor of the Gold Coast,
+had at his disposal was No. 7 Company of the 1st West India Regiment,
+then commanded by Lieutenant E.H. Bingham; but, with the assistance of
+some influential merchants, he succeeded in raising an expeditionary
+force of from 4000 to 5000 natives. On the 24th of March, 1848, the
+Lieutenant-Governor marched, with half the native levies and the company
+of the 1st West India Regiment, from Cape Coast Castle to the then Dutch
+settlement of Axim, 120 miles distant from Cape Coast and about twenty
+miles from Atemboo, or Attaambu, the King of Appollonia's chief town and
+residence. By the 3rd of April the whole force was concentrated at Axim,
+and on the 6th, at 5 a.m., it moved onwards towards Appollonia.
+
+The country consisting of impenetrable forest, the force had to march
+from Axim to Appollonia along the sandy beach; and there were the mouths
+of two considerable rivers to be crossed. The first river, the Ancobra,
+was reached at 6 a.m.; and, although a very heavy sea was breaking on
+the bar, the passage of the stream was commenced in canoes, which had
+been brought from Axim for that purpose. The first detachment consisted
+of the native allies, and, as soon as the canoes gained mid-stream,
+several hundred armed Appollonians appeared on the further bank, and
+opened fire on them as they came within range. Several natives were
+struck, and three of the canoes being upset the remainder returned to
+the bank they had just left.
+
+It being found impracticable to induce the native auxiliaries to make a
+further attempt to force the passage, this duty devolved upon the
+company of the 1st West India Regiment, which the Lieutenant-Governor
+had originally intended holding in reserve; and, under cover of a fire
+from two rocket-troughs, it crossed the river in the canoes, driving the
+Appollonians, in spite of a smart resistance, into the bush. The
+remainder of the force then passed over, several natives being drowned
+in the surf during the passage; and at 10 a.m. they pushed on, reaching
+the Appollonian village of Asantah about 1 p.m. This place was found to
+be deserted, and here the force encamped for the night.
+
+Next morning at daybreak a further advance was made, and about 6 a.m.
+the Abmoussa River--or, rather, Lagoon--was reached. A very heavy and
+dangerous surf was breaking on the bar, and the dense bush on the
+further bank, which grew close down to the water's edge, was observed to
+be full of armed men.
+
+The company of the 1st West India Regiment was again called upon to lead
+the way, and the men, embarking in the canoes, paddled out into the
+breakers. A continued and furious fusillade was at once opened by the
+concealed enemy upon the men, who were unable to reply, as their
+attention was entirely occupied in keeping the canoes from capsizing.
+Fortunately, the Appollonians fired wildly, and their powder was of bad
+quality; for, although almost every man of the detachment was struck by
+slugs or fragments of iron, only eleven were wounded, and those
+slightly. A canoe was, however, unhappily upset, and two men beaten
+against the rocks and drowned. The company formed up on landing, and
+advanced steadily through the bush against the enemy, who offered but a
+feeble resistance and soon retired altogether. One man was shot dead
+while stepping ashore, an ambushed native firing at him at the distance
+of a few feet only. The native allies now passed over, and the march was
+continued. Parties of the enemy were observed hovering round the flanks,
+but no attack was made, and at 3 p.m. a halt was ordered at the village
+of Barcoo.
+
+The force was here divided into two parts, of which one, consisting
+entirely of natives, was to move through the bush and prevent the king
+escaping inland; while the other, consisting of the company of the 1st
+West India Regiment with the remainder of the native allies, was to
+march along the beach and attack the town in front. This movement would
+probably have been successful, had the division of natives performed the
+duty allotted to them; but, being fired upon by some ambushed
+Appollonians, they refused to proceed further, and when the company of
+the 1st West India Regiment reached Atemboo, they found it entirely
+deserted.
+
+The success which had so far attended the expedition, however, produced
+such an effect upon the native mind that, on March 9th, the principal
+chiefs of Appollonia came in to Atemboo to make submission; and, as it
+was reported that the king was in hiding in the immediate neighbourhood,
+parties were sent out in search of him. On the 18th his wives and family
+were captured to the westward, near the old fort, and the day following,
+a party of the 1st West India Regiment brought in a body of 121 men, all
+heavily manacled with irons weighing from fifty to ninety pounds, and
+who had been intended to be sacrificed at an approaching "custom." Two
+of these men thus unexpectedly saved from a horrible death volunteered
+to point out where the king was concealed, and some men of the regiment
+being sent out under their guidance, succeeded in capturing him in his
+hiding-place, in the midst of a mangrove swamp.
+
+The object of the expedition being accomplished by the capture of the
+king, the force moved back to Axim, on the 21st of March, and, on the
+evening of the same day, the Lieutenant-Governor, with the captive king
+and the company of the 1st West India Regiment, embarked on board the
+merchant brig _Governor_, arriving at Cape Coast Castle on the 24th.
+
+Lieutenant-Governor Winniett in his despatch says: "I cannot speak too
+highly of the detachment of the 1st West India Regiment. During its
+march of more than 120 miles, sometimes through very bad roads, and
+under the powerful rays of the sun, the crossing of five rivers, and
+other circumstances of disadvantage, no complaints were heard, neither
+was a man seen in a state of intoxication during the campaign. Mr.
+Bingham, the officer commanding the detachment, was most active in
+executing all orders entrusted to his care, and I have great pleasure in
+bringing him under your Lordship's notice."
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 54: The companies in Jamaica were detached thus: No. 1, No. 8,
+and Grenadier Company at Up Park Camp. The Light Company between Port
+Antonio and Montego Bay.]
+
+[Footnote 55: The distribution in Jamaica then was:
+
+    Grenadier, Light, No. 2,   } at Up Park Camp.
+      and No. 5 Companies      }
+                No. 1, at Spanish Town.
+                No. 8, at Port Royal.
+                No. 3, at Falmouth       }   To occupy posts vacated
+                No. 6, at Lucea          }     by the 38th Regiment.
+
+]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+INDIAN DISTURBANCES IN HONDURAS, 1848-9--THE ESCORT TO COOMASSIE,
+1848--THE SHERBRO EXPEDITION, 1849--ESCORT TO RIO NUNEZ, 1850.
+
+
+While No. 7 Company had thus been engaged on the Gold Coast, the
+quinquennial relief for the West African garrisons had sailed from the
+West Indies, No. 2 and No. 5 Companies, 1st West India Regiment, having
+embarked at Jamaica on February 21st, 1848. They arrived at Sierra Leone
+in April, and No. 5 Company being there landed to relieve No. 4, No. 2
+proceeded to Cape Coast Castle to relieve No. 7. The two relieved
+companies rejoined the head-quarters at Jamaica on July 2nd, 1848. No. 8
+Company having been sent to Nassau in February, and the light company in
+July, while No. 1 had been despatched to Honduras in May, the
+distribution of the regiment in August, 1848, was as follows: 2
+companies in West Africa, 2 at Nassau, 1 in Honduras, and 5 in Jamaica.
+
+No. 1 Company had been sent to Honduras in reply to an urgent appeal for
+a reinforcement from the Honduras Government, that colony being
+threatened with the horrors of an Indian war. In 1847 a war broke out
+between the Yucatecans and the Indians, and caused much anxiety to the
+British colony, whose strict neutrality satisfied neither of the
+contending parties. The Yucatecans, being driven out of the southern
+portion of Yucatan, took refuge in our territory, and raids and
+reprisals were frequent between them and the Santa Cruz Indians. In 1848
+the town of Bacalar, situated on the shores of a lake, about twenty
+miles from the northern frontier of British Honduras, was captured by
+the Indians, and the fugitives, streaming into the colony, spread alarm
+amongst the colonists. It was at this time that reinforcements were
+applied for, and No. 1 Company, under Major Luke Smyth O'Connor,
+despatched from Jamaica.
+
+On arriving at Belize the company was at once moved up to the Hondo, and
+towards the end of May a portion of it proceeded on escort duty with a
+British commissioner to Bacalar to endeavour to arrange a peace. That
+town had been the scene of the most frightful atrocities, and the
+streets were found strewn with the dead bodies of men, women, and
+children. Negotiations failing, the escort returned to the Hondo.
+
+Collisions now became frequent between the Yucatecans and the Indians,
+and our northern border became a rallying point for both sides. The
+small British force was continually harassed by alarms and forced
+marches taken to prevent violation of British territory, until towards
+the close of 1848, it being rumoured that the Indians intended to cross
+the Hondo and sack Belize, it was withdrawn from the north for the
+protection of that town. Additional reinforcements were now asked for,
+and on March 29th, 1849, No. 4 Company, under Captain Meehan, embarked
+at Jamaica for Honduras.
+
+In January, 1849, No. 1 Company had again advanced to the Hondo, and
+were within a few miles of Chac Creek on that river, when the sanguinary
+struggle between the Yucatecans and Indians took place. Hearing the
+sound of firing the troops marched to the spot, and finding the Indians
+employed in roasting the dead bodies of the defeated Yucatecans, were
+only with the utmost difficulty restrained from attacking them. But the
+most strict orders had been given for the preservation of British
+neutrality, and nothing could be done. Indeed, the Indians were
+themselves well aware of the advantages which they derived from our
+neutrality, and were exceedingly careful not to come into contact with
+the British; even going so far as on one occasion to shoot a chief and
+flog six men, who had been accused of committing an outrage across the
+Hondo.
+
+In March, 1849, Major O'Connor visited Bacalar to endeavour to make
+peace, but without success; and the two companies of the regiment
+remained stationed on the Hondo, amid the same scenes of horror, until
+February, 1852, when they rejoined head-quarters at Jamaica.
+
+To return to the companies in West Africa. In September, 1848, Mr.
+Winniett, the Lieutenant-Governor of the Gold Coast, received
+instructions from the Secretary of State for the Colonies to proceed on
+a mission to Coomassie, the capital of the Ashanti kingdom, for the
+purpose of establishing friendly relations between Great Britain and
+that power. Captain Powell, 1st West India Regiment, was then in command
+of No. 2 Company, stationed at Cape Coast Castle, and he, with
+forty-eight men of the regiment, accompanied the Lieutenant-Governor as
+an escort.
+
+The mission left Cape Coast Castle on the 28th of September, 1848,
+crossed the River Prah on October 4th, and on the 8th reached the
+village of Karsi, about two miles from Coomassie. There the party halted
+to prepare for the entry into the capital, and, at noon, the King's
+messengers having informed them that everything was in readiness for
+their reception, they proceeded towards Coomassie.
+
+Captain Powell says: "At a distance of about a mile from the town, a
+party of messengers with gold-handled swords of office, arrived with the
+king's compliments. After halting for a short time, we proceeded to the
+entrance of the first street, and then formed in order of procession,
+the escort leading. Presently a party of the king's linguists, with four
+large state umbrellas, ensigns of chieftainship, came up to request us
+to halt for a few minutes under the shade of a large banyan tree in the
+street, to give the king a little more time to prepare to receive us.
+After a brief delay of about twenty minutes, during which a large party
+of the king's soldiers fired a salute about a hundred yards distant from
+us, we moved on to the market-place, where the king and his chiefs were
+seated under their large umbrellas, according to the custom of the
+country on the reception of strangers of distinction. They, with their
+numerous captains and attendants occupied three sides of a large square,
+and formed a continuous line about 600 yards in length, and about ten
+yards in depth. After we had passed along about three-fourths of the
+line, we found the king surrounded by about twenty officers of his
+household, and a large number of messengers with their gold-handled
+swords and canes of office. Several very large umbrellas, consisting of
+silk velvet of different colours, shaded him and his suite from the sun.
+These umbrellas were surmounted by rude images, representing birds and
+beasts, overlaid with gold; the king's chair was richly decorated with
+gold; and the display of golden ornaments about his own person and those
+of his suite was most magnificent. The lumps of gold adorning the wrists
+of the King's attendants, and many of the principal chiefs, were so
+large that they must have been quite fatiguing to the wearers. We
+occupied about an hour in moving in procession from the banyan tree,
+where we had rested on entering the town, to the end of the line
+prepared for our reception; after which we proceeded to an open space
+at some distance from the market-place, and there took our seats. At
+3.15 p.m. the chiefs commenced moving in procession before us, and this
+lasted until 6 p.m. Those whom we had first saluted in the market-place
+passed us first. Each chief was preceded by his band of rude music,
+consisting chiefly of drums and horns, followed by a body of soldiers
+under arms, and shaded by a large umbrella. The king was preceded by
+many of the officers of his household, and his messengers with the
+gold-handled swords, etc. etc. When he came opposite the governor, and
+received our military salute, he stopped, and approaching him took him
+cordially by the hand. After the king, other chiefs, and a large body of
+troops, passed in due order; and at 6 p.m. the ceremony closed."
+
+At 9.30 a.m. on October 26th, 1848, the mission left Coomassie on its
+return journey to the coast, and arrived at Cape Coast Castle on
+November 4th. This was the first occasion on which a British Governor,
+or a body of regular troops, had ever visited Coomassie.
+
+In March, 1849, a further change took place in the distribution of the
+regiment in the West Indies, No. 7 Company, under Captain R. Hughes,
+proceeding to Nassau from Jamaica. There were thus the head-quarters and
+3 companies in Jamaica, 3 in Nassau, 2 in Honduras, and 2 in West
+Africa.
+
+In June, 1849; the Acting Governor of Sierra Leone found that the state
+of affairs in Sherbro, a low-lying tract of country some seventy-five
+miles to the southward of Sierra Leone, imperatively called upon the
+British to take steps for putting an end to the war which for a long
+time had been carried on between the rival chiefs of the Caulker family,
+and had utterly paralysed trade. H.M.S. _Alert_ and _Adelaide_ were to
+be employed, but as a military force was required to proceed with the
+naval one, the under-mentioned force embarked in the Colonial steamer
+_Pluto_ on the 18th of June: Captain Grange, Lieutenant Jones, and 45
+men of the 1st West India Regiment, and 44 men of the 3rd West India
+Regiment. The expedition arrived at Yawrey Bay, at the mouth of the
+Cockboro River, on the 19th of June, when a stockaded fort was shelled
+and destroyed by the _Adelaide_. The expedition then proceeded to
+Bendoo, and after some delay, owing to the difficulty in inducing the
+chiefs to come in, returned to Yawrey Bay on the 29th, where
+negotiations were held and a treaty of peace between the Government and
+rival chiefs signed. The detachments rejoined at Freetown, Sierra Leone,
+on July 7th.
+
+On the 29th of November, 1849, Lieutenant Tunstall and 34 men of No. 2
+Company of the 1st West India Regiment, left Cape Coast Castle and
+proceeded to Appollonia in canoes, in aid of the civil power. After an
+absence of three weeks, during which they endured great hardships from
+exposure and fatigue, they rejoined their detachment at Cape Coast.
+
+In the beginning of the year 1850, the Rio Nunez was in such a disturbed
+state as to necessitate the Governor of Sierra Leone taking steps for
+the protection of British subjects there. Some influential chiefs of the
+river having also besought the intervention of the Government to restore
+peace, commissioners were appointed, and as war was actually being
+carried on at the time, a military force was detailed to accompany them.
+This force consisted of Lieutenant Searle and 33 men of the 1st West
+India Regiment and Captain Prendergast and 34 men of the 3rd West India
+Regiment, and it embarked in H.M.S. _Teazer_ on the 22nd of February,
+1850. The _Teazer_ arrived at the Rio Nunez on the 24th, and proceeded
+up the river to Ropass, a town some distance up the stream, where the
+commissioners landed with the escort. A "palaver" was held at this place
+on March 1st, the rival chieftains being attended by large bodies of
+armed men, but no satisfactory arrangement was arrived at, and next day
+the commissioners and troops proceeded to Walkariah, a town higher up
+the river. Here matters were finally amicably settled, and the party
+returned to Sierra Leone on March 9th.
+
+In the West Indies there had been little change since 1849, except that
+on the 13th of February, 1851, the head-quarters and two companies were
+removed from Up Park Camp to Spanish Town; and a detachment consisting
+of half a company, under Ensign Cave, was sent to Turk's Island in
+December, 1851. This latter rejoined head-quarters in Jamaica in
+January, 1852; and in February, No. 1 and No. 4 Companies, under Captain
+Robeson, rejoined from Honduras. In the same year, however, they again
+went on detachment: No. 1, under Captain Grange, to St. Christopher's,
+and No. 4, under Lieutenant Imes, to Barbados. The distribution of the
+regiment in September, 1852, was thus: the Grenadier, No. 3 and No. 6
+Companies, at Jamaica; the Light, No. 7 and No. 8 Companies, at Nassau,
+No. 4 at St. Christopher's, No. 1 at Barbados, No. 5 at Sierra Leone,
+and No. 2 at Cape Coast Castle.
+
+In February, 1852, Major L. Smyth O'Connor, 1st West India Regiment, had
+arrived at Sierra Leone and assumed command of the troops in West
+Africa, and finding in May that the company on the Gold Coast was
+reduced by deaths to only 50 rank and file, he recommended that it
+should be recalled to Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast Corps, then almost
+completed, being quite sufficient for the garrison of the Gold Coast.
+
+In September, 1852, Major O'Connor was appointed Governor of the Gambia,
+and as by Horse Guards letter of September 20th, 1852, "it was
+considered expedient that he should continue invested with the command
+of the troops on the West Coast of Africa, and move the head-quarters
+to the Gambia," this was done in October, 1852.
+
+The War Office having approved of Major O'Connor's recommendation, No. 2
+Company, 50 strong, arrived at Sierra Leone from Cape Coast Castle on
+March 20th, 1853.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+THE STORMING OF SABBAJEE, 1853--THE RELIEF OF CHRISTIANSBORG, 1854.
+
+
+On March 23rd, 1853, No. 3 and No. 6 Companies, under Captain A.W.
+Murray and Lieutenant Upton, embarked at Port Royal, Jamaica, in the
+troopship _Resistance_, for the relief of the West African garrisons. On
+May 17th, the _Resistance_ arrived at the Gambia with four out of the
+six companies forming the relief for the detachments of the three West
+India regiments, and reinforcements being urgently required for the
+suppression of a hostile movement amongst the Mohammedans at Sabbajee,
+they were landed.
+
+On the 25th of May, Lieutenant-Colonel O'Connor prepared to take the
+field with a force of 603 men, consisting of 463 of the 1st, 2nd, and
+3rd West India Regiments, 35 pensioners, and 105 of the Gambia Militia.
+A field battery, consisting of 2 six-pounder field-guns and 2 howitzers,
+was also organised. On the 30th May, the brigade marched from Bathurst
+to Josswung, a distance of eight miles, where a camp was formed; and on
+June 1st, the force advanced to the attack of Sabbajee.[56]
+
+Sabbajee was one of the oldest Marabout towns in Combo, and boasted the
+possession of the largest mosque in that portion of Africa. The town,
+more than a mile in circumference, was surrounded by a strong stockade,
+double ditches, and outward abattis; and the inhabitants, who could
+muster 3000 fighting men, were, from their predatory and warlike habits,
+the dread of the surrounding country.
+
+On approaching the town, a strong body of the enemy was observed
+stationed round the mosque, while the stockade was lined with men. A
+portion of the stockade presented the appearance of having been removed,
+but had in reality only been laid lengthwise, so as to form a very
+formidable obstacle; while a deep trench dug in rear was crowded with
+men, who, in perfect security, could fire upon the advancing British,
+should they fall into the trap which had been laid for them, and attempt
+to carry the town at this point.
+
+The force was drawn up in three divisions: the 1st West India Regiment,
+under Captain A.W. Murray, forming the centre division; the 2nd West
+India Regiment, under Captain Anderson, the right; and the 3rd West
+India Regiment, under Captain Brabazon, the left. At about four hundred
+yards from the stockade the field battery opened fire, and with such
+precision that after a few rounds the roof of the mosque and those of
+the adjacent houses were in flames. Observing the disorder caused
+amongst the enemy by the burning of their sacred building,
+Lieutenant-Colonel O'Connor determined to seize the opportunity, and
+storm.
+
+The right and left divisions extended in skirmishing order, the centre
+remaining in column, and the whole advanced to the assault. The enemy
+kept up a heavy fire from the loop-holes of their stockade, over which
+the green flag was flying; but at the same moment the three divisions,
+which had in advancing formed a crescent, rushed at the stockade at
+three different points, and, clambering over, got at the enemy with the
+bayonet. This was more than they could stand, and abandoning their
+stockade, they fled down the streets and escaped through sally-ports in
+the rear of the town.
+
+A strong body of fanatics, however, still held the mosque, the fire in
+the roof of which they had succeeded in extinguishing, and, amid the
+beating of war-drums and cries of "Allah" from the priests, kept up a
+smart fire upon the troops as they entered the large central square in
+which the mosque stood. To have stormed the building would have involved
+great sacrifice of life; the men, therefore, were directed to occupy the
+houses enclosing the square, and open fire, until the rockets could be
+brought into play.
+
+The second rocket fired whizzed through the roof of the mosque, the
+defenders of which, however, only increased their drumming and shouts of
+defiance, for they were secure in their belief of the local tradition,
+which said that the mosque was impregnable and indestructible. In a very
+few minutes flames began to appear on the roof, and, though the enemy
+worked hard to extinguish it, it rapidly increased, until the mosque was
+untenable. Dozens of the fanatics blew out their brains rather than
+surrender, while others threw themselves out of the windows and
+passages, and rushed sword in hand, in a state of frenzy, upon the
+British. The coolness and steadiness of the troops was, however, more
+than a match for the mad rage of the Mandingoes, who were shot down one
+after another, until the whole of the defenders of the mosque were
+killed or made prisoners. The remainder of the enemy, who fled at the
+storming of the stockade, had taken refuge in the neighbouring woods,
+and, the object of the engagement being accomplished by the capture of
+the town, they were not pursued.
+
+The stockade and mosque being destroyed, the force left Sabbajee on June
+4th, and returned to Josswung, where, by an arrangement with the King of
+Combo, a portion of that kingdom, including the town of Sabbajee, was
+ceded to the British.
+
+The mosque was a singularly strong building, and for a day and a half
+resisted every effort to pull it down, being eventually reduced to
+ruins by blasting the walls with bags of gunpowder. It consisted of a
+large central hall, with walls made of baked clay, three feet in
+thickness, and an external corridor running round the whole
+circumference of the inner apartment. The roof, conical in shape, was
+supported by six masonry pillars.
+
+As the Gambia was still in an unsettled state, Lieutenant-Colonel
+O'Connor deemed it prudent to increase its garrison at the expense of
+that of Sierra Leone. No. 6 Company of the 1st West India Regiment was
+therefore detained at Bathurst, and on June 8th, No. 3 Company, under
+Captain Murray, proceeded in the _Resistance_ to Sierra Leone. On
+arriving at that station, on June 17th, Captain Murray assumed the
+command of the troops.
+
+No. 2 Company embarked at Sierra Leone for Jamaica on June 22nd,
+arriving at Kingston on August 5th. On October 18th the _Resistance_
+returned from the West Indies with the remaining companies destined for
+the quinquennial relief, and No. 5 Company, embarking in her on October
+22nd, reached Jamaica on November 25th. The West African garrisons were
+now as follows: At the Gambia, one company of the 1st West India
+Regiment, two of the 2nd, and one of the 3rd; at Sierra Leone, one of
+the 1st West India Regiment, and one of the 3rd.
+
+In the West Indies the following changes had taken place: Nos. 7 and 8
+Companies had been moved in August from Nassau to Barbados and Dominica
+respectively, and, in July, the light company had proceeded from Nassau
+to Jamaica. In December, 1853, the distribution of the regiment was then
+as follows: 4 companies at Jamaica, 2 at Barbados, 1 at Dominica, 1 at
+St. Christopher's, 1 at Sierra Leone, and 1 at the Gambia.[57]
+
+In September, 1854, the inhabitants of Christiansborg, a Danish
+settlement on the Gold Coast four miles from Accra, which had been
+recently purchased by the British, rose in rebellion against the
+Colonial authorities. The only armed force then on the Gold Coast
+consisted of the Gold Coast Artillery, recruited from amongst the Fanti
+tribes, and this body the rebels blockaded in the Castle of Christiansborg.
+On the outbreak of the rebellion, the Lieutenant-Governor of the Gold
+Coast at once sent to Sierra Leone for assistance; and, on the 12th of
+October, the following detachments embarked at Sierra Leone in H.M.S.
+_Britomart_ and _Ferret_: Lieutenant Strachan and 33 men of the 1st West
+India Regiment, Captain Rookes and 46 men of the 2nd West India
+Regiment, Lieutenant Haneahan and 31 men of the 3rd West India Regiment.
+From the Gambia were also despatched in the Colonial steamer _Dover_, on
+the 24th of October: Ensign Anderson and 25 men of the 1st, Captain
+Mockler and 70 men of the 2nd, and Lieutenant Hill and 23 men of the 3rd
+West India Regiment.
+
+The troops from Sierra Leone and the Gambia arrived at Christiansborg on
+the 27th of October and the 7th of November respectively. Several small
+skirmishes had taken place between the Gold Coast artillery and the
+rebels without either side gaining any material advantage; but, on the
+arrival of the reinforcement from Sierra Leone, the siege was raised,
+and the natives retired inland to some villages on the plain behind
+Christiansborg. There, like all undisciplined bodies, they gradually
+melted away; the chiefs, finding their followers abandoning them, were
+compelled to ask for terms; and directly negotiations were opened, the
+detachments of the three West India regiments re-embarked to return to
+Sierra Leone, sailing from Christiansborg on the 12th of November.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 56: See map.]
+
+[Footnote 57: This year, 1853, appears to have been particularly
+unhealthy in the West Indies, to judge from the following inscription,
+taken from an intramural monument in Kingston Cathedral Church:
+
+TO THE MEMORY OF THE FOLLOWING:
+
+Capt. Robt. Mostyn, 3rd W.I.R., died of yellow fever, at Nassau,
+Bahamas, 23rd July, 1853, aet. 27.
+
+Ensign John Alex. Gordon Pringle, 3rd W.I.R., died of yellow fever at
+Kingston, Jamaica, 31st July, 1853, aet. 21.
+
+Assist.-Surg. Walter William Harris, 1st W.I.R., attached to 3rd W.I.R.,
+died at Up Park Camp, of yellow fever, 4th Aug., 1853, aet. 24.
+
+Lieut. John Maryon Wilson, 3rd W.I.R., died at Up Park Camp, of yellow
+fever, 13th Aug., 1853, aet. 22.
+
+Eliza Chancellor Wilson, wife of the above, died at Up Park Camp, of
+yellow fever, 5th Sept., 1853, aet. 22.
+
+Cath. Elizabeth, wife of Lieut. Wm. Hen. Wilson Hawtayne, 3rd W.I.R.,
+died of yellow fever at Nassau, Bahamas, 9th Aug., 1853, aet. 23.
+
+Asst.-Surg. Gideon Jas. Wm. Griffith, 3rd W.I.R., died of yellow fever
+at Lucia, 26th Aug., 1853, aet. 23.
+
+Also, Selina Maria, wife of Capt. C.S.H. Hingston, 3rd W.I.R., died at
+Up Park Camp, 11th April, 1854, aet. 23.
+
+    Erected by the officers of the 1st and 3rd W.I. Regts.
+
+]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+THE TWO EXPEDITIONS TO MALAGEAH, 1854 AND 1855.
+
+
+The troops that had been despatched from Sierra Leone and the Gambia for
+the relief of Christiansborg, returned to Sierra Leone, in H.M.S.
+_Prometheus_, on the 25th of November, 1854, and in consequence of the
+hostile attitude assumed by the chiefs of the Mellicourie and Scarcies
+Rivers, and the outrages committed by natives on mercantile factories in
+those rivers, the Governor of Sierra Leone decided to detain the
+contingent which had been sent from the Gambia, in order to have a
+sufficient force to overawe the chief of Malageah, the principal
+offender, and compel him to sign a treaty of trade. With this view,
+accordingly, detachments of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd West India Regiments,
+numbering in all 401 officers and men, under the command of Captain
+Rookes, 2nd West India Regiment, embarked in H.M.S. _Prometheus_ and
+_Dover_, on the 2nd of December, and sailed for the Mellicourie River,
+on which the town of Malageah is situated. The officers of the 1st West
+India Regiment who accompanied the expedition were Captain R.D.
+Fletcher, Lieutenant Connell, Lieutenant Strachan, and Ensign Anderson.
+
+On December 4th, the expedition arrived off Malageah, and the
+river-banks having been reconnoitred, Captain Heseltine, of H.M.S.
+_Britomart_, who had been appointed diplomatic agent with powers to
+negotiate, directed a landing to be made. The troops disembarked, and
+meeting with no opposition, advanced on the town, seizing and occupying
+the mosque and the king's house, while a second body took possession of
+all the approaches to the town. By these means, a party of some 200
+chiefs and Marabouts, who filled the mosque, were surrounded.
+
+In the meantime, the 1st Division, under Captain R. D'Oyley Fletcher,
+1st West India Regiment, had proceeded to a creek to the eastward of the
+town, which they ascended in the boats of the _Britomart_, and then
+crossing by bye-paths through the swamp and bush to the back of the
+town, where they dispersed a body of 150 natives armed with rifles and
+muskets, they joined the main body before the mosque.
+
+Negotiations were opened by the diplomatic agent, and continued for
+about half-an-hour; when, as it was noticed that the Marabouts were
+gradually leaving the mosque and all going in one direction, a
+reconnoitring party of ten men, under Lieutenant F.J. Connell, 1st West
+India Regiment, was sent to the northern side of the town. Lieutenant
+Connell, on reaching the town gate, found from 1800 to 2000 natives
+armed with fire-arms, spears, bows and arrows, formed in a semicircle,
+from eight to ten deep, facing the small picket that had been there
+posted. The whole of the main body, with the seamen and marines, was at
+once ordered up, and took up a position on the plateau to the north of
+the town, facing the natives, while a detached party occupied the walls
+and gates. At first there was a disposition on the part of the natives
+to resist this movement, but it was so rapidly executed that they were
+taken by surprise, and, losing cohesion, they soon after gradually
+dispersed.
+
+The king, Bamba Mima Lahi, now signified his desire to come to terms,
+promised to comply with all demands, and to pay one thousand dollars as
+a fine for his offences. The force accordingly re-embarked, the object
+of the expedition having been effected without bloodshed, and returned
+to Sierra Leone on December 6th. The following letter may be of
+interest:
+
+                                  "H.M.S. BRITOMART,
+                                  "_Sierra Leone, December 6th, 1854._
+
+    "SIR,
+
+    "In bringing back the troops that have been embarked on board the
+    _Prometheus_ and landed at Malageah, and who, whilst afloat, have
+    been under my command, I beg to bear testimony to their quiet,
+    orderly, and zealous conduct, both afloat and ashore, where, had it
+    not been for the above good qualities, collision would have been
+    inevitable.
+
+    "To Captains Rookes, Mockler, and Fletcher, and the officers of the
+    force, I beg to return my sincere thanks for their zealous and
+    active co-operation; further comment on my part would be
+    presumptuous.
+
+                                 "A. HESELTINE,
+                                    "Commander and Senior Naval Officer.
+
+    "Lieutenant-Colonel Foster,
+      "Commanding troops."
+
+On the 14th of December, the Gambia contingent sailed for the Gambia in
+the Colonial steamer _Dover_, and the garrison of Sierra Leone remained
+at its ordinary strength of three companies.
+
+In May, 1855, as the King of Malageah had not observed the stipulations
+of the treaty that had been forced upon him, and had not paid the fine
+of one thousand dollars, the Acting Governor of Sierra Leone, a
+gentleman of colour, determined to take steps for his punishment. On the
+21st of May, accordingly, he sent for Captain R. D'Oyley Fletcher, 1st
+West India Regiment, who was then in command of the troops, and informed
+him that it was his intention to send a force of 150 men, that very day,
+to burn the town of Malageah, and, if possible, capture the king. He
+added that the troops would proceed in H.M.S. _Teazer_, then lying in
+the harbour.
+
+Captain Fletcher, in reply, said that he could not approve of the
+proposed arrangements; that since a force of 400 men had been deemed
+necessary to extract a promise from the king, it was, to say the least,
+injudicious to endeavour to force him to fulfil that promise with only
+150 men. He stated that at the last expedition more than 2000 armed
+natives had been seen, and he considered it inadvisable to proceed to
+actual hostilities without a force proportionate to the duty to be
+performed. He further suggested that the expedition should be delayed
+for two or three days, so that the detachments of the 2nd West India
+Regiment might be brought in from Waterloo and the Banana Islands, and
+the whole garrison employed on the duty. The Acting Governor overruled
+these objections, insinuated that Captain Fletcher was actuated by fears
+for his personal safety, and finally peremptorily ordered the force he
+had mentioned to embark.
+
+In consequence, on the evening of May 21st, Captain Fletcher, Lieutenant
+Strachan, Lieutenant Wylie, and 69 men of the 1st West India Regiment,
+with Lieutenants Keir and Beazley and 79 men of the 3rd West India
+Regiment, embarked on board the _Teazer_. Lieutenant Vincent, 2nd West
+India Regiment, was attached to the 1st for duty, and
+Deputy-Assistant-Commissary-General Frith and Surgeons Marchant and
+Bradshaw accompanied the troops.
+
+The _Teazer_ arrived off Benty Point, at the mouth of the Mellicourie
+River, on the morning of May 22nd, and, after a delay of a few hours, in
+consequence of the difficulty in crossing the bar, the expedition
+arrived off Malageah.
+
+Lieutenant-Commander Nicolas, of the _Teazer_, and Mr. Dillet, the
+Acting Governor's private secretary, had been appointed commissioners,
+and, by their direction, the troops disembarked about 10 a.m. A flag of
+truce was flying on the king's house, and, as he showed a disposition to
+come to terms, the commissioners determined to depart from their
+instructions, and make an attempt to settle the affair without having
+recourse to force. They accordingly informed the king that if he would
+pay the fine his town would be spared; and they granted him one hour for
+this purpose, warning him that if at the expiration of that time the
+money was not forthcoming, the town would be shelled.
+
+Two hours having passed without any communication having been received
+from the king, the _Teazer_ at noon opened fire, and the troops advanced
+on the town, covering their flanks with skirmishers. This advance would
+have been unnecessary had the _Teazer_ been supplied with rockets; but
+there being none, the men were obliged to set fire to the houses. It
+would be difficult to imagine a worse-planned expedition.
+
+The troops gained the central square of the town, and, in compliance
+with the written instructions, set fire to the mosque, the king's house,
+and other principal buildings; and ultimately the whole town appeared to
+be in flames. The left division, under Lieutenant Vincent, was exposed
+to a desultory fire, during the whole of these operations, from the
+enemy concealed in the bush; and large numbers of natives were observed
+gathering on the plateau to the north of the town. As it seemed
+impossible that any portion of the town could escape the conflagration,
+and as the heat from the burning buildings was intense, the troops
+retired to the river bank, and embarked in the _Teazer's_ boats.
+Scarcely had the seamen dipped their oars into the water, to pull out
+into the stream, than a volley was poured into the boats from the dense
+bush which grew close down to the edge of the water; and the ambushed
+enemy then commenced firing rapidly, but fortunately with so little
+precision that the troops succeeded in reaching mid-stream with a loss
+of only five wounded.
+
+The boats continued their course to the ship, and the troops
+re-embarked. The town was still in flames, but they were gradually
+subsiding, and before nightfall were entirely extinguished, leaving a
+considerable portion of the town still unconsumed. The commissioners,
+upon this, decided, as it was too late to land again that day, to drop
+down the river as far as Benty Point for the night, and to return next
+morning to complete the work of destruction. Captain Fletcher then
+objected to any second landing being made, pointing out that the whole
+country was now alarmed, and that the people of Malageah would be
+reinforced by those of Fouricariah (a populous town further up the
+river), and that quite enough had been done to punish the king. The
+commissioners agreed with his views, but decided that their orders were
+so peremptory that they could not, without running the risk of censure,
+leave the river until the entire town had been destroyed.
+
+At 5.30 a.m. on May 23rd, the _Teazer_ left Benty Point, and steaming up
+the river, anchored off Malageah, in which the ruins were still
+smouldering. The vessel was so ill-provided with munitions of war that
+hardly any shell remained from the previous day. What little there was,
+was thrown amongst the houses to endeavour to fire them, and the attempt
+being unsuccessful, it became necessary to land the men. The dense bush
+around the town having been well searched with grape and canister to
+clear it of any lurking enemy, the troops, 135 in number, were landed on
+the bank of the mangrove creek running inland towards the town, and no
+enemy appearing, they advanced to set fire to the buildings that had
+hitherto escaped destruction.
+
+The advanced guard of thirty men, with whom were Lieutenant-Commander
+Nicolas and Mr. Dillet, who had landed to point out which houses it was
+most important to thoroughly destroy, had only advanced some two hundred
+yards from the bank of the creek, when they were received with a
+murderous discharge of musketry from the enemy concealed in the bush.
+Almost the whole of the advanced party were shot down in this one
+volley, twenty men being killed on the spot, and Lieutenant-Commander
+Nicolas and Mr. Dillet severely wounded. The main body, seventy-five in
+number, under Captain Fletcher, at once hurried up to prevent the
+wounded falling into the hands of the barbarous natives, and behaved
+with great gallantry, for though falling thick and fast under the
+tremendous fire which the concealed enemy--to the number of several
+hundreds--poured into them from a distance of ten or twelve yards, they
+held their ground until the wounded had been safely conveyed to the
+boats.
+
+Scarcely had this been accomplished than the rear-guard of thirty men,
+under Lieut. Keir, 3rd West India Regiment, was attacked by a large
+number of natives who had moved through the bush, and actually succeeded
+in cutting off our men from the boats. The enemy advanced with great
+determination into the open, thinking to overwhelm this small party, and
+they were only driven back into the bush by repeated volleys and a final
+charge with the bayonet.
+
+By this time fully one-third of the men who had landed having been
+killed, and a great number wounded, the order was given to retire, which
+was done steadily, the ground being contested inch by inch. At this time
+Company Sergeant-Major Scanlan, of the 3rd West India Regiment, and six
+men who were covering the retreat, fell, the former mortally wounded;
+and some of the bolder of the natives, rushing out of their concealment,
+seized Deputy-Assistant-Commissary Frith, and dragged him away into the
+bush, where he was barbarously murdered in cold blood. Scanlan was
+lying in the narrow path, his chest riddled with bullets, when the chief
+fetish priest of the place, to encourage the natives to make further
+efforts, sprang upon a ruined wall in front of him, and began dancing an
+uncouth dance, accompanying it with savage yells and significant
+gestures to the dying man. He paid dearly for his rashness, however, for
+Scanlan, collecting his strength for a last supreme effort, seized his
+loaded rifle, which was fortunately lying within reach, and discharged
+it at the gesticulating savage, who threw up his arms and fell dead. The
+next moment Scanlan was surrounded by a horde of infuriated barbarians,
+and his body hacked into an undistinguishable mass.
+
+The troops, sadly diminished in number, at last reached that portion of
+the mangrove creek where they had left the boats. Of these there had
+been originally but two, and one having at the commencement of the
+action been used to convey Lieutenant-Commander Nicolas and Mr. Dillet,
+under the charge of Surgeon Bradshaw, to the ship, one only remained for
+the men to embark in. The tide having fallen, this was lying out near
+the entrance of the creek, separated by an expanse of reeking mud from
+the shore. The men, seeing their last chance of safety cut off, threw
+themselves into the mud, in which many sank and were no more seen. Some
+few, however, succeeded in floundering along, half wading and half
+swimming, until they reached her, and climbed in. She was, however, so
+riddled with bullets, that she filled and sank almost immediately.
+
+Captain Fletcher, Lieutenant Wylie, Lieutenant Strachan, and Lieutenant
+Vincent, with some thirty men, endeavoured to make a last stand upon a
+small islet of mud and sand, near the left bank of the creek; but
+Lieutenant Wylie was shot dead almost at once, and Lieutenant Vincent,
+being shot through the body, jumped into the water, to endeavour to swim
+to the ship. In a few seconds seventeen men had fallen out of this
+devoted band, and the survivors, plunging into the creek, swam down
+towards the river. The natives lined the banks in crowds, keeping up a
+heavy fire upon the men in the water; and Captain Fletcher and
+Lieutenant Strachan, who were the last to leave the shore, only reached
+the _Teazer_ by a miracle, they having to swim more than half a mile to
+reach her.
+
+As the last of the survivors gained the vessel, the natives, between two
+and three thousand in number, lined the banks of the river, brandishing
+their weapons and uttering shouts of defiance; and the heads of several
+of the killed, horribly mutilated, were held out towards the ship on
+spears, amidst cries of exultation. All the ammunition for the
+_Teazer's_ guns having already been expended in shelling the town and
+clearing the bush, it was impossible to reply to the enemy, and the
+vessel proceeded slowly down the river, returning to Sierra Leone next
+day.
+
+The casualties of this day were as follows: The 1st West India Regiment,
+out of 62 men who landed, lost 38 killed and 3 wounded. The 3rd West
+India Regiment, out of 73 men who landed, lost 46 killed and 8 wounded.
+Total, 95 killed and wounded, out of a force of 135 men.
+
+The casualties amongst the officers were nearly equally heavy. Out of
+the ten Europeans who were under fire, three, namely Lieutenant Wylie,
+1st West India Regiment, D.A.C.G. Frith and C.S.M. Scanlan were killed;
+and three, Lieutenant Vincent, 2nd West India Regiment,
+Lieutenant-Commander Nicolas, and Mr. Dillet, severely wounded.
+
+It was learned afterwards that the reason so large a force was assembled
+at Malageah was that it was the time for the annual gathering of the
+river tribes, to hear the laws read by the Alimani. This circumstance
+ought of course to have been known to the Acting Governor, who was well
+acquainted with the customs of the people. The Imperial Government held
+him responsible for this defeat, and, in November, 1855, he was relieved
+of his post, and charged "with having, when Acting Governor, on the 21st
+of May, 1855, without authority, and upon insufficient grounds, sent an
+expedition against the Moriah chiefs in the Mellicourie River, beyond
+the Colony, with orders to burn or destroy the town of Malageah, planned
+without foresight or judgment, disastrous in its termination, and
+disgraceful to the British power," and was suspended from his office of
+Queen's Advocate and from his seat at the Council Board.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+THE BATTLE OF BAKKOW, AND STORMING OF SABBAJEE, 1855.[58]
+
+
+The company of the 1st West India Regiment stationed at the Gambia was
+the next to see active service, but fortunately under circumstances less
+disastrous than had fallen to the lot of the company at Sierra Leone.
+
+In June, 1855, the inhabitants of Sabbajee again began to exhibit signs
+of lawlessness; and, early in July, an influential Mohammedan of that
+town, named Fodi Osumanu, sent an armed party to the British settlement
+at Josswung to seize a woman, whose husband he had already placed in
+confinement in Sabbajee itself. In consequence of this outrage a warrant
+was issued for the apprehension of Fodi Osumanu, and, as a precautionary
+measure, the constables despatched to put the warrant in force were
+accompanied by a small party of the 2nd West India Regiment, under
+Lieutenant Armstrong, 3rd West India Regiment.
+
+They arrived at Sabbajee on the morning of July 16th, and at first Fodi
+Osumanu offered no opposition to his arrest; but, on gaining the central
+square of the town, he endeavoured to break away from the police, and,
+upon this signal, the Mandingoes rushed upon the British from every
+street and alley. Nothing but the coolness and steadiness displayed by
+both officers and men, saved the whole from destruction. Forming square,
+they retreated steadily out of the town, repulsing the repeated attacks
+of the natives, and retired in good order to Josswung, and thence to the
+military post at Cape St. Mary's. In effecting this, two men were
+killed, and the Queen's Advocate, Lieutenant Davis, 2nd West India
+Regiment, and Lieutenant Armstrong were wounded, the latter so severely
+as to render amputation of the right arm necessary.
+
+Intelligence of this occurrence being carried to Bathurst in a few
+hours, the Governor, Lieutenant-Colonel L. Smyth O'Connor, 1st West
+India Regiment, at once called out all the available force of the
+Colony; and, aware that every half-hour was of importance, as the
+inhabitants of Sabbajee were receiving reinforcements from the
+disaffected Mandingo towns of Jambool, Burnfut, and Cunju, and had
+already burned and pillaged Josswung, he marched the same day. The force
+consisted of 120 men of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd West India Regiments, with
+120 of the Royal Gambia Militia; and, on arriving at Cape St. Mary's, on
+the evening of July 16th, it was joined by 26 pensioners of the West
+India regiments. The officers of the 1st West India Regiment present
+were Lieutenant-Colonel O'Connor, Lieutenant E.F. Luke, and Lieutenant
+Henderson.
+
+Early next morning the whole force marched towards Sabbajee, meeting
+with no resistance until it arrived at the wood of Bakkow. To reach
+Sabbajee it was necessary to pass through this wood, a jungle of dense
+tropical vegetation, only traversable by a single bush path some five
+feet in breadth, and, before entering this defile, Colonel O'Connor
+wisely ordered rockets to be thrown amongst the trees, with a view to
+ascertaining if they covered any concealed enemy.
+
+Hardly had the first rocket fallen than the wood appeared alive with
+men, who, from every bush and tree, opened a destructive fire upon the
+British. This was promptly and steadily replied to by the detachments of
+the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd West India Regiments, which were in the van, and
+the action became general. The militia were drawn up in two bodies, one
+acting as a support to the regulars, and the other as a reserve; and the
+latter, shortly after the commencement of the engagement, retreated
+without orders, and without firing a shot. The party of militia in
+support, as soon as they observed the flight of the reserve, fell back
+hurriedly in great confusion, nor could their officers nor the Governor
+himself succeed in stopping them, and both parties of militia retired
+upon Cape St. Mary's, abandoning their wounded.
+
+The detachments of the West India regiments still held their ground; but
+at the end of half an hour, as it was manifestly impossible, with the
+now greatly reduced numbers, to force the passage of the wood, and as
+the enemy were observed extending in large numbers round both flanks so
+as to threaten the line of retreat, the order was given to retire upon
+Cape St. Mary's. This was effected in good order, the victorious natives
+following the retreating force for more than two miles, and keeping up
+an incessant fire. The combined detachments suffered in this affair a
+loss of twenty-three killed and fifty-three wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel
+O'Connor was himself severely wounded in the right arm and left
+shoulder.
+
+The news of this repulse was received with the greatest consternation at
+Bathurst, which was entirely denuded of troops and quite at the mercy of
+the rebellious Mandingoes. Preparations for defence were at once
+undertaken, all the reliable natives, principally persons in the employ
+of the Government or of the merchants, in all some 200 in number, were
+armed, and a vessel was despatched to the neighbouring French settlement
+of Goree to seek assistance. The Mandingoes, fortunately, made no
+attempt to follow up their success, and the chiefs of British Combo
+having volunteered their aid to the Government, a number of their men
+were armed, and on July 29th some sharp skirmishing took place between
+them and the Mandingoes in the neighbourhood of Bakkow, in which the
+Combos lost twenty-five killed, but without reaping any success.
+
+On the afternoon of July 30th, the French brig-of-war _Entreprenant_,
+Captain Villeneuve, arrived, bringing with her eighty men, which was all
+the disposable force the French Governor of Goree had at his command;
+and all preparations being completed by the night of August 3rd, the
+combined British and French force marched from Cape St. Mary's next
+morning at daybreak. The French had brought with them three
+twelve-pounder field-guns, which, with a 4-2/5-inch howitzer, and three
+rocket-troughs in the possession of the British, were formed into a
+battery under the command of Lieutenant Morel, of the French marine
+artillery. The force was further increased by an irregular contingent of
+some 600 loyal natives.
+
+As on the former occasion, no opposition was encountered until arriving
+at the wood of Bakkow, where the enemy showed in great force, and opened
+a heavy fire from the shelter of the forest. The irregular contingent,
+supported by the detachments of the 1st and 2nd West India Regiments,
+replied to the enemy's fire in a most effective manner; but so
+determined was the resistance, that the Mandingoes, when silenced in our
+front, taking advantage of the cover afforded by the high grass and
+clumps of monkey-bread trees, made repeated attacks on the flanks, and
+even at one time threatened the rear. Shell and rockets were thrown
+into the wood, and the village of Bakkow, which was occupied by the
+enemy, was burned; but it was not until after two hours' obstinate
+fighting, in the course of which the detachments of the 1st and 2nd West
+India Regiment had four times to repulse flank attacks with the bayonet,
+that the passage could be forced.
+
+The wood being traversed, the force debouched upon the plain of
+Sabbajee, a sandy level, covered with a scanty growth of Guinea grass
+and dotted with clumps of dwarf palm. The guns were at once placed in
+position for breaching the stockade, and fire was opened with wonderful
+precision. A few rounds only had been expended, when a large body of
+natives from the disaffected and neighbouring town of Burnfut made a
+sudden and determined onslaught on our flank, charging furiously forward
+with brandished scimetars. This was met by a party of French marines and
+the detachments of the 1st and 2nd West India Regiments, who, after
+firing a volley at a very close range, charged gallantly with the
+bayonet and speedily routed the enemy, who took refuge in a neighbouring
+copse. Being ordered to dislodge them from this cover, the detachments
+of the 1st and 2nd West India Regiments advanced in skirmishing order,
+and after a short but sharp conflict, drove them out on the further
+side.
+
+After a bombardment of an hour and a half, seeing that the enemy
+extinguished the thatched roofs of their houses as fast as they were
+ignited, and that the ammunition was becoming exhausted,
+Lieutenant-Colonel O'Connor determined to carry the stockade by storm.
+The detachments of the West India regiments formed up in the centre, a
+division of French marines being on either flank, and the whole dashed
+forward to the assault in the face of a tremendous fire of musketry that
+was opened throughout the entire length of the loop-holed stockade. In a
+few seconds the troops were under the stockade, which was composed of
+the stout trunks of trees, standing some eighteen feet high, and braced
+on the inner side by cross-beams. A temporary check was here experienced
+(the men having no ladders for escalading), during which the Mandingoes
+kept up a close fire from their upper tier of loop-holes, while others
+crouching in the ditch in rear hewed and cut at the feet and legs of the
+troops through the apertures in the stockade on a level with the ground.
+The check was, however, of short duration, for the British opened fire
+on the enemy through their own loop-holes, and drove them back, while
+others, clambering over the rough defences, effected an entrance.
+
+After this, the Mandingoes offered but a feeble resistance, and soon
+fled into the open from the further side of the town. Here they were
+pursued and shot down by the irregular contingent, who had been sent to
+cut off their retreat as soon as it was seen that the stockade was
+carried. The enemy's loss during the assault was exceedingly heavy, the
+ditch in rear of the stockade, and in which they were principally
+sheltered, being full of dead. The loss of the combined force, exclusive
+of irregulars, was seventeen killed and thirty-one wounded.
+
+Inside the stockade the 1st West India Regiment captured two
+kettledrums, of which one was a war-drum, and the other a death-drum,
+that is to say, a drum that is only beaten when an execution is taking
+place. These drums, consisting of polished hemispherical calabashes, of
+a diameter of about thirty inches at the drum-head, are now in the
+possession of the regiment.
+
+The following letter, referring to these operations, which terminated
+with the capture of Sabbajee, was published in general orders at the
+Gambia, on the 26th of October, 1855:
+
+                                                "HORSE GUARDS,
+                                                "_Sept. 6th, 1855._
+
+    "SIR,
+
+    "The General Commanding-in-Chief having had before him the
+    despatches which were addressed to the Adjutant-General on July 30th
+    and 6th ultimo, giving an account of the proceedings, from the 16th
+    July to the 4th August last, of the force under your command against
+    the Mohammedan rebel town of Sabbajee, which was eventually taken by
+    assault at the point of the bayonet, I am directed to assure you of
+    Lord Hardinge's satisfaction at the perusal of those despatches, and
+    that he considers the gallantry and steadiness displayed by the
+    troops on this occasion, and the judgment with which they were
+    directed by you, to be deserving of high praise.
+
+    "His Lordship further desired that the expression of his sentiments
+    might be communicated accordingly to yourself and to all the troops
+    concerned.
+
+                                      "I have, &c.,
+
+                                             (Signed) "C. YORKE,
+                                                "Military Secretary.
+
+    "Lieut.-Colonel O'Connor,
+      "1st West India Regiment,
+    "Commanding troops, Western Coast of Africa."
+
+
+In the West Indies nothing of importance had occurred, and no change of
+station had taken place, since December, 1853. In this year, however
+(1855), No. 8 Company rejoined head-quarters at Jamaica from Dominica,
+and No. 1 was moved from St. Christopher to Demerara. The distribution,
+then, at the close of 1855, was: No. 2, No. 5, No. 8, the Grenadier and
+Light Companies at Jamaica, No. 7 and No. 4 at Barbados, No. 1 at
+Demerara, No. 3 at Sierra Leone, and No. 6 at the Gambia.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 58: See map.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+CHANGES IN THE WEST AFRICAN GARRISONS, 1856-57--THE GREAT SCARCIES RIVER
+EXPEDITION, 1859--FIRE AT NASSAU, 1859.
+
+
+In January, 1856, it was determined to make a further change in the mode
+of garrisoning the settlements on the West Coast of Africa, and the
+following letter was issued on the subject:
+
+                                                "HORSE GUARDS,
+                                                "_2nd January, 1856_.
+
+    "In obedience to orders from the Secretary of State, War Department,
+    the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief is pleased to direct that
+    instead of the detachments to the western coast of Africa being
+    furnished, as at present, by two companies from each of the West
+    India regiments, the settlements in that part will be garrisoned by
+    a wing composed of six companies, to be furnished in succession by
+    each of the West India regiments.
+
+    "At the next relief the 1st West India Regiment will furnish six
+    companies accordingly, each company made up and kept effective to
+    100 rank and file, the force to be distributed as at present, viz.:
+
+      "Gambia             3 Companies.
+      "Sierra Leone       3 Companies.
+
+    "The remaining four companies of the 1st West India Regiment will be
+    stationed at Jamaica, as a depot to receive and train recruits, and
+    maintain the efficiency of the companies on the coast of Africa."
+
+In anticipation of this change, and as recent events at the Gambia and
+Sierra Leone had shown the necessity for an increase in the strength of
+the detachments, No. 2 Company of the 1st West India Regiment, under
+Captain W.J. Chamberlayne, embarked at Jamaica for Africa in the _Sir
+George Pollock_ on February 19th, 1856. It arrived in the Gambia on
+April 1st, and detachments to McCarthy's Island, 179 miles up the River
+Gambia, and to Fort Bullen, were at once furnished from it.
+
+No other change in the distribution of the regiment took place in this
+year, with the exception that No. 5 Company, under Captain R. Hughes,
+was moved from Jamaica to Barbados in December.
+
+In January, 1857, No. 1 Company from Demerara, and Nos. 4 and 7 from
+Barbados, embarked on board the troopship _Perseverance_, for Africa,
+under the command of Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Clarke, and Captains
+Hughes and Macauley, arriving at Sierra Leone on February 28th.
+
+Nos. 1 and 7 Companies were there disembarked, and the _Perseverance_
+then proceeded to the Gambia, where No. 4 Company was landed. In
+accordance with the scheme that the remaining four companies of the
+regiment should be stationed at Jamaica, No. 5 Company rejoined there
+from Barbados on April 17th; but, two months later, the scheme was again
+revised, and, on June 4th, the head-quarters and four companies embarked
+for Nassau, New Providence, under Lieutenant-Colonel F.A. Wetherall.
+
+The detachments on the West Coast of Africa were very much subdivided,
+that of the Gambia furnishing garrisons for Fort Bullen, Cape St. Mary,
+and McCarthy's Island; and that of Sierra Leone a garrison for Waterloo.
+In April, 1857, the garrison of Fort Bullen was reinforced by No. 2
+Company under Captain Chamberlayne from Bathurst, in consequence of
+disturbances having broken out between the King of Barra and one of his
+principal chiefs named Osumanu Sajji, and was withdrawn in May, on
+tranquility being restored.
+
+In August, 1858, the natives of Sherbro threatened to plunder the
+British factories that had been established on Sherbro Island, and
+stopped the trade, and for the protection of the lives and property of
+the Consul and British subjects, a detachment of the 1st West India
+Regiment, under Captain R. Hughes, proceeded in H.M.S. _Spitfire_ to
+Sherbro Island on September 1st. They there landed and remained until
+October 2nd, when, all fears of an attack being at an end, they
+returned to Sierra Leone. In January, 1859, however, another attack was
+threatened by the Mendis, and a detachment of the 1st West India
+Regiment, under Captain Luke, was sent for the protection of the
+factories in H.M.S. _Trident_ on January 15th, returning to Sierra Leone
+on February 18th.
+
+In September and October, 1858, Captain Luke, 1st West India Regiment,
+who was then on leave of absence on the Gold Coast, served with the
+expeditionary force against the rebel Krobo stronghold of Krobo Hill.
+Captain Cochrane, Gold Coast Artillery, commanding the force, in
+concluding his despatch of October 26th, 1858, says: "It is not too much
+to say that all who have joined the expedition have done their best to
+further its interests, but I beg especially to call your Excellency's
+notice to the voluntary services of Captain F.H. Luke, of the 1st West
+India Regiment, whose energy, zeal, and disinterestedness, have been
+warmly commended by every officer here, and are deserving of honourable
+mention."
+
+In February, 1859, the town of Porto Lokkoh, distant some forty miles
+from Sierra Leone, and on the Sierra Leone River, was burned and
+pillaged by a body of Soosoos who had, for some time back, established
+themselves at Kambia, on the Great Scarcies River. For previous outrages
+committed by them, Kambia had been bombarded by a naval squadron under
+Commodore Wise on February 1st, 1858, after which the Soosoos had
+entrenched themselves in a stockaded work, or war fence, near Kambia.
+There they had been suffered to remain, but the destruction of Porto
+Lokkoh, the chief _entrepot_ of the Sierra Leone trade, necessitated
+further measures being taken against them.
+
+Consequently, on March 20th, 1859, the Governor of Sierra Leone, Colonel
+Stephen Hill, proceeded with a force of 203 men of the 1st West India
+Regiment, under Major A.W. Murray, in H.M.S. _Vesuvius_, _Trident_, and
+_Spitfire_, to the Great Scarcies River, where they arrived at daybreak
+on the 22nd. The officers of the regiment serving with the expedition
+were Major Murray, Brevet-Major Pratt, Lieutenants Fitzgerald, Mackay,
+and Mawe, Ensigns Ormsby and Temple. Colonel Hill, in his despatch,
+says:
+
+"The troops having landed to the right of the town, I formed the
+detachment of the 1st West India Regiment, under Major Murray, into four
+divisions; and the marines formed, under the command of Captain Hill,
+2nd West India Regiment, A.D.C., another division. A party of the former
+corps, acting as gunners, accompanied the Marine Artillery, who took
+charge of two mountain howitzers.
+
+"Having extended one division in skirmishing order, I advanced; and,
+finding the first stockade deserted I passed on to the furthest one,
+which was then occupied by the sailors of the second division of boats
+under Commander Close. I then proceeded to the extreme left of all the
+defences, and halted in clear ground to await the arrival of our native
+allies. Shortly afterwards Commodore Wise sent to inform me that the
+enemy, who had retired before us with some loss, were in the jungle to
+our left at the head of some rocks, on which they could cross the river
+at low water. I immediately extended two divisions of the 1st West India
+Regiment as skirmishers, with the marines supporting one, and a division
+of the 1st West India the other, leaving one division in reserve in
+charge of the howitzers, after having first fired some rounds of shell
+into the jungle.
+
+"Our advance was most difficult, the bush being almost impenetrable.
+However, we persevered, and, having reached a high point overlooking the
+country around, and not seeing any enemy, I ordered a halt, and, after
+some time, we retired unmolested, the Soosoos never having allowed us to
+close with them. The Commodore then sent me a second message to the
+effect that he had seen about 500 men, who had, on our advance, retired
+across the river, over the rocks, and disappeared in the bush on the
+opposite side.
+
+"The detachment of the 1st West India Regiment, under Brevet-Major
+Pratt, kept the ground during the night; and our allies having arrived,
+and been placed in possession of the stockades, the troops were
+re-embarked on the 24th, and we proceeded on our return to Sierra Leone,
+where we arrived on the 26th.
+
+"I have much pleasure in stating that all the officers and men under my
+orders performed their duties in an exceedingly zealous and
+satisfactory manner, exhibiting a cheerful obedience, and only anxious
+to close with the enemy. None but those present could form a just
+estimate of the difficulty attending our advance, and the consequent
+physical exhaustion. The heat was intense; a great part of the jungle
+had been fired, and the bushes and the high grass formed a network
+through which we were obliged to cut our way."
+
+On January 8th, 1860, the men of the companies of the 1st West India
+Regiment stationed at Nassau specially distinguished themselves at an
+alarming fire that there broke out at Fort Charlotte, and the following
+Garrison Order was published on the subject:
+
+"Lieutenant-Colonel Bourchier takes the earliest opportunity in his
+power of expressing his thanks to Major R. D'O. Fletcher, the officers,
+the non-commissioned officers, and the men of the 1st West India
+Regiment, for the prompt manner in which they turned out and lent their
+efforts to avert the extension of the late fire at Fort Charlotte.
+
+"Such occasions as this test the discipline of a corps in a high degree,
+the more so when, as in the present instance, the danger of an explosion
+from the proximity of the flames to the magazine was imminent.
+
+"Where all were zealous, the conduct of Ensign Bourke, 1st West India
+Regiment, was most conspicuous, who, assisted by Company Sergeant-Major
+Mason and a party of four men of the regiment, placed wet blankets on
+the most exposed portion of the roof of the magazine, which was then
+actually ignited; and it will be most gratifying to Lieutenant-Colonel
+Bourchier to bring the circumstance under the notice of H.R.H. the
+General Commanding-in-Chief."
+
+At the Gambia nothing of moment had occurred since 1807, with the
+exception that a violent epidemic of fever broke out at Bathurst in
+September, 1859, to which one officer and several men of the regiment
+succumbed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+THE BADDIBOO WAR, 1860-61.
+
+
+The next active operations in which the 1st West India Regiment was
+engaged, took place at the Gambia, where the King of Baddiboo, an
+important Mohammedan state up the river, had in August and September,
+1860, plundered the factories of several British traders, and afterwards
+refused to pay compensation. The Governor of the Gambia, Colonel D'Arcy,
+resolved to blockade the kingdom of Baddiboo, in the hope that the
+enforced suspension of trade would compel the king to come to terms,
+and, on October 10th, 1860, the gunners of the companies of the 1st West
+India Regiment stationed at Bathurst embarked in the barque _Elm_ and
+the schooner _Shamrock_, to close all the Baddiboo river ports. On
+November 3rd additional gunners were sent in the schooner _Hope_, and
+the blockade was strictly enforced, the natives not being allowed to
+export any articles of produce or import anything.
+
+While the blockade was still in force, the wing of the 2nd West India
+Regiment, which had been wrecked in the troopship _Perseverance_ at
+Maio, one of the Cape Verde Islands, while on its way to relieve the
+wing of the 1st West India Regiment, arrived in West Africa in various
+vessels, three companies at the Gambia and three at Sierra Leone; and as
+in January, 1861, the blockade had manifestly failed in its object of
+inducing the King of Baddiboo to indemnify the plundered merchants,
+Governor D'Arcy determined to take advantage of the presence of an
+unusual number of regular troops to organise a formidable expedition;
+which step was rendered necessary from the fact that the numerous
+Mohammedan tribes around the settlement and on the banks of the river
+were narrowly watching events, and had, owing to the long delay in
+punishing the King of Baddiboo, already commenced to show signs of
+lawlessness.
+
+On January 12th, 1861, the hired transport _Avon_ arrived at the Gambia
+to convey the wing of the 1st West India Regiment to the West Indies,
+and Colonel D'Arcy proceeded in her to Sierra Leone to make arrangements
+for the services of a portion of the garrison of that settlement. On
+February 2nd, he returned to the Gambia in the _Avon_ with three
+companies of the 1st West India Regiment and one of the 2nd West India
+Regiment.
+
+The expeditionary force now consisted of six companies of the 1st West
+India Regiment, under Lieutenant-Colonel A.W. Murray, and four of the
+2nd West India Regiment, under Major W. Hill; the Gambia Militia were
+called out, and the West India detachments at McCarthy's Island, Cape
+St. Mary's, and Fort Bullen replaced by pensioners.
+
+Everything being in readiness, the Governor decided to make one last
+endeavour to arrive at a peaceful solution of the difficulty (although
+the king's people had recently, on several occasions, fired on the
+schooners blockading the river), and despatched H.M.S. _Torch_ with a
+flag of truce to Swarra Cunda Creek. Commander Smith returned with the
+intelligence that the natives had prepared stockaded earthworks, were
+assembled in large numbers, and had refused to hold any communication
+with the ship.
+
+On February 15th, the expedition left Bathurst, and steaming up to
+Swarra Cunda Creek, some forty miles up the river, anchored there for
+the night. The troops were under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel
+Murray, 1st West India Regiment, and were thus distributed:
+
+The gunners of the 1st and 2nd West India Regiment on board H.M.S.
+_Torch_.
+
+Nos. 1 and 7 Companies, 1st West India Regiment, on board the Colonial
+steamer _Dover_.
+
+Nos. 2 and 3 Companies, 1st West India Regiment, on the schooner
+_Elizabeth_.
+
+Nos. 4 and 7 Companies, 2nd West India Regiment, on the schooner
+_Margaret_.
+
+The _Dover_, after distributing her contingent amongst the other three
+vessels lying in the creek, returned to Bathurst the same night to bring
+up Nos. 4 and 6 Companies of the 1st West India Regiment and two
+companies of the 2nd West India Regiment.
+
+On February 16th, the whole force being collected, the _Torch_ and the
+_Dover_ steamed up the creek to the trading landing-place of Swarra
+Cunda, towing the schooners. The earthworks were observed to be full of
+armed men, who shouted and brandished their weapons, amid a tremendous
+beating of war-drums. The _Torch_ anchored about 180 yards from the
+earthworks, the two schooners lying above her and the _Dover_ below, in
+such positions as to be able to bring a cross-fire to bear. The
+Governor, being still anxious to avoid bloodshed, hailed the enemy
+through his interpreter, calling upon them to surrender. They replied
+with yells of defiance, and were then informed that if they did not
+abandon their works the ships would open fire in half-an-hour.
+
+The half-hour having elapsed without any result, except a considerable
+accession to the enemy's strength, fire was opened from the guns of the
+_Torch_ and _Dover_, while the troops poured in a destructive storm of
+musketry. The enemy replied with great spirit; and, although the
+sixty-eight-pounder shell were crushing through the earthworks and
+carrying away large portions of the parapets, some of the warriors
+continued calmly up and down in full view on the most exposed portions
+of the works, to encourage the others; and it was not until this
+terrible fire of shell and musketry had lasted for three hours, that the
+natives began to abandon their works, retiring even then very
+gradually. This movement being observed, a landing was at once ordered;
+and the boats, which had been collected together under cover of the
+_Torch_, pulled in rapidly for the landing-place. Before, however, they
+reached the shore, some 800 natives, who had occupied the extreme right
+of the earthworks, which had not suffered from our fire as much as the
+other portions, rushed down to oppose them.
+
+The landing was effected in the teeth of all opposition, the troops
+wading ashore and attacking the enemy with the bayonet. Colonel D'Arcy
+in his despatch says:--"Nothing could exceed the gallantry of the
+landing on the part of the officers and men of the 1st and 2nd West
+India Regiments; and now commenced a smart skirmish with a numerous
+enemy, in which our black soldiers evinced a gallantry and a
+determination to close which I felt proud to witness."
+
+While this stubborn and hand-to-hand conflict was at its height, a
+shrill cry was suddenly heard in rear of the enemy, and at once, as if
+by a preconcerted plan, those natives who were disputing the landing
+broke and fled, while, at the same moment, a body of some 300 cavalry
+debouched from the shelter of a clump of dwarf palms, and came down at
+full gallop on the troops, who were already somewhat scattered in
+pursuit of the retreating enemy. The men at once formed rallying
+squares, and in a moment the Mandingo horsemen were amongst them,
+brandishing their scimetars and discharging matchlocks and pistols. The
+fire from the squares was so steady and well sustained, that, with one
+exception, the enemy could effect nothing. They rode round and round the
+squares for a few minutes, uttering shouts of defiance and endeavouring
+to reach the men with their spears; and finally, a good many saddles
+having been emptied, galloped off as rapidly as they had come, their
+long robes streaming out behind in the wind. The one exception referred
+to was that of a group of three men of the 1st West India Regiment and
+two of the 2nd, who, having advanced too far in pursuit, had become
+separated from their comrades, and, on the sudden appearance of the
+cavalry, had not time to reach any of the squares. They stood back to
+back, surrounded by the enemy, until overwhelmed by force of numbers and
+ridden down, being afterwards found lying where they had stood,
+surrounded by eleven dead Mandingoes whom they had shot or bayoneted.
+
+This cavalry charge was the last hope of the enemy; and no sooner was it
+repulsed than they withdrew in great disorder. The troops pursued for a
+short distance, but as it was not deemed advisable to scatter the small
+force, especially as the day was beginning to close, they were soon
+recalled, and the men bivouacked on the ground they had so ably won, the
+bivouac being so arranged that the guns of the _Torch_ could sweep the
+front and one flank. Wells were dug, the dead buried, and the night
+passed without further disturbance.
+
+Next morning, the 17th, the Gambia Militia Artillery, with 400 native
+allies, arrived and landed, and in the afternoon the 1st and 2nd West
+India Regiments, under Lieutenant-Colonel Murray, after a short
+resistance, took and destroyed the stockaded town of Carawan, situated
+to the right of the position. Encouraged by this success, the native
+allies and the Gambia Militia Artillery advanced to the town of Swarra
+Cunda, to the left of the position, and finding it abandoned, destroyed
+it also.
+
+During the ensuing night, H.M.S. _Arrogant_, Commodore Edmonstone,
+arrived in the Gambia River, and early next morning the _Dover_ brought
+the Commodore, with a naval brigade of seamen and marines, up to Swarra
+Cunda Creek. This unlooked-for accession of strength determined
+Lieutenant-Colonel Murray to advance into the interior, and strike a
+blow that would bring the war to a conclusion. Cattle were obtained for
+the field-guns, which were then landed, and about noon on the 18th, the
+force marched inland, four companies of the 1st West India Regiment
+forming the right division, four of the 2nd West India Regiment the left
+division, and two of the 1st the reserve, with the guns on the flanks.
+
+The country through which the advance was made was a level sandy plain,
+covered with tall grass, and dotted here and there with clumps of baobab
+and dwarf palm. Occasionally a few clearings for the cultivation of the
+ground nut were met, but as a rule the march was made through grass more
+than waist high. The enemy showed in force, but made no serious
+opposition to the advance; and, though large bodies of cavalry were
+observed hanging about the flanks and rear, they showed no disposition
+to close, and the towns of Kinty-Cunda and Sabba were destroyed without
+loss on our side, and very small loss, if any, on the part of the enemy.
+
+The 19th and 20th were devoted to changing the camping ground, and
+arranging a plan of campaign against Indear, the king's town, in which
+the shipping might be used as a base; but, on the afternoon of the
+latter day, a slave-girl, who came into the camp to claim British
+protection, reported that the king's warriors, having been largely
+reinforced, had come down from Indear, and had erected a stockade on the
+ruins of Sabba. Although it did not suit Lieut.-Colonel Murray's plans
+to return to Sabba, he did not consider it advisable to leave this
+unexpected challenge unanswered; and, on the morning of February 21st,
+the force again marched for Sabba.
+
+On approaching that town it was ascertained that a double stockade had
+been built, which appeared to be full of armed men, while detached
+parties were observed partially concealed in the long grass to the left
+of the stockade, and facing our right. The troops were halted and formed
+for attack, the Naval Brigade, consisting of seamen and marines from
+H.M.S. _Arrogant_, _Falcon_, and _Torch_, being in the centre, four
+companies of the 1st West India Regiment on the right, four of the 2nd
+on the left, and two of the 1st in reserve. The howitzer battery at once
+opened on the stockade, and, after a few rounds, the centre advanced to
+within effective rifle range and commenced firing. Directly this
+movement took place, the detached parties of Mandingoes on our right
+approached skirmishing through the tall grass, and attacked the four
+companies of the 1st West India Regiment, while large bodies of cavalry
+simultaneously appeared on the left, threatening the flank of the 2nd
+West India Regiment. While the 1st West India Regiment was hotly engaged
+on the right, the field-guns of the Gambia Militia Artillery, under
+Colonel D'Arcy, who was present as a volunteer and honorary colonel of
+that corps, were hastily brought up, and opened fire on the stockade, to
+breach it. As it was apparent that this would be a work of some time,
+the timber of which the stockade was built being quite stout enough to
+withstand for some time the fire of light guns, Lieutenant-Colonel
+Murray directed the Commodore to storm. In an instant the seamen
+extended, and, advancing at a sharp run, clambered over the stockades,
+and, attacking the enemy with the bayonet, soon carried the place.
+Acting in concert with this forward movement of the centre, the right
+(1st West India Regiment) closed on the natives with whom they had been
+engaged, and, cutting them off from the stockade, killed or wounded the
+entire force on this side, with a loss to themselves of one officer
+(Lieutenant Bourke) and twenty-two men severely wounded, besides slight
+casualties. The cavalry on the left, seeing the turn affairs had taken,
+withdrew without making any attack. The Naval Brigade lost Lieutenant
+Hamilton, of the _Arrogant_, and three men killed, and twenty-two
+wounded.
+
+Ensign Garsia, of the 1st West India Regiment, had a narrow escape.
+Shortly before the Naval Brigade had advanced to storm, he had been
+despatched by Lieutenant-Colonel Murray with an order to Major Hill,
+commanding on the left, and, in crossing the front of the stockade under
+a heavy fire, both he and his horse were shot and rolled over together,
+Ensign Garsia being very severely wounded. While thus lying at a
+distance of some seventy yards from the stockade, a Mohammedan, dressed
+in yellow--a colour only assumed in this part of the world when the
+wearer is engaged in some desperate enterprise--climbed over the
+stockade and ran towards the wounded man with a drawn scimetar in his
+hand. He escaped numerous shots that were fired at him, reached Ensign
+Garsia, and had actually raised his scimetar to strike off his head,
+when a wounded sailor, who was lying on the ground, shot him dead, with
+his cry of exultation on his lips.
+
+No sooner was the enemy dispersed and in full retreat, than messengers
+arrived from the King of Jocardo, whose territory is separated from
+Baddiboo by the Swarra Cunda Creek, begging an interview with the
+Governor, and promising that, if he would grant a three days'
+armistice, he would bring together all the chiefs of the Baddiboo towns,
+who were now anxious for peace, but afraid to come in. The Governor
+acceded to these terms, but, in case of negotiations failing,
+Lieutenant-Colonel Murray proceeded with his preparations for an advance
+on Indear on the morning of the 25th. On the 24th, the Governor received
+another message from the King of Jocardo, begging him to extend the
+armistice for another day, the distance to the different towns being so
+great. This was granted, and at 6 a.m. on the 26th, the King of Baddiboo
+came to terms, promising to pay a considerable sum to the Government as
+a fine for his past misdemeanours, and leaving hostages in the
+Governor's hands.
+
+The officers of the 1st West India Regiment who took part in this
+expedition were Lieutenant-Colonel A.W. Murray, Captains H. Anton, J.A.
+Fraser, J. Fanning, and G.H. Duyer, Lieutenants A. Temple, J. Moffitt,
+R. Brew, T. Edmunds, J. Bourke, and Ensigns M.C. Garsia and T.
+Nicholson. Lieutenant-Colonel Murray was awarded the C.B. for his
+services.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+THE ASHANTI EXPEDITION, 1864.
+
+
+The head-quarters and four companies of the 1st West India Regiment had
+been removed from Nassau to Barbados in the hired transport _Avon_,
+before that vessel sailed for West Africa, and on the 3rd of March,
+1861, the six companies of the regiment embarked in her at the Gambia
+for the West Indies. During the four years' tour of service which they
+had just completed, five officers had fallen victims to the fatal West
+African climate, Lieutenant Kenrick having died at Sierra Leone, in
+August, 1857; Lieutenant Leggatt, in February, 1859; Brevet-Major Pratt,
+in July, 1859; and Captain Owens, in July, 1860; while Lieutenant E.
+Smith had died at the Gambia, in September, 1859.
+
+On the arrival of the wing from West Africa, the regiment was
+distributed in the West Indies as follows: The head-quarters, with Nos.
+5, 7, and 8, the Grenadier and Light Companies at Barbados; Nos. 1 and 2
+at St. Lucia; No. 3 at Trinidad; and Nos. 4 and 6 at Demerara. Towards
+the close of the year the practice of selecting men for flank companies
+was forbidden by Horse Guards General Order, and the grenadier and light
+companies became Nos. 9 and 10.
+
+The regiment remained thus stationed until December, 1862, when the
+three existing West India Regiments were called upon to furnish two
+companies each for the formation of a new 4th West India Regiment, and
+Nos. 9 and 10 Companies of the 1st West India Regiment were transferred.
+In the same month, No. 1 Company rejoined head-quarters from St. Lucia.
+The establishment of the regiment was now eight instead of ten companies
+as formerly.
+
+On the 23rd of December, 1862, a detachment of three companies (Nos. 5, 7,
+and 8) embarked in the troopship _Adventure_, under Lieutenant-Colonel
+Macauley, and proceeded to Honduras, arriving there on January 3rd,
+1863. A war of reprisals between the Santa Cruz and Ycaiche Indians was
+then raging on the frontier, and the greatest vigilance was necessary to
+prevent violation of British territory, the detachments of the regiment
+at the outposts of Orange Walk and Corosal being continually employed.
+
+In March, 1863, the whole of the southern side of Belize was destroyed
+by fire, and the detachment of the 1st West India Regiment there
+stationed received the thanks of the Legislative Assembly for the
+assistance it had rendered in preventing the conflagration spreading, a
+sum of $200 being voted for the men, "as an acknowledgment of the
+valuable services rendered by them." In this, or the preceding year,
+companies were designated alphabetically instead of numerically; No. 1
+becoming "A," No. 2, "B," and so on.
+
+On the 31st of October, 1863, A Company, with the head-quarters,
+embarked at Barbados on board the troopship _Megaera_, which had arrived
+the day before from Demerara with D and F Companies. The vessel then
+proceeded to St. Lucia, where B Company was embarked, and all four went
+to Nassau. The distribution of the regiment was then: 4 companies at
+Nassau, 3 in Honduras, and 1 in Trinidad.
+
+In 1863 occurred what is usually called the Second Ashanti War. It was
+caused, as almost every Ashanti war or threat of invasion has been
+caused, by the refusal of the Governor of the Gold Coast to surrender to
+the Ashanti King fugitives who had sought British protection. In revenge
+for this refusal an Ashanti force made a raid into the Protectorate, and
+reinforcements were at once asked for by the Colonial Government. In
+December, 1863, B Company, 1st West India Regiment, under Captain Bravo,
+embarked at Nassau in H.M.S. _Barracouta_ for Jamaica, and proceeded,
+towards the end of February, 1864, to Honduras, in the troopship
+_Tamar_. There E and G Companies embarked, and all three, under the
+command of Major Anton, sailed for Cape Coast Castle on the 2nd of
+March, arriving there on the 9th of April. The officers of the regiment
+serving with these companies were Major Anton, Captains Bravo and
+Hopewell Smith, Lieutenants J.A. Smith, Gavin, Roberts, Smithwick,
+Lowry, Barlow, Allinson, and Ensign Alt.
+
+On the arrival of the detachment of the 1st West India Regiment at Cape
+Coast Castle, the strength of the expeditionary force was as follows:
+
+                                         Officers.         Men.
+    1st West India Regiment                  11            300
+    2nd West India Regiment                   6            170
+    3rd West India Regiment                   6            170
+    4th West India Regiment                  30            850
+    5th West India Regiment                   4             10
+                                            ---            ---
+                                             57          1,500
+
+The rainy season--the most unhealthy period of the year on the Gold
+Coast--was then commencing, and the Government appear to have had some
+idea of making an advance upon Coomassie at its close--about the month
+of June or July. In order to have everything in readiness for the
+forward movement, depots of stores and munitions of war had been
+established at Mansu and Prahsu, and at Swaidroo in Akim, detachments of
+troops being stationed at these places for their protection. These
+detachments the Colonel commanding the troops on the Gold Coast
+determined to maintain during the rainy season, and it fell to the lot
+of B and G Companies of the 1st West India Regiment to be detailed for
+the fatal duty of relieving the detachment then encamped at Prahsu.
+
+Towards the end of the month of April these two companies, under
+Captains Bravo and Hopewell Smith, started amidst continuous torrents
+of rain on their march of seventy-four miles to the Prah. They had,
+since their arrival, been encamped with E Company on the open space to
+the west of the town known as the parade ground, there being no
+accommodation for them in the Castle; and owing to the unsanitary
+condition of the site and the want of proper shelter, had already begun
+to suffer from the effects of the climate.
+
+On arriving at the Prah they encamped at the ford of Prahsu, at a point
+where the river, making a sudden bend, enclosed the encampment on three
+sides. Here in the midst of a primeval forest, on the banks of a
+pestilential stream, without proper shelter or proper food, they
+remained for nearly three months. The sickness that ensued was almost
+unparalleled. Before they had been a month encamped, four officers and
+102 men were sick out of seven officers and 214 men who had marched out
+of Cape Coast; and the hospital accommodation was so bad that the men
+had to lie on the wet ground with pools of water under them. The rains
+were unusually severe, the camp speedily became a swamp, the troops had
+worse food than usual, and, above all, were compelled to remain
+inactive. The small force had no means of communication with the coast,
+and no expectation of a reinforcement; and, had the enemy made an
+appearance, the troops were hardly in a fit state to defend themselves.
+Day after day torrents of rain fell; it was impossible to light fires
+for cooking purposes except under flimsy sheds of palm branches; and
+night after night officers and men turned into their wretched and
+dripping tents hungry and drenched to the skin. Neither was there any
+occupation for the mind or body, and universal gloom and despondency set
+in. It was no unusual thing for two funerals to take place in one day,
+and the unfortunate soldiers saw their small force diminishing day by
+day, apparently forgotten and neglected by the rest of the world.
+
+By a general order published at Cape Coast Castle, on the 30th of May,
+1864, the garrison at Prahsu was, on account of the sickness there
+prevailing, reduced to 100 men; and on the 6th of June, G Company, under
+Captain Hopewell Smith, marched from the Prah and proceeded to Anamaboe,
+a village on the sea-coast some thirteen miles to the east of Cape Coast
+Castle. B Company still continued to suffer severely, and on the 18th of
+June, 57 men were in hospital out of a total strength of 100.
+
+At last the Imperial Government resolved to put a stop to the waste of
+life that was taking place, and sent out instructions to the Colonial
+Government that all operations against the Ashantis were to cease, and
+the troops to be withdrawn. The welcome intelligence reached Prahsu on
+the 26th of June, but the work of burying the guns and destroying the
+stores and ammunition, which had been collected there at such great
+labour and expense that the Government did not care to incur it again
+in their removal, occupied several days, and it was not until the 12th
+of July that the detachment marched out of the deadly camp on the Prah.
+
+On the 27th of July, the hired transport _Wambojeez_ arrived at Cape
+Coast Castle, to remove the detachments of the 1st and 2nd West India
+Regiments to the West Indies, and on the 30th they embarked. The day
+before their embarkation the following general order was issued:
+
+                                 "(General Order, No. 285.)
+
+                                "BRIGADE OFFICE, CAPE COAST CASTLE,
+                                             "_28th July, 1864_.
+
+    "Paragraph 3.--The Lieutenant-Colonel commanding feels great
+    pleasure in publishing, for the information of the officers and
+    soldiers of the 1st and 2nd West India Regiments about to embark for
+    the West Indies, the following handsome testimony of their
+    soldierlike conduct while employed on the late expedition, by His
+    Excellency Governor Pine, in which feelings and kind sentiments the
+    Lieutenant-Colonel fully concurs, adding his own thanks to Major
+    Anton and Captain Reece for the ready and cheerful manner in which
+    they co-operated with him in carrying out the duties of the command,
+    and to the officers and men under their respective orders.
+
+    "It is a pleasing duty to the Lieutenant-Colonel to have to announce
+    to these corps that, from the day they took the field until this
+    hour, not a complaint has been brought by an inhabitant against any
+    of the men, so excellent has the conduct of all been.
+
+    "It is also gratifying to Lieutenant-Colonel Conran to see so few
+    men on the sick list when about to embark, considering the large
+    numbers that were reported sick on their return from the front."
+
+                                  "GOVERNMENT HOUSE, CAPE COAST,
+                                             "_27th July, 1864_.
+
+    "SIR,
+
+    "On the eve of the departure of the detachments of the 1st and 2nd
+    West India Regiments, which have been annexed to your command on my
+    requisition since April last, I request that you will be pleased to
+    permit me, through you, to record my thanks as Governor of these
+    settlements for the services they have performed conjointly with
+    yourself and regiment.
+
+    "I feel that I have been the means of imposing upon Her Majesty's
+    troops a laborious, ungracious, and apparently thankless duty; but
+    my intentions and motives have been so fully, and I trust,
+    satisfactorily discussed throughout Great Britain, that I dare hope
+    that the officers and men will believe that I invited them to
+    participate in a constitutional measure, which I felt convinced
+    would add to their military reputation and honour.
+
+    "To the decision of Her Majesty's Government as to its altered
+    policy we are all compelled to bow, and it only remains for me to
+    express my regret to every officer and man of the 1st and 2nd West
+    India Regiments, for the natural and laudable disappointment which
+    they have experienced in not being engaged in more active military
+    operations, and to tender my heartfelt thanks for the prompt and
+    ready obedience with which they responded to my call on behalf of
+    our Royal Mistress, and for their patience and endurance under
+    extraordinary trial.
+
+    "Major Anton I have served with, and marked with admiration his
+    display of fortitude, moral courage, and disinterested kindness
+    during the fearful epidemic of 1859 in the Gambia. Captain Bravo, as
+    second in command in the Gambia, was my esteemed friend, and enjoyed
+    the respect of all who knew him.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+    "This hasty and imperfect notice I trust you will not deem unworthy
+    of being communicated to the highest military authority, and I shall
+    esteem myself fortunate indeed if I shall be instrumental in the
+    remotest degree in their advancement.
+
+                                    "I have, etc.,
+                                        (Signed) "RICHARD PINE,
+                           "Governor and Commander-in-Chief, Gold Coast.
+
+    "The Hon. Colonel CONRAN,
+    "Commanding the troops on the Gold Coast."
+
+The _Wambojeez_ arrived at Barbados on the 3rd of September; there the
+detachment of the 1st West India Regiment embarked by companies in
+H.M.S. _Pylades_, _Greyhound_, and _Styx_, for Jamaica, and disembarked
+at Port Royal on the 15th of September. H and C Companies rejoining at
+Jamaica soon after from Honduras and Trinidad, the distribution of the
+regiment was as follows: head-quarters and three companies at Nassau,
+five companies in Jamaica.
+
+    NOTE.--Out of the 11 officers and 300 non-commissioned officers and
+    men who landed at Cape Coast Castle on the 9th April, only 6
+    officers and 269 non-commissioned officers and men re-embarked on
+    July 30th, 5 officers having been invalided, and 31 men having died
+    during their short stay of three months and a half.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+THE JAMAICA REBELLION, 1865.
+
+
+In October, 1865, a rebellion broke out amongst the black population of
+Jamaica. On the 7th of that month, at the Petty Sessions at Morant Bay,
+a prisoner, who had been convicted of an assault, was rescued from the
+police, and on the 9th a warrant was issued for the apprehension of two
+persons named Bogle and several others, who were stated to have taken an
+active part in the riot of the 7th. Six policemen and two rural
+constables proceeded, early on the morning of the 10th of October, to
+execute this warrant at Stony Gut, about five miles from Morant Bay,
+where Paul Bogle and some other of the alleged rioters lived. They found
+Bogle in his yard, and told him that they had a warrant for his
+apprehension. He desired to have the warrant read to him, which was
+done. He then said that he would not go, and upon one of the policemen
+proceeding to apprehend him, he cried out: "Help, here!" At the same
+time, a man named Grant, who was with him, and who was addressed as
+"Captain," called out, "Turn out, men." Almost immediately a body of
+men, variously estimated at from 300 to 500, armed with cutlasses,
+sticks, and pikes, rushed out from a chapel where Bogle was in the habit
+of preaching, and from an adjoining cane-field, and attacked the
+policemen.
+
+The police were, of course, overpowered. Some of them were severely
+beaten. Three of their number were made prisoners and detained for
+several hours, being ultimately only released upon their taking an oath
+that they would "join their colour," and "cleave to the black."
+
+So far, perhaps, the disturbances might have been considered to be
+nothing more than an ordinary riot; but the proceedings of the rioters
+on the following day soon put their intentions beyond all reasonable
+doubt.
+
+On the 11th of October the Vestry, consisting of certain elected members
+and magistrates, assembled in the court-house at Morant Bay about noon,
+and proceeded with their ordinary business till between three and four
+o'clock, when notice was given that a crowd of people was approaching.
+The volunteers were hastily called together, and almost immediately
+afterwards a body of men, armed with cutlasses, sticks, bayonets, and
+muskets, after having attacked the police station and obtained
+possession of such arms as were there deposited, were seen entering a
+large open space facing the court-house, in front of which the
+volunteers had been drawn up. The Custos, Baron Ketelhodt, went out to
+the steps, and called to the people to know what they wanted. He
+received no answer, and his cries of "Peace! peace!" were met by cries
+from the crowd of "War!"
+
+As the advancing mob drew near, the volunteers retired till they reached
+the steps of the court-house. The Custos then began to read the Riot
+Act. While he was in the act of reading it stones were thrown at the
+volunteers, and Captain Hitchins, who commanded them, was struck in the
+forehead. The captain, having received authority from the Custos, then
+gave the word to fire. The order was obeyed, and some of the rioters
+were seen to fall. The volunteers were soon overpowered, and the
+court-house, in which refuge was sought, was set on fire. Many people
+were barbarously murdered while trying to escape. Eighteen persons,
+including the Custos, two sons of the rector, the Island Curate of Bath,
+the Inspector of Police, the captain, two lieutenants, a sergeant, and
+three privates of volunteers were killed. Thirty-one persons were
+wounded.
+
+After this the town remained in possession of the rioters. The gaolers
+were compelled to throw open the prison doors, and fifty-one prisoners
+who were there confined were released. Several stores were attacked, and
+from one of them a considerable quantity of gunpowder was taken. An
+attempt was made to force the door of the magazine, where about 300
+stand of arms were stored. Fortunately the endeavour was not successful.
+
+Major-General L.S. O'Connor, commanding the troops in Jamaica, was
+inspecting the left wing of the 1st West India Regiment, under Major
+Anton, at Up Park Camp, on the morning of the 11th of October, when the
+news of the riot at Stony Gut on the 10th arrived, with a requisition
+from Governor Eyre for 100 men in aid of the civil power. In less than
+an hour Captain Ross's company paraded and marched to Kingston, where
+they embarked in H.M.S. _Wolverine_. Unfortunately, it not being
+supposed that there was any necessity for urgency, the _Wolverine_ did
+not leave Port Royal for Morant Bay until daybreak on the 12th. At about
+noon on the 12th the news of the massacre of the magistrates reached
+Port Royal, where Major-General O'Connor was inspecting the detachment
+of the 1st West India Regiment, under Captain Luke. In two hours from
+the receipt of the intelligence, the company embarked on board H.M.S.
+_Onyx_, and landed at Morant Bay on the morning of the 13th.
+
+Captain Ross, on arriving at Morant Bay, had found the town deserted by
+all the Europeans, except Mr. Georges, who was severely wounded with
+three musket balls in his leg. The bodies of the unfortunate
+magistrates, many of which were barbarously mutilated, were buried by
+this company. This duty performed, the men patrolled the roads in the
+neighbourhood, and many ladies, whose husbands had been murdered or
+taken prisoners, and who had fled with their children, on the approach
+of the rioters, to bamboo thickets or other shelter, hearing the sound
+of the bugles, came in for protection. Numbers of them had passed the
+night in copses, from which, trembling with terror, they had seen their
+houses pillaged.
+
+On the 12th of October, large parties of the rebels, armed with guns and
+cutlasses, marched in military order through Bath and other contiguous
+districts. Stores were pillaged, and property taken or destroyed. Blue
+Mountain Valley Estate, Amity Hall, Monklands, which is sixteen miles
+from Morant Bay, and Hordley Estate, were all attacked by the
+insurgents, the occupiers barely escaping with their lives. At Blue
+Mountain Valley and Amity Hall, barbarous murders were perpetrated.
+
+On the 13th of October, martial law was proclaimed throughout the county
+of Surrey (except the county and city of Kingston), and Major-General
+O'Connor immediately took steps to hem in the disturbed districts. On
+the 15th of October, a detachment of the 1st West India Regiment was
+sent to Port Antonio; and at mid-day, Captain Hole, of the 6th Regiment,
+with 40 men of his own corps, and 60 of the 1st West India Regiment,
+under Ensign Cullen, marched from that place to Manchioneal, twenty
+miles eastward of Port Antonio. On the same day, 120 men of the 6th
+Regiment, under Colonel Hobbs, occupied (as head-quarters) Monklands, in
+the district of the Blue Mountain Valley, about sixteen miles from
+Morant Bay. Captain Strachan's company of the 1st West India Regiment
+proceeded to Spanish Town, whence Lieutenant Allinson, with 31 men, was
+sent on to Linstead, where a repetition of the Morant Bay massacre was
+apprehended. A detachment of the 6th was sent to Buff Bay to protect
+some valuable sugar estates.
+
+On the 13th and two succeeding days the insurgents continued their
+course through Port Morant northward to Manchioneal, and on to Mulatto
+River and Elmwood; the last of which places is situated in the most
+northerly part of St. Thomas-in-the-East, where that parish abuts upon
+Portland. As they advanced with the cry of "colour for colour" they were
+joined by a considerable number of negroes, who readily assisted in the
+work of plundering. The houses and stores were sacked. The intention
+also of taking the lives of the whites was openly avowed, and diligent
+search was made for particular individuals. But in each case the
+imperilled person had timely notice, and sought safety in flight.
+
+Elmwood was the point furthest from Morant Bay to which the disturbances
+extended; the arrival of the troops at Port Antonio, on the 15th,
+putting a stop to the further progress of the insurgents northwards.
+Thus in the course of four days the rebels had spread over a tract of
+country extending from White Horses, a few miles to the west of Morant
+Bay, to Elmwood, at a distance of upwards of thirty miles to the
+north-east of that place.
+
+In the meantime, detachments of troops were rapidly converging upon the
+disturbed districts. As the rebels were reported to be occupying Stony
+Gut, an almost impregnable ravine three miles in length, a detachment of
+the 6th Regiment was sent to dislodge them. Captain Luke, 1st West India
+Regiment, by a rapid and judicious movement of his company towards Cuna
+Cuna Gap, rescued from the hands of the insurgents upwards of eighty
+Europeans and influential people of colour, who had, with their wives
+and children, been in hiding for three or four days in the woods and
+mountains, and conveyed them to a place of safety. Captain Hole moved
+towards Bath from Manchioneal, and, in a despatch to Brigadier-General
+Nelson, he mentions "a meritorious act of three privates of the 1st West
+India Regiment deserving commendation. The three men got separated from
+their party, and proceeded as far as the Plantain Garden River, where a
+great number of rebels are lurking. The soldiers encountering the
+rebels, shot several--among them three of the murderers of Mr. Hire--and
+brought back with them two cartloads of plunder, among which was some of
+Mr. Hire's clothing, and other property."
+
+Kingston, as has been said, was exempted from martial law, and
+consequently became the refuge of the most disaffected people. Arrests
+were made hourly, and upwards of two hundred political prisoners were
+confined in the military custody of the 1st West India Regiment at Up
+Park Camp, which was under martial law. Threats were daily circulated
+that the city would be fired in various places, and the streets were
+patrolled by day and night. Sunday, the 22nd of October, was said to be
+fixed for a massacre of the loyal inhabitants while at church, and such
+universal panic prevailed, that every place of worship was on that day
+empty.
+
+The insurgents gradually dispersed as the troops advanced, numbers being
+captured. On the 23rd of October, Paul Bogle, the ringleader, was taken;
+and, on the 24th, was tried and hanged. On the same day, George William
+Gordon, a coloured member of the House of Assembly, who had been tried
+by a court-martial on the 21st, and found guilty of complicity in the
+rebellion, was hanged at Morant Bay. All the insurgents taken in arms
+were put to death, and the houses of those who were known to have taken
+part in the insurrection were burned. By these vigorous measures all
+outward signs of resistance were crushed, and the movement prevented
+from becoming general; though reports were constantly received from
+various parts of the island, of disloyalty and seditious intentions.
+
+On the 29th of October, letters D and F Companies of the 1st West India
+Regiment, with Major McBean, Captains Ormsby and Smithwick, Lieutenants
+Lowry, Niven, Hill, and Bale, and Ensign Cole, arrived from Nassau.
+Detachments were at once sent to Port Maria under Captain Ormsby, to
+Savannah la Mar under Lieutenant Hill, and to Vere under Lieutenant
+Bale. The 2nd West India Regiment, arriving from Barbados, was stationed
+along the north-western coast of the island.
+
+From evidence subsequently obtained it was evident that the rising had
+been long planned, and that the outbreak at Morant Bay was premature. It
+is clear that meetings took place, where bodies of men were drilled,
+oaths administered, and the names of persons registered. The insurgents
+were so confident of ultimate success that the crops were uninjured, and
+the buildings for the most part preserved; they openly avowing that they
+intended taking them for themselves, when the whites were expelled. The
+rebels appear to have expected that the Maroons would join them, but
+that people remained faithful to their allegiance, and assisted in the
+suppression of the disturbances.
+
+Although all the rebels in the field were taken or dispersed before the
+end of October, the island was not entirely quiet for some time after;
+and as late as the 14th of December, a detachment of the 1st West India
+Regiment, under Captain Ross, was sent from Black River to Oxford
+Estate, thirty miles distant, that place being reported to be
+disaffected.
+
+Major-General O'Connor, in his despatch reporting the restoration of
+order, says: "The men employed in the field, exposed to the tropical
+sun, heavy rains, constant and long marches by day and night, have all
+(the 2nd 6th Regiment, and the 1st West India Regiment) highly
+distinguished themselves by their patience, perseverance, and general
+good conduct." He might have added that the fidelity of the black
+soldiers of the 1st West India Regiment could hardly have been put to a
+more crucial test. Nine-tenths of those men were Jamaicans, born and
+bred, and in the work of suppressing the rebellion they were required to
+hang, capture, and destroy the habitations of not only their countrymen
+and friends, but, in many instances, of their near relatives. Yet in no
+single case did any man hesitate to obey orders, nor was the loyalty of
+any one soldier ever a matter for doubt.
+
+Governor Eyre having, by his prompt and vigorous measures, saved the
+colony of Jamaica from a repetition of those horrors which devastated
+the French West India Islands in the early part of the century, was
+subjected to a most vindictive and ungenerous attack on the part of the
+Exeter Hall party in England. By that party the judicial executions of
+the rebels were stigmatised as "atrocities," while the massacre at
+Morant Bay and the murders of the planters were only spoken of as
+"unfortunate occurrences." Owing to their clamour, a commission was sent
+out from England to inquire into the state of affairs in the colony. The
+commission arrived at the following conclusion: "That though the
+original design for the overthrow of constituted authority was confined
+to a small portion of the parish of St. Thomas-in-the-East, yet that the
+disorder, in fact, spread with singular rapidity over an extensive tract
+of country, and that such was the state of excitement prevailing in
+other parts of the island, that had more than a momentary success been
+obtained by the insurgents, their ultimate overthrow would have been
+attended with a still more fearful loss of life and property."
+
+Many of the disaffected negroes, finding that they were being backed up
+by an influential party in England, preferred the most unfounded charges
+against several of the officers who had been most active in the
+suppression of the rebellion. Amongst others, Ensign Cullen, of the 1st
+West India Regiment, was charged with having had three men wantonly shot
+at Duckinfield Suspension Bridge, on the 21st of October, while on the
+march from Manchioneal to Golden Grove; and Staff-Assistant-Surgeon
+Morris, who had been in medical charge of Ensign Cullen's detachment,
+was charged with shooting a fourth man.
+
+After these charges had been allowed to hang over these officers' heads
+for nearly a year, they were given an opportunity of clearing themselves
+before a general court martial, which assembled at Up Park Camp on the
+2nd of October, 1866, and terminated its proceedings on the 4th of
+December. It is needless to say that both were acquitted.[59]
+
+For the valuable and efficient services rendered by the regiment during
+this rebellion, the House of Assembly in Jamaica voted the sum of L100
+to be expended in plate.
+
+In March, 1866, all being quiet in Jamaica, Captain Smithwick's company
+returned to Nassau in H.M.S. _Sphynx_, being followed by Captain
+Ormsby's company, in August, in H.M.S. _Barracouta_.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 59: The following was the composition of the court:
+
+    Lieutenant-Colonel R.T. Farren, C.B., Depot Battalion--President.
+    Major W.R. Williamson, 48th Regiment  }
+      "   J.H. Campbell,   71st    "      }
+    Captain F.D. Walters,  44th    "      }
+       "    J.G. Day,      28th    "      }
+       "    J.A. Barstow,  89th    "      }  Members.
+       "    J.L. Seton,   102nd    "      }
+       "    C.V. Oliver,   66th    "      }
+       "    J.T. Ready,    66th    "      }
+    Captain Maclean, Rifle Brigade--Officiating Judge Advocate.
+    Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel C.F.J. Daniell, 28th Regiment--Prosecutor.
+
+]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+AFRICAN TOUR, 1866-70.
+
+
+In August, 1866, it again became the turn of the 1st West India Regiment
+to furnish a portion of the garrisons of the Western Coast of Africa.
+The system of these garrisons had again been changed, and now consisted
+of one battalion divided between Sierra Leone and the Gambia, and half a
+battalion distributed between the Gold Coast and Lagos. At this time the
+left wing of the 2nd West India Regiment was garrisoning the two latter
+colonies, and the 1st West India Regiment was to garrison the two
+former.
+
+On the 29th of August, 1866, four companies under Major Anton embarked
+at Jamaica in H.M.S. _Simoom_, and proceeded to Africa; two being landed
+at the Gambia on the 28th of September, and two at Sierra Leone on the
+6th of October. The _Simoom_, returning to the West Indies, embarked the
+remaining company at Jamaica in November; and proceeding to Nassau, the
+head-quarters and three companies there stationed were also embarked,
+the whole arriving at Sierra Leone, under Captain Bravo, on the 31st of
+December. The distribution of the regiment now was: Head-quarters, with
+A, B, D, E, F, and G Companies at Sierra Leone; C and H Companies at the
+Gambia. Major Anton was in command at the latter station, and on the
+25th of May, 1867, Lieutenant-Colonel Yonge arrived at Sierra Leone and
+assumed command there.
+
+In the beginning of August, 1867, a disturbance of a serious character
+occurred on the Gold Coast at Mumford, a town situated half-way between
+Cape Coast Castle and Accra; and Lieutenant H.F.S. Bolton, 1st West
+India Regiment, who, being temporarily in the employ of the Colonial
+Government, was Civil Commandant of the latter town, was despatched with
+a party of the 2nd West India Regiment to establish order. The cause of
+the disturbance was an old-standing quarrel between two of the native
+companies at Mumford, and a conflict had taken place, resulting in a
+large number of killed and wounded. On the arrival of the troops the
+principal offenders were arrested, and order was restored.
+
+Since the arrival of the regiment in Africa, small detachments had been
+furnished from Sierra Leone to Sherbro, Songo-town, and the island of
+Bulama, at the mouth of the Jeba River. In September, 1867, the troops
+were withdrawn from the latter station.
+
+In October, 1867, Lieutenant Bolton was employed in arresting some
+recalcitrant chiefs at Pram-Pram, near Accra, Lieutenant Ness, 2nd West
+India Regiment, with a detachment of that corps, acting under his
+orders. The service was attended with considerable difficulty and some
+danger, and the following general order was published on the subject,
+dated Cape Coast Castle, January 15th, 1868:
+
+"The officer commanding the troops has much gratification in publishing
+in orders an extract of a letter received from the Horse Guards,
+expressing the approval of His Royal Highness the Field-Marshal
+Commanding-in-Chief, of the manner in which the difficult duties were
+carried out by the officers and troops employed in the recent expedition
+to Pram-Pram.
+
+"'The attention of the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief having been
+drawn to a despatch, received at the Colonial Office, from the
+Administrator-in-Chief of the West Africa settlements, containing a very
+favourable account of the conduct of Lieutenant H.F.S. Bolton, of the
+1st West India Regiment, and Lieutenant (now Captain) Ness, of the 4th
+West India Regiment,[60] and of the troops under their command, on a
+recent expedition to some chiefs at Pram-Pram and Ningo, on the Gold
+Coast; I am directed to acquaint you that His Royal Highness considers
+the report to be highly satisfactory, and I have to request that you
+will express to the officers and troops employed on the service in
+question, His Royal Highness's approval of the manner in which they
+carried out the very difficult duties they had to perform.'"
+
+On the 9th of August, 1868, at the request of the Governor-in-chief, the
+garrison of the 2nd West India Regiment on the Gold Coast being much
+below its allotted strength, E Company, 1st West India Regiment, 100
+strong, proceeded to Cape Coast Castle, under Lieutenant C.J.L. Hill,
+and, in consequence of this reduction of the Sierra Leone garrison, the
+Songo-town detachment was withdrawn.
+
+In January, 1869, a company under Captain K.R. Niven, with Ensign W.A.
+Broome, was despatched to Sherbro Island for the protection of British
+subjects, an invasion of that island being hourly expected. The presence
+of the troops soon produced the desired effect, and the detachment
+returned to Sierra Leone on the 27th of February.
+
+In April, 1869, in consequence of the difficulty experienced by the
+Colonial Government in arresting certain rebellious chiefs at the
+Amissah River, about twenty miles to the east of Cape Coast Castle, the
+police having been attacked and driven off, the Acting Administrator,
+Mr. W.H. Simpson, applied for a military party to aid in establishing
+the authority of the Government over the people of that place; and, on
+the 7th of that month, Lieutenant E.G. Macdonald, 1st West India
+Regiment, with twenty-five non-commissioned officers and men of letter
+E Company, marched for Anamaboe, leaving that place next morning for
+Amissah River. On arriving there the chiefs were captured with some
+little difficulty, and the party returned to Cape Coast next day.
+
+On the 1st of April, 1869, the 4th West India Regiment was disbanded,
+and the three remaining West India regiments were each augmented by one
+company; the detachment of the 4th West India Regiment at Jamaica being
+formed into the ninth, or letter "I," Company of the 1st West India
+Regiment. On the 30th of September, 1869, it embarked for Honduras in
+the brigantine _W.N.Z._, under Major McAuley, arriving at its
+destination on the 14th of October.
+
+In May, 1869, the Gambia was visited by a severe epidemic of cholera.
+Owing to the sanitary measures adopted by Major W.W.W. Johnston, 1st
+West India Regiment, commanding the troops, the regiment escaped with
+only eighteen deaths out of the 200 men there stationed between the 5th
+of May and the 6th of June, the period when the epidemic was at its
+height; while in the town there were more than 1500 deaths, out of a
+population of some 5000.
+
+In 1870 the three years' tour of service of the regiment on the West
+Coast of Africa expired. The 3rd West India Regiment having been
+disbanded, a considerable reduction in the West African garrisons became
+necessary, and it was intended that the relief for the eight companies
+of the 1st West India Regiment should consist of four companies of the
+2nd. On the 24th of May, the head-quarters, with A, B, and F Companies,
+under Captain Samson, embarked at Sierra Leone in H.M.S. _Orontes_,
+which, proceeding to the Gambia, took on board the two companies there
+on the 29th. The head-quarters, with the three companies from Sierra
+Leone, landed at Jamaica on the 27th of June, and the _Orontes_ then
+sailed for Nassau, where the two companies from the Gambia were
+disembarked. On the return of the troopship to the West Coast of Africa
+with the four companies of the 2nd West India Regiment, the company of
+the 1st West India Regiment at Cape Coast Castle was embarked on the
+24th of August, and the remaining two at Sierra Leone on the 27th. All
+three proceeded to Jamaica, under the command of Captain J.A. Smith, and
+landed at Kingston on the 3rd of October. The distribution of the
+regiment was now as follows: head-quarters and six companies at Jamaica,
+two at Nassau, and one at Honduras. On the 15th of November, F Company,
+under Captain Butler, embarked at Jamaica for Honduras; thus making up
+the detachment at that station to two companies.
+
+During the West African tour of 1866-70, two officers succumbed to the
+influence of the climate, Lieutenant Gavin having died at Sierra Leone
+on the 22nd of February, 1869, and Lieutenant Maturin on the 7th of
+December of the same year.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 60: By the Gazette of September 25th, 1867, Lieutenant R.E.D.
+Ness, 2nd West India Regiment, was promoted Captain, by purchase, in the
+4th West India Regiment.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+THE DEFENCE OF ORANGE WALK, 1872.
+
+
+On the 1st of September, 1872, a most determined attack was made by the
+Ycaiche Indians on the outpost of Orange Walk, British Honduras, which
+was garrisoned by thirty-eight men of the 1st West India Regiment, under
+Lieutenant Joseph Graham Smith.
+
+Orange Walk is situated on a deep and sluggish stream in the northern
+district, named the New River,[61] at a distance of some thirty-three
+miles from its mouth, and, in 1872, contained a population of about 1200
+souls, the majority of whom were either Indians or Hispano-Indians, and
+indifferent to British rule. The business portion of the town, and most
+of the shops or stores, were on hilly ground, considerably above the
+river-bed, and built here and there, without an attempt at order or
+regularity. About midway between the river and this upper portion of the
+town was the barrack, consisting of one large room, sixty feet by
+thirty feet, the two ends of which were partitioned off, leaving the
+central part for the men's quarters. The partitioned portion at the
+south end was used as a guard-room. The walls of the building were
+constructed of _pimentos_, or round straight sticks, varying from
+half-an-inch to three inches in diameter, driven firmly into the ground,
+in an upright position, as close together as possible, and held in their
+places by pine-wood battens. The roof was composed of palm-leaves, or
+"fan-thatch." The floor was boarded.
+
+On the south-eastern side of the barrack, the ground fell towards the
+river, which was about fifty yards distant. About ten yards from the
+water's edge was a large quantity of logwood, packed in piles four feet
+high, and some little distance from each other. Across the road, on the
+southern side, were several native houses; to the east, and about forty
+yards distant, was a group of four small buildings consisting of
+commissariat stores and the officers' quarters; while the nearest
+building on the north was the Roman Catholic Church, about eighty yards
+off.
+
+How or when the invaders crossed the Rio Hondo, the northern boundary of
+the colony, has not been ascertained; but it is a significant fact,
+suggestive of strong suspicions against the loyalty of the Indian and
+mixed Spanish-Indian population, whose small settlements were dotted
+here and there on the line of march of the invaders, that no information
+was conveyed, either to the district magistrate at Orange Walk, or to
+the officer commanding the small detachment, that an enemy was at hand,
+prepared, as the settlers must have known, to attack and plunder the
+town.
+
+The Indians, consisting of about 180 braves, or fighting men, and 100
+camp followers, led by Marcus Canul, chief of the Ycaiche, approached
+the town about 8 a.m. on Sunday, the 1st of September. They were divided
+into three sections, each of 60 men, and they entered the town at three
+different points; one attacking the upper portion, and pillaging and
+setting fire to the houses and stores, the other two marching directly
+upon the barracks, but from opposite sides. Of these latter two, one
+took up a position behind the stacks of logwood, thus commanding one
+side and one end of the barrack; and the other established itself close
+to the officers' quarters, under cover of a stone building, which
+commanded the other side of the barrack and the end already commanded
+from the stacks of logwood.
+
+So sudden and unexpected was the attack, that Lieutenant Graham Smith
+and Staff-Assistant-Surgeon Edge, who were both at the time having their
+morning baths, barely had time to escape to the barracks; Lieutenant
+Smith, with nothing on but his trousers, and Dr. Edge in a state of
+nudity; while the first notice the men in the barrack had of the
+approach of the enemy, was the shower of lead which rattled on the
+building.
+
+Lieutenant Graham Smith says: "At about 8 a.m. on September 1st, I was
+bathing, when I heard the report of a gun and the whizz of a bullet
+along the road running past the south end of the barrack-room. I looked
+out of the door of my house facing the barracks, and saw the corporal of
+the old guard, which had just been relieved, running towards me. He
+said, 'The Indians have come.' I repeated this to Dr. Edge, who was
+living in the same quarters with me, then put on my trousers, ran across
+to the barrack-room, and got the men under arms as quickly as possible."
+
+Before Lieutenant Graham Smith had reached the barracks, the two
+divisions of the enemy had taken up their respective positions, and were
+pouring in unceasing discharges of ball, which penetrated the pimento
+sticks and raked the building from end to end. The guard, the only men
+who had ammunition in their possession, returned the fire, and at this
+moment Lieutenant Smith arrived with Dr. Edge.
+
+Sergeant Belizario, coming forward and asking for ammunition to serve
+out, reminded Lieutenant Smith that he had left the key of the portable
+magazine, in which the ammunition was kept, in his quarters. The open
+space between his quarters and the barrack-room was swept with an
+unceasing shower of lead; but there was no help for it, and the key had
+to be fetched. Accompanied by Sergeant Belizario, Lieutenant Smith ran
+over to his house, seized the key, and ran back. Most marvellously both
+escaped injury, though the ground all around them was cut up by bullets.
+The portable magazine was kept in the partitioned end that served as a
+guard-room, and there was no door of communication between the central
+portion, where the men lived, and this room. Sergeant Belizario
+therefore ran out of the barrack-room, along the side of the building,
+into the guard-room, and endeavoured to drag the portable magazine back
+with him. He succeeded in moving it outside the guard-room and a little
+way along the wall, but further he could not drag it. All this time he
+was exposed to a heavy fire, and every musket-barrel from the stone
+building on the eastern side of the barrack was pointed at his body.
+Finding that all his efforts to move the magazine were fruitless,
+Sergeant Belizario unlocked it, and, taking out the ammunition, passed
+packet after packet to the men inside, through the opening under the
+eaves left for ventilation, between the thatched roof and the top of the
+pimento wall, till the magazine was emptied. This done, he returned to
+the barrack-room. He seemed to have borne a charmed life, for he was
+untouched, while the portable magazine was starred with the white
+splashes of leaden bullets.
+
+A hot fire was now opened by the soldiers, and Lieutenant Graham Smith,
+taking a rifle, placed himself at the west door of the barracks to try
+and pick off some of the most daring of the Indians. Whilst there he was
+struck in the left side, and, at the same instant, Private Robert Lynch,
+who was standing next him, fell dead, pierced by two shots.
+
+Notwithstanding his wound, which was very severe, the ball penetrating
+the left breast a little above the heart, and passing nearly through
+him, finally lodging under the left shoulder-blade, Lieutenant Smith
+continued directing and encouraging his men; and finding that the whole
+interior was swept by the missiles of the enemy, against which the frail
+pimento-sticks were no protection, he ordered the men to turn down their
+cots, and, lying on their beds, to fire over the iron heads of the cots.
+In this position they were tolerably well sheltered, though the Indians
+were so close that several of the iron heads were shot through.
+
+In this place it will be proper to refer to a soldier who, all this
+time, was outside the barrack. This was Private Bidwell, who, when the
+Indians arrived, had just been posted sentry on a commissariat store
+close to the officers' quarters. The occupation of one of this group of
+buildings cut him off from the barrack-room; so, after bayoneting one
+Indian, he ran over to an enclosure belonging to Don Escalente, situated
+to the north of the store. From the shelter of the fence of this
+enclosure he fired into the Indians in the stone building till his ten
+rounds of ammunition were exhausted. He then said to Don Escalente, "I
+am going over to the barracks for more cartridges," and, before he could
+be dissuaded, ran out from the shelter and endeavoured to cross the open
+space to the barrack. On the way he received a mortal wound, but
+succeeded in joining his comrades.
+
+The Indians, impatient at the delay caused by the obstinate resistance
+of the soldiers, now vacated the houses on the further side of the road,
+opposite the southern end of the barracks, and set fire to the thatched
+roofs, hoping to involve the barracks in a general conflagration. The
+houses burned fiercely, and the flames spreading across the road, caught
+a small kitchen situated not ten yards from the barracks. The Indians
+raised yells of triumph, for they considered it certain that their foes
+would now be driven from their shelter and then easily overpowered by
+force of numbers. Indeed, it is difficult to understand how the dry
+palm-thatch of the barracks did fail to ignite, but it did so fail, and
+the kitchen, after blazing up violently for a few minutes, fell in and
+burned itself out harmlessly.
+
+By the destruction of these buildings the position of the soldiers was
+improved, the Indians now having no cover immediately opposite the south
+end of the barrack, and being compelled consequently to concentrate
+behind the stacks of logwood. A party, however, of them made a circuit
+and appeared on the north-west corner of the barrack, from whence they
+commanded the road bounding the north side of the building.
+
+After the firing had continued for an hour and a half, Mr. Price, and
+another American gentleman from Tower Hill Rancho, about four miles from
+the barracks, having heard what was taking place, mounted and rode
+towards the scene of the conflict. Creeping up the river bank
+unperceived through the thick woods, they suddenly rode into and fired
+upon the Indians who were in rear of the stacks of logwood. The latter,
+taken by surprise, and not knowing by what unexpected force they were
+attacked, left their cover for a moment and appeared on the side nearest
+to the barracks. The soldiers perceiving this movement, and thinking
+that the Indians were going to attempt to rush the building, fixed
+bayonets, and some ran to the doors to defend the entrances. Mr. Price
+and his companion, taking advantage of this and the momentary surprise
+of the Indians, rushed forward and threw themselves into the barracks.
+
+The enemy's fire redoubled after this, and it was hotly kept up until
+about half-past 1 o'clock; it then began to slacken, and by 2 o'clock
+had ceased altogether. For some time no one stirred, it being suspected
+that the cessation of the attack was only an Indian ruse; but after a
+quarter of an hour had elapsed, Sergeant Belizario was sent out with a
+party to reconnoitre. He reported that the enemy was in full retreat,
+and was sent to follow them up and watch their movements. No pursuit
+could be attempted. Lieutenant Graham Smith was, by this time, incapable
+of further action, and out of the detachment of thirty-eight men, two
+had been killed and fourteen severely wounded.
+
+The attack lasted altogether six hours. The Indian loss was about fifty
+killed; the number of their wounded could not, of course, be
+ascertained, but amongst them was Marcus Canul himself, who was
+mortally wounded, and died before recrossing the Hondo. Of the
+civilians, the son of Don Escalente, a boy fourteen years of age, was
+killed, and seventeen were wounded. While the Indians had been occupied
+in their attack on the barracks, the European women and children had
+escaped from the scene of the outrage and crossed the river in boats.
+Thence they had made their way through the dense forest to the village
+of San Estevan, about seven miles below Orange Walk. Over 300
+bullet-holes were counted in the walls of the barrack-room, and in many
+places the palmettos were shot away in patches.
+
+On the morning following the attack, a rumour reached the barracks that
+the Indians were again in force near the town, and preparing to renew
+the attack. Every preparation for giving them a warm reception was made;
+but Sergeant Belizario and a small party, who went out to reconnoitre,
+found that the rumour was false, although several Indians were seen in
+the bush and fired upon.
+
+In the meantime the news of the invasion had reached Corosal and Belize,
+and Captain F.B.P. White, with Lieutenant Bulger and twenty men, arrived
+at Orange Walk at midnight on the 4th, being followed next day by a
+further reinforcement of fifty-three officers and men, under Major
+W.W.W. Johnston, but the Indians had already retired beyond the
+frontier.
+
+A colonist, in a letter to _The Times_ on this affair, says:
+
+"Concerning the conduct and proceedings of the military during and
+subsequent to the late invasion and attack, I have nothing to say but
+what redounds to their credit and high character as British soldiers;
+and if medals and crosses were distributed among the dusky warriors of
+Her Majesty's land forces in this part of her dominions as freely as
+among other branches of the service, all I can say is that every one of
+the brave fellows, who held with such determined valour and tenacity the
+barracks at Orange Walk on that memorable Sunday morning against such
+fearful odds, would be entitled to a medal at least."
+
+The following general order was issued: "The Colonel commanding the
+forces in the West Indies has received with much satisfaction an account
+of the successful defence of the post of Orange Walk, British Honduras,
+by a detachment of the 1st West India Regiment, under the command of
+Lieutenant J. Graham Smith, against an assault of a large force of
+Indians.
+
+"He has much pleasure in recording his high approbation of the gallant
+conduct of Lieutenant Smith, who, severely wounded at the outset of the
+attack, maintained the defence of his post, and retained command as long
+as his strength enabled him to do so; it was then successfully
+maintained under the direction of Staff-Assistant-Surgeon Edge, and
+Sergeant Belizario, 1st West India Regiment, to whom also great praise
+is due for their conduct and exertions; the gallant conduct of
+Lance-Corporals Spencer and Stirling, Privates Hoffer, Maxwell,
+Osborne, Murray, and W. Morris, has also been favourably mentioned.
+
+"The Colonel commanding will have great pleasure in bringing the conduct
+of these officers and soldiers to the favourable notice of His Royal
+Highness the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief, and also the judicious
+and energetic measures taken by Major W.W.W. Johnston, 1st West India
+Regiment, commanding the troops in British Honduras, who proceeded in
+person to the post which had been assailed, and followed up the
+retreating enemy."
+
+In reply to the report made by Colonel Cox, C.B., commanding the troops,
+the following letter was received, and ordered to be embodied in the
+records of the regiment:
+
+                                    "HORSE GUARDS, WAR OFFICE, S.W.,
+                                            "_15th November, 1872_.
+
+    "SIR,
+
+    "Having had the honour to receive and submit to the Field-Marshal
+    Commanding-in-Chief, your letter of the 23rd September last, with
+    its several enclosures, containing a detailed account of the
+    exemplary and gallant conduct of a detachment of the 1st West India
+    Regiment, in repelling an attack of Indians on the Orange Walk
+    outpost of the Colony of British Honduras, together with a letter on
+    the same subject addressed to this department by the officer
+    commanding the 1st West India Regiment:
+
+    "I have it in command to acquaint you that His Royal Highness, after
+    consultation with the Secretary of State for War on the subject,
+    has decided that the following recognition shall be at once made of
+    the services of the officers and men employed on that occasion,
+    viz.:
+
+    "That Lieutenant Smith, late 1st West India Regiment, who was
+    gazetted to the 57th Regiment in August last, shall be immediately
+    promoted to a Company in the 97th Foot.
+
+    "That Staff-Assistant-Surgeon Edge shall be promoted to the rank of
+    Surgeon, as soon as he has qualified for the higher position, and a
+    notification to this effect will be published in the London Gazette,
+    hereafter.
+
+    "That Sergeant Edward Belizario shall receive the distinguished
+    conduct medal, with an annuity of L10, to be given at once, in
+    excess of the vote, until absorbed on the occurrence of a vacancy.
+
+    "That Lance-Corporals Spencer and Stirling shall be granted the
+    distinguished conduct medal without annuity, and promoted to the
+    rank of Corporal, to be borne supernumerary till absorbed.
+
+    "I am also to request that the men of the detachment specially named
+    in the margin[62] may be commended for their good conduct, and the
+    commanding officer of the regiment requested to record their claims,
+    and give such recognition of them regimentally as may be possible
+    from time to time.
+
+    "That you will publish these, His Royal Highness's decisions, in
+    your general orders.
+
+    "And that a copy of this letter may be furnished to the officer
+    commanding the 1st West India Regiment, for the purpose of being
+    entered in the Regimental Records.
+
+                                       "I have, etc.,
+                                        (Signed) J.W. ARMSTRONG, D.A.G."
+
+In consequence of the attack on Orange Walk, and on the application of
+the Governor of Honduras, Captain Gardner, Lieutenant Bale, and fifty
+men of the regiment, embarked at Jamaica, on the 25th of September, in
+H.M.S. _Fly_, as a reinforcement for Honduras.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 61: See Map.]
+
+[Footnote 62: Privates Hoffer, Maxwell, S. Osborne, Murray, R.A. Morris,
+and W. Tell.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+THE ASHANTI WAR, 1873-4.
+
+
+On the 9th of December, 1872, the King of Ashanti despatched from
+Coomassie an army of 40,000 men to invade the British Protectorate on
+the Gold Coast. This army crossed the Prah in three divisions on January
+29th, 1873, and spread itself slowly over the country, ravaging as it
+advanced. In August, 1870, the garrisons on the West Coast of Africa had
+been reduced to four companies, two at Sierra Leone, and two at Cape
+Coast. This reduction, no doubt, was one of the principal causes which
+led to the invasion, for at that time there were only 160 soldiers of
+the 2nd West India Regiment to defend 160 miles of territory.
+
+In June, 1873, the head-quarters of the 2nd West India Regiment being
+ordered from Demerara to Cape Coast Castle, A Company of the 1st West
+India Regiment embarked at Kingston, Jamaica, on the 10th of that month,
+and proceeded to Demerara to garrison that place. In September, the
+native levies that had been raised on the Gold Coast to resist the
+Ashantis being found utterly worthless, it was decided to send three
+battalions from England and the 1st West India Regiment from Jamaica, to
+invade in turn the Ashanti territory and dictate terms of peace at
+Coomassie.
+
+On the 15th of November, the two companies (C and H) from Nassau, under
+the command of Major Strachan, arrived at Jamaica, and, on the 3rd of
+December, the head-quarters and five companies (B, C, E, G and H), under
+the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Maxwell, embarked at Kingston on board
+the hired transport _Manitoban_. Proceeding to Barbados, A Company, which
+had been moved from Demerara, was embarked on the 9th of December, and the
+same evening the regiment sailed for the Gold Coast, arriving at Cape Coast
+Castle on the 27th, and disembarking on the 29th, 575 strong. The officers
+serving with the expeditionary force were Lieutenant-Colonel Maxwell, Major
+W.W.W. Johnston, Captains Sampson, Butler, Niven, J.A. Smith, Steward,
+and Shearman, Lieutenants Allinson, C.J.L. Hill, Bale, Molony, Cole,
+Bell, Clough, Elderton, Beale-Browne, and Barne, and Sub-Lieutenants
+Harward, Spitta, Hughes, Burke, Edwardes, Tinkler, and Ellis.
+
+The regiment on landing was encamped on Prospect and Connor's Hills, two
+heights overlooking the town of Cape Coast, and Colonel Maxwell assumed
+command of the garrison in the Castle.
+
+Sir Garnet Wolseley having already driven the Ashantis out of the
+Protectorate after the actions at Dunquah and Abracampa in November, and
+having garrisoned the various stations between Cape Coast and the Prah,
+had, a few days before the regiment landed, gone on to Prahsu with his
+head-quarter staff. The _Himalaya_ and _Tamar_, with the 23rd Royal
+Welsh Fusiliers and the 2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade, which had been
+cruising about outside for sanitary reasons, now came into the
+roadstead, where the _Sarmatian_, with the 42nd Highlanders, was already
+lying, and everything was ready for the advance on Coomassie.
+
+Accordingly, before daybreak on the 1st of January, the right
+half-battalion of the Rifle Brigade landed and commenced its march to
+the front, followed the next morning by the other half-battalion. On the
+mornings of the 3rd and 4th the two half-battalions of the 42nd landed,
+and passed to the front in a similar manner.
+
+The Fantis had shown so much disinclination to act as carriers, and so
+few had been obtained, that the advance of these two battalions had
+exhausted all the available carriers, and there were none for the 23rd
+Fusiliers. It was necessary to adopt stronger measures, unless the
+expedition was to fall through, and on the 4th of January the 1st West
+India Regiment was posted in a cordon of sentries around the town of
+Cape Coast, while the armed police seized all the able-bodied men in the
+town, except those employed as canoe-men. This step was entirely
+successful, and on the morning of the 5th the right half-battalion of
+the 23rd landed and marched to the front, being followed next morning by
+C Company of the 1st West India Regiment.
+
+The difficulty with the carriers had in the meantime increased instead
+of diminishing. Numbers had deserted, abandoning their loads, and the
+transport was almost in a moribund condition, the 23rd Regiment being
+even re-embarked for want of carriers. Sir Garnet Wolseley in this
+emergency called upon the West India regiments for assistance, saying
+that the fate of the expedition was hanging in the balance; and in
+response to his appeal, they both volunteered to carry supplies, in
+addition to their arms, accoutrements, and ammunition.
+
+Accordingly, on the 7th of January, the head-quarters of the regiment,
+under Colonel Maxwell, with A and E Companies, marched to Inquabim, the
+first stage; being followed the next morning by G and H Companies, under
+Captain Butler; while B Company remained at Prospect Hill to furnish the
+necessary garrison guards at Cape Coast Castle.
+
+The head-quarters arrived at Dunquah on the 8th, where C Company had
+been halted by Colonel Colley, who was in charge of the transport and
+communications, and had already been actively engaged driving in
+carriers and furnishing escorts for the convoys of provisions.
+
+On the 9th, at 1.30 a.m., A Company, under Captain Shearman, paraded
+and marched into the Ecumfie district for the purpose of driving in
+carriers from that neighbourhood, and, at the same hour, the
+head-quarters and E Company continued their march to Mansu, where they
+arrived the same evening.
+
+Provisions being now urgently required at the stations immediately in
+front of Mansu, 78 men of E Company, being all that were available, and
+140 of the 42nd Highlanders, started at three o'clock in the morning of
+the 12th, as carriers, each man with a load of 50 lb. weight, besides
+his arms and accoutrements. On the evening of the same day Captain
+Butler, with H Company, arrived at Mansu.
+
+The carriers continued deserting by whole tribes, and the need of them
+had become so urgent, that orders were issued to shoot any attempting to
+desert, while parties of the regiment were continually passing backwards
+and forwards between Dunquah and Mansu as guards over the convoys. To
+relieve the pressure, 94 men of G and C Companies left Dunquah on the
+13th with ninety-four 50-lb. loads, and, reaching Mansu the same day,
+started next morning at daybreak for the Prah.
+
+On the 17th, Captain Butler marched with H Company to Essecooma, a place
+about twenty miles due east from Mansu, to drive in carriers, and a
+similar party was sent out next day from Dunquah, under Lieutenant
+Roper, to Adjumaco and Essiaman.
+
+During all these arduous duties, and since the 8th of January, so great
+was the scarcity of provisions at the front, that the non-commissioned
+officers and men of the regiment were placed upon half rations of salt
+meat and biscuit, without the grocery ration.
+
+On Sunday, the 18th of January, the transport being now in sufficient
+order, owing to the number of carriers driven in from the surrounding
+districts by the regiment, the advance of the army commenced, and the
+head-quarters of the 42nd Regiment marched from Mansu; their left wing,
+and 100 men of the 23rd Fusiliers, moving up from Yancoomassie Fanti,
+and occupying their lines for the night. The Rifle Brigade moved
+simultaneously to the front from the stations ahead.
+
+Next morning, E Company, under Captain J.A. Smith, marched with the left
+wing of the 42nd for the Prah, and G Company, under Captain Steward,
+came up to Mansu from Dunquah, leaving A and C Companies, under Captains
+Niven and Shearman, at Dunquah and the Adjumaco district.
+
+On the 23rd, orders were received from the front by telegram, that the
+head-quarters and 200 men were to march for the Prah at once, there to
+receive further orders. Captain Butler, who had been ordered in with H
+Company from Essecooma, two days before, arrived at Mansu the same
+evening, and the next morning, the head-quarters and G Company marched
+for the Prah, H Company following on the 25th. Halting at Sutah and
+Yancoomassie Assin, the head-quarters arrived at Prahsu on the 27th,
+and on the morning of the 28th, the 200 men required crossed the Prah
+and marched to Essiaman. During this march the men had been obliged to
+carry their _tentes d'abri_, blankets and waterproof sheets, and seventy
+rounds of ball ammunition, in addition to their field kits and arms and
+accoutrements. On arriving at Essiaman, E Company, which, under Captain
+J.A. Smith, had crossed the Prah a day or two before, was found
+occupying an important post at the cross roads.
+
+A few minutes after reaching this village, urgent orders were received
+to push on as quickly as possible to the summit of the Adansi Hills, and
+again proceed to the front with all speed, leaving fifty men at
+Fommanah, the capital of Adansi. On the 29th, the head-quarters were at
+Accrofumu; on the 30th, they crossed the Adansi Hills, and halted at
+Fommanah for the night, leaving E Company, under Captain Smith, at the
+cross-roads at the foot of the hills, in accordance with later orders
+that had been received, and Lieutenant Spitta with twenty-five men at
+the summit. The men were now becoming much exhausted from their long
+marches, marching, as they did, double stages every day. Their burdens
+were unusually heavy for troops, and they were still kept on half
+rations.
+
+At Fommanah a very pressing letter was received from the chief of the
+staff, asking at what hour next day the regiment might be expected to
+join the head-quarters of the army at Insarfu, what numbers it could
+put into the field, and whether the boxes of small-arm ammunition
+ordered up from Prahsu had arrived with it. A considerable action was
+considered imminent on the morrow.
+
+At daylight on the morning of the 31st, the head-quarters marched to
+Ahkankuassie, leaving Captain Steward and Lieutenant Hughes with fifty
+men at Fommanah. At about eight o'clock the sound of heavy and sustained
+musketry was heard, and the men, eager to join in the first battle
+fought on Ashanti soil, pushed on. At Adadwasi a large number of
+carriers, with reserve ammunition, who had halted there, frightened at
+the sound of the firing, were found, and were at once taken on, arriving
+at Insarfu about 1.30 p.m.
+
+The firing, which had ceased for a short time, now recommenced, the
+Ashantis making one of their favourite flank attacks on Quarman, the
+next village in front. The situation appeared grave, the town being
+crowded with terrified carriers and wounded men, and Lieutenant Hill
+with a half-company was sent out to act with the 2nd West India Regiment
+and skirmish.
+
+After a time, however, the musketry ceased, and the carriers, with the
+reserve ammunition, were pushed on hurriedly under the escort of a
+company of the Rifle Brigade, the 1st and 2nd West India Regiments being
+directed to hold Insarfu. Scarcely had the carriers started than the
+firing again commenced, the ambushed Ashantis having attacked the
+convoy, which fell back upon Insarfu. After a short delay, a second
+attempt was made to get the ammunition through to the front, and this
+time it proved successful. It was now dark, and Captain Buckle, R.E.,
+who had been killed that morning, was buried outside the town, the
+firing party of the 1st West India Regiment being employed as
+skirmishers to protect the funeral party, instead of in the usual
+manner.
+
+The next morning, orders were received for the 2nd West India Regiment
+to proceed to Amoaful, and hold it until the return of the army from
+Coomassie; while the 1st West India Regiment was directed to hold
+Insarfu, in which was the 2nd field hospital with 120 wounded officers
+and men. The work was arduous in the extreme, the men, when not on
+sentry or patrol, being employed in clearing the thick bush round the
+town, and endeavouring to strengthen the post. While the engagement at
+Amoaful, Quarman, and Insarfu was going on, a party of the 1st West
+India Regiment, which was escorting treasure from Fommanah to Dompoassi,
+was fired upon by some ambushed Ashantis about one hundred yards from
+the latter village. The escort promptly returned the fire, but the
+carriers all dropped their loads and ran away. After firing a few
+desultory shots the Ashantis retired, and the escort remained with the
+scattered boxes of specie, which were too numerous for them to carry on
+themselves. Fortunately the fugitive carriers, running headlong into
+Fommanah, spread the alarm, and Captain North, of the 47th Regiment,
+immediately marched with a party of the 1st West India Regiment, under
+Lieutenant E. Hughes, and a few men of Russell's Regiment, to Dompoassi,
+near which he found the treasure quite safe, it having, with the
+exception of one box, which had been dropped by its bearer some three
+hundred yards down the road, away from the rest, and where a turn in the
+path hid it from sight, been collected together by the escort. No trace
+was found of the enemy, and the party of the 1st West India Regiment
+returned to Fommanah.
+
+On the morning of the 2nd of February, the head-quarters of the army
+advanced from Amoaful to march on Coomassie. There were, notwithstanding
+the defeat on January 31st, still large numbers of Ashantis on the
+flanks of the road, in the neighbourhood of Quarman and Insarfu. During
+the day succeeding the battle, they concentrated lower down the road,
+and, on the morning of the 2nd of February, made a desperate attempt to
+sever our line of communications by attacking the post of Fommanah.
+
+"The post was in command of Captain Steward, 1st West India Regiment,
+who had a garrison of 1 officer and 38 non-commissioned officers and
+men, 1st West India Regiment; and Lieutenant Grant, 6th Regiment, with
+102 of the Mumford Company of Russell's Regiment. There were also
+present two transport officers--Captain North, of the 47th Regiment, and
+Captain Duncan, R.A.--three surgeons, and two control officers; and in
+the palace, which was situated in the main street of the long straggling
+town, and used as a hospital, were 24 European soldiers and sailors,
+convalescents. The pickets had reported Ashantis in the neighbourhood
+early in the morning, and had been reinforced; but the village was far
+too large to be capable of defence by this small garrison; and when,
+about 8.30 a.m., the place was attacked from all directions by the
+enemy, they were able to penetrate into it. Captain North, in virtue of
+his seniority, assumed the command, but while at the head of his men was
+shot down in the street of the village, and was obliged by severe loss
+of blood to hand over the command to Captain Duncan, R.A.
+
+"The enemy, as has been said, penetrated into all the southern side of
+the village, which they set on fire; meanwhile the sick from the
+hospital were removed to the stockade at the north end of the village,
+which was cleared as rapidly as possible, the houses being pulled down
+by the troops and labourers acting under Colonel Colley's order.[63]
+
+"At half-past two, Colonel Colley reported as follows: 'We have now
+cleared the greater part of the village, preserving the hospital and
+store enclosure. Difficult to judge of numbers of the Ashantis; they
+attack on all sides, and occasional ones creep boldly into the village,
+but generally keep under cover of the thick bush, which in places comes
+close to the houses.' The firing ceased about 1 p.m.; but on a party
+going down for water an hour later, they were hotly fired upon. No
+further attack was made upon the post.
+
+"This attack on Fommanah seriously interfered with the transport
+arrangements. Hitherto, though a few shots had been fired at different
+convoys, the panics and difficulties had always been overcome by the
+energy of the transport officers; but the vigour and strength of this
+attack frightened the carriers so thoroughly that it was impossible to
+move them for some days." In this affair the 1st West India Regiment
+lost one sergeant and five privates wounded, and Russell's irregulars
+three men wounded.
+
+The Ashantis, although repulsed, still remained in the neighbourhood of
+Fommanah, and on February 3rd, an escort over a convoy of carriers,
+consisting of a sergeant and three men of the 1st West India Regiment,
+was fired upon between Dompoassi and Fommanah, the sergeant and one
+private being wounded.
+
+The European Brigade pushed on to Coomassie, after several days' hard
+fighting, entered the Ashanti capital on the evening of the 4th of
+February, burned it and marched out on the 6th, and arrived at Insarfu
+on the downward journey on the 9th. Lieutenant-Colonel Johnston,
+commanding the head-quarters of the 1st West India Regiment at Insarfu,
+was directed to break up his post, burn the town as soon as all the
+troops had passed through, and then to follow to Fommanah, where Sir
+Garnet Wolseley intended remaining a few days, in order to endeavour to
+arrange a treaty with the Ashantis.
+
+The head-quarter staff left Fommanah on February 14th for Cape Coast,
+and the European troops being ordered to push on, on account of the
+commencement of the rains, the 1st West India Regiment was detailed to
+relieve the 42nd as the rear-guard of the army. On it fell the duty of
+destroying the fortified posts to the north of the Prah, and the removal
+of the sick and wounded and stores. Carriers were still so scarce that
+it was not until the 20th that Essiaman was cleared out and the stockade
+destroyed, and the three rear companies of the regiment marched into the
+bridge-head at Prahsu--which, during the advance to Coomassie, had been
+held by C Company, under Captain Niven--on the 21st. On the 23rd they
+crossed the Prah, and the bridge was then destroyed.
+
+By the 27th of February all the European regiments had embarked for
+England, the 2nd West India Regiment was under orders for the West
+Indies, and upon the 1st West India Regiment fell the duty of
+garrisoning the colony. Two hundred men were left at Prahsu, where a
+strong redoubt had been constructed, fifty at Mansu, and the remainder
+at Cape Coast. On the departure of Sir Garnet Wolseley, on the 4th of
+March, Colonel Maxwell, of the 1st West India Regiment, administered the
+government of the Gold Coast.
+
+Previous to the departure of the General the following general order was
+published:
+
+                                       "(General Order No. 43.)
+
+                                        "HEAD-QUARTERS, CAPE COAST CASTLE,
+                                                 "_3rd March, 1874_.
+
+    "Before leaving for England the Major-General commanding wishes to
+    convey to the soldiers of the 1st and 2nd West India Regiments his
+    appreciation of their soldierlike qualities, and of the manner in
+    which they have performed their duties during the recent campaign.
+    Portions of the 2nd West India Regiment have been in every affair in
+    the war, and the regiment generally has undergone fatigue and
+    exposure in a most creditable manner.
+
+    "When, owing to the desertion of carriers, the transport
+    difficulties became serious, the men of both these regiments
+    responded most cheerfully to the call made upon them, and, by daily
+    carrying loads, helped to relieve the force from its most pressing
+    difficulties.
+
+    "In saying 'good-bye,' the Major-General assures them he will always
+    remember with pride and pleasure that he had the honour of
+    commanding men whose loyalty to their Queen, and whose soldierlike
+    qualities, have been so well proved in the war now happily at an
+    end."
+
+The rains having set in at the Prah, and much sickness prevailing, it
+was decided to relieve the posts between that river and the coast. In
+fact, the mortality that had occurred at Prahsu in 1864 showed that
+West India troops should not be encamped there without urgent necessity;
+and no such necessity now existed, as the King of Ashanti had agreed to
+the treaty, which had been left unsettled up to Sir Garnet Wolseley's
+departure. Captain J.A. Smith, with fifty men of the regiment, escorted
+the Ashanti chiefs sent down by the king, and arrived at Cape Coast on
+the 12th of March. On the 18th, H Company marched in from Prahsu, and
+embarked on the 20th for Sierra Leone in the transport _Nebraska_, which
+vessel also conveyed the 2nd West India Regiment to the West Indies. C
+Company was the last withdrawn from the Prah, arriving at Cape Coast on
+April 2nd.
+
+It had been most disappointing to the two West India regiments to have
+been prevented from entering Coomassie, within some twenty-five miles
+from which their head-quarters were halted. West India regiments rarely
+have opportunities of seeing active service elsewhere than on the West
+Coast of Africa; and, although the duties assigned to them in the second
+phase of the war were most important, holding, as they did, the detached
+posts from the Prah up to the front, keeping open the communications,
+protecting the convoys, sick and wounded, and constantly furnishing
+patrols and escorts, yet they felt it rather hard to have been deprived,
+in their solitary field for distinguishing themselves, of the honours of
+fighting beside their European comrades at Amoaful and Ordahsu.
+
+On the return of the regiment from the bush, the fatigues and exposures
+of the campaign began to have their effect upon both officers and men.
+In ordinary years, in times of peace, Europeans who are seasoned to
+tropical service, can serve for twelve months in the deadly climate of
+West Africa without suffering much loss; but any unusual exposure or
+hardship is at once followed by an alarming increase of sickness. The
+1st West India Regiment was the only corps which, after enduring all the
+fatigues of a campaign in the most deadly climate in the world, did not
+enjoy the advantage of a change to a healthier station. Added to this,
+the season proved to be unusually unhealthy, and that variety of African
+fever known as "bilious remittent," which can only be distinguished from
+yellow fever by the fact of its not being contagious, broke out.
+Sub-Lieutenant L. Burke succumbed to this scourge on March 1st,
+Lieutenant T. Williams on April 9th, Lieutenant W.S. Elderton on May
+10th, and Sub-Lieutenant E.W. Huntingford on June 12th, while
+Lieutenant-Colonel Maxwell, Lieutenant Clough and Lieutenant Roper,
+being invalided, died on passage to England, and Captain Butler after
+arriving in England. In addition to these deaths, eight other officers
+were invalided, and out of twenty-six officers who were serving with the
+regiment on the 28th of February, only ten were left in West Africa on
+the 30th of June.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 63: Colonel Colley had arrived at the northern side of the
+village, from Ahkankuassie, soon after the command had devolved upon
+Captain Duncan.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+AFFAIRS IN HONDURAS, 1874--THE SHERBRO EXPEDITION 1875--THE ASHANTI
+EXPEDITION, 1881.
+
+
+While the regiment had thus been engaged on the Gold Coast, the
+detachment left at Orange Walk had, in January 1874, had a narrow escape
+of a brush with the Santa Cruz Indians. On the 2nd of that month, in
+accordance with a requisition from the magistrate at Orange Walk,
+Captain F.B.P. White and Lieutenant J.R.H. Wilton, with forty men of the
+1st West India Regiment, left that station about noon for Albion Island,
+in the River Hondo, distant about twelve miles, to demand the
+restitution of a woman who had been abducted by an armed party of Santa
+Cruz Indians from a place called Douglas, in British territory. The
+Hondo was reached about 4.30 p.m., and Captain White, finding a number
+of Santa Cruz Indians cutting bush, as if for an encampment, on the
+British side of the river, directed them to accompany him; and crossing
+to the island in their boats, sent them to tell the chief that he had a
+message to deliver to him.
+
+On landing on Albion Island it was found that the public ball-room of
+San Antonio, a large, open, shed-like building peculiar to these
+Spanish-Indian towns, which was situated on a small hill, was occupied
+by an armed force of the Indians, about seventy strong. Opposite to
+them, on the nearest rising ground, the detachment was at once formed
+up, partly covered by a chapel.
+
+After some time the chief of the Santa Cruz came over to Captain White's
+party, and inquired what was wanted of him; when he was told that no
+message could be delivered to him as long as he had an armed party on
+British soil, and that he must surrender his arms. After some little
+discussion the chief agreed to do so, provided that they were returned
+when his men left the island; and, on these terms, ten or eleven rifles
+were brought in; but while this was being done, a trumpet sounded in the
+public ball-room, and the Santa Cruz, quickly gathering together, began
+to load their rifles. The chief, being asked for an explanation of this
+sudden change, replied that his braves were only cleaning their guns,
+but at the same moment a sub-chief came up, and loudly declared that the
+Santa Cruz would not give up their arms.
+
+The troops were rapidly posted in advantageous positions, and Captain
+White then informed the chiefs that if their men would not lay down
+their arms they must leave San Antonio at once, first handing over the
+woman who had been abducted. Some discussion ensued, but Captain White
+remaining firm, the chiefs agreed to go, and moved their men down to the
+boats. At the last moment, however, it was discovered that the woman,
+who was the cause of the expedition, was in one of the boats, and their
+departure was stopped until she was landed, and given in charge of the
+troops.
+
+The Santa Cruz now refused to stir, but remained in their boats, which
+were moored to the bank. It being feared that the Indians were only
+delaying for reinforcements, thinking to overpower the British in the
+darkness, Captain White sent Lieutenant Wilton with ten men to give them
+a peremptory order to push off within a quarter of an hour. The Indians
+received the message with laughter, asking, "What will you do, if we do
+not go?" It was now rapidly becoming dark, and the country, wild and
+savage in itself, was entirely strange to both officers and men. After
+ten minutes had elapsed, without the Indians giving any sign of
+departure, Captain White had the "close" sounded, drew in his sentries,
+and descended towards the boats with fixed bayonets. Upon this the
+Indians pushed off, and were soon lost to sight in the darkness. The
+detachment remained under arms all night at San Antonio, and next
+morning, it having been ascertained that the Indians had retired across
+the frontier, the troops returned to Orange Walk.
+
+The following letter was forwarded upon this subject:
+
+                                            "HORSE GUARDS, WAR OFFICE,
+                                                  "_17th March, 1874._
+
+    "SIR,
+
+    "The Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief has perused the report which
+    you forwarded to the Adjutant-General on the 29th of January, of the
+    proceedings of the troops at Orange Walk, in British Honduras, who
+    were called out in aid of the civil power against a band of Santa
+    Cruz Indians in January last, and I am to request that you will
+    cause Captain White, 1st West India Regiment, by whom they were
+    commanded, to be informed that His Royal Highness considers that the
+    discretion and firmness displayed by him in the performance of this
+    difficult duty is very commendable to that officer.
+
+                                            "I have, etc.,
+                                                (Signed) "R.B. HAWLEY,
+                                                    "Asst. Mil. Sec."
+
+In July, 1874, the head-quarters of the regiment were moved from the
+Gold Coast to Sierra Leone, one company being left in garrison at Cape
+Coast Castle, and one at Elmina. As in June the two companies stationed
+in Honduras had, with the one left in Jamaica, been removed to Demerara,
+the distribution of the regiment in July, 1874, was: Head-quarters and
+four companies (A, B, C, and H) at Sierra Leone, two (E and G) on the
+Gold Coast, and three (D, F, and I) in Demerara.
+
+In July, 1875, disturbances once more broke out in British Sherbro. The
+inhabitants of the town of Mongray, on the river of the same name, in
+that month made a raid upon Mamaiah, a town on the British frontier,
+plundered several factories there, and carried off thirty-three British
+subjects as slaves. Fresh outrages were committed later on, and, on the
+8th of October, 1875, Lieutenant-Governor Rowe, C.M.G., with forty men
+of the 1st West India Regiment, under Sub-Lieutenant G.V. Harrison, and
+sixty armed police, left Sierra Leone in the colonial steamer _Lady of
+the Lake_. The detachment was landed at Bendoo in Sherbro next day.
+Negotiations were at once opened with the Mongray chiefs, resulting in
+the surrender of the captives on the 15th, and on the 25th the party
+returned to Sierra Leone.
+
+Almost immediately after, fresh disturbances broke out in another
+portion of Sherbro, on the Bargroo River, and, on the 15th of November,
+Lieutenant-Governor Rowe left Freetown in the colonial steamer _Sir A.
+Kennedy_, with Captain A.C. Allinson, Lieutenants J.H. Jones, and A.S.
+Roberts, and ninety men of the 1st West India Regiment, fifty armed
+police, a 4-2/5-inch howitzer, and a rocket-trough. The disturbance
+arose from a raid of Mendis upon villages in British territory, thirteen
+of which they plundered and destroyed, afterwards erecting a "war-fence"
+at a place called Paytaycoomar, in British Sherbro. Here the Commandant
+of Sherbro, Mr. Darnell Davis, attacked them with a few policemen, and
+was repulsed with a loss of three killed and several wounded, himself
+severely.
+
+The expedition, on arriving at Sherbro, established a camp at Tyama
+Woroo in Bargroo, and all preparations for an advance being completed by
+the 27th of November, the troops marched on that day, occupying
+Mosangrah on the 30th. On the 3rd of December, Lowarnar, a town to the
+eastward, was entered, and on the 5th a move was made on the stockaded
+town of Gundomar, which was abandoned by the enemy on the approach of
+the force. The dead body of one of the captives taken from British
+Sherbro, recently strangled, was found in the stockade, and the town was
+accordingly burned.
+
+On the 6th the force advanced on Moyamba, which was also found to be
+evacuated by the enemy, and was burned. On the 9th the troops left
+Moyamba and marched to Yahwi-yamah, which was also destroyed, with the
+outlying stockaded villages of Mocorreh, Bettimah and Mangaymihoon. On
+the 10th Modena was destroyed, and the force marched through Mowato and
+Geeavar to Sennehoo, arriving there on the 16th. To this latter town
+several of the chiefs came in to treat, bringing 212 of the captives
+with them, and on the 18th a treaty of peace was arranged, the Mendis
+promising to pay a fine of 10,000 bushels of rice. The troops returned
+to Sierra Leone on the 24th of December.
+
+The country through which the detachment of the 1st West India Regiment
+had marched was most difficult. It consisted of dense forest, through
+which the only advance could be made along narrow paths, wide enough
+only for the passage of men in single file, and obstructed by fallen
+trees, swamps, and unbridged streams. Numerous swamps, black and full of
+malaria, had to be crossed, and, though the noon-day sun was excessively
+hot, the nights, owing to excessive damp, were very cold. Heavy showers
+of rain fell almost daily, and from sunset till an hour after sunrise
+the whole country was buried in an impenetrable fog.
+
+The stockades were of the same character as those found at Mongray, but
+were here in some instances further fortified by mud walls, fifteen feet
+high, and about twelve feet thick at the base. Inside the walls were
+ditches about six feet wide and eight feet deep. In some of the towns,
+machicoulis galleries had been constructed over the gates, and the
+entrances further protected by semicircular mud bastions.
+
+In March, 1877, the 1st West India Regiment was relieved on the West
+Coast of Africa by the 2nd West India Regiment, E and G Companies
+embarking in H.M.S. _Simoom_, at Cape Coast Castle, on the 24th of
+February, and the head-quarters, with A, B, C, and H Companies, at
+Sierra Leone on the 3rd of March. On arriving at the West Indies the
+regiment was thus distributed: Head-quarters, with A, D, E, and I
+Companies, at Jamaica, C and F at Honduras, G and H at Barbados, and B
+at Nassau.
+
+During its three years' tour of West African service the regiment had
+suffered very heavy loss amongst the officers. In addition to the eight
+deaths that occurred in 1874, directly after the Ashanti war, Captain W.
+Cole died in Ireland of fever contracted on the Gold Coast;
+Lieutenant-Colonel Strachan and Sub-Lieutenant Turner in England; and
+Sub-Lieutenants S.B. Orr and G.V. Harrison at Sierra Leone in 1876.
+
+The regiment remained without change in the West Indies until December,
+1879, when the head-quarters and six companies embarked in H.M.S.
+_Tamar_ for West Africa, leaving D, E, and I Companies at the depot at
+Demerara. The head-quarters and four companies disembarked at Sierra
+Leone on the 17th of January, 1880, and the two remaining companies
+proceeded to Cape Coast Castle.
+
+In February, 1880, there being some slight disturbance in the
+neighbourhood of the Ribbie River, a small party of the 1st West India
+Regiment proceeded thither as an escort to the Governor, with
+Lieutenants Madden and Tipping. The whole returned to Sierra Leone
+without any casualty, after an absence of a few weeks.
+
+On the 28th of January, 1881, news was received at Sierra Leone that the
+Ashanti king, Mensah, had threatened an invasion of the Gold Coast
+Colony, and a reinforcement was urgently demanded. In consequence,
+Captain H.W. Pollard, 1st West India Regiment, commanding the troops on
+the West Coast of Africa, despatched to Cape Coast Castle next day in
+the mail steamer _Cameroon_ letter B Company, under Captain Ellis, and
+letter H Company, under Lieutenant Garland. These two companies arrived
+at their destination on the 2nd of February, and on the 9th the former
+proceeded to Anamaboe. This rapid arrival of reinforcements induced the
+king to repudiate the action of his envoys, but affairs were still in a
+very critical situation, and much alarm prevailed in the colony. Early
+in March, Lieutenant-Colonels Niven and Smith and Major White arrived
+from England, bringing with them letter A Company from Sierra Leone. On
+the 18th of March, five companies of the 2nd West India Regiment arrived
+in the hired transport _Humber_. Negotiations were protracted till
+April, when an embassy arrived from Coomassie, and the difficulty was
+finally settled. On the 2nd of May, the head-quarters, with A, F, and G
+Companies, returned to Sierra Leone, leaving B, C, and H at Cape Coast
+Castle and Anamaboe. In February, 1882, C Company also proceeded to
+Sierra Leone.
+
+It was intended at the termination of the African tour of the regiment,
+in January, 1883, to reduce the garrisons in West Africa from six to
+three companies, and the steamship _Bolivar_ was chartered to carry out
+the relief in two trips. That vessel, however, was wrecked off the
+Cobbler's Reef, at Barbados, and H.M.S. _Tyne_ was sent in her place.
+The latter embarked H Company at Cape Coast Castle on the 6th of
+February, 1883, and F and G Companies at Sierra Leone on the 14th, all
+three proceeding to Jamaica under the command of Major C.J.L. Hill. On
+the return of the _Tyne_ to West Africa with three companies of the 2nd
+West India Regiment, the head-quarters and remaining three companies of
+the 1st West India Regiment, at Cape Coast Castle and Sierra Leone, were
+embarked on the 1st and 11th of April respectively, and sailed for
+Jamaica under the command of Captain Ellis, arriving at their
+destination on the 28th of April. On the 5th of May, B, G, and F
+Companies embarked in the _Tyne_, the first two for Honduras and the
+third for Nassau. On the conclusion of the inter-island trooping, the
+_Tyne_ proceeded with the head-quarters and three companies of the 2nd
+West India Regiment to West Africa, the Government having, in
+consequence of threatened complications with Ashanti, abandoned their
+scheme of reducing the African garrisons.
+
+The distribution of the 1st West India Regiment is now (May, 1883):
+Head-quarters and three companies (A, C, and H) at Jamaica, two (B and
+G) in Honduras, one (F) in Nassau, and three (D, E, and I) in Demerara.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX.
+
+SUCCESSION OF HONORARY COLONELS.
+
+    Major-General John Whyte                       24th April, 1795.
+    Lord Charles Henry Somerset                    5th January, 1804.
+    Sir Peregrine Maitland, K.C.B                  22nd February, 1830.
+    Major-General the Hon. Sir Henry King, K.C.B.  19th July, 1834.
+    Lieutenant-General Sir William Nicolay, K.C.H. 30th November, 1839.
+    Lieutenant-General Sir Henry F. Bouverie,
+      K.C.B., G.C.M.G                              13th May, 1842.
+    Lieutenant-General Sir G.H. Bromley Way        21st November, 1843.
+    General Sir George Thomas Napier, K.C.B.       29th February, 1844.
+    Lieutenant-General Sir George Bowles, K.C.B.   9th September, 1855.
+    General Sir Arthur Borton, K.C.B               2nd May, 1876.
+
+SUCCESSION OF LIEUTENANT-COLONELS.
+
+    1. Leeds Booth             23rd May, 1795   { From Brevet-Major,
+                                                { 32nd Foot.
+
+    2. George Rutherford       30th Dec., 1797  { From Major, 27th Foot,
+                                                { _vice_ Booth to 87th
+                                                { Regiment.
+
+    3. James Maitland          22nd April, 1803 { From 60th by purchase,
+                                                { _vice_ Rutherford, who
+                                                { retires.
+
+    4. Alexander Cumine        20th March, 1804 { From 75th Foot, _vice_
+                                                { Maitland, who exchanges.
+
+    5. C.D. Broughton          21st April, 1804 { By purchase, _vice_
+                                                { Cumine, who retires.
+
+    6. Samuel Huskisson          2nd June, 1807 { From Major, 8th Foot,
+                                                { without purchase, on
+                                                { establishment of a second
+                                                { Lieutenant-Colonelcy.
+
+    7. Benjamin D'Urban        29th Sept., 1807 { From 9th Garrison
+                                                { Battalion, _vice_
+                                                { Huskisson, who exchanges.
+
+    8. John Irving               9th Jan., 1808 { From 2nd West India
+                                                { Regiment, _vice_ D'Urban,
+                                                { who exchanges.
+
+    9. George H. Duckworth      16th Jan., 1808 { From Major, 67th
+                                                { Foot, by purchase, _vice_
+                                                { Irving, who retires.
+
+    10. Henry Tolley            27th Feb., 1808 { From Major, 71st
+                                                { Foot, without purchase,
+                                                { _vice_ Broughton,
+                                                { cashiered.
+
+    11. W.S. Wemyss             18th June, 1808 { From 48th Foot, _vice_
+                                                { Duckworth, who exchanges.
+
+    12. Joseph Morrison          2nd Dec., 1809 { From Major, 89th
+                                                { Foot, with purchase
+                                                { _vice_ Tolley, appointed
+                                                { to 16th Foot.
+
+    13. Jonathan Yates          21st July, 1810 { From Major, 47th
+                                                { Foot, by purchase, _vice_
+                                                { Wemyss, who retires.
+
+    14. Clement Whitby            16 July, 1811 { From Major, 17th
+                                                { Foot, with purchase,
+                                                { _vice_ Morrison,
+                                                { appointed to 89th Foot.
+
+    15. J.M. Clifton           10th Sept., 1814 { Without purchase, _vice_
+                                                { Yates, appointed to
+                                                { 49th Foot.
+
+(Lieutenant-Colonel Clifton retired, Jan. 23rd 1819, and the second
+Lieutenant-Colonelcy was abolished.)
+
+    16. James Cassidy           12th Dec., 1822 { By purchase, _vice_
+                                                { Whitby, who retires.
+
+    17. Francis Frye Brown      12th Jan., 1824 { From half-pay, 6th
+                                                { West India Regiment,
+                                                { _vice_ Cassidy, who
+                                                { exchanges.
+
+    18. Richard Doherty          6th Dec., 1827 { From half-pay, _vice_
+                                                { Brown, who retires.
+
+    19. William Bush            4th Sept., 1835 { From half-pay, _vice_
+                                                { Doherty, appointed to
+                                                { 89th Foot.
+
+    20. Henry Capadose         22nd April, 1836 { Without purchase, on
+                                                { re-establishment of a
+                                                { second
+                                                { Lieutenant-Colonelcy.
+
+    21. Edward Rowley Hill       1st Jan., 1847 { Without purchase, _vice_
+                                                { Bush, appointed
+                                                { Inspecting Field Officer
+                                                { of a recruiting district.
+
+    22. Robert Hughes          14th April, 1848 { _Vice_ Capadose,
+                                                { deceased.
+
+    23. Fred. Aug. Wetherall      1st May, 1855 { From Major, 3rd West
+                                                { India Regiment, by
+                                                { purchase, _vice_ Hughes,
+                                                { who retires.
+
+    24. Luke Smyth O'Connor    21st Sept., 1855 { Without purchase, _vice_
+                                                { Hill, appointed to a
+                                                { Provisional Depot
+                                                { Battalion.
+
+    25. Edward Last             24th Nov., 1857 { From Brevet
+                                                { Lieutenant-Colonel, 99th
+                                                { Foot, _vice_ Wetherall,
+                                                { deceased.
+
+    26. Henry Dunn O'Halloran  23rd March, 1858 { From Brevet
+                                                { Lieutenant-Colonel,
+                                                { Depot Battalion, _vice_
+                                                { Last, appointed to 21st
+                                                { Foot.
+
+    27. Augustus William Murray 16th March, 1860{ Without purchase, _vice_
+                                                { O'Halloran, retired
+                                                { upon full pay.
+
+    28. Bowland Moffatt         4th March, 1862 { From half-pay, _vice_
+                                                { O'Connor, who retires
+                                                { upon half-pay.
+
+    29. James Travers           4th March, 1862 { Without purchase, _vice_
+                                                { Murray, who retires
+                                                { upon half-pay on being
+                                                { appointed
+                                                { Deputy-Adjutant-General,
+                                                { Windward and Leeward
+                                                { Islands.
+
+    30. James Shortall Macauley 29th July, 1862 { Without purchase, _vice_
+                                                { Travers, retired on full
+                                                { pay.
+
+    31. William M'Bean          18th Dec., 1866 { By purchase, _vice_
+                                                { Moffatt, who retires.
+
+    32. G. Nigel K.A. Yonge     3rd April, 1867 { From half-pay, late
+                                                { 67th Foot, _vice_
+                                                { Macauley, who retires on
+                                                { half-pay.
+
+    33. Henry Anton              8th June, 1867 { Without purchase, _vice_
+                                                { M'Bean, who retires.
+
+    34. James Maxwell           17th Aug., 1870 { From half-pay, late
+                                                { 34th Foot, _vice_ Yonge,
+                                                { who retires on half-pay.
+
+    35. J.M. M'Auley             4th Oct., 1871  _Vice_ Anton, deceased.
+
+    36. W.W.W. Johnston         24th Dec., 1873 { _Vice_ M'Auley, who
+                                                { retires.
+
+    37. W.H.P.F. Strachan      15th April, 1874 { _Vice_ Maxwell, deceased.
+
+    38. Knox Rowan Niven       24th March, 1877 { _Vice_ Strachan,
+                                                { deceased.
+
+    39. Joseph Alexander Smith  29th Jan., 1879 _Vice_ Johnston, retired.
+
+    40. F.B.P. White            4th March, 1882 _Vice_ Niven, retired.
+
+
+STATIONS OF THE 1ST WEST INDIA REGIMENT FROM JUNE, 1795, TO JUNE, 1883.
+
+                      1795 (June).
+    Head-quarters and 8 companies at Martinique.
+
+                      1798 (December).
+    Head-quarters and 6 companies at Morne Fortune, St. Lucia.
+                      2 companies at Maboya, St. Lucia.
+
+                      1801 (July).
+    Head-quarters and 8 companies at Martinique.
+
+                      1802 (January).
+    Head-quarters and 6 companies at Martinique.
+                      2 companies at St. Vincent.
+
+                      1802 (July).
+    Head-quarters and 6 companies at St. Vincent.
+                      1 company at Martinique.
+                      1 company at Antigua.
+
+                      1802 (October).
+    Head-quarters and 8 companies at St. Vincent.
+
+                      1803 (April).
+    Head-quarters and 6 companies at St. Vincent.
+                      2 companies at Grenada.
+
+                      1804 (May).
+    Head-quarters and 6 companies at Dominica.
+                      1 company at St. Vincent.
+                      1 company at Grenada.
+
+                      1807 (January).
+    Head-quarters and 6 companies at Barbados.
+                      3 companies at Grenada.
+                      1 company at Tobago.
+
+                      1807 (November).
+    Head-quarters and 10 companies at Barbados.
+
+                      1808 (January).
+    Head-quarters and 6 companies at Barbados.
+                      3 companies at Antigua.
+                      1 company at Tobago.
+
+                      1808 (October).
+    Head-quarters and 9 companies at Barbados.
+                      1 company at Tobago.
+
+                      1809 (February).
+    Head-quarters and 8 companies at Martinique.
+                      2 companies at Barbados.
+
+                      1809 (June).
+    Head-quarters and 6 companies at Trinidad.
+                      2 companies at Martinique.
+                      2 companies at Barbados.
+
+                      1809 (August).
+    Head-quarters and 10 companies at Trinidad.
+
+                      1814 (March).
+    Head-quarters and 4 companies at Martinique.
+                      4 companies at St. Lucia.
+                      2 companies at Dominica.
+
+                      1814 (July).
+    Head-quarters and 8 companies at Guadaloupe.
+                      1 company at Marie-Galante.
+                      1 company at St. Martin's.
+
+                      1814 (December).
+    Head-quarters and 10 companies at New Orleans.
+
+                      1815 (February).
+    Head-quarters and 10 companies at Barbados.
+
+                      1815 (August).
+    Head-quarters and 6 companies at Barbados.
+                      4 companies at Guadaloupe.
+
+                      1815 (December).
+                      Bermuda.
+
+                      1816 (March).
+    Head-quarters and 10 companies at Barbados.
+
+                      1816 (November).
+    Head-quarters and 3 companies at Antigua.
+                      1 company at Montserrat.
+                      2 companies at St. Christopher's.
+                      2 companies at St. Lucia.
+                      2 companies at Dominica.
+                     --
+                     10
+                     ==
+
+                      1819 (January).
+    Head-quarters and 3 companies at Barbados.
+                      2 companies at Antigua.
+                      2 companies at St. Lucia.
+                      2 companies at Dominica.
+                      1 company at Tobago.
+                     --
+                     10
+                     ==
+
+                      1821 (October).
+    Head-quarters and 3 companies at Barbados.
+                      1 company at Demerara.
+                      1 company at Tobago.
+                      1 company at St. Lucia.
+                      1 company at Dominica.
+                      1 company at Antigua.
+                     --
+                      8
+                     ==
+
+                      1823 (May).
+    Head-quarters and 4 companies at Barbados.
+                      1 company at Demerara.
+                      1 company at St. Lucia.
+                      1 company at Dominica.
+                      1 company at Antigua.
+                     --
+                      8
+                     ==
+
+                      1823 (September).
+    Head-quarters and 2 companies at Barbados.
+                      3 companies at Demerara.
+                      1 company at St. Lucia.
+                      1 company at Dominica.
+                      1 company at Antigua.
+                     --
+                      8
+                     ==
+
+                      1824 (October).
+    Head-quarters and 5 companies at Barbados.
+                      1 company at St. Lucia.
+                      1 company at Dominica.
+                      1 company at Antigua.
+                     --
+                      8
+                     ==
+
+                      1825 (February).
+    Head-quarters and 4 companies at Trinidad.
+                      1 company at Barbados.
+                      1 company at St. Lucia.
+                      1 company at Dominica.
+                      1 company at Antigua.
+                     --
+                      8
+                     ==
+
+                      1826 (February).
+    Same as in 1825, with the addition of a recruiting company at Sierra
+    Leone.
+
+                      1827 (January).
+    Head-quarters and 3 companies at Trinidad.
+                      1 company at Barbados.
+                      1 company at St. Lucia.
+                      1 company at Dominica.
+                      1 company at Antigua.
+                      1 company at Grenada.
+                      1 company at Sierra Leone.
+                     --
+                      9
+                     ==
+
+                      1834 (May).
+    Head-quarters and 2 companies at Trinidad.
+                      1 company at Barbados.
+                      1 company at St. Lucia.
+                      1 company at Dominica.
+                      1 company at Antigua.
+                      1 company at Grenada.
+                      1 company at Tortola.
+                      1 company at Sierra Leone.
+                     --
+                      9
+                     ==
+
+                      1837 (December).
+    Head-quarters and 5 companies at St. Lucia.
+                      1 company at Trinidad.
+                      1 company at Tobago.
+                      1 company at Demerara.
+                      1 company at St. Vincent.
+                      1 company at Sierra Leone.
+                     --
+                     10
+                     ==
+
+                      1839 (December).
+    Head-quarters and 2 companies at Demerara.
+                      3 companies at Barbados.
+                      1 company at Trinidad.
+                      1 company at Tobago.
+                      1 company at St. Lucia.
+                      1 company at St. Vincent.
+                      1 company at Grenada.
+                      1 company at Dominica.
+                      1 company at Antigua.
+                      1 company at Sierra Leone.
+                     --
+                     13
+                     ==
+
+                      1840 (September).
+    Head-quarters and 2 companies at Demerara.
+                      2 companies at Barbados.
+                      1 company at Trinidad.
+                      1 company at Tobago.
+                      1 company at St. Vincent.
+                      1 company at Grenada.
+                      1 company at Dominica.
+                      1 company at Sierra Leone.
+                     --
+                     10
+                     ==
+
+                      1843 (November).
+    Head-quarters and 5 companies at Demerara.
+                      2 companies at Sierra Leone.
+                      1 company at Grenada.
+                      1 company at Tobago.
+                      1 company at St. Vincent.
+                     --
+                     10
+                     ==
+
+                      1844 (June).
+    (Head-quarters) Grenadier, No. 8 and No. 5 at Demerara = 3 companies.
+    Light and No. 1 at Jamaica      = 2
+              No. 2 at Trinidad     = 1
+              No. 3 at Dominica     = 1
+              No. 4 at Sierra Leone = 1
+              No. 6 at Grenada      = 1
+              No. 7 at Cape Coast   = 1
+                                     --
+                                     10
+                                     ==
+
+                      1845 (March).
+    (Head-quarters) Grenadier, Light, No. 1 and No. 8 at
+                        Jamaica     = 4 companies.
+              No. 5 at Demerara     = 1
+              No. 2 at Trinidad     = 1
+              No. 3 at Dominica     = 1
+              No. 4 at Sierra Leone = 1
+              No. 6 at Grenada      = 1
+              No. 7 at Cape Coast   = 1
+                                     --
+                                     10
+                                     ==
+
+                      1846 (June).
+    (Head-quarters) Grenadier, Light, Nos. 1, 3, 6, and 8 at
+                        Jamaica     = 6 companies.
+              No. 2 at Trinidad     = 1
+              No. 4 at Sierra Leone = 1
+              No. 5 at Tobago       = 1
+              No. 7 at Cape Coast   = 1
+                                     --
+                                     10
+                                     ==
+
+                      1847 (December).
+    (Head-quarters) Grenadier, Light, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and
+                  8 at Jamaica      = 8 companies.
+              No. 4 at Sierra Leone = 1
+              No. 7 at Cape Coast   = 1
+                                     --
+                                     10
+                                     ==
+
+                      1848 (August).
+    (Head-quarters) Grenadier, Nos. 3, 4, 6, and 7 at
+                      Jamaica       = 5 companies.
+    Light and No. 8 at Nassau       = 2
+              No. 1 at Honduras     = 1
+              No. 5 at Sierra Leone = 1
+              No. 2 at Cape Coast   = 1
+                                     --
+                                     10
+                                     ==
+
+                     1849 (March).
+    (Head-quarters) Grenadier, No. 3 and No. 6 at
+                              Jamaica  = 3 companies.
+    Light, No. 7, and No. 8 at Nassau  = 3
+           No. 1 and No. 4 at Honduras = 2
+           No. 5 at Sierra Leone       = 1
+           No. 2 at Cape Coast         = 1
+                                        --
+                                        10
+                                        ==
+
+                      1852 (September).
+    (Head-quarters) Grenadier, No. 3, and No. 6 at
+                              Jamaica  = 3 companies.
+    Light, No. 7, and No. 8 at Nassau  = 3
+           No. 1 at St. Christopher's  = 1
+           No. 4 at Barbados           = 1
+           No. 5 at Sierra Leone       = 1
+           No. 2 at Cape Coast         = 1
+                                        --
+                                        10
+                                        ==
+
+                      1853 (December).
+    (Head-quarters) Grenadier, Light, No. 2, and No. 5 at
+                            Jamaica = 4 companies.
+    No. 4 and No. 7 at Barbados     = 2
+    No. 1 at St. Christopher's      = 1
+              No. 8 at Dominica     = 1
+              No. 3 at Sierra Leone = 1
+              No. 6 at the Gambia   = 1
+                                     --
+                                     10
+                                     ==
+
+                      1855 (December).
+    (Head-quarters) Grenadier, Light, Nos. 2, 5, and 8 at
+                        Jamaica     = 5 companies.
+    No. 4 and No. 7 at Barbados     = 2
+              No. 1 at Demerara     = 1
+              No. 3 at Sierra Leone = 1
+              No. 6 at the Gambia   = 1
+                                     --
+                                     10
+                                     ==
+
+                      1856 (December).
+    (Head-quarters) Grenadier, Light, and No. 8 at
+                         Jamaica    = 3 companies.
+    Nos. 4, 5, and 7 at Barbados    = 3
+              No. 1 at Demerara     = 1
+              No. 3 at Sierra Leone = 1
+    No. 2 and No. 6 at the Gambia   = 2
+                                     --
+                                     10
+                                     ==
+
+                      1857 (June).
+    (Head-quarters) Grenadier, Light, No. 5 and No. 8 at
+                              Nassau = 4 companies.
+    Nos. 1, 3, and 7 at Sierra Leone = 3
+    Nos. 2, 4, and 6 at the Gambia   = 3
+                                      --
+                                      10
+                                      ==
+
+                      1861 (April).
+    (Head-quarters) Grenadier, Light, Nos. 5, 7, and 8 at
+                        Barbados = 5 companies.
+    No. 4 and No. 6 at Demerara = 2
+    No. 1 and No. 2 at St. Lucia = 2
+              No. 3 at Trinidad  = 1
+                                  --
+                                  10
+                                  ==
+
+                      1862 (December).
+    (Head-quarters) Grenadier, Light, and No. 1 at
+                        Barbados  = 3 companies.
+    Nos. 5, 7, and 8 at Honduras  = 3
+    No. 4 and No. 6 at Demerara   = 2
+              No. 2 at St. Lucia  = 1
+              No. 3 at Trinidad   = 1
+                                   --
+                                   10
+                                   ==
+
+                      1863 (July).
+    (Head-quarters) A at Barbados = 1 company.
+                   B at St. Lucia = 1
+                   C at Trinidad  = 1
+          D and F at Demerara     = 2 companies.
+          E, G, and H at Honduras = 3
+                                   --
+                                    8
+                                   ==
+
+                      1863 (November).
+    (Head-quarters) A, B, D, and F at Nassau = 4 companies.
+                     E, G, and H at Honduras = 3
+                               C at Trinidad = 1
+                                              --
+                                               8
+                                              ==
+
+                      1864 (April).
+    (Head-quarters) A, D, and F at Nassau    = 3 companies.
+               B, E, and G on the Gold Coast = 3
+                               C at Trinidad = 1
+                               H in Honduras = 1
+                                              --
+                                               8
+                                              ==
+
+                      1864 (October).
+    (Head-quarters) A, D, and F at Nassau    = 3 companies.
+                B, C, E, G, and H in Jamaica = 5
+                                              --
+                                               8
+                                              ==
+
+                      1865 (November).
+    (Head-quarters) A at Nassau              = 1 company.
+    B, C, D, E, F, G, and H in Jamaica       = 7 companies.
+                                              --
+                                               8
+                                              ==
+
+                      1866 (August).
+    (Head-quarters) A, D, and F at Nassau    = 3 companies.
+             B, C, E, G, and H in Jamaica    = 5
+                                              --
+                                               8
+                                              ==
+
+                      1867 (January).
+    (Head-quarters) A, B, E, F, D, and G at Sierra Leone = 6 companies.
+                                   H and C at the Gambia = 2
+                                                          --
+                                                           8
+                                                          ==
+                      1868 (August).
+    (Head-quarters) A, B, D, F, and G at Sierra Leone = 5 companies.
+                                C and H at the Gambia = 2
+                                      E at Cape Coast = 1
+                                                       --
+                                                        8
+                                                       ==
+
+                      1870 (November).
+    (Head-quarters) A, B, D, E, and G in Jamaica      = 5 companies.
+                                  C and H at Nassau   = 2
+                                  F and I in Honduras = 2
+                                                       --
+                                                        9
+                                                       ==
+
+                      1874 (January).
+    (Head-quarters) A, B, C, E, G, and H on the Gold Coast = 6 companies.
+                                       F and I in Honduras = 2
+                                              D in Jamaica = 1
+                                                            --
+                                                             9
+                                                            ==
+
+                      1874 (July).
+    (Head-quarters) A, B, C, and H at Sierra Leone = 4 companies.
+                           E and G at Cape Coast   = 2
+                           D, F, and I at Demerara = 3
+                                                    --
+                                                     9
+                                                    ==
+
+                      1877 (April).
+    (Head-quarters) A, D, E, and I at Jamaica = 4 companies.
+                          C and F in Honduras = 2
+                          G and H in Barbados = 2
+                                B at Nassau   = 1
+                                               --
+                                                9
+                                               ==
+
+                      1880 (February).
+    (Head-quarters) A, B, H, and F at Sierra Leone = 4 companies.
+                           C and G at Cape Coast   = 2
+                           D, E, and I in Demerara = 3
+                                                    --
+                                                     9
+                                                    ==
+
+                      1881 (March).
+    (Head-quarters) A, C, G, and H at Cape Coast   = 4 companies.
+                                 B at Anamaboe     = 1
+                                 F at Sierra Leone = 1
+                           D, E, and I in Demerara = 3
+                                                    --
+                                                     9
+                                                    ==
+
+                      1881 (June).
+    (Head-quarters) A, F, and G at Sierra Leone    = 3 companies.
+                         B, C, and H at Cape Coast = 3
+                         D, E, and I in Demerara   = 3
+                                                    --
+                                                     9
+                                                    ==
+
+                      1882 (March).
+    (Head-quarters) A, C, F, and G at Sierra Leone = 4 companies.
+                           B and H at Cape Coast   = 2
+                           D, E, and I in Demerara = 3
+                                                    --
+                                                     9
+                                                    ==
+
+                      1883 (March).
+    (Head-quarters) A and C at Sierra Leone = 2 companies.
+                            B at Cape Coast = 1 company.
+                    F, G, and H in Jamaica  = 3 companies.
+                    D, E, and I in Demerara = 3
+                                             --
+                                              9
+                                             ==
+
+                      1883 (June).
+    (Head-quarters) A, C, and H in Jamaica  = 3 companies.
+                        B and G in Honduras = 2
+                    D, E, and I in Demerara = 3
+                              F at Nassau   = 1
+                                             --
+                                              9
+                                             ==
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+TO THE
+
+NAMES OF OFFICERS, NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS, AND PRIVATES
+
+OF THE
+
+FIRST WEST INDIA REGIMENT,
+
+MENTIONED IN THE FOREGOING PAGES.
+
+
+    A
+
+    Abercrombie, J., 79, 82
+
+    Allinson, A.C., 279, 290, 318, 337
+
+    Alt, _Ensign_, 279
+
+    Anderson, _Capt._, 52
+
+    ----, _Ensign_, 234, 237
+
+    Anton, H., 275, 278, 282, 284, 289, 298, 299, 346
+
+    Archdale, _Lieut._, 210
+
+    Atkins, R.W., 80
+
+
+    B
+
+    Bale, J.E., 293, 316, 318
+
+    Balmer, J., 50
+
+    Barlow, E.H., 279
+
+    Barne, W.C., 318
+
+    Beale-Browne, G.E., 318
+
+    Belizario, E. _Sergt._, 307, 308, 312, 313, 315
+
+    Bell, _Ensign_, 51
+
+    ----, T., 318
+
+    Bentley, _Lieut._, 197
+
+    Bidwell, _Pte._, 309
+
+    Bingham, E.H., 210, 213, 217
+
+    Bishop, _Surg._, 80
+
+    Blackwell, N., 119, 120, 121, 123, 124
+
+    Bolton, H.F.S., 299, 300
+
+    Booth, Leeds, 79, 83, 99, 343
+
+    Borton, _Sir_ A., 343
+
+    Bourke, J., 263
+
+    Bouverie, _Sir_ H.F., 343
+
+    Bowles, _Sir_ G., 343
+
+    Bravo, A., 278, 279, 284
+
+    Brennan, _Ensign_, 173, 178
+
+    Brew, R., 275
+
+    Brocklass, H., 183
+
+    Broome, W.A., 301
+
+    Broughton, C.D., 107, 113, 344
+
+    Brown, F.F., 345
+
+    ----, R., 99
+
+    Bulger, C.O., 312
+
+    Burdett, G.S., 169
+
+    Burke, L., 318, 332
+
+    Bush, _Lieut._, 211
+
+    ----, W., 194, 196, 197, 198, 199, 202, 203, 207, 345
+
+    Butler, D., 79, 82
+
+    ----, F. le B., 303, 318, 320, 321, 322, 332
+
+    Byrne, T., 80, 99
+
+
+    C
+
+    Calder, J., 79
+
+    Campbell, N., 100
+
+    ----, W., 32
+
+    Cantrell, D. _Sergt. Major_, 197
+
+    Capadose, H., 176, 177, 209, 345
+
+    Carden, J., 50
+
+    Cassidy, J., 80, 99, 124, 137, 139, 158, 161, 164, 165, 166, 167, 345
+
+    Cave, _Ensign_, 226
+
+    Chads, _Major_, 173, 200
+
+    Chadwick, B., 79, 82
+
+    Chamberlayne, W.J., 258, 259
+
+    Clarke, _Bt. Lieut.-Col._, 258
+
+    Clerk, A., 50
+
+    Clifton, J.M., 344
+
+    Clough, H.T., 318, 332
+
+    Coffin, E. _Pte._, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207
+
+    Coghlan, A., 80, 89
+
+    Cole, W., 293, 318, 340
+
+    Collins, F., 148
+
+    ----, J.P., 50
+
+    Connell, F.J., 237
+
+    Connor, W., 80, 81, 99
+
+    Costello, F., 79, 99
+
+    Cotter, E., 79, 83, 99
+
+    Craddock, H., 50
+
+    Craven, _Corporal_, 199
+
+    Crump, _Corporal_, 80
+
+    Cullen, _Ensign_, 290, 296
+
+    Cumine, A., 343
+
+    Cunninghame, T., 79
+
+
+    D
+
+    Dalomel, _Lieut._, 148, 157
+
+    Dalton, _Lieut._, 80, 100
+
+    Darley, C.B., 80, 100
+
+    Deane, T., 79
+
+    De Winton, _Lieut._, 210
+
+    Dixon, C. _Pte._, 195, 202
+
+    Doherty, R., 345
+
+    Downie, H., 138
+
+    Duckworth, G.H., 344
+
+    D'Urban, B., 344
+
+    Duyer, G.H., 275
+
+
+    E
+
+    Edmunds, T., 275
+
+    Edwardes, C.G.W.E., 318
+
+    Egan, J., 80, 99
+
+    Elderton, W.S., 318, 332
+
+    Ellis, A.B., 318, 341, 342
+
+    Evans, _Capt._, 179
+
+
+    F
+
+    Fanning, J., 275
+
+    Farquhar, _Ensign_, 51
+
+    Fitzgerald, C.L., 261
+
+    Fletcher, R. D'O., 237, 239, 240, 242, 244, 246, 263
+
+    Fraser, J.A., 275
+
+    French, _Capt._, 210
+
+    Froggart, _Lieut._, 80, 99
+
+
+    G
+
+    Gardner, D., 316
+
+    Garland, V.J., 341
+
+    Garsia, M.C., 274, 275
+
+    Gavin, _Lieut._, 279, 303
+
+    Gillard, _Bt. Major_, 177
+
+    Gillespie, R., 79
+
+    Goodinge, H., 80
+
+    Graham, W., 80, 99
+
+    Grange, _Capt._, 224
+
+
+    H
+
+    Harris, W.W., 233
+
+    Harrison, G.V., 337, 340
+
+    Harward, _Sub. Lieut._, 318
+
+    Hemsworth, G., 177
+
+    Henderson, _Lieut._, 250
+
+    Henry, _Capt._, 37
+
+    Hill, C.J.L., 293, 301, 318, 324, 342
+
+    ----, E.R., 345
+
+    Hoffer, _Pte._, 314, 315
+
+    Holbrook, T., 83, 100
+
+    Horsford, T., 100
+
+    Hughes, E., 318, 324, 326
+
+    ----, R. _Lieut.-Col._, 187, 345
+
+    ----, R., 223, 258, 259
+
+    Huntingford, E.W., 332
+
+    Huskisson, S., 118, 344
+
+
+    I
+
+    Innes, _Colonel_, 37, 39
+
+    Irving, J., 344
+
+    Isles, E. Ellis, 148, 157
+
+
+    J
+
+    Johnston, W.W.W., 302, 312, 318, 328, 346
+
+    Jones, J.H., 337
+
+    ----, _Lieut._, 224
+
+
+    K
+
+    Kenrick, _Lieut._, 276
+
+    Kent, J., 51
+
+    King, _Sir_ H., 343
+
+
+    L
+
+    Lafontaine, J. _Corporal_, 84
+
+    Last, E., 345
+
+    Leggatt, _Lieut._, 276
+
+    Lightfoot, _Lieut._, 80, 99
+
+    Lindsay, J., 100
+
+    Lowe, W., 50
+
+    Lowry, A.G., 279, 293
+
+    Luke, E.F., 250, 260, 289, 292
+
+    Lynch, _Lieut._, 173
+
+    ----, R. _Pte._, 308
+
+
+    M
+
+    Macauley, _Capt._, 258
+
+    ----, J.S., 277, 346
+
+    McAuley, J.M., 302, 346
+
+    McBean, W., 293, 346
+
+    M'Callum, _Ensign_, 80, 99
+
+    M'Connell, D., 50
+
+    McDonald, A., 148, 157
+
+    Macdonald, E.G., 301
+
+    M'Grace, D., 80, 100
+
+    M'Kay, J.C., 99
+
+    Mackay, _Lieut._, 261
+
+    McKenzie, _Lieut._, 148, 157
+
+    Mackrill, _Capt._, 52
+
+    McLean, _Lieut._, 80, 99
+
+    McShee, _Lieut._, 80, 99
+
+    McWilliam, D., 100
+
+    ----, _Lieut._, 80, 100
+
+    Madden, G.C., 340
+
+    Magee, _Lieut._, 148, 151
+
+    Maitland, J., 99, 343
+
+    ----, Sir P., 343
+
+    Malcolm, R., 63, 64, 66, 79, 90
+
+    Marraud, C., 100
+
+    Marshall, R., 50
+
+    Mason, _Sergt.-Major_, 263
+
+    Maturin, _Lieut._, 303
+
+    Mawe, T.G., 261
+
+    Maxwell, H., 79
+
+    ----, J., 318, 320, 329, 332, 346
+
+    ----, _Pte._, 314, 315
+
+    Meehan, _Capt._, 220
+
+    Meighan, B., 51
+
+    Merry, _Sergt._, 198, 207
+
+    Miles, _Ensign_, 174
+
+    Millar, _Capt._, 52
+
+    Miller, C., 99
+
+    ----, _Lieut._, 148, 157
+
+    Moffatt, B., 346
+
+    Moffitt, J., 275
+
+    Molony, C.A., 318
+
+    Montagu, C., 50
+
+    ----, G.C., 50
+
+    Montgomery, W., 179, 186, 187
+
+    Morgan, _Lieut._, 148, 157
+
+    Morris, W. or R.A. _Pte._, 314, 315
+
+    Morrison, John, 80
+
+    ----, Joseph, 344
+
+    Murray, A.W., 228, 229, 232, 261, 266, 267, 271, 272, 273, 275, 346
+
+    ----, _Pte._, 314, 315
+
+    Myers, _Capt._, 178
+
+
+    N
+
+    Napier, _Sir_ G. T, 343
+
+    Nicholson, T., 275
+
+    Nicolay, _Sir_ W., 343
+
+    Niven, K.R., 293, 301, 318, 322, 329, 341, 346
+
+    Nixon, L., 124
+
+    Nunn, A.A., 99, 106, 109, 110, 111, 115
+
+
+    O
+
+    O'Connell, _Capt._ 105, 106, 107, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116
+
+    O'Connor, L.S., 211, 219, 220, 226, 227, 228, 230, 232, 249, 250,
+      251, 256, 288, 289, 290, 294, 345
+
+    Odonnell, _Lieut._, 50
+
+    Ogston, M. _Pte._, 195 et seq.
+
+    O'Halloran, H.D., 345
+
+    Oliphant, W., 50
+
+    O'Meara, M., 100
+
+    Ormsby, W., 261, 293, 297
+
+    Orr, S.B., 340
+
+    Osborne, S. _Pte._, 314, 315
+
+    Owens, _Capt._, 276
+
+
+    P
+
+    Page, T., 80
+
+    Palmer, R., 50
+
+    Petrie, J., 50
+
+    Pilkington, _Lieut._, 148, 157
+
+    Plague, _Corporal_, 198, 207
+
+    Pogson, _Ensign_, 199
+
+    Pollard, H.W., 340
+
+    Powell, _Capt._, 221
+
+    ----, W., 79, 81, 99
+
+    Pratt, _Bt. Major_, 261, 262, 276
+
+    Prendergast, _Capt._, 225
+
+    Pye, A.H., 79
+
+
+    R
+
+    Rainford, M., 50
+
+    Reed, J., 80, 99
+
+    Reid, J., 79
+
+    ----, W., 80, 99
+
+    Roberts, A.S., 337
+
+    ----, C.T., 80
+
+    ----, J.C., 99
+
+    ----, _Lieut._, 279
+
+    Robeson, _Capt._, 212
+
+    Roper, J., 321, 332
+
+    Ross, W.J., 289
+
+    Rudgley, H., 50
+
+    Russell, _Ensign_, 178
+
+    Rutherford, G., 343
+
+
+    S
+
+    Samson, A.M.W., 303, 318
+
+    Satchell, W. _Pte._, 202, 203, 204
+
+    Scott, D., 83
+
+    Shearman, F., 318, 321, 322
+
+    Smith, E., 276
+
+    ----, Hopewell, 279, 281
+
+    ----, J.A., 279, 303, 318, 322, 323, 331, 341, 346
+
+    ----, J.G., 304, 306, 307, 308, 309, 311, 313, 315
+
+    ----, _Lieut._, 50
+
+    ----, _Ensign_, 51
+
+    Smithwick, W. FitzW., 279, 293, 297
+
+    Somerset, _Lord_ C.H., 343
+
+    Speed, W.J., 99
+
+    Spencer, _Lce. Corpl._, 313, 315
+
+    Spitta, H.H., 318, 323
+
+    Splain, W., 51
+
+    Steward, C.B., 318, 322, 324, 326
+
+    Stewart, _Capt._, 171, 174, 175, 176, 178, 179
+
+    ----, _Ensign_, 211
+
+    ----, J., 79, 99
+
+    Stirling, _Lce. Corpl._, 314, 315
+
+    Strachan, W.H.P.F., 234, 237, 240, 246, 290, 318, 340, 346
+
+    Strong, _Lieut._, 173, 177
+
+    Sutherland, J., 79, 82
+
+
+    T
+
+    Tell, W. _Pte._, 315
+
+    Temple, A., 261, 275
+
+    Thomas, _Ensign_, 51
+
+    Tinkler, J., 318
+
+    Tipping, C.W.G., 340
+
+    Tolley, H., 131, 344
+
+    Torrens, _Pte._, 202, 203
+
+    Travers, J., 346
+
+    Tunstall, _Lieut._, 224
+
+    Turner, J.M.S., 340
+
+
+    U
+
+    Upton, _Lieut._, 228
+
+
+    W
+
+    Way, _Sir_ G.H.B., 343
+
+    Wemyss, W.S., 344
+
+    Weston, R., 148, 151
+
+    Wetherall, F.A., 259
+
+    Whitby, C., 141, 168, 344
+
+    White, F.B.P., 312, 333, 334, 335, 336, 341, 346
+
+    Whyte, J., 77, 99, 343
+
+    Wieburg, _Lieut._, 210
+
+    Williams, T., 332
+
+    Wilson, R., 79
+
+    Wilton, J.R.H., 333, 335
+
+    Winkler, J., 116, 124, 126, 139, 158, 160, 164
+
+    Wylie, _Lieut._, 240, 246, 247
+
+
+    Y
+
+    Yates, J., 344
+
+    Yonge, G.N.K.A., 299, 346
+
+
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+CHARLES DICKENS AND EVANS, CRYSTAL PALACE PRESS.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of the First West India
+Regiment, by A. B. Ellis
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FIRST WEST INDIA REGIMENT ***
+
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