Ensigns.
| W. Splain. | J. Kent. | B. Meighan. |
| — Bell. | — Farquhar. | — Thomas. |
| — Smith. |
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 Present. | D | E | Effective Rank and File. | K | ||||||||
| Where Stationed. | Companies | A | B | C | F | G | H | I | J | |||
| Grenada St. Vincent Grenada | Capt. Mackrill Capt. Anderson Capt. Millar | 1 1 1 | - - - | - 1 - | 3 14 3 | 1 5 - | 25 46 19 | 7 4 4 | 10 - 4 | 23 138 19 | 65 188 46 | 70 209 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.