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.