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.