The royal authority was afterwards given for the regiment to bear the word "Martinique" on its colours, to commemorate its distinguished gallantry on this occasion. Lieut.-Colonel Riall received a medal for commanding a brigade, and Major Andrew Davidson for commanding the regiment.
Three French sail of the line and two frigates, from L'Orient, having taken shelter in the Saints, in the vicinity of Guadaloupe, they were blockaded by Rear-Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane; and three thousand men, of which force the Fifteenth formed part, were detached, under Major-General Maitland, for the reduction of the islands. This expedition sailed from Port Royal on the 12th of April; a landing was effected in Ance Bois Joly, and the difficult heights of Mount Russel, eight hundred feet high, were stormed and captured, and a battery soon forced the French shipping to put to sea. The reduction of the islands was accomplished in a few days, and the enemy's garrison was made prisoners of war. During the action on the 15th of April, Lieut.-Colonel Phineas Riall volunteered to storm Fort Morelli, with the Fifteenth regiment; but Major-General Maitland would not allow the corps to engage in so dangerous an enterprise.
Towards the end of April, the regiment returned to Grenada, where it was stationed about nine months.
1810
Three hundred men of the regiment, including the flank companies, embarked from Grenada, early in January, 1810, under Lieut.-Colonel Riall, for Barbadoes, to join the expedition against Guadaloupe, under Lieut.-General Sir George Beckwith, and were formed in brigade with a battalion of light infantry, and the third West India regiment, under Brigadier-General Harcourt; this officer being afterwards appointed to the command of a division, the brigade was commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Riall, of the Fifteenth.
The expedition rendezvoused at Prince Rupert's, Dominica, and the Fifteenth accompanied the second division, which sailed on the 26th of January, and anchored at the Saints until the 29th, when it proceeded towards Guadaloupe, and menaced the enemy's defences at the Three Rivers. During the night the regiment landed in the bay near the village of Les Vieux Habitans without opposition, and afterwards advanced, the enemy's posts falling back skirmishing. The French appearing in force on some high open ground, the Fifteenth turned their right flank, the Royal West India Rangers the left, and the thirteenth light infantry advanced against the front, when the enemy was speedily forced from his ground.
The regiment afterwards took part in completing the conquest of the island, an achievement which reflected credit on the troops employed in the enterprise. The conduct of Lieut.-Colonel Riall was commended in the public despatch of the Commander of the Forces.
The following statement appeared in general orders, dated 6th February:—'The Commander of the Forces returns his 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 they have manifested on all occasions to close with the enemy.'
The loss of the regiment was limited to a few private soldiers killed and wounded, and Captain William Grierson wounded.