1st Batt.
While the second battalion of the Royal Regiment was thus engaged in North America the first battalion had embarked from Ireland, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Horne Elphinston, and sailed for Quiberon Bay, on the coast of France, which station was appointed for the rendezvous of an expedition under the orders of Major-General Kingsley, designed for the capture of one of the French islands in the Bay of Biscay, called Belle-Isle; but the death of King George II. occurring (25th October, 1760) before all the troops arrived, the expedition was laid aside, and the battalion sailed back to Ireland.
1761
2nd Batt.
The four companies of the second battalion left in South Carolina, under Major Hamilton, were stationed at Charleston; and, the Cherokee Indians having rejected the proposed conditions for a peace, these companies, with two of the 17th, three of the 22nd, and eight of newly-raised provincials, proceeded up the country in March, 1761, again to make war on the refractory Indians. These companies encamped a short time on the banks of the Congaree, from whence they proceeded in May to Fort Prince George, and were joined by twenty Chickasaw warriors from the country on the east side of the Mississippi, and by King Heigler, with twenty Catawbas warriors. From Fort Prince George this company of regulars, provincials, and savages, advanced in the early part of June against the middle Cherokees, through a most difficult country. An officer of the expedition, in a letter published in July, 1761, observes:—"The defiles and passes along War-woman's Creek are horrid; on one side high and rocky mountains hanging over our heads, the path rocky, and no wider than for a single pack-horse; and on the other side a deep and frightful precipice, at the bottom of which is the creek." On the 10th of June, as the troops were on the march along the banks of a river, the Indian army was discovered, arranged for battle on a high woody hill on the right of the line of march, with a straggling line of warriors beyond the river. The Indian riflemen opened an irregular fire, and immediately afterwards more than a thousand warriors raised the dismal war-whoop, which echoed in the woods and dells. This produced little effect on the soldiers, who advanced in regular order to engage their savage antagonists. The commanding officer observed, in his report:—"The troops behaved with great spirit and coolness, and by the heavy fire of their platoons dislodged the enemy from the advantageous posts which they had taken possession of." The firing continued until two in the afternoon, when the Indians were driven from their posts and fled. The loss of the four companies of the Royals was three men killed; with Ensign Joseph Knight, and six men wounded.
After this victory the expedition continued its advance into the Cherokee country: the Indians fled to their mountain fastnesses; and the soldiers laid fifteen towns and villages in ruins, destroyed the crops of corn, and afterwards returned to Fort Prince George. This proceeding convinced the Indians of their inability to resist the King's forces, and they sued for peace, which was accordingly granted them.
The other four battalion companies of the second battalion of the Royal Regiment, which had been engaged in the conquest of Canada in the preceding year, had in the meantime proceeded from Montreal, across the country, to New York, and, leaving the two flank companies in garrison, embarked in April, 1761, for the West Indies, under the orders of Colonel Lord Rollo. About this period the British government had resolved to capture the Island of Dominico, which was declared neutral by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, but had become subject to France; and when the four companies of the Royals arrived at Guadaloupe they were selected to form part of the expedition for this service. Sailing from Guadaloupe on the 4th of June, the troops soon arrived at Dominico, effected a landing on the 6th, under a sharp fire of cannon and musketry, captured a flanking battery, and took the town of Roseau, the capital of the island, in a few hours. In the evening of the same day the troops assaulted and carried the intrenchments above the town, and captured the French commandant and several other officers; and no further resistance was made. Thus the whole island was reduced with trifling loss; and Lord Rollo observed, in his despatch:—"As to the King's troops, I cannot enough applaud the coolness and intrepidity with which they acted on this occasion."
1762
Leaving Dominico in December, the four companies of the Royals proceeded to Barbadoes, where a body of troops was assembled, under the orders of Major General the Hon. Robert Monckton, for an attack on the French island of Martinico. A landing was effected in the early part of January, 1762, and the island was reduced in the succeeding month. "I cannot," observes the general, in his despatch, "find words to render that ample justice which is due to the valour of His Majesty's troops which I have the honour to command. The difficulties they had to encounter in the attack of an enemy possessed of every advantage of art and nature were great; and their perseverance in surmounting these obstacles furnishes a noble example of British spirit."
While the contest at Martinico was in progress, the four companies of the Royals which had been engaged in the war with the Indians embarked from Charleston, and sailed to the West Indies under the orders of Colonel Grant. War had, in the meantime, been declared against Spain; an attack on the Spanish settlements in the West Indies had been resolved upon; and the four companies of the Royals were placed under the orders of General the Earl of Albemarle, to proceed against the valuable settlement of the Havannah, in the island of Cuba. Proceeding through the Straits of Bahama, the expedition arrived within six leagues of the Havannah on the 6th of June; a landing was effected on the following day; and on the 9th the troops took up a position between Coximar and the Moro. The Moro fort being the key-position of the extensive works which covered the town, the capture of this place was of great importance; and the four companies of the Royal Regiment formed part of the force destined to make the attack on this formidable fortress. The hardships endured in carrying on the operations were very great: a thin soil, hardly sufficient to cover the troops in their approaches, a scarcity of water, and the labour of dragging the artillery several miles over a rocky country, and under a burning sun, were happily overcome by the unanimity which existed between the land and sea forces. The progress made in erecting batteries, carrying forward approaches, and sapping and mining the works, with the fire of the artillery, having alarmed the Spanish governor, he resolved to attempt to relieve the Moro. 1500 men were ferried over the harbour, and they made three separate attacks on the British line; the four companies of the Royals were brought forward to sustain the posts, and the Spaniards were repulsed, with considerable loss. The siege was afterwards continued with vigour; two mines were sprung; a practicable breach was made, and a detachment of the Royals was ordered to form part of the storming party,[101] under Lieut.-Colonel Stuart, of the 90th Regiment. The attack was made on the 30th of July. Lieut. Charles Forbes, of the Royals, led the assault, and, ascending the breach with signal gallantry, formed his men on the top, and soon drove the enemy from every part of the ramparts. The garrison was taken by surprise; the Spanish commander, Don Louis de Velasco, exerted himself to save the fortress; and, while endeavouring to rally his men, he was mortally wounded. The confusion amongst the ranks of the enemy was thus augmented; nearly 150 Spaniards were killed, 400 threw down their arms and were made prisoners, and the rest were either killed in the boats, or drowned in attempting to escape to the Havannah. As Lieutenants Forbes, of the Royals, Nugent, of the 9th, and Holroyd, of the 90th Regiments, were congratulating each other on their success, the two latter were killed by a party of desperate Spaniards, who fired from the light-house. Lieutenant Forbes, being exasperated at the death of his companions, attacked the light-house with a few men, and put all in it to the sword.