1760
1761
After the reduction of Guadaloupe the regiment was stationed at that island; and in 1761 a detachment was employed under Colonel Lord Rollo in the capture of Dominico. The troops landed on the 6th of June on the beach near Roseau, under cover of the guns of the fleet, and while part of the army took possession of the town, the grenadier companies of the King's Own and twenty-second regiments seized a flanking battery and part of an adjoining entrenchment. During the night the grenadiers, supported by the battalion companies, stormed and carried with the bayonet the entrenchments on the heights above the town, and took the governor and several of the principal inhabitants prisoners. The whole island immediately submitted; and Captain Robert Douglas of the King's Own was the bearer of the news of this conquest to England. The detachment of this regiment afterwards returned to Guadaloupe.
1762
The British government having resolved to make a powerful attack upon such of the West India islands as still remained subject to the French monarch, four companies of the King's Own were selected to take part in the enterprise, and proceeded for this purpose from Guadaloupe to the general rendezvous of the expedition at Barbadoes; where the several corps were assembled under the orders of Major-General Monckton. The armament sailed from Carlisle bay on the 5th of January, 1762, and another attack was made on Martinico, which place was settled by the French about the year 1635. This island is extremely mountainous in the centre, from whence issue numerous streams of water, which, in the hurricane months, are swelled to violent torrents; these have, in their way to the sea, worn deep channels, so that the country is intersected with a great number of deep ravines, with steep rocky sides, having water running at the bottom; and these ravines are rendered difficult to pass from the number of stones which the torrents have rolled from the sides of the mountains. Thus, in attacking the island, difficulties almost insurmountable are met with in transporting cannon, ammunition, and stores across the country. With these obstructions the army had to contend; but they were overcome by British skill, discipline and valour.
After several attempts on other parts of the island, a landing was effected on the 16th of January in Cas des Navieres bay, and the troops pitched their tents on the heights above the landing place. Advancing from thence through a country fortified by nature, an attack was made on the heights of Morne Tortenson on the 24th of January, and the four companies of the King's Own had the glory of taking part in the capture of these formidable works; also in the capture of Morne Garnier on the 27th of that month; and in the reduction of the citadel of Fort Royal, which surrendered on the 4th of February: these captures were followed by the surrender of the opulent city of St. Pierre, and the submission of the whole island to the British crown.
The capture of Martinico was succeeded by that of Grenada, St. Lucie, and St. Vincent; and the acquisition of these islands gave additional honour to the expedition of which the four companies of the King's Own formed part.
These achievements were followed by another enterprize of a most important character, in which a detachment of the King's Own had the honour to share; namely, the reduction of the Havannah, a wealthy and important city in the island of Cuba.
The island of Cuba was first discovered by the celebrated Columbus, but was not conquered by the Spaniards until the early part of the sixteenth century, from which period it had continued rising in wealth and importance. St. Jago was the capital; but the city of Havannah held the first place in point of wealth and commerce. During the early part of this war, Spain had continued neutral; but in 1762 His Catholic Majesty united his interests with France, and war was declared between Great Britain and Spain. This was immediately followed by a resolution of the British government to attack the important city of Havannah, and an expedition was prepared for this purpose under the orders of General the Earl of Albemarle.
On this occasion the King's Own were left in garrison at Guadaloupe, excepting a detachment of two hundred and twenty-five men under the command of Captain Kennedy, which joined the expedition at Martinico, and formed part of Brigadier-General Grant's brigade. In the landing five leagues eastward of the Havannah on the 6th of June, in the advance upon the city, in the siege and capture of the Moro Fort, and in the other operations by which the final reduction of this wealthy settlement was accomplished, and twelve men-of-war captured in the harbour, the detachment of the King's Own had the honour to take part. The loss of the detachment on this service, including the killed and those who died from fatigue and the effects of climate, was two officers and twenty-four men.
1763