Three hundred sail got under weigh on the 11th of November, when an accident to the Admiral rendered the attempt of no avail. On the 15th another endeavour was overcome by the tempestuous weather. At length the fleet sailed, but it had scarcely got clear of the Isle of Wight, when another severe storm obliged the vessels that had ridden through it with safety to return to Portsmouth.
With great difficulty and exertion Admiral Christian collected the remainder of his convoy, and again sailed on the 9th of December, but four days afterwards a storm destroyed many of the transports, and so scattered the fleet as to render a re-union impossible.
1796
Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Abercromby sailed in the “Arethusa” frigate, with such vessels as could be collected, and on the 14th of March, 1796, arrived at Barbadoes.
The THIRTY-FIRST regiment, having weathered the storm, which had dispersed the fleet in the Channel, proceeded on the voyage, but was unable to make good the passage, and on the 5th of February, 1796, after being six weeks at sea struggling against the violent tempests, the regiment was landed at Gosport, whence it marched to Poole, in Dorsetshire; the regiment was not long inactive, as on the 19th of March it was again on board ship at Southampton, and proceeded to its original destination.
On the 1st of May the THIRTY-FIRST arrived off the island of St. Lucia, on which Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Abercromby had already effected a landing. The regiment disembarked immediately, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Hay, and was cantoned near the point of disembarkation at Choc Bay. The fortress of Morne Fortunée was invested by Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Abercromby; Morne Chabot, another strong position, having been carried with great gallantry by Brigadier-General (afterwards Sir John) Moore.
The batteries against Morne Fortunée were opened on the 14th of May, and on the night of the 17th the strong outpost of La Vigie was assaulted. The THIRTY-FIRST regiment marched from its position, near Choc Bay, at sunset, for the purpose of a night-attack upon this post, which was remarkably strong. It formed a peninsula, accessible only by a narrow isthmus, and commanded the entrance on one side of the Carenage harbour. The post was defended by two batteries; the first placed midway upon the acclivity, and the second on the summit of the height. The approaches to both were by a circuitous path, and the guide who accompanied the regiment was mortally wounded by the first fire from the enemy’s piquet stationed on the isthmus. The regiment, being ignorant of the country, missed the proper direction. Lieut.-Colonel Hay ordered it to ascend the hill en force, which was done, although attended with great difficulty from the precipitous nature of the ground. The first battery was gallantly carried by storm, and the enemy retired to the higher one. The regiment was unfortunately separated in the ascent, and was unable to make a concentrated and effectual attack upon the works that crowned the height, which it nevertheless, in spite of all obstacles, bravely attempted, but the enemy’s grape-shot took such effect that the regiment was obliged to withdraw, after a severe struggle.
The THIRTY-FIRST had Captains Johnson and Walker, four serjeants, and eighty rank and file killed; Lieut.-Colonels Hay and Arbuthnot, Captains Murray and Sorrell, Lieutenants Sullivan and Hawkshaw, four serjeants, and one hundred and twenty-one rank and file wounded.
On the 25th of May the island of St. Lucia capitulated, and the THIRTY-FIRST, forty-fourth, forty-eighth, and fifty-fifth regiments, under Brigadier-General Moore, were selected to occupy the place. The possession of the island was not a quiet one; small bodies of French, who had deserted from the different fortresses at their capitulation, withdrew into the interior, and joined the runaway slaves and Caribs; taking advantage of the impenetrable nature of the country, they formed themselves into bands for the purpose of molesting the British, and plundering the planters and other residents of the island. Brigadier-General Moore took the field, and penetrated with his force into the wildest quarters of the mountains, in order to eradicate these predatory bands.
The THIRTY-FIRST was employed on this harassing duty, and suffered much from fatigue, privation, and continual exposure; on the service being concluded, the regiment went into quarters at Vieux Fort, and other posts, when it became so unhealthy that the authorities were compelled to remove the corps from the island. The deaths among the men were for a time sixteen each day; on the embarkation of the regiment, on the 22nd of December, for Barbadoes, it had scarcely a soldier fit for duty; and on its disembarkation there, six days afterwards, it became necessary to send the entire regiment into hospital, which was the second time the THIRTY-FIRST had been rendered unserviceable from sickness, the corps having suffered in a similar manner while stationed in Florida in the year 1765.