Then, as usual, together with the rains came the yellow fever. The British troops suffered frightfully. “The 25th and 29th begin to fall down fast,” says the General in a letter of 11th May. “Twenty died last week and six were carried off yesterday.” So things went from bad to worse. No reinforcements could be obtained from the other islands, for one and all (excepting Barbados) were in a worse position than Grenada. St. Lucia had been evacuated; St. Vincent, after desperate fighting, was at the last gasp. In fact it seemed as if the West Indies were lost to England. By December the insurgent force in Grenada amounted to 10,000 men, well armed, furnished with artillery, and led by trained white French officers. The British troops, outnumbered on every side, were compelled to abandon the ports which they had tried to hold on the coast, and retire to St. George’s. The rebels, or brigands as they were called, threatened to attack them even there. [Sidenote: 1795.] Nothing but the capture of the capital was wanting to give them absolute possession of the whole island. [Sidenote: 1796.] But at last the tide began to turn. The long-awaited reinforcements from England had arrived at Barbados, and the relief of Grenada was at hand. On the 4th March 588 men from the 10th, 25th, and 88th Foot, under Brigadier Mackenzie, arrived at St. George’s. They had lost 45 men in the course of a two days’ passage; but their arrival was timely, for it compelled the insurgents to retire from before the capital. A week later further reinforcements from the 3rd, 8th, and 63rd Foot and the Seventeenth Light Dragoons landed at Sauteurs, at the extreme north point of the island. What were the numbers of the Seventeenth I have not been able to ascertain. One account says two troops, and I am inclined to think that this is correct. Whence these troops came, whether from England or Martinique, it is impossible to say. On the 24th March, pursuant to the designs of Brigadier Campbell, the forces at Sauteurs, 700 men in all, and those from St. George’s, converged--the former by land, the latter by sea--upon the new position which the rebels had entrenched at Port Royal or Grenville. The troops, having been landed, worked during the night at the construction of a three-gun battery, and opened fire at daybreak next morning. But before attacking the main position on the principal heights, it was necessary first to clear some secondary heights adjoining them. [Sidenote: 25th Mar.] For this duty the detachment of the 88th was detailed; but such was the difficulty of the ground that it was two hours before the 88th could even get near the enemy, and when they reached them it was only to be driven back. With great reluctance Campbell, who had made his dispositions not only to drive the rebels out, but to cut them off on every side, was compelled to bring up the 8th Foot to support their attack. Just at that moment a few of the rebels sneaked round to