Abercromby's first care was to throw reinforcements into Grenada, which was still holding out, and on April 21 the convoy left Carlisle Bay for St. Lucia. On the 26th Moore landed with the 14th and 42nd, and on the following day he was reinforced by the 53rd, 57th, and the 2nd West India Regiment, under Brigadier Hope. By the 28th the whole of the force was ashore, but the operations dragged on until May 15, when the whole island was in our hands. On the 17th of that month there had been a sharp engagement, in which the 31st (East Surrey) lost heavily. Moore complained bitterly of the troops, writing as follows: "It is hard to say whether the officers or men are the worst." Moore was left in command at St. Lucia, whilst Abercromby undertook the reduction of Grenada and St. Vincent. Although the only regiments authorized to carry the distinction "St. Lucia, 1796" are the Inniskilling Fusiliers (27th), and Shropshire Light Infantry (53rd), reference to the casualty lists shows that this selection casts an unnecessary slur on the other corps which bore their fair share of fighting in the reconquest of the island. +---------------------+-----------+-----------+ | |_Officers._| _Men._ | | _Regiments._ +-----+-----+-----+-----+ | | K. | W. | K. | W. | +---------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+ |14th W. Yorks | - | 1 | 1 | 4 | |27th Inniskillings | 1 | 6 | 22 | 65 | |28th Gloucester | - | 3 | 3 | 18 | |31st E. Surrey | 2 | 6 | 61 | 107 | |42nd H'landers | - | 1 | - | 4 | |44th Essex | - | 3 | 4 | 17 | |48th N'ampton | - | 1 | 2 | 15 | |53rd Shropshire L.I. | 3 | 13 | 46 | - | +---------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+ By the close of the year 1796, Moore had buried 1,500 of his garrison. So terrible were the losses we incurred from sickness--losses due to the neglect of the home authorities to provide for the sick--that it was with a sense of relief the army learnt the welcome news that, under the terms of the Treaty of Amiens, St. Lucia was restored to the French. This retrocession, however, necessitated its recapture in 1803. NOTE.--The battle honour "St. Lucia, 1803," has been granted to the Royal Scots and North Staffords for their services in the expedition under General Grinfield, in which the 68th Durham Light Infantry and 3rd West India Regiment also shared. CASUALTIES. +--------------------+-----------+-----------+ | |_Officers._| _Men._ | | _Regiments._ +-----+-----+-----+-----+ | | K. | W. | K. | W. | +--------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+ |Royal Scots | - | 2 | 9 | 45 | |3rd W. India R. | - | 2 | 4 | 23 | |64th North Staffords| - | 4 | 6 | 33 | +--------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+ SURINAM, 1804.