Battle Honours of the British Army: From Tangier, 1662, to the Commencement of the Reign of King Edward VIINorman, Charles Boswell
History
Battle Honours of the British Army: From Tangier, 1662, to the Commencement of the Reign of King Edward VII
Norman, Charles Boswell
Great Britain -- History, Military; Great Britain. Army -- History
East Yorkshire.
Leicester.
Cheshire.
Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.
Gloucester.
Royal Sussex.
South Stafford.
South Lancashire.
Welsh.
Royal Highlanders.
Oxford Light Infantry.
Northampton.
King's Royal Rifles.
The employment of our troops on the Continent of Europe and in
Canada had prevented the Cabinet from carrying out the designs
for the capture of the Islands of Dominica, Martinique, and St.
Lucia; but the fall of Louisburg and Quebec set sufficient forces
at liberty to enable Pitt in the early part of 1762 to carry out
the long-deferred expedition. Its command was entrusted to General
the Hon. Robert Monckton, an officer of considerable experience,
who had more recently distinguished himself in command of a
brigade under Wolfe at Quebec. Carlisle Bay (Barbados) was the
point selected for the mobilization of the expeditionary force,
and there, at Christmas, 1761, the Commander-in-Chief arrived with
eleven battalions from North America. He was joined shortly by Lord
Rollo with five more battalions from Canada, and by General Ruffane
with four seasoned regiments fresh from the capture of Belleisle; a
couple of regiments from Guadeloupe, and two from Antigua, brought
the force at Monckton's disposal to some 12,000 men, distributed in
five brigades, under Brigadier W. Havilland, W. Ruffane, F. Grant,
Lord Rollo, and Hunt Walsh.
On January 5, 1762, escorted by a powerful fleet under Lord Rodney,
the expeditionary force left Barbados, and on the 7th had arrived
at St. Ann's Bay, the southernmost harbour in Martinique. Our
knowledge of the island was very defective. More than one attempt
at disembarkation proved ineffective, owing to the want of roads
by which the troops might advance, and it was not until the 16th
of the month that the entire force was landed at Case Navire,
a little to the north of the capital, Port Royal. A series of
works, dominated by powerful entrenchments on the hills, Morne
Tortenson and Morne Grenier, had been thrown up for the defence
of Port Royal. On January 24 the first-named position was carried
by Brigadiers Havilland and Walsh, with a loss of 33 officers and
357 men killed and wounded, and three days later the Morne Grenier
was taken, with a loss of about 100 of all ranks. On February
12, finding further resistance useless, the French commander
capitulated, and Monckton, in conjunction with Lord Rodney, who was
in command of the fleet, despatched detachments for the capture
of St. Lucia, Grenada, and St. Vincent, which fell into our
hands without offering any resistance. Our casualties during the
operations in Martinique were as follows:
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