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
First Brigade--Brigadier Robert Prescott: 15th (East Yorkshire),
28th (Gloucester), 46th (Cornwall Light Infantry), and 54th
(Border Regiment).
Second Brigade--Brigadier Sir H. Calder: 27th (Inniskilling
Fusiliers), 35th (Sussex), 40th (South Lancashire), and 49th
(Royal Berkshire).
Third Brigade--Brigadier W. Meadows: 5th (Northumberland
Fusiliers), Grenadier Battalion and Light Infantry Battalion,
made up of the flank companies of all regiments present.
In addition, there were two companies of Royal Artillery and a
troop of Dragoons. Knowing that Admiral d'Estaing, with a fleet
outnumbering his own three to one, had already left Boston to
oppose him, Admiral Barrington set sail from Barbados on December
10, and the following day entered in Cul de Sac Bay, on the western
coast of the island. Two brigades were at once disembarked, and
they, carrying the French entrenchments, made themselves masters
of a strong position overlooking the main works of the enemy at
Castries. On December 12 the remainder of the troops were landed,
and an attack on the French entrenchments at the Morne Fortunée
was successfully carried out, and by evening we were in possession
of all the forts and batteries defending Castries Bay. Two days
later the French fleet, carrying 9,000 troops, appeared in the
offing, and d'Estaing at once attacked Barrington's squadron, which
was anchored across Cul de Sac Bay. Foiled there, he stood to the
northward, with the intention of turning General Grant's position
at Castries, and, under cover of the guns of the fleet, several
thousand French were landed. Here, however, they met with stout
opposition. Meadows, at the head of the Northumberland Fusiliers
and the Light Infantry Battalion, repulsing several most determined
attacks, in which the French lost 400 dead left on the field, with
some 1,200 wounded, our casualties in killed and wounded barely
reaching 175. D'Estaing re-embarked his men on the 28th, and
withdrew his fleet to Martinique, whereupon the French commandant
had no option but to surrender.
CASUALTIES AT THE CAPTURE OF THE ISLAND OF ST. LUCIA IN 1778.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account