By this time a large military force had been collected in British America, and having no longer any professional occupation there, detachments were made from it against the French West India Islands. Of these expeditions the principal objects were the reduction of St. Pierre and Fort Royal in the island of Martinico, and of Havana in that of Cuba. These campaigns were extremely laborious and perilous, not only by the climate and season, but by the means of defense furnished by nature. In each of these Montgomery had a full share, as well of the toil and danger, as of the commendation bestowed upon efforts, which ultimately triumphed over every kind and degree of resistance. Martinico surrendered in February, 1762, and Havana and the Moro Castle in the August following; two events greatly tending to hasten the treaty of Versailles, which put an end to the war on the 10th of February, 1763. During this siege the loss sustained by the British army amounted to twenty-eight thousand men, besides which, more than half of the troops sent back to New York, either died on the passage or after their arrival. Of the garrison left at Havana under General Keppel, but seven hundred men were found fit for duty at the peace. Soon after the official annunciation of peace, Montgomery, who with the seventeenth regiment, had returned to New York, sought and obtained permission to return to England, where he remained until the close of the year 1772. Although the military abilities of Montgomery were highly distinguished, war and conquest had no other charms to him than as the means of peace and happiness to mankind, and he found leisure in the midst of camps to cultivate an excellent taste for philosophy and polite literature. To these he added a careful study of the arts of government and the rights of mankind, looking forward to that time when he might return to the still scenes of private life, and give a full flow to the native and acquired virtues of a heart rich in moral excellence. He had formed an early attachment, amounting even to an enthusiastic love for this country. The woodland and the plain; the face of Nature, grand, venerable, and yet rejoicing in her prime; our mighty rivers, descending in vast torrents through wild and shaggy mountains, or gliding in silent majesty through fertile vales; their numerous branches and tributary springs; our romantic scenes of rural quiet; our simplicity, _then_ uncorrupted by luxury or flagrant vice; our love of knowledge and ardor for liberty—all these served to convey the idea of primeval felicity to a heart which was fraught with benevolent feelings.