At this period an armament was fitting out to complete the deliverance of the French West India islands from the power of republicanism, and to reduce to obedience the insurgents of St. Vincent and Grenada. The FOURTEENTH Regiment joined the expedition, and sailed with the immense fleet of Indiamen, transports, and merchant-vessels, under the convoy of a squadron of the royal navy commanded by Admiral Christian, which, on quitting the British shores, presented a magnificent spectacle calculated to impress the mind with a just idea of British power; but the voyage had been delayed until a very late period of the year, and the fleet encountered so severe a storm that several ships foundered at sea, others were wrecked on the western coast of England, and the greater part returned to port. The fleet was re-fitted and again put to sea, but, after encountering severe gales, it returned to Portsmouth a second time. The "Calypso" transport, having part of the FOURTEENTH Regiment on board, was nearly run down during a heavy gale, by the "Charon" of forty-four guns, and lost the main yard; but this transport continued the voyage and arrived at Barbadoes in eleven weeks. [Sidenote: 1796] Several of the regiments, which returned to port, had their destination changed; but the portion of the FOURTEENTH, which had put back, re-embarked in February, 1796, and arrived in April at Barbadoes, where four companies of the Twenty-eighth Foot were attached to the regiment. The FOURTEENTH Foot constituted part of the expedition against _St. Lucia_, commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby; and sailed from Carlisle-bay, Barbadoes, on the 22nd of April, for the rendezvous of the troops to be employed in the enterprise, at Martinique, from whence the expedition sailed, on the morning of the 26th of April, for St. Lucia, where the head quarters landed on the 27th, near Pigeon Island, and marched to Choque Bay, to cover the landing of the remainder of the troops. They continued in position there a short time, till the batteries against Morne Fortuné were completed, when they were ordered up to take part in the ulterior operations. Prior to landing, three companies were detached, with a force under Brigadier-General Perryn, on the side of the Grand Cul de Sac, to facilitate the investment of _Morne Fortuné_, and an attempt was made to drive the enemy from the batteries on the base of the mountain, on that side; and Major Donkin's battalion, consisting of three companies of the FOURTEENTH and four of the Twenty-eighth, formed part of the force employed on this service. This battalion supported the Forty-fourth Regiment, in the column commanded by Colonel Riddell. On advancing to the attack, the battalion was checked, at a sudden turn in a winding road cut on the side of a steep hill, by an _abattis_ occupied by French troops, when Captain James Graves sprang up the bank by the aid of a branch, and being assisted by Captain