Sir Ralph Abercromby, Colonel Hope, the Adjutant-General, (afterwards Lord Niddry) Colonel Maitland, with the whole staff of the Commander-in-Chief, had arrived, about an hour before, to inspect the work, and were at the moment in the battery. The sudden inrush of the Spaniards created surprise; and the increased number of persons thus in the battery produced great confusion. The only British who had arms were the twelve men from the piquet; but all the Spaniards were provided with bayonets, or short swords, evidently intended for the butchery of the whole working party. For a short time it seemed as if they were to be utterly at the mercy of the enemy; but, soon recovering themselves, they fell to work with good will with shovels, pickaxes, and other implements of labour, and that with such terrible effect, that every Spaniard was either killed, or taken prisoner, before the covering party could arrive to assist their comrades. The working party had five men killed, and seventeen wounded. Captain Powell, and Lieutenants Gibson and Wren, received thanks in general orders[13]. From Porto Rico the regiment again proceeded to Martinique, where it was stationed upwards of three years. [Sidenote: 1800] Towards the end of the year 1800, the regiment relieved the Seventieth Foot at Trinidad. [Sidenote: 1802] [Sidenote: 1803] On the conclusion of the treaty of Amiens in 1802, Great Britain gave up the captured possessions of France, Spain, and Holland. The FOURTEENTH were relieved from duty in the West Indies in April, 1803, and returning to England, landed at Gosport, from whence they marched to Winchester, under Captain Graves, who had performed the duty of commanding officer nearly twelve months. Previously to the arrival of the regiment in England, the short respite from the horrors of war, granted by the treaty of Amiens, had terminated; the ambitious designs of Bonaparte, First Consul of France, had involved Great Britain in another contest, and orders had been issued for augmenting the regular army. Every effort was made to complete the establishment of the FOURTEENTH Foot, which was attended with great success, and when Bonaparte assembled an army for the invasion of England, the regiment marched to Silver Hill Barracks, and afterwards to Winchelsea, where it was held in readiness to repel the legions of France, had they ventured to land on the British coast. At this momentous period the measures of the government were nobly seconded by the people; a patriotic enthusiasm pervaded the country; and the attitude the nation assumed, with the strength and energy it evinced, while breathing defiance to the gigantic military power by which it was menaced, left no room for doubt respecting the result of the contest had the French army attempted to carry into effect the threats of its leader. [Sidenote: 1804]