Surinam was evacuated in December 1802, and the THIRTY-NINTH regiment embarked for Barbadoes, and proceeded thence to Antigua. [Sidenote: 1803.] In the beginning of March 1803, the THIRTY-NINTH embarked for England; and the regiment, consisting of thirty-three serjeants, nineteen drummers, and three hundred and fifteen rank and file, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel George Bell, arrived at Spithead on board the “Thalia” transport, on the 22nd of April. During its service on the different stations in South America, upwards of two thousand men had fallen victims to the climate. The Peace of Amiens was of short duration, and on the 18th of May 1803 war was declared against France. Preparations were accordingly made by the British Government to meet the emergency, and the “_Army of Reserve Act_” was passed in July following, for raising men for home service by ballot, by which a second battalion was added to the THIRTY-NINTH regiment.[23] The second battalion was placed on the establishment from the 9th of July 1803, and was composed of men raised in Cheshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire. The chief part of the men immediately afterwards volunteered for general service, whereby the first battalion of the regiment became available for foreign service. At this period, Napoleon Bonaparte, the Chief Consul of France, was making preparations for the invasion of England, for which purpose he collected an immense flotilla at Boulogne. The threat of invasion aroused the patriotism of the British people, and the most strenuous measures were adopted to defeat this design; volunteer and yeomanry corps were formed in every part of the kingdom, and all parties united in one grand effort for the preservation of their native land. [Sidenote: 1804.] In May 1804 Napoleon was invested with the dignity of Emperor of the French, and on the 26th of May of the following year he was crowned at Milan as King of Italy. [Sidenote: 2nd Batt.] Further measures of defence were adopted by Great Britain, and the “_Additional Force Act_” was passed on the 29th of June 1804.[24] Under the provisions of this act, the second battalion was augmented with men raised in the county of Shropshire, and its establishment was subsequently fixed at the same strength as the first battalion, namely, forty-four serjeants, twenty-two drummers, and eight hundred rank and file. The second battalion, which, since its formation, had been quartered at Battle, in Sussex, embarked at Plymouth on the 27th of November 1804 for Guernsey, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel George Wilson. [Sidenote: 1st Batt.] In the year 1804, during the threatened invasion, the first battalion was stationed on the coast of Sussex.