The command and composition of the companies were to be similar in every respect to the English companies; they were to be stationary in the countries where they were appointed to serve; and the men were to receive the like advantages in pay, allowances, and clothing. A distinct position would seem to have been given to these foreign companies by the warrant, but they nevertheless, though designated _a corps_, were comprehended with the English companies in one united body, and depended upon the latter companies for the maintenance of their strength and efficiency. Such, however, it may be observed, was not the case with the companies at Gibraltar, which yet remained a separate and independent body, though differing from the home and foreign companies only in non-essentials of a local character. The warrant just alluded to does not appear to have been carried out in the manner intended. Instead of sending a reinforcement to Flanders to complete the companies there to the authorized establishment, one company was withdrawn from thence and sent to the West Indies; while as regarded the latter station, in addition to the company ordered, a party also embarked with it, forming, with the detachment already in those islands, the nucleus of a second company. The total number of artificers and labourers in Flanders, after this change, was 82 of all ranks, and in the West Indies 126. On what ground this reversionary alteration was adopted is not precisely known; but it may reasonably be assigned to the pressing appeals from the West Indies for more men, and the inactive position of affairs in the Low Countries permitting it to be effected without detriment to the service. The company for Canada was never embodied, though the idea of forming it was cherished until December 1798, when it was abandoned. At the end of the year the establishment and strength of the corps were as under:— Home companies 600 Foreign companies 400 Total 1000 establishment —— Strength 588 —— Wanting to complete 412 ==== 1794—1795. Working dress—Company sails for West Indies—Martinique—Spirited conduct of a detachment there—Guadaloupe—Mortality—Toulon—Flanders—Reinforcement to company there—Return of the company—Works at Gravesend—Irregularities in the corps—Causes—Redeeming qualities—Appointment of Regimental Adjutant and Sergeant-major—Consequences—Woolwich becomes the head-quarters—Alteration in working dress.