ST. VINCENT AND GUADELOUPE
Life in Barbados—I am appointed acting-paymaster—President of a
court-martial—Deputy judge-advocate—At St. Vincent—Expedition to
Guadeloupe—Appointed deputy-assistant quartermaster-general and sent
to Guadeloupe
WE had no more mishaps during that voyage, and got safely to Barbados on
December 14, 1814. We landed on the following morning, and occupied St.
Anne’s barracks, and the same evening dined with the officers of the
80th West India Regiment. None of us had been in the West Indies before,
so that everything was new to us. Nothing attracted my notice so much as
the imposing display of well-dressed negro servants who attended at
dinner; most of them were boys, but very efficient and up to their work.
The lights, all in glass shades (for all the windows were open), were
also more than usually brilliant, and the dinner and wines excellent. As
to dessert, it was in profusion, with countless fruits which we had
never before seen. We spent, indeed, a happy night, and our first
impressions from all we saw, and the kindness and hospitality with which
we were received, gave all a charming and contented hope of a continued
happy residence in the West Indies.
There were no less than four more regiments of the line in Barbados at
that time, so that each succeeding day we were more and more entertained
and feted. The garrison was then very healthy, and we began to think
ourselves in good quarters and the climate not quite as bad as all the
world represented it to be. For weeks and weeks we got on very well, and
without much sickness. At last a gradual change took place, and we began
to lose men daily, and soon the numbers increased, the prevailing
complaint being yellow fever, which also attacked the other regiments in
garrison. We were the last comers, and lost considerably more than any
of the other regiments. Amongst our dead was our paymaster, Captain
Thompson. His death occasioned a committee of paymastership to be
appointed, of which I was the junior member, and as the others disliked
the work, I engaged, with the consent of my commanding officer, to do
all, and consequently I got the whole of the allowances, namely, nine
shillings per day in addition to my pay. I also continued to do my
regimental duties.
About this time I was appointed president of a garrison court-martial.
The case was one of much difficulty and complicated evidence, but we
got through it, and the proceedings were forwarded to Major-General
Robert Douglass (then Adjutant-General to the Forces in the West
Indies and commanding the garrison), by whom they were at once
approved, and nothing more was heard on the subject till a fortnight
later, when, to my surprise, I saw my name in General Orders as deputy
judge-advocate-general! I immediately wrote to General Douglass
thanking him for the appointment and stating that I should endeavour
to fulfil the duties to the best of my powers. On the following
morning I received the more than flattering answer as follows:—
“SIR,—In appointing an officer to perform the important duties of
Deputy Judge-Advocate it was my duty to select a competent one, and
I am satisfied I have done so.
“I have the honour to be, etc., etc., etc.,
”ROBERT DOUGLASS,
“_Major-General and Adjutant-General_.”
The first case for trial in my new appointment was unfortunately that of
a captain of my own regiment (for being drunk on duty). He was found
guilty and cashiered, but strongly recommended to mercy on account of
his former services, and this recommendation from the court induced His
Majesty to allow him to retire from the service by the sale of his
commission. After this I had occasion to see General Douglass
repeatedly, but, as he was a very reserved man and at all times a very
strict disciplinarian, I had no intimacy with him then beyond our formal
meetings; however, as I shall hereafter show, we became intimate soon
afterwards.
The York Chasseurs were removed to the island of St. Vincent, and we had
not been many months there under our new Lieut.-Colonel Ewart, when
General Orders reached us from headquarters (Barbados) detailing an
expedition then ordered from the various islands in the command to be
immediately formed to proceed against the islands of Martinique and
Guadeloupe, and to rendezvous in the first instance at the small group
of islands called the “Saints.” The York Chasseurs were included and
attached to Major-General Campbell’s brigade, and all the staff
appointments were filled except that of brigade-major. Our senior
captain at this time was Holland Daniel, a distant relative of Sir Henry
Torrens, then Adjutant-General to His Majesty’s Forces at the Horse
Guards, and from whom my friend Holland Daniel brought out letters to
our Commander-in-Chief, Lieut.-General Sir James Leith, who was also an
officer of some service with the 61st Regiment in Spain and Portugal, so
that when the General’s orders appeared with the staff vacancy which I
have named, Captain Holland Daniel made sure he would be the fortunate
man to fill it. In a few days our transports arrived, and we embarked
and sailed for the appointed rendezvous, and there found a considerable
number of troops already arrived; and several ships-of-war, with the
admiral and Sir James Leith, and other transports with troops were
standing in. As soon as we got to anchor Colonel Ewart went on board the
admiral’s ship to report his arrival, and on returning in his boat we
observed him standing up and waving a paper over his head. We at once
believed this to be good news, and on reaching the deck he said:
“Anderson, you are the lucky man; you were appointed major of brigade,
but in justice to myself and my regiment I have been obliged to object
to your leaving me, and I have done so, with the assurance to the
Commander-in-Chief and to General Douglass, who recommended you, that no
one rejoiced more than I at your good fortune, and that I objected to
your leaving me solely on the grounds of your being one of the few
officers of my regiment who ever saw service, and to whose experience,
therefore, I attached the greatest importance, as we were now sure of
going into action. I told the Commander-in-Chief that I had the highest
opinion of you as an able and intelligent officer, and that I should be
willing to part with you when the fight was over should his Excellency
then see fit to give you any other staff appointment.”
All this was very gratifying, yet very galling, for staff appointments
are not so easily had, but I could not do less than thank him for his
good opinion and patiently bear my fate. Ewart saw my distress and said:
“Come, I must take you on board the flagship and introduce you to the
Commander-in-Chief.” So off we started, but on getting on board Sir
James Leith was so engaged that he could not see me, but General
Douglass received us, and Colonel Ewart went again kindly over his
objections and said much more to please and flatter me. General Douglass
said that I must remain for the present with my regiment, and that he
was glad to hear such a good report of me. We then took leave and
returned to our own ship.
During that and the following day the whole of the troops of the
expedition arrived, and about the same time a frigate came from England
bringing the news of the battle of Waterloo, the abdication of
Bonaparte, and the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty to the throne of
France. This great and astounding news was at once dispatched under a
flag of truce by the admiral, Sir Charles Durham, and Sir James Leith to
the respective governors of Martinique and Guadeloupe, with the earnest
request that they would at once acknowledge and show their loyalty to
Louis XVIII, their now reigning King, and thus put an end to our
intended hostile proceedings and useless effusion of blood. The governor
of Martinique at once acknowledged the sovereignty of the Bourbons, and
hoisted the white flag, but General Boyer, of Guadeloupe, returned an
answer that he did not believe one word of the news, and that he was
determined to fight for his Emperor and to resist to the last.
On the following morning, the 9th of August, 1815, our armament sailed
from the Saints in two divisions for Guadeloupe, the main body of the
force under the Commander-in-Chief for Grande Ance Bay, and one brigade,
consisting of the 63rd Regiment and York Chasseurs under Major-General
Douglass, for Bailiffe. In a few hours the whole were landed in safety
at these places respectively. Our landing at Bailiffe was opposed by a
considerable number of French infantry, but we had a man-of-war with us,
which covered our landing and cleared the beach for a sufficient
distance to enable us to get on shore safely. The enemy formed again at
a little distance inland, and there we at once attacked them, and
finally drove them before us till they reached Basse Terre and got under
the protection of the batteries of Fort Matilda, beyond which we took up
our position for the night, expecting to be joined by our main body next
day. In the course of this day we lost some men, but no officers except
Captain Lynch of the 63rd. The main body of our troops was also opposed
on landing, and constantly during this march of two days from Grande
Ance to Basse Terre, but their casualties were not numerous, and they
joined us in safety at the expected time. Guns were then put into
position, and they began battering the town, the fire being ably
returned from Fort Matilda. Preparations were at the same time made by
us for storming, and when the proper time arrived a flag of truce was
sent in, giving the enemy the choice of surrendering without risking any
further additional loss of life. This the governor refused, but the
French general officer, who was next in authority, at once complied. He
hauled down the tricolour and hoisted the white flag, acknowledging all
as prisoners of war. The 63rd and some more of our troops marched in and
took possession, the French garrison having first marched out under arms
and laid them down in front of our main force, which was drawn up in
line ready to receive them. The French troops, as prisoners of war, were
formed in separate divisions and marched back to town into separate
places of confinement until ships were ready to receive them, which
finally took them back to France. The officers were allowed to retain
their swords, and both they and the men were allowed to keep their
private baggage. The governor, General Boyer, was nowhere to be found,
till after a long search he was discovered concealed in a wine-cellar,
determined to the last to uphold the honour of his Emperor. Of course,
he was treated with every kindness, and was sent with the others to
France.
A week afterwards the whole of our troops were re-embarked and went back
to their former quarters in the different islands, except the 25th
Regiment, which was left to garrison Basse Terre and Guadeloupe, and the
latter was now made the headquarters of the British troops in the West
Indies. I returned with my regiment to St. Vincent and continued my
additional duties as acting-paymaster, expecting nothing better for some
time. In a few weeks the General Orders arrived, and to my great delight
and surprise I read: “Captain Joseph Anderson, of the York Chasseurs, to
be Deputy-Assistant Quartermaster-General to the Forces, and to repair
forthwith to Headquarters, Guadeloupe.” I was indeed proud of my
extraordinary good luck, and so was Colonel Ewart, and as a mark of his
regard he made me a present of a handsome staff sword, which he had
himself worn for many years in a similar appointment. I soon handed over
my company and my accounts as paymaster to officers appointed for those
duties, and availed myself of a passage in the very first vessel that
started for Guadeloupe, and arrived there safely.
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