MALCOLM'S ROYAL RANGERS--THE EVACUATION OF ST. LUCIA, 1795.
In the commencement of the year 1795, a new corps was raised in the West
Indies, which was sometimes called Malcolm's Corps, sometimes Malcolm's
Rangers, and at others the Royal Rangers. It first appears in the
"Monthly Return of His Majesty's Forces in the Windward, Leeward, and
Caribee Islands," dated the 1st of May, 1795, as follows:
ROYAL RANGERS, COMMANDED BY CAPTAIN MALCOLM, 41ST REGIMENT.
A: Capt. Commandant.
B: Captains.
C: 1st Lieutenants.
D: 2nd Lieutenants.
E: Sergeants Present.
F: Drummers Present.
G: Present fit for Duty.
H: In Hospital.
I: In Quarters.
+-------------+---------------+---+---+------------------------+
| | Commissioned | | |Effective Rank and File.|
| | Officers. | | | |
| +---+---+---+---+ | +-----+-----+----+-------+
| | | | | | | | | Sick and | |
| Stations. | | | | | | | | Wounded. | |
| | | | | | | | +-----+----+ |
| | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | Total.|
+-------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+-----+-----+----+-------+
| Martinico | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 149 | 28 | 27 | 204 |
+-------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+-----+-----+----+-------+
This officer is mentioned by Bryan Edwards, vol. iii. p. 452:
"Lieutenant Malcolm, of the 41st Grenadiers, was appointed Town Major"
(of St. Pierre, Martinique, in 1794) "in consideration of his
distinguished conduct and active services at the head of a body of
riflemen, which was composed of two men selected from each company of
the 1st Battalion of Grenadiers. We shall have occasion to mention this
officer afterwards."
This body of riflemen, raised during the operations in Martinique, in
March, 1794, must, if the above statement of its formation be correct,
have been European, for there were no black troops employed in the
reduction of that island, except the Carolina Corps. The corps of
riflemen is not shown in any return, and it is probable that at the
termination of the active operations the men rejoined their respective
battalions. The Royal Rangers, shown in the return of the 1st of May,
1795, were black; for Sir John Vaughan, in a letter dated Martinique,
April 25th, 1795, which gives an account of the operations in St. Lucia
in that month, says: "The flank companies of the 9th Regiment and the
black corps under Captain Malcolm were the troops engaged." These Royal
Rangers, then, were almost certainly entirely distinct from the "body of
riflemen," and the success which had attended Captain Malcolm's efforts
with the first body probably led to his being employed in raising the
second, about February or March, 1795. In the month of April, 1795, one
company of this corps, numbering 121 of all ranks, was in St. Lucia,
and the other company, 112 strong, in Martinique.
Victor Hugues, having succeeded in ousting the British from Guadaloupe,
commenced, early in 1795, active measures for the recovery of the other
islands that had been wrested from France in the previous year, and the
plan which was first ripened appears to have been that against St.
Lucia.[13] "No official and scarcely any other accounts of the event are
to be found, but the invasion of this colony appears to have been
effected about the middle of February.... Nor can the strength of the
invading force be now ascertained. That force was probably few in
number, and stolen into the island in small bodies, and under cover of
the night. Aided, however, by an insurrection of the slaves, people of
colour, and democratical whites, it was sufficient to wrest from us the
whole of the colony, with the exception of the two posts of the Carenage
and the Morne Fortune."[14]
Affairs remained in this situation till about the middle of April, when
Brigadier-General Stewart resumed active operations, in the hope of
recovering the lost ground. On the 14th of that month, he suddenly
disembarked near Vieux Fort, with a force consisting of a portion of the
6th and 9th Regiments, the company of the Carolina Corps which had
remained in the island since its capture in 1794, and one company of the
new corps of Malcolm's Rangers; and, after two days' skirmishing, that
town was abandoned by the French on the 16th, and immediately taken
possession of by the British, the enemy falling back upon Souffriere,
their chief stronghold.
"Resolved to follow up his blow, General Stewart advanced against
Souffriere. Undismayed, however, by their recent defeats, the
Republicans had collected together a very formidable force, for the
defence of their main position. On his march, the British general was
suddenly attacked by a division which had been placed in ambush, and it
was not till after a severe struggle that the enemy were driven back."
Sir John Vaughan, in a despatch dated Martinique, April 25th, 1795,
says: "He was attacked by the enemy upon his march on the 20th instant,
who had formed an ambuscade. The flank companies of the 9th Regiment,
and the Black Corps under Captain Malcolm, were the troops engaged. The
enemy, after a severe conflict, were driven back. Captain Malcolm, and
Captain Nesbitt of the 9th, were wounded, after behaving in a most
gallant manner."
On the 22nd of April, the troops reached the neighbourhood of
Souffriere, near to which, on the mountainous ground, the attack was
made. The contest continued warmly for seven hours, and though the
greatest exertions were made by the British, they were finally compelled
to retreat to Choiseul, with a loss of 30 killed, 150 wounded, and 5
missing. In the four days' fighting between the 14th and the 22nd of
April, Malcolm's corps lost 48 out of a total of 121.[15] At Choiseul
the troops embarked and returned to Vieux Fort, and thence to Morne
Fortune and the Carenage, which General Stewart considered his force
strong enough to hold until the arrival of reinforcements.
Two months passed away without the occurrence of any event worthy of
notice. Sickness, in the meantime, was making great ravages amongst the
British, one-half of whose force was generally unfit for service. The
enemy, on the other hand, were daily gaining fresh accession of
strength. From Guadaloupe arms and other supplies were frequently
transmitted; and though some of the vessels fell into the hands of the
British cruisers, many more of them reached their destination in safety.
The French now began to act decisively. They first reduced Pigeon
Island, and, on the 17th of June, made themselves masters of the Vigie.
On this last post the communication between the Carenage and Morne
Fortune depended, and the enemy now prepared for a general assault upon
the latter. As, in the weak condition of the garrison, it would have
been imprudent to await the meditated attack, Brigadier-General Stewart
determined to evacuate the position; and, on the evening of the 18th,
the whole of the troops embarked on board H.M.S. _Experiment_,
undiscovered by the enemy, and proceeded to Martinique.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 13: Bryan Edwards.]
[Footnote 14: See map.]
[Footnote 15: Return of the killed, wounded, and missing in the actions
on the following days, of the troops under the command of
Brigadier-General Stewart, in the island of St. Lucia.
* * * * *
14th of April, 1795.
Royal Rangers--1 sergeant, 5 rank and file, wounded.
15th of April.
Royal Rangers--2 rank and file, killed; 1 sergeant, 4 rank and file,
wounded.
20th of April.
Royal Rangers--6 rank and file, killed; 1 captain, 1 sergeant, and 18
rank and file, wounded.
22nd of April.
Carolina Corps--1 rank and file, wounded.
Royal Rangers--4 rank and file, killed; 5 rank and file, wounded.
Names of the Officers killed and wounded.
Captain Robert Malcolm, of the Royal Rangers, wounded.]