MAJOR-GENERAL WHYTE’S REGIMENT OF FOOT, 1795.

The terrible mortality which thinned the ranks of the British troops in the West Indies, induced the British Ministers to think of reinforcing the army with men better calculated to resist the influence of the climate. The West India Governors were instructed, therefore, in 1795, to bring forward in their respective legislatures a project for raising five black regiments, consisting of 500 men each, to become a permanent branch of the military establishment. There were already several black corps in existence, for Mr. Dundas, during a debate in the House of Commons on the West India Expedition, on the 28th of April, 1795, said that “the West India Army of Europeans and Créoles consisted of 3000 militia and 6000 blacks."

These black corps were distributed amongst the various islands, and were the Carolina Corps, Malcolm’s or the Royal Rangers, the Island Rangers (Martinique), the St. Vincent Rangers, the Black Rangers (Grenada), Angus’ Black Corps (Grenada), the Tobago Blacks, and the Dominica Rangers. Some of them, notably the Carolina Corps, Malcolm’s Corps, and the St. Vincent Rangers, were paid by the Imperial Government, and were consequently Imperial troops; although none of the corps appeared in any Army List, nor were appointments thereto and promotions therein notified in the London Gazette.

The five black regiments, now proposed to be raised, were to be in addition to those small black corps already in Imperial pay, and which were to be blended into three permanent regiments.

Major-General Whyte’s regiment was called into existence by the Gazette of the 2nd of May, 1795; Major-General John Whyte, from the 6th Foot, being appointed colonel. On the 20th of May, Major Leeds Booth, from the 32nd Foot, was appointed lieutenant-colonel; and other officers were rapidly gazetted to it. On the 8th of August, Captain Robert Malcolm, of the 41st Foot, was promoted major in Whyte’s regiment. The following is the list of officers appointed to the regiment in 1795:

It was intended that each of these regiments raised for service in the West Indies should have a cavalry troop, and in the London Gazette are the following:

MAJOR-GENERAL WHYTE’S REGIMENT OF FOOT.

August 1, 1795 Lieutenant Powell, from the 8th Foot, to be
Lieutenant of Cavalry.

August 29 Lieutenant Powell, Lieutenant of Cavalry, to be
Captain of Cavalry.

July 11 Acting Adjutant Connor, from Lieutenant-Colonel
McDonnel’s regiment, to be Cornet.

But this idea was soon abandoned, and in 1797 the cavalry troop disappeared.

The 1st West India Regiment (for so it was at once styled in the West Indies, although in the Army List and the London Gazette, the designation “Major-General Whyte’s Regiment of Foot” was not discontinued until February, 1798) first appears in the “Monthly Return for the Windward, Leeward, and Caribee Islands,” in September, 1795, as follows:

A: Colonel.
B: Lieut.-Colonel.
C: Majors.
D: Captains.
E: Lieutenants.
F: Ensigns.
G: Chaplain.
H: Adjutant.
I: Quarter-Master.
J: Surgeon.
K: Mate.
L: Sergeants Present.
M: Drummers Present.
N: Present, fit for duty.
O: Sick.
P: Recruiting.
Q: Total.

and the following note is, in the same Return, appended to the state of the company of the “Black Carolina Corps,” which was in Grenada; the other two companies having remained in Martinique since their removal there from St. Lucia at the end of April, 1795. “This corps has been reformed, and fifty of the men, who were fit for service, have been drafted into the 1st New West India Regiment. When the remainder of the corps can be collected together, it is possible a few more may be found fit for service.”

Major-General Whyte’s, or the 1st West India Regiment, remained at Martinique, without any further accession to its strength than these fifty men from the Carolina Corps, till December, 1795.

In the “Muster Roll of His Majesty’s 1st West India Regiment of Foot, for 183 days, from the 25th of June to the 24th of December, 1795, inclusive,” the list of officers is given as already shown. Captain James Abercrombie, Lieutenants David Butler, Benjamin Chadwick, and James Sutherland are shown as “drowned on passage,” and the following note is added: “Some few of the dates of enlistments and enrolments of the non-commissioned officers and drummers may not probably be quite exact, and some others may have been engaged in England not down on the muster roll, all the regimental books, attestation papers, etc., having been left in possession of the paymaster, Brevet-Major Abercrombie (no adjutant at that time being appointed), who was lost in December or January last on board the Robert and William transport, N, on the voyage to this country.” The non-commissioned officers and drummers were Europeans, one sergeant and three corporals being shown as “sick and absent in England” in this roll; and, in the next, a drummer is similarly shown. The roll is signed by Leeds Booth, Lieutenant-Colonel; Ed. S. Cotter, Captain and Paymaster; and Thomas Holbrook, Acting Adjutant. The following is the proof table:

A: Colonel.
B: Lieut.-Colonel.
C: Major.
D: Captains.
E: Lieutenants.
F: Cornets.
G: Ensigns.
H. Adjutant.
I. Chaplain.
J. Quartermaster.
K. Surgeon.
L. Mate.
M. Sergeants.
N. Corporals.
O. Drummers.
P. Privates.

Although it was intended that the privates of West India regiments should be black, yet, apparently, white men were not prohibited from serving in the ranks; for, in later muster rolls, two or three privates are shown as “enrolled in England,” and one of these is afterwards shown as “transferred to 60th.” A volunteer, David Scott, who joined 29th May, 1797, was also promoted ensign in November of that year. These enrolments of Europeans only occur in the first three years of the regiment’s existence, and negro privates were available for promotion to, at least, the rank of corporal very early; for a Private John Lafontaine, who was promoted corporal, is shown in the muster roll terminating December 24th, 1796, as “claimed as a slave.” The pay of a private in a West India regiment was then sixpence per diem.