tinued to act
separately in St. Lucia in April and May, and in Grenada from June to
December; and it was not until its return to Martinique on the 28th of
December, 1796, that the drafting was finally completed. Of the
Carolina Corps all the men fit for service were collected at Martinique,
the remainder being formed into an invalid company at Grenada. It may be
thought that the process of forming the 1st West India Regiment was
being carried on very slowly, but it was more rapid than that of any
other West India Regiment, except the 2nd; while the 3rd, even on the
24th of December, 1797, had no non-commissioned officers, no privates,
and only two drummers.

No military event worthy of note took place in the year 1797, in which
the Carolina Corps or the 1st West India Regiment took part, except the
expedition to Porto Rico, in which the pioneers of the former corps were
engaged. Sir Ralph Abercromby, with a force of 3000 men, sailed from
Martinique on the 8th of April, and, after a delay at St. Christopher's,
for the purpose of procuring pilots and guides, reached Porto Rico on
the 17th and anchored off Cangrejos Point. Next day the troops
disembarked, and, after a slight skirmish with the enemy, took up a
position before the town. The siege continued for a fortnight without
the British making any appreciable progress, while the force of the
enemy, originally larger than that of the besiegers, was receiving
continual accessions from various parts of the island. Sir Ralph
Abercromby, therefore, determined to abandon the attempt, and the troops
were accordingly re-embarked on the 30th of April.

In March, 1797, one company of the Carolina Corps that was at
Martinique, 78 strong, was drafted into the 1st West India Regiment;
and, on the return of the expedition from Porto Rico, the remaining
company (Pioneer) was also drafted, and the Carolina Corps ceased to
exist.

The following is the list of the officers who were serving in the 1st
West India Regiment in 1797, and it may be observed that so many changes
had taken place that, out of 43 officers who were gazetted to the
regiment in 1795, only 22 were left in 1797:

Rank. Name. Rank in Regiment. Army.

Colonel John Whyte April 24, 1795 M.-G., Feb. 26, 1795.
Lt.-Col. Leeds Booth May 20, 1795
Major Charles Miller Nov. 30, 1796
Captains Edward Cotter July 1, 1795
Fran