The SEVENTEENTH took part in several other operations and skirmishes; in June the Commandant of the French troops at Goyave surrendered, and a number of brigands retired, under a desperate and atrocious character named Fedon, to their strong hold in the mountains, where they were invested and forced to submit. In addition to Captain Black, Captain Johnson, Lieutenant Werge, and Cornet Brown of the regiment were also engaged at Grenada.
Four troops of the SEVENTEENTH were sent to _St. Domingo_, where they served against the republican troops, and signalized themselves at Fort Raimond, Irois, and Morne Gautier; but the climate of this island proved so injurious to the health of the British soldiers that it was eventually abandoned.
After losing many officers and soldiers in the West Indies, the regiment embarked for England, where it arrived in August, 1797; the head-quarter ship, the Caledonia, foundered at sea; the men were saved by boats, and taken on board the Britannia, of Bristol; but the baggage and regimental books were lost. On its arrival in England the regiment received about four hundred recruits, also a large draft from the Eighteenth Light Dragoons, and it was soon restored to a state of efficiency.
In 1798 a Serjeant's party of the SEVENTEENTH was attached to the expedition under Major-General Eyre Coote, which sailed from Margate, on the 14th of May, for the purpose of destroying the basin, gates, and sluices of the Bruges canal, to interrupt the communication between _Ostend_ and Holland. A landing was effected on the 19th of May, and the works were destroyed; but while this was taking place, the wind and surf became so high that the troops could not re-embark, and they were attacked by superior numbers, and forced to surrender. The detachment of the SEVENTEENTH was among the troops made prisoners, and it was sent to Lisle; it was afterwards exchanged, and on rejoining the regiment in the spring of 1799, such had been its exemplary conduct, that the Serjeant, (William Brown,) was promoted to a cornetcy in the Waggon Train, from which he was transferred to the regiment, and eventually became a captain in the corps; and the private soldiers were appointed non-commissioned officers.