Amongst the trophies were the colours, or rather the eagles, of the 62nd and 80th Regiments of the French line. One of these fell to the Royal Fusiliers, the other to the 90th, and the Commander-in-Chief selected Captain Wilby, of the 90th, to carry these trophies to England and depose them at the feet of the King. These were the first eagles to be received in England, and His Majesty was pleased to command that they should be escorted in state by the regiments of the Household Brigade to St. Paul's Cathedral, where they were received with all due solemnity. In the early days of the reign of Queen Victoria these eagles were removed to the chapel of the Royal Hospital at Chelsea, where they may be seen to this day.
CASUALTIES AT THE CAPTURE OF MARTINIQUE, 1809.
+------------------+-----------+-----------+ | |_Officers._| _Men._ | | _Regiments._ +-----+-----+-----+-----+ | | K. | W. | K. | W. | +------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+ |Roy. Fusiliers | 1 | 2 | 36 | 119 | |8th K. Liverp. | 1 | 0 | 4 | 13 | |R. Welsh Fus. | 0 | 1 | 19 | 101 | |90th Scot. Rifles | - | 2 | 8 | 31 | |W. India Regt. | - | - | 2 | 19 | |L.I. Battalion | 1 | 5 | 26 | 71 | +------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+
In the year 1847, when the late Queen Victoria granted a medal to the survivors of the wars against France, Martinique was included in the list of campaigns for which the medal was to be conferred, and a special clasp "Martinique" was issued with both the military and naval General Service Medal.
By the Treaty of Amiens Martinique was handed over to the French, but on Napoleon's escape from Elba it declared for the Emperor, and General Leith was despatched with a strong force to recapture the island. Fortunately, the Governor, recognizing the hopelessness of resistance, surrendered without attempting a useless defence, and so for a few months Martinique again became a British possession, only to be handed back when Napoleon was safe under restraint.
The regiments which are authorized to bear this honour are the
East Yorkshire. Scottish Rifles. East Surrey. Manchester. West India.
The island on three previous occasions had been captured, and thrice restored to the French. Once again it became necessary to take measures for its reduction. Sir George Beckwith, who had so successfully carried out the conquest of Martinique in the previous year, was selected for the command of the expedition, with Generals Hyslop and Harcourt as Divisional Generals under him. The force was distributed as under: