83. The lieutenant-colonel
commandant was given an independent company, and the whites, both
officers and men, were pacified with grants of land. The black troopers,
however, were a source of difficulty. These troopers, some of whom were
originally free, while some had been purchased by the British
Government, were in those days of slavery something of a "white
elephant" in a large slave-holding colony like Jamaica. The planters,
fearful of the consequences of the example to their slaves of a free
body of negroes who had served as soldiers, agitated for their removal
from the island, but, on the other hand, no other island was willing to
receive them. There is no trace of how the difficulty was finally
settled, but in a letter, dated War Office, June 15th, 1783, signed R.
Fitzpatrick, and addressed to Major-General Campbell, commanding in
Jamaica, the receipt of his letter concerning the disbandment of the
provincial troops in the island is acknowledged, and the removal of "the
blacks of the South Carolina Regiment" to the Leeward command approved
of.

Some time, then, in September, 1783, the black troopers were removed to
the Leeward Islands, and in the "Monthly Return of His Majesty's Forces
in the Leeward and Charibee Islands, under the command of
Lieutenant-General Edward Mathew," we find them formed into a corps,
with a body of black artificers, who had served in South Carolina at the
sieges of Charlestown and Ninety-six, and thirty-three black pioneers
who had been included in the surrender of Yorktown. The following is the
state of this corps:

RETURN OF THE BLACK CORPS OF DRAGOONS, PIONEERS, AND ARTIFICERS.

A. Captains.
B. 1st Lieutenants.
C. 2nd Lieutenants.
D. Sergeants Present.
E. Drummers and Trumpeters Present.
F. Present, fit for duty.
G. Sick in Quarters.
H. Sick in Hospital.
I. On Command.
J. Total.
K. Total of the Whole.

+------------+----------------+-----------+---+---+-------------------+---+
| | | Officers | | | Effective Rank | |
| | | Present. | | | and File. | |
|Where | +---+---+---+ | +-------------------+ |
|Stationed. | Companies. | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K |
+------------+----------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|Grenada | Capt. Mackrill | 1 | - | - | 3| 1