WIR History

Africans in Redcoats.

Early Black Soldiers in the British Army.

The British Army recruited African soldiers as musicians in the household regiments. A painting by David Morier dated c. 1751 shows a black trumpeter in a splendid ceremonial uniform of the 1st Horse Guards.

During the American War of Independence many men of African decent fought on the side of the British Crown. These units included His Majesty's Troop of Black Dragoons, His Majesty's Corp of Black Artificers and His Majesty's Corp of Black Pioneers. At the end of the conflict these troops were amalgamated into a single unit called The Black Carolina Corps.

As Britain struggled to defend it's Caribbean colonies from the French it became obvious to the authorities that using unseasoned European soldiers was not practical. Many died either en route or fell victim to tropical diseases. In 1795, the Corp was itself amalgamated with Malcolm's Rangers, which had been raised during that year in the Caribbean island of Martinique. This formed Whyte's Regiment of Foot which became the 1st West India Regiment.

The West India Regiments.

To overcome the shortage of European soldiers during the French Revolutionary Wars, the British Army establishment sanctioned the use of enslaved Africans as part of regular line infantry establishment. Recruitment to these regiments was achieved through he purchase of slaves and the use of captured slaves from other European colonies in the Caribbean. The officers were still to be European and they continued to suffer the same fate from tropical diseases such as Malaria and Yellow Fever.

Slaves were purchased from the West African Coast and transported to the islands of the British Caribbean to fill the ranks of the West India Regiments. From 1795 to 1808 it is estimated that the British Government bought 13,400 slaves for it's West India Regiments. These purchases cost an estimated £925,000, at an average of £70 per slave. This number represents some 7% of the total slaves imported of 195,000 into the British Caribbean during the same period.

Once landed at a British Caribbean Island port the slave recruits were lined up and given a rough medical examination. Each slave had to satisfy the army surgeon that "he was sound in body and able to carry arms", meet minimum age of 16, the minimum height of 5 feet 3 inches and was not encumbered with "family or follower". Following this a white label was tied around his neck with his new name. The slaves were then marched off to the army depot to be adorned by British scarlet tunic, probably to the shouts of a black non-commissioned officer.

With the abolition of slave purchase in 1807 and emancipation of slaves in 1834 the British Army recruited free men into the ranks. Also after 1834 the regiments were augmented with enslaved Africans taken from "liberated" slave ships captured by Royal Navy patrols.

With the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, the need for a large military presence in the Caribbean diminished. This resulted in all but two of the West India Regiments being disbanded or amalgamated.

Due to high casualty rates as a result of sickness among European soldiers stationed in the Caribbean and West Africa an army administrator called Lord Howick urged an augmentation of the two West India Regiments in the early 1830's. The soldiers of the West India Regiments were more immune to tropical diseases such as Malaria and Yellow Fever and therefore suffered much lower casualties.

Lord Hill, as Commander-in-Chief of the army, opposed the extended use of African forces in the British Caribbean colonies. He believed they might refuse to suppress any public disorder by the newly freed enslaved Africans who made up the greater part of the population. Despite this, the establishment of the West India Regiments was raised in 1836 to 1,500, thus facilitating a reduction in the serving companies of two British regiments and the withdrawal of a whole battalion from British Guiana (now Guyana).

In West Africa, the authorities tried to overcome the high mortality among Europeans by raising the Royal African Colonial Corps, but discipline, training, and efficiency fell far below that of troops in the Caribbean. European officers and NCOs sent to command the force were laid low by disease and were mainly intent on surviving their one-year term   of duty. In 1840 the corps was amalgamated with the West India Regiments which thereafter covered Sierra Leone as well as the Caribbean.

Detachments of the West India Regiments were used in "policing" actions to defend the borders of British Guiana and British Belize. A detachment was also used in Jamaica to suppress the Morant Bay rebellion (1865). The Regiments were also used in various campaigns and anti-slavery actions in West Africa including the Ashantee War (1873-1874).

In 1888 the remaining two West India Regiments were amalgamated into one Regiment of two Battalions.

During the First World War (1914-1918), the 2nd Battalion saw active service in East Africa while the 1st Battalion remained in the Caribbean.

The West India Regiment remained on the British Army Establishment until 1927.

Note: The West India Regiments should not be confused with the British West Indies Regiment that saw service between 1915 and 1919 during the First World War (1914-1918).