French West Indies, the
Canada conquered, the
British turned their arms against the
French West India Islands, in which the colonies participated.
Gaudeloupe had already been taken.
General Monckton, after submitting his commission as governor to the council of New York, sailed from that port (January, 1762), with two line-of-battle ships, 100 transports, and 1,200 regulars and colonial troops.
Major Gates (afterwards adjutant-general of the
Continental army) went with
Monckton as aide-de-camp, and carried to
England the news of the capture of
Martinique.
Richard Montgomery (afterwards a general in the
Continental army) held the rank of captain in this expedition.
The colonial troops were led by
Gen. Phineas Lyman.
Grenada,
St. Lucia, and St. Vincent's—indeed, every island in the Caribbean group possessed by the French-fell into the hands of the
English.
The French fleet was ruined, and French merchantmen were driven from the seas.
British vessels, including those of New York and
New England, now obtained the carrying-trade of those islands; also, under safe conducts and flags of truce, that of
Santo Domingo.