The new West India Regiments saw considerable service during the period of the Napoleonic Wars.
In 1800 there were 12 battalion-sized regiments which were seen as valuable also for dealing with slave revolt in the West Indies colonies.

Three companies of the First WIR repulsed a French attempt to recapture the island of Marie-Galante in August–September 1808, together with members of the first Corps of Colonial Marines recruited from local refugees from slavery.

The Regiments were later involved in the War of 1812, both on the Atlantic coast and in the Gulf of Mexico, taking part in the British attack on New Orleans.
After the Slave Trade Act of 1807, there was a shortfall of around five thousand members at the start of the War of 1812, and the war offered hope of new recruitment from slaves fleeing the United States.
However, only eight joined the regiments from the Chesapeake Bay area in 1814, and a further thirteen on the coast of Georgia early in 1815, the great majority of refugees who offered military service preferring the newly formed Corps of Colonial Marines, who later rejected British government orders for transfer to the Regiments.

Following the end of the War of 1812, numbers were progressively reduced.
Members of two of the disbanded regiments were settled in the eastern part of Trinidad, the 6th in 1817 and the 3rd in 1819, forming the main Muslim population in Trinidad before the first arrival of indentured Indian immigrants in 1845.
During most of the remainder of the nineteenth century there were never less than two West India Regiments.
The 1st West India Regiment from Jamaica went to the Gold Coast of Africa to fight in the Ashanti War of 1873-4.
The new West India Regiments saw considerable service during the period of the Napoleonic Wars. In 1800 there were 12 battalion-sized regiments which were seen as valuable also for dealing with slave revolt in the West Indies colonies.
Three companies of the First WIR repulsed a French attempt to recapture the island of Marie-Galante in August–September 1808, together with members of the first Corps of Colonial Marines recruited from local refugees from slavery.
The Regiments were later involved in the War of 1812, both on the Atlantic coast and in the Gulf of Mexico, taking part in the British attack on New Orleans. After the Slave Trade Act of 1807, there was a shortfall of around five thousand members at the start of the War of 1812, and the war offered hope of new recruitment from slaves fleeing the United States. However, only eight joined the regiments from the Chesapeake Bay area in 1814, and a further thirteen on the coast of Georgia early in 1815, the great majority of refugees who offered military service preferring the newly formed Corps of Colonial Marines, who later rejected British government orders for transfer to the Regiments.
Following the end of the War of 1812, numbers were progressively reduced. Members of two of the disbanded regiments were settled in the eastern part of Trinidad, the 6th in 1817 and the 3rd in 1819, forming the main Muslim population in Trinidad before the first arrival of indentured Indian immigrants in 1845. During most of the remainder of the nineteenth century there were never less than two West India Regiments. The 1st West India Regiment from Jamaica went to the Gold Coast of Africa to fight in the Ashanti War of 1873-4.
West India Regiments