'The attack upon Guadaloupe, by the Troops under the command of Lieut Genl Beckwith, on the 3rd of February, 1810 at Midnight which led to the Capture of that Island and subsequently to the whole of the Enemy's possessions in the West Indies'

Coloured line engraving by T Edwards after W H Brooke, from 'The Stationer's Almanack', 1810 (c).

Guadeloupe was the last French possession to be captured in the Caribbean in the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815). The Royal Navy had systematically blockaded and reduced the French garrisons that had posed a persistent threat to British trade routes in the region.

In late 1809, Lieutenant General (later General) Sir George Beckwith, with Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane, gathered a force from across the Caribbean to assault Guadeloupe. Without resupply or reinforcement, the French garrison was weak and demoralised. The invasion force included British Army regulars, men of the West India Regiments and naval brigades and these proved no match for the French forces on the island. The garrison surrendered on the 5 February 1810.