Ensign Francis Innes, 8th West India Regiment, 1804

Silhouette portrait in pen and ink and watercolour on paper, by John Buncombe, 1804.

Francis Innes was commissioned into the 8th West India Regiment in January 1804, before transferring to the 10th Regiment later that year. He was promoted lieutenant in January 1805 and captain in April 1813. In 1816 Innes went on the half-pay list but drew full pay again from 1820 as a captain in the 6th Royal Veteran Battalion until his death two years later.

Elements of the 8th West India Regiment, stationed at Fort Shirley on the island of Dominica, rose in revolt on 8 April 1802. The regiment's white officers were killed or driven out of the fort. The mutiny was quickly suppressed with around 100 mutineers killed by a relief force of soldiers, militia and marines. Several ringleaders were either executed or flogged. The 8th West India Regiment was disbanded as a result of the mutiny, with the surviving soldiers transferred to other units. Reorganisation of the West India Regiments in 1803 led to the re-establishment of the 8th West India Regiment.