The regiment embarked for the West Indies in November 1794 and helped suppress an insurrection by caribs on Saint Vincent before returning home in November 1796. It returned to the West Indies in April 1804 and, fighting alongside the 1st West India Regiment in February 1805, defended Dominica against a French force for over a week until the French abandoned the attack; hence the regiment's first battle honour "Dominica". The regiment took part in another action when in May 1806 when 40 of its soldiers boarded the packet boat "Duke of Montrose" and set out in pursuit of the French privateers "Napoleon" and "Impériale": they captured the "Impériale" and its crew. The regiment took part in the invasion of Martinique in February 1809 and then returned to England in December 1811.