West Indies Campaign 1804 – 10 The West Indies Campaign of 1804 – 10 was a series of military contests mainly in the Caribbean spanning the Napoleonic Wars involving European powers Napoleonic France , the Batavian Republic , Spain , the Kingdom of Portugal and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . Eventually British naval forces dominated the seas and by 1810 every single French , Dutch and Danish colony was firmly under allied ( mainly British ) control . Background . France by 1804 had lost Haiti and its American colony of Louisiana after it sold Louisiana to America . France still retained its large colony of Santo Domingo which it had acquired from Spain at the Treaty of Basel . Martinique and Guadeloupe were the largest sugar producing islands and also Cayenne in northern South America . The Dutch , being allied to the French , also had islands in the West Indies and territories in South America . Reconquista ( Santo Domingo ) . By this time Spain a former enemy of the British and ally of the French was now invaded by French forces which led to the Peninsula war . Once the news of the invasion had reached the island , the criollos of Santo Domingo revolted against French rule and were later assisted by the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom who were now Spain ' s new ally . Invasion of Cayenne 1809 . By 1808 French colonial territories in the Caribbean were a drain on both the French and British navies . The fortified harbours on the islands and coastal towns provided shelter for French warships and privateer s that could strike against British trade routes at will , forcing the Royal Navy to divert extensive resources to protect their convoys . However , the maintenance and support of these bases was a significant task for the French Navy . It had suffered a series of defeats during the war that left it blockaded in its own harbours and unable to put to sea without attack from British squadrons waiting off the coast . Cut off from French trade and supplies , the Caribbean colonies began to suffer from food shortages and collapsing economies , and messages were sent to France in the summer of 1808 requesting urgent help . Some of these messages were intercepted by the patrolling Royal Navy . Based on the description in those messages of the low morale and weak defences of the Caribbean territories , the decision was taken to eliminate the threat from the French colonies for the remainder of the war by seizing and occupying them in a series of amphibious operations . Command of this campaign was given to Rear - Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane , who focused his initial efforts on Martinique , gathering a substantial force of ships and men at Barbados in preparation for the planned invasion . While the main British forces concentrated in the Leeward Islands , smaller expeditionary forces were sent to watch other French colonies . Aftermath . The fall of Guadeloupe marked the end of the final French territory in the Caribbean ; the entire region was now in the hands of either the British or the Spanish , except the independent state of Haiti . The lack of French privateers and warships sparked a boom in trade operations , and the economies of the Caribbean islands experienced a resurgence . It also made a significant reduction in French international trade and had a corresponding effect on the French economy . Finally , the capture of the last French colony struck a decisive blow to the Atlantic slave trade , which had been made illegal by the British government in 1807 and was actively persecuted by the Royal Navy . Without French colonies in the Caribbean , there was no ready market for slaves in the region and the slave trade consequently dried up .