The reserve battalion of the SEVENTY-FIRST, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel James England, embarked at Portsmouth in Her Majesty’s troop-ship “Resistance,” which sailed for Canada on the 13th of August 1842, and the battalion landed at Montreal on the 23d of September, where the first battalion was likewise stationed, under the command of Major William Denny, who, upon the arrival of Lieut.-Colonel England, took charge of the reserve battalion.
The reserve battalion marched from Montreal to Chambly on the 5th of May 1843, and arrived there on the same day.
The first battalion, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel England, embarked at Quebec for the West Indies in the “Java” transport, on the 20th of October 1843. The head-quarters disembarked at Grenada on the 15th of December following.
The head-quarters of the first battalion embarked on the 25th of December 1844, at Grenada, for Antigua.
During the year 1845 the head-quarters of the first battalion continued at Antigua.
The head-quarters and three companies of the reserve battalion marched from Chambly on the 11th of May 1845, and arrived at Kingston, in Canada, on the 14th of that month.
On the 18th of April 1846, the head-quarters and four companies of the first battalion embarked at Antigua on board the transport “Princess Royal,” and landed at Barbadoes on the 24th of the same month.
The first battalion, under the command of Captain Nathaniel Massey Stack, embarked for England at Barbadoes on the 29th and 30th of December, on board of Her Majesty’s ship “Belleisle.”
On the 6th of October 1846, the reserve battalion left Kingston, in Canada West, and the head-quarters arrived at La Prairie on the 8th of that month.
The ship “Belleisle,” having the first battalion on board, sailed for Portsmouth on the 1st of January 1847, and arrived at Spithead on the 25th of that month. After disembarking at Portsmouth, the battalion proceeded to Winchester, where it was stationed until the 19th of July, when it was conveyed in three divisions by railway to Glasgow, and on the 21st of December it was removed to Edinburgh.
In September 1847, the head-quarters of the reserve battalion were removed from La Prairie to Chambly, and in October proceeded to St. John’s, in Canada East.