 On the night of 21 September , the landing party embarked on the British ships in the bay having destroyed all of the fortified positions that surrounded the harbour . During 22 September , French forces were seen gathering in the hills around the town , brought from outlying garrisons to join the main garrison from the capital Saint @-@ Denis by the island 's governor General Des Bruslys . Rowley and Keating anticipated that this force , which outnumbered their own , would recapture the town on 23 September and accordingly ordered Willoughby to land with his marines and sailors to burn French government property along the waterfront . The most obvious and significant target of Willoughby 's force was a warehouse on the docks that was stocked with the captured silk from the East Indiamen captured by Caroline . Willoughby ordered this building to be burned , destroying over £ 500 @,@ 000 worth of captured textiles , ( the equivalent of £ 33 @,@ 000 @,@ 000 as of 2016 ) . Other nearby warehouses were not destroyed as it was not possible to rapidly determine their ownership . Although the French force had reached the outskirts of the town , Willoughby was able to land and <unk> his troops without a single shot being fired . On 22 September , Rowley received a petition from a body of slaves in the town who had escaped during the fighting and demanded arms with which to attack the French . They also offered to burn the town to the ground . Rowley , who sought to cultivate good relations with the populace with a view to capturing the island in the near future , refused their demands and had the slaves returned to their owners , where eight were executed for plotting rebellion . There was however a noted example of a slave displaying loyalty to his owner : The painter Jean @-@ Joseph <unk> de Rosemont had served in the militia forces with the journalist Nicole Robinet de La Serve and was captured when Keating 's troops entered Saint @-@ Paul . Taken aboard the British squadron , Rosemont 's son Amédée applied to exchange himself for his father as a prisoner but was refused . Shortly before the squadron departed , Rosemont 's personal slave Félix swam to the squadron to serve his owner in captivity . For his loyalty , Félix was manumitted when Rosemont was freed in 1810 . 
