St. Vincent was subject to multiple colonisation attempts by Britain and France throughout the early 18th century, with efforts primarily focused on establishing plantation settlements.

Concerned that further encroachment could lead to an invasion, Garifuna leaders under Joseph Chatoyer made contact with the French government in Martinique, where they negotiated the sale of weapons.

[2] Supplied with firearms from the nearby French islands, the Garifunas in particular became a problem for British colonial ambitions in the region, and in November 1770 three infantry regiments were shipped out from Cork to the West Indies to protect planters in Dominica, St. Vincent and Tobago.

[9] Under orders from Major-General William Dalrymple, the invasion began in September, with the main force pushing north from Kingstown and supported by additional beach landings further up the coast, including at Grand Sable Bay, now Georgetown.

Richard Whitworth, Thomas Townshend and Isaac Barré each questioned the need for war, seeing it as British encroaching in recognised foreign territory, and a waste of men who had more important duties elsewhere.