Meanwhile the legion's colonel had other grievances. On his return to Lille to rejoin his regiment on its way to the front, he found most of his black troopers and some of his officers gone. It must have been a bitter moment when he realized that without them his legion had lost its "raison d'être". Moreover, War Minister Pache, instead of sending him supplies and officers, decreed leaving for the front, the "Légion St. Georges" would be renamed "le 13e regiment de chasseurs à cheval", and attached to the army of Belgium. Some of its men of color were ordered to embark for the West Indies "to defend our possessions in America". Only the Legion's first company, still called "l'Américaine", retained some of Saint Georges' original staff: Lieutenant Colonels Champreux and Dumas, and Captains Duhamel and Colin, along with seventy-three of his old troopers. With Lille virtually on the front lines, while patrolling in enemy territory,"Citizen Saint-Georges, was seen by some of his comrades standing up to the enemy with only fifty of his "chasseurs" and taking command of a passing column, on his own volition, purely for the pleasure of serving the Republic."