In 1701, over the objections of General William Selwyn, the threat of war led the English government to post an Independent Company of regular soldiers, detached from the 2nd Regiment of Foot, to Bermuda, where the militia continued to function as a standby in case of war or insurrection. The company was composed of Captain Lancelot Sandys, Lieutenant Robert Henly, two sergeants, two corporals, fifty private soldiers, and a drummer, and arrived in Bermuda along with the new Governor, Captain Benjamin Bennett, aboard , in May 1701.