taining. Look, after this, at the termination of his captivity, and say, whether the decree of Providence was not founded in justice[1].”
Oh his arrival at Spithead, Captain Brenton found himself posted for his gallant conduct in the affair with la Cygne, and that his commission was dated back to the day on which he so highly distinguished himself.
“Sir Arthur Wellesley having the command of the British army in the peninsula, and his plans being crowned with singular success, the government determined to send out his brother, the Marquis Wellesley, as ambassador to the Supreme Junta of Seville. His lordship embarked at Portsmouth, on board the Donegal 80, Captain E. P. Brenton (acting for Captain Malcolm), and sailed on the 24th July, 1809. The ship arrived at Cadiz on the 1st August; and as she let go her anchor, at 9 o’clock in the morning, the batteries round the harbour from Santa Catalina to the lighthouse, together with the guns and musketry of the shipping in the harbour, were celebrating, by continued discharges, the victory then recently obtained by the British army on the plains of Talavera. The coincidence was singular; the news of the event having just reached the city as the arrival of the British ambassador was announced[2].”
The Donegal returned home with the Marquis Wellesley, in Nov. 1809; and Captain Brenton, being then superseded, remained on half pay till April 1810, when he obtained an appointment to the Cyane 22. In Sept. following, he was appointed to the Spartan frigate, as a mark of attention to his brother, whose severe wounds prevented him from continuing in active service[3].
After cruising for some time on the French coast, Captain Brenton was sent to reinforce the squadron under Vice-Admiral Sawyer, on the Halifax station, where he appears to have been very actively employed for upwards of two years. The following American privateers were captured by the Spartan in July 1812:
Active, schooner, of 2 guns and 20 men; Actress sloop, 4 guns and 53 men; Intention schooner, 1 gun, 3 swivels, and 29 men.
Early in the following month, her boats assisted at the capture and destruction of six other armed vessels, in the bay of Fundy; viz.
- ↑ Nav. Hist. Vol. IV. p. 377 et seq.
- ↑ Id. p. 343.
- ↑ See Royal Navy. Biog. Vol. II. Part I. p. 268 et seq.
