sent to the West Indies, under Rear-Admiral Cornish, during the Spanish armament, 1790.
In the spring of 1793, Mr. Lillicrap followed Rear-Admiral Cosby into the Windsor Castle 98, and proceeded with him, as signal midshipman, to the Mediterranean, where he was removed to Lord Hood’s flag-ship, the Victory of 100 guns. We next find him serving as Lieutenant of la Mozelle, a 20-gun ship taken at Toulon, and placed under the command of Captain Richard Henry A. Bennett.
Shortly after the evacuation of that place, Lieutenant Lillicrap was taken prisoner whilst making a reconnoissance of the harbour; a service which he had volunteered to perform in la Mozelle’s jolly-boat, with a midshipman[1] and four men. This misfortune was owing to the sudden clearing up of the weather, and the wind blowing hard from the S.E., with a heavy sea, which rendered it impossible for him to escape after he was once discovered.
On landing at the arsenal. Lieutenant Lillicrap and his companions were surrounded by a guard and conducted before the revolutionary tribunal, where Napoleon Buonaparte was then witnessing the trial of the unhappy Toulonese who had declared in favor of Louis XVII. From thence, after having been denounced as spies, the British captives were marched to a miserable prison, receiving on their way thither the grossest insults from an infuriated mob, some hundreds of whom were busily engaged in erecting guillotines at the corners of the different streets: fortunately for them, however, la Mozelle was likewise captured in the evening of the same day (Jan. 7, 1794), and after some strong remonstrances on the part of Captain Bennett, they were at length allowed to join their shipmates as prisoners of war.
From Toulon, la Mozelle’s late officers, passengers, and crew were marched to Valence in Dauphiné, where Lieutenant Lillicrap remained until exchanged, in 1795: he then embarked at Marseilles, proceeded to Genoa, and returned home overland, via Cuxhaven, bringing with him des-
- ↑ Mr. Robert Houlton, made a Lieutenant May 18, 1797.
