On the 6th Nov. 1792, Mr. Byam was discharged into the Europa 50, bearing the broad pendant of Commodore Ford, under whom he served at the capture of Jeremie, Cape Nichola Mole, and Port-au-Prince, in the island of St. Domingo, Sept. 1793, and June 1794[1]. His promotion to the rank of Lieutenant took place Nov. 6, 1795; on which occasion he was appointed to the Irresistible 74, Captain (now Sir George) Martin, then about to sail for the Leeward Islands, in company with a large naval and military force, under the orders of Rear-Admiral Christian and Sir Ralph Abercromby, the failure of whose attempt to get clear of the British channel has been noticed at p. 296 of Suppl. Part I.
In Jan. 1796, Lieutenant Byam removed to the Vengeance 74, Captain Thomas Macnamara Russell; by whom he was entrusted with the command of a detachment of seamen landed to co-operate with the army at the siege of St. Lucia[2]: he likewise assisted at the capture of Trinidad; and again commanded a party of seamen on shore at the unsuccessful attack of Porto Rico, in 1797[3].
Lieutenant Byam’s next appointment was, Oct. 1799, to be first of the Hornet sloop, Captain John Nash; in which vessel he was very actively employed on the Leeward Islands’ station during the remainder of the war. From Aug. 1803, until Jan. 1804, he appears to have served as senior Lieutenant of l’Africaine frigate, commanded by Captain (now Rear-Admiral) Manby[4].
At the commencement of the latter month. Lieutenant Byam joined the Courageux 74, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Dacres, and then on the point of sailing with a large fleet of merchantmen bound to the West Indies. Four days after her departure from St. Helen’s, the wind, which had hitherto been fair, shifted to the S.W. and between the 15th and 28th Jan. it blew one of the most tremendous gales ever experienced, dispersing the convoy, and reducing the
