plish that object, was obliged to retire. Previous to the abandonment of the attempt, however. Lieutenant Peyton, who commanded a party of sailors on shore, swam across from the spot where his battery stood, to the enemy’s principal position, and with a few men succeeded in bringing off a small vessel that had for some time been lying moored close under their batteries and guard-house: this spirited service was performed under a smart but harmless fire from the French night-guard, who were not many yards distant from the vessel when she was taken possession of.
In July, 1807, Lieutenant Peyton was wounded in the right arm by a musket-ball, whilst destroying an enemy’s vessel which had run ashore near Ortona: being obliged to submit to amputation above the elbow, he shortly afterwards invalided and returned to England. His promotion to the rank of commander took place Dec. 1, 1807, on which occasion he was appointed to the Ephira brig.
In that vessel, Captain Peyton accompanied the expedition to Walcheren, and was subsequently employed in the river Elbe, at Lisbon, and at Cadiz, during the siege of l’Isle de Leon. His next appointment was, about Feb. 1811, to the Weazle of 18 guns, stationed in the Archipelago, where he captured the French privateer le Roi de Rome, a fine vessel, only forty-five days off the stocks, mounting 10 guns, with a complement of 46 men, and commanded by a person styling himself a Chevalier de l’Ordre Royal des Deux Siciles.
Previous to this capture, the Weazle had conveyed the Archduke Francis from Smyrna to Sardinia. H.R.H. was much pleased with the voyage, and particularly with the attentions of Captain Peyton, to whom he presented a gold snuffbox, having his initials on it, set with brilliants, as a token of his esteem. On their arrival at Cagliari, Captain Peyton was invited to dine with the King and Queen of Sardinia; and in return, he gave a ball on his own monarch’s birth-day to their majesties and the Austrian prince, on board the Weazle. The singularity of the place and scene delighted the royal personages: it was the first English man-of-war on board of which the Queen had ever been, and she was in high
