have reason to believe, did not obtain an appointment as such till June 1708, when he was commissioned to the Gaite sloop of war; in which vessel he cruised with considerable success against the enemy’s privateers and trade on the Leeward Islands station, until Sept. 28, 1800, when he was promoted into the Leviathan 74, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Duckworth, whom he served under at the reduction of the Swedish and Danish West India colonies, in March, 1801[1]. He subsequently removed into the Andromeda frigate, and continued to command her till the end of the war, when he was obliged through ill health to return to England.
In April, 1805, our officer was appointed acting Captain of the Endymion, during the absence ef the Hon. Charles Paget; and in that fine frigate, we find him employed off Cadiz under the gallant Collingwood.
A few days previous to the arrival of the combined French and Spanish fleets, Captain King was detached on a particular service: and when off Cape St. Mary fell in with the enemy, whose force consisted of twenty-six sail of the line, and nine frigates. Finding it impracticable to pass a-head of their line for the purpose of communicating with his Admiral, whom he had left in shore with only four line-of-battle ships, and after being chased by two sail of the line and a frigate, he took up a position in their rear, and by repeated signals
- ↑ See Vol. I. note †, at p. 798. N.B. Captain King, in conjunction with Brigadier-Generals Maitland and Fuller, settled the terms of capitulation. Rear-Admiral Duckworth, in his last despatch, announcing the surrender of the islands, says: “I should feel very remiss were I to close this without mentioning to their Lordships the aid I have received from my Captain, E. D. King, in this harrassing service.”
ponderance given by the Dryad’s carronades, the British would have been inferior in guns, aa well as in men and size, to the French frigate. But, as what the latter wanted in weight of metal was amply made up to her in number of men, this may be pronounced a tolerably equal match. It was, without doubt, a well-contested battle; and it was, also, the first genuine single-ship action of the year (1796); no intruding vessel of either nation having made her appearance during the combat. The Proserpine, under the name of the Amelia, was admitted into the British navy as a cruising 38; and, from her size and sailing properties, became a valuable acquisition to her class.”
