At the period of the Spanish armament, we find Mr. Brisbane serving under H.R.H. the Duke of Clarence, in the Valiant of 74 guns. That ship being put out of commission at the close of 1790, he was transferred to the Shark sloop, commanded by the Hon. A. K. Legge, with whom he continued as acting Lieutenant till the breaking out of the French revolutionary war in 1793, when he joined the London, a second rate, fitting for the flag of his royal patron; but circumstances occurring to prevent the Duke from going to sea, she was paid off, and Mr. Brisbane received on board the Queen Charlotte of 100 guns, bearing the flag of Earl Howe, under whom he had the honor of serving as a Signal Midshipman, in the memorable battle of June 1, 1794.
In the month of September following, Mr. Brisbane was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, and appointed to l’Espiegle sloop of war, stationed in the Channel. From that vessel he exchanged into the Sphynx, a 20-gun ship; and in her assisted at the reduction of the Cape of Good Hope by Sir George K. Elphinstone, and Major-General Clarke[1]; after which event he was removed into the Monarch 74, bearing the Vice-Admiral’s flag.
In our memoir of Viscount Keith, we have already recorded the capture of a Dutch squadron in Saldanha Bay, Aug. 18, 1796. Mr. Brisbane, at that time first Lieutenant of the Monarch, was immediately made a Commander into one of the prizes; and a few days afterwards, appointed to the command of the Daphne, a small frigate, in which he accompanied the commander-in-chief on his return to Europe.
Captain Brisbane’s post commission not being confirmed by the Admiralty, he remained on the half-pay list of Commanders from his arrival in England, about Jan. 1797, till early in 1801, when he was appointed to the Cruiser of 18 guns, on the North Sea station. He subsequently proceeded to the Sound, in company with the expedition under Sir Hyde Parker, sent thither to dissolve the Northern Confederacy; and whilst on that service, distinguished himself by his “unremitting exertions” in ascertaining the channels round the great shoal called the Middle Ground, and in laying
