in 1778. In this capacity he acted as signal-officer to Lord Rodney, in the action with de Guichen and the French fleet on the 17th April, 1780, off Martinique; and it is evident, from the complicated manœuvres which the British commander was obliged to adopt in bringing the enemy to action, that Lieutenant Cochrane's office on this occasion was one of great trust. After the action his name was returned among the list of the wounded. His next step of promotion was the command of the St. Lucia, sloop of war, and afterwards of the Pachahunter, which last command he subsequently exchanged with Sir Isaac Coffin for that of the Avenger, an armed sloop employed in the North River in America. At the end of 1782 he was appointed, with the rank of post-captain, to the command of the Kangaroo, and afterwards to the Caroline, of 24 guns, employed on the American station.
After peace was established with our North American colonies, by which the latter were confirmed as an independent government, Captain Cochrane's occupation for the time was ended; and he spent several years in retirement, until he was called again to service in 1790, in the prospect of a rupture with Spain. On this occasion he was appointed to the command of a small frigate, the Hind, when, on the renewal of hostilities with France, he was removed to the Thetis, of 42 guns and 261 men. With such means at his disposal he soon showed himself an active, bold, and successful cruiser, so that, during the spring and summer of 1703, he captured eight French privateers, mounting in all above eighty guns. In 1795 he also signalized himself by a bold attack upon five French sail off Chesapeake, being aided by the Hussar, a British frigate of 34 guns, and succeeded in capturing one of the largest vessels, the rest having made their escape after they had struck. Several years of service on the coast of America succeeded, in which Captain Cochrane made important captures of not a few French privateers, and established his character as an able naval commander; so that, in February, 1799, he was appointed to the Ajax, of 80 guns, and sent in the following year upon the expedition against Quiberon, Belleisle, and Ferrol. This expedition, as is well known, was all but useless, as the French royalists, whom it was sent to aid, were too helpless to co-operate with the invaders. The Ajax, having subsequently joined the fleet on the Mediterranean station, under the command of Lord Keith, proceeded to Egypt as part of the convoy of Abercromby's expedition for the expulsion of the French from that country; and on this occasion the professional talents of Captain Cochrane were brought into full play. He was commissioned by Lord Keith to superintend the landing of the British troops; and this disembarkation, performed so successfully in the face of so many difficulties, will ever constitute a more important episode in history than a victory won in a pitched field. With such admirable skill were the naval and military details of this process conducted, and so harmoniously did the two services combine on the occasion, that a landing, which on ordinary occasions might have been attended with utter defeat, or the loss of half an army, was effected with only 20 sailors and 102 soldiers killed. At the capture of Alexandria, by which the war in Egypt was successfully terminated, Captain Cochrane, with a detachment of armed vessels, was stationed on the lake Mœrotis, to protect the advance of the British troops upon the city, a duty which he performed with his wonted ability. So valuable, indeed, had his services been during the six months of the Egyptian campaign, that at the end of it they were most honourably mentioned in the despatches of Lord Keith, as well as those of General Hutchinson, by whom Abercromby was succeeded.
