mined not to endanger the safety of his important charge, he instantly suspended the pilots, hauled to the wind, and obtained a cast of the lead, by which it was clearly ascertained that the Mosquito was then upon the edge of the Haak sand. At this critical moment a signal of distress was made by a ship in shore, which proved to be the Helder frigate, employed as a transport, and having on board 500 troops, the whole of whom were made prisoners by the Dutch fleet on the following morning. Thus, by a timely and judicious decision on the part of Captain Jackson, this valuable convoy was preserved at least from capture, if not from total destruction; which service was duly acknowledged by Colonel Cookson of the royal artillery, commanding officer of the troops, in an official letter to Lord Cathcart, written on the arrival of the fleet in the Weser.
We subsequently find Captain Jackson commanding a detachment on the Calais and Boulogne stations, where the Mosquito on one occasion fell in with five of the enemy’s armed schooners, two of which were driven on shore and destroyed. In Oct. 1806, he commanded a number of rocket-boats in an attack made upon the flotilla at Boulogne, already noticed at p. 133 of Vol. II. Part I.
During the expedition against Copenhagen in 1807, Captain Jackson was attached to the squadron under Commodore Keats, stationed in the Belt to prevent supplies being thrown into the island of Zealand; and on the surrender of the Danish navy he was appointed, pro tempore, to the Surveillante frigate, her proper captain, the late Sir George Collier, being selected to carry home Admiral Gambier’s despatches, announcing that important event. His post commission was confirmed by the Admiralty, Nov. 5, 1807.
Soon after this advancement. Captain Jackson was appointed to his old ship the Superb, in which he accompanied Sir Richard Strachan’s squadron to the Mediterranean, in pursuit of a French armament that had effected its escape from Rochefort. On his return to England he received orders to proceed to the Baltic station, where he hoisted the flag of his former commander, Rear-Admiral Keats, with whom he shared the
