sion of royal marines, and niece to Major-General Sir George Madden, Knt. K.T.S.
SIR EDWARD THOMAS TROUBRIDGE, Bart.
[Post-Captain of 1807.]
Only son of the late Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Troubridge, Bart, an officer who was the architect of his own fortune, and who will long be remembered as a pattern of professional excellence, of undaunted valour, and of patriotic worth. We find no particular mention of the subject of this memoir previous to July 1806, when he commanded the Harrier brig, and bore a principal part in some successful operations against the Dutch, as will be seen by the following copy of an official letter from the officer under whose orders he was then serving:–
“Sir,– I have the honor to inform you, that H.M. ships Greyhound and Harrier, after destroying, on the 4th July, under the fort of Manado, the Dutch Company’s brig Christian Elizabeth, armed with 8 guns, and having a complement of 80 men, stood across the Molucca sea to the island of Tidon, where they captured, on the 6th, another of the enemy’s cruisers called the Belgica, armed with 12 guns and manned with 32 men; from thence proceeding to the westward, on the evening of the 25th July, four ships were descried passing through the Straits of Salayer; immediate chase was given to them, and, by nine, I had the satisfaction of seeing them lying to between the small Dutch posts of Bouthian and Boolo-Combo, at about seven miles distance from the shore. I easily made out one of them to be a frigate, and another a corvette; but a third had so much the appearance of a line-of-battle ship, that both Captain Troubridge and myself deemed it prudent to wait till day-light before we examined them. We accordingly lay-to during the night, at two miles distance to windward; and as the day broke, I had the pleasure of finding the ship which had forced us on cautionary measures, was a large two-decker, resembling an English Indiaman.
“The enemy (for they proved to be a Dutch squadron) immediately drew out in order of battle on the larboard tack, under their top-sails; the frigate taking her station in the van, an armed ship astern of her, the large ship in the centre, and the corvette in the rear. Fortunately for us the frigate, by fore-reaching upon her second astern, caused a small opening in their line It was suggested to me by Mr. Martin, Master of H.M.S. Greyhound, that if we could close with the enemy whilst in that position, our attack might be made to advantage: accordingly, under French colours,
