details and arrangements of the flotilla, at the frequent periods of my being otherwise occupied, in gun-vessels, on shore,” &c.
The total number of smuggling vessels seized by Captain Browne, while commanding the Swan, Vixen, and Plover, was twenty; and their joint cargoes yielded to the revenue a clear profit of 47,214l. 11s. 10d. All the Danish vessels which he detained were condemned as droits of admiralty, to the great benefit of government. No less than 795 French sailors were taken prisoners by him at different times, and upwards of 200 British seamen rescued from captivity:– adding to these services, the number of vessels saved from being captured through his extraordinary vigilance, it cannot be denied that he had, by this time, proved himself a very valuable servant of the crown: his promotion to post-rank, however, did not take place until June 19, 1810.
In the following year. Captain Browne was appointed pro tempore to the Dannemark 74, employed blockading Cherbourgh; and shortly afterwards to the Hermes 20, in which ship he captured an American laden with naval stores, for the use of the Brest fleet; and two vessels from New York and Baltimore, with tobacco, ivory, &c. He also made one recapture; ran down la Mouche French privateer, mounting 14 guns, with 51 men on board, of whom 39 perished[1] ; and’ assisted at the capture of the Sword Fish, American privateer, of 12 guns and 82 men[2].
In 1813, the Hermes escorted a fleet of merchantmen to South America, from whence she returned home, in March, 1814. On the 30th of that month, a court-martial was assembled at Plymouth, for the trial of Captain Browne, on seven distinct charges preferred against him by his first Lieutenant, Mr. Charles Letch, whom he had recently been obliged to bring before a similar tribunal for gross misconduct, of which the latter was fully convicted.
These seven charges were in no manner connected with
- ↑ See Nav. Chron. v. 26, p. 347.
- ↑ See Royal Nav. Biog. Vol. II. Part I. p. 282.
