Rear-Admiral Nelson, on his departure for Naples, left Captain Foley to assist Captain Hood in guarding the coast of Egypt. On the 25th August the boats of the Goliath, commanded by Lieutenant W. Debusk, attacked and carried a French armed ketch , anchored under the guns of the castle of Aboukir; the business was ably conducted, and gallantly performed. She proved to be la Torride, mounting three long 18-pounders, four swivels, and well appointed in small arms, with a crew of 70 men, 3 of whom were killed; and her commander M. Bedar, with 10 of his men, badly wounded. In the attack, Lieutenant Debusk and 1 man were wounded. On the 30th of the same month, the Goliath sailed for the coast of Italy to rejoin Sir Horatio Nelson, and was subsequently employed at the blockade of Malta.
Towards the latter end of 1799, Captain Foley returned to England; and in the following year we find him commanding the Elephant of 74 guns, attached to the Channel fleet. On this service he continued to be employed until the spring of 1801, when he was ordered to the Cattegat, to join his old Commander Sir Hyde Parker, who had proceeded thither with a powerful armament, in order to counteract the hostile designs of the Northern powers. The Elephant joined the fleet on the 25th March, and soon after received the flag of Lord Nelson, to whom had been delegated the important task of reducing the Danes to submission. The loss she sustained in the ensuing battle off Copenhagen, amounted to 10 killed and 13 wounded[1].
- ↑ Towards the close of 1800, the scheme of an armed neutrality, or rather of a maritime confederacy, to annul the marine code maintained by Great Britain, was entered into by Russia, Denmark, Sweden, and Prussia. This coalition occupied the serious attention of the British ministry; and
mentioned on the preceding evening to Captains Troubridge and Hood, that A considerable advantage would arise, if the enemy’s fleet were found moored in line-of-battle in with the land, to lead between them and the shore, as the French guns on that side were not likely to be manned, or to be ready for action. The original plan of attack which Sir Horatio Nelson had intended to have adopted, if Captain Foley had not judged it expedient to lead within the French line, was to have kept entirely on its outer side; and to have, stationed his ships, as far as he was able, one on the outer bow and another on the outer quarter of each of the enemy. For an account of the battle of the Nile, see p. 180, et seq.
