Page:Royal Naval Biography Marshall v2p1.djvu/435

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POST-CAPTAINS OF 1801.
423

pointed to the Achille 74, in which ship he continued until superseded by Captain Hollis[1], when he resumed the command of his frigate. On the 7th June following, the boats of the Euryalus assisted at the capture of l’Intrepide French privateer, of 2 guns and 58 men, near Corsica.

In the autumn of 1812, Captain Dundas, being senior to all the officers then commanding frigates on the Mediterranean station, was removed into the Edinburgh of 74 guns, that ship having become vacant by the appointment of Captain Rolles to succeed Captain Kent in the Union 98[2]. He shortly after conveyed the late Sir Thomas Maitland from Port Mahon to Palermo, on his way to assume the government of Malta. From this period till the peace of 1814, we find him actively employed on the coasts of Sicily, Naples, Tuscany, and Genoa. The following is a copy of his official letter to Captain Josias Rowley, communicating the capture of twenty-nine French vessels at d’Anzo, Oct. 5, 1813.

“Sir, In obedience to your directions, I put to sea, and joined Captain Duncan, of the Imperieuse, and the ships named in the margin[3]this morning, off d’Anzo, where he had been watching a convoy for some days, with the intention of attacking them the first favorable opportunity. The necessary arrangements having been made by that officer for the attack, I added the force of this ship to it, and made the signal that those arrangements would be adhered to, and to prepare for battle. The place was defended by two batteries, mounting 3 heavy guns each on a mole; a tower to the northward with 1 gun, and a battery to the southward with 2 guns, to cover the mole. Every thing being prepared, at 1h 30' P.M. the ships bore up and took their stations; the Imperieuse and Resistance to the mole batteries; the Swallow to the tower; the Eclair and Pylades to the southern battery; the Edinburgh supported the last-named ships.

“Shortly after the ships opened their fire, which they did by signal together, the storming party, under Lieutenant Travers, of the Imperieuse, and marines, under Captain. Mitchell, landed in the best order close under the battery to the southward, which Lieutenant Travers carried instantly, the enemy flying in all directions. Lieutenant Mapleton having taken possession of the mole-head, the convoy, consisting of twenty-nine vessels, was brought out without any loss, twenty of which are laden with timber for the arsenal at Toulon. On leaving the place all the works were blown
  1. See Vol. II. p. 122.
  2. Captain Kent died Aug. 29, 1811, and was buried in the Bay of Rosas on the following day.
  3. Resistance, Swallow, Eclair, and Pylades.