was made an acting Lieutenant, and appointed to the Port Royal sloop of war June 12, 1779. At the latter end of the same year, we find him serving as first Lieutenant of the Hinchinbroke, commanded by the late Lord Nelson, from which ship he removed into the Pallas frigate Jan. 14, 1780.
The Pallas being ordered to England in July 1782, Mr. Cunningham was then appointed second Lieutenant of the Ajax 74. On the 4th Sept. following, he obtained the command of the Admiral Barrington, a brig of 14 guns; and was soon after sent by Sir Joshua Rowley, with the Racehorse schooner under his orders, to stop the American salt trade, and prevent any communication between the people of the United States and those of Turk’s Island, lying to the northward of St. Domingo. During his temporary absence, for the purpose of obtaining supplies at Jamaica, the French effected a landing and took possession of the island; which circumstance being communicated to Captain Nelson, who had arrived off there with a small squadron the day after Lieutenant Cunningham’s return to his station, an attempt was made to dislodge them on the following morning, by landing a detachment of seamen and marines under Captain C. Dixon, of the Drake brig, whilst that vessel and the Admiral Barrington attacked a battery of three 24-pounders; but finding the enemy entrenched, and far superior in numbers, the enterprise was abandoned, and the party re-embarked. In this affair the brigs had several men wounded[1].
The Admiral Barrington was paid off at Jamaica, May 11, 1783; and, we believe, Lieutenant Cunningham was subsequently appointed to the Tremendous of 74 guns. In 1788, he joined the Crown 64, bearing the broad pendant of Commodore Cornwallis, by whom he was made a Commander into the Ariel sloop of war on the East India station in 1790.
At the commencement of the French revolutionary war, Captain Cunningham, then commanding the Speedy of 14 guns, sailed from England with despatches for the Mediterranean; and on the arrival of the fleet under Lord Hood at Gibraltar, he was ordered to remain there with two small vessels under his orders, for the purpose of preparing the hospital, fitting up ships for the reception of prisoners, forming
- ↑ Mr. Cunningham’s commission as a Lieutenant was not confirmed till his appointment to the Admiral Barrington.
