Brunton, under whom he had before served in the Meleager frigate[1].
Mr. Cumby’s next appointment was, in May 1795, to the Astraea 32, commanded by his old shipmate, Lord Henry Paulet, who had requested him to become his first Lieutenant, and whom he afterwards followed into the Thalia 36, where he continued until his Lordship’s removal from the command of that frigate, by the sentence of a court-martial assembled off Cadiz, in the month of June, 1798[2].
From the Thalia, Mr. Cumby was removed into the Excellent 74, Captain Cuthbert Collingwood, in which ship he remained, as third Lieutenant, until paid off, at the latter end of the same year. In June 1799, he was again called into service; and for three years from that period we find him holding the appointment of Flag-Lieutenant to Vice-Admiral Graeme, commander-in-chief in the Medway.
At the renewal of the war between Great Britain and France (May 1803), Lieutenant Cumby obtained the command of the Swift cutter, on the North Sea station; and in May 1804, he received an appointment to the Norfolk district of Sea Fencibles; from which service he was removed in Nov. following, the late Captain John Loring having applied for him to be appointed his first Lieutenant, in the Bellerophon of 74 guns. Fortunately for Mr. Cumby’s interests, Captain John Cooke, who succeeded to the command of that ship, consented to his remaining with him in the same capacity; and it consequently fell to his lot to command a third rate in the most glorious battle ever fought at sea.
The Bellerophon, it will be remembered, was one of Lord Nelson’s fleet, and bore a most distinguished part in the memorable engagement off Cape Trafalgar. The death of Captain Cooke is thus described by the subject of this memoir, in a letter addressed to the brother of that heroic officer:–
- ↑ Captain Nathan Brunton had served under Lord Mulgrave, in the Courageux 74, and was long honored with that nobleman’s friendship and confidence. He was afterwards promoted to the rank of Vice-Admiral, and died at Stockton-upon-Tees, Nov. 19, 1814.
- ↑ Lord Henry Paulet’s trial will be more fully noticed in our Supplement to the Addenda, see Vol. I. p. 833.
