Euphrates, homeward bound Indiamen, were then in sight, standing directly for the enemy; and had it not been for the signals made by Captain Epworth, and his masterly manoeuvres, they must inevitably have been captured.
Soon after this event the Nijaden was ordered to be broken up, and Captain Epworth received an appointment to the Nymphe frigate, rated at 38 guns, in which he was employed blockading the port of Boston in North America for a period of two years; and so great was his vigilance that he completely stopped the coasting trade between the southern and northern ports, and compelled the enemy to have recourse to land carriage for the supply of flour and corn.
In Sept. 1814, the boats of the Nymphe took possession of a fort in Sandy Bay, near Cape Ann, spiked and threw the guns, four in number, into the sea, and brought off the guard, and all the vessels at the anchorage, without the loss of a man.
Towards the conclusion of the war with the United States, Captain Epworth was appointed to the Bulwark 74, stationed off Boston to watch the American line-of-battle ship Independence, then lying in that harbour ready for sea. During his continuance on that station, in the Nymphe and Bulwark, he captured six privateers, carrying in the whole 41 guns and 309 men; took and destroyed sixty-three sail of the enemy’s coasting and other traders; and recaptured eight British merchantmen with valuable cargoes.
Hostilities having at length ceased, the Bulwark was ordered to Bermuda, from whence she conveyed Rear-Admiral Griffith, now Colpoys, to Halifax. Captain Epworth was then sent to Quebec, to superintend the embarkation of 7000 troops, and found on his arrival there, that the transports were in a very deficient state as to their equipment. This, however, was remedied through his exertions, and the whole were escorted by him, with great dispatch to Portsmouth, where they arrived soon after the renewal of the war in Europe, occasioned by Buonaparte’s return from Elba, and consequently in time to render essential service to their country by joining the British army in the Netherlands. The Bulwark was paid off at Chatham in June 1815.
Agent.– J. Copland, Esq.
