a commission, dated Dec. 19th, 1807, appointing him lieutenant of the Dispatch. Between the date of his acting order and this, no less than 800 midshipmen had passed over his head, by being placed on the list of lieutenants. We know of no other instance in which an officer ever held an acting order for nearly two years and a half, the greater part of the time on the home station. During this period Mr. Barrell had been occasionally employed on boat service; and on one occasion was nearly taken prisoner by a body of French troops, who came down to the beach unperceived, while he was endeavouring to bring off a grounded chasse-marée. In this instance, he appears to have behaved with great coolness, steering the boat, under sail, himself, and causing the whole of his crew to lie under the thwarts until out of danger.
In 1808, the Dispatch proceeded to the Jamaica station, where she continued under the command of Captain Lillicrap and his successor, Captain James Aberdour, for a period of three years. While there, Mr. Barrell, then first lieutenant, constructed a Pakenham rudder, with which the Brazen sloop of war waa steered from Cape Franpois, St. Domingo, to Port Royal, where it was ordered to be kept in the dock-yard for inspection. Previous to his return home, he had the temporary command of the Dispatch for three weeks in the Gulf of Maracaybo.
In Nov. 1811, the Dispatch having been paid off. Lieutenant Barrell joined the Loire frigate, then commanded by Captain Alexander W. Schomberg, but subsequently by Captains George W. Blaney[errata 1] and Thomas Brown, under which latter officer he served until appointed flag-lieutenant to Rear-Admiral Foote, at Portsmouth, in 1813. Up to this period he had been present at the capture and destruction of no less than thirty-nine French, Dutch, and Danish ships of the line, twenty-six frigates, eight corvettes, thirteen large brigs, one cutter, twenty-five gun-vessels, and several small privateers and row-boats.
On the 18th Feb, 1815, Rear-Admiral Foote struck his
Errata:
- ↑ Correction: Blaney should be amended to Blarney
