Page:Royal Naval Biography Marshall v2p2.djvu/507

 Providentially, of 250 men who went to the hospital, not a single person died.

The Imperieuse returned to England about the middle of July, 1814; and Captain Duncan, immediately on his arrival, was appointed to the Glasgow, a new frigate, mounting 50 guns; in which he conveyed Viscount Melville from Portsmouth to Plymouth, at the commencement of October; and then cruised between Scilly and Cape Finisterre, until the final conclusion of the war with America. He had not the good fortune, however, to meet with any of the enemy’s cruisers; and the recapture of one British merchantman was the only service which he had an opportunity of effecting.

On the return of Buonaparte from Elba, the Glasgow was placed under the orders of Admiral Lord Keith; and after a short cruise on the coast of la Vendee, Captain Duncan was nominated by the Admiralty to the command of a squadron, intended at first to be employed between Capes Finisterre and St. Vincent, but ultimately sent to cruise across the Bay of Biscay, in order to intercept the fugitive usurper. Hearing at length of Napoleon’s surrender to the Bellerophon, and observing the royal colours displayed at Brest, Captain Duncan put into that port, where he remained four days, and then returned to Plymouth.

From the foregoing statement, it will appear very evident to our readers, that Captain Duncan, although he never had the good fortune to encounter a frigate at sea, was both active and successful in coast operations against the enemy: he did as much along shore as any officer we have ever heard of. Having no frigates to fight, he never lost an opportunity of attacking the enemy’s convoys in their own ports, destroying batteries, and cutting out work for himself in every possible shape. If the Captain of a British frigate meets an enemy’s ship of that description, he fights her, and he can do no less: the officer who goes out of his way to cut out work for himself, has the credit of the planning to be added to that of the execution of any particular enterprise. Having found it impossible to specify every individual capture made by Captain Duncan, or at which he assisted, while commanding the Porcupine, Mercury, and Imperieuse, we must content ourselves with giving the grand total of vessels taken and destroyed in