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 promoted to the rank of commander, Aug. 20th, 1824, for his gallant and persevering conduct in exterminating a horde of pirates at the south side of Cuba, on which occasion he appears to have been severely wounded. This service is alluded to in the following letter from Captain Harris, dated June 3d, 1827:–

“My dear Sir,– It affords me gratification in complying with your request, to state my opinion of your character as an officer, for I can with truth affirm that I never had a lieutenant under my command that gave me more entire satisfaction; and I once again repeat the language I made use of in a letter to my Lord Melville, on your leaving H.M. ship Hussar (having been promoted to the rank of commander), entreating him to appoint you to some sloop, undertaking that your professional knowledge, zeal, and determination in carrying any service into execution, would ever merit his lordship’s patronage.

“I have also much pleasure in bringing into notice your services when in command of the Hussar’s boats, sent against a nest of pirates who had taken possession of the Isle of Pines: the privation and fatigue of sixty-seven days’ absence from the ship, in open boats, in a most unhealthy climate, I fully particularized in a detailed letter to Sir Lawrence W. Halsted, dated May 17th, 1824, by which it will be perceived that complete success attended the exertions of yourself and comrades. Trusting that this candid and by no means over-rated statement will be conducive to the furtherance of your wishes, I am, my dear Sir, yours truly,

(Signed)“.”

“To Commander William Holt.”

The subject of this sketch has recently been appointed to the Scout sloop, on the Mediterranean station. 



the rank of lieutenant in Oct. 1801. We first find him serving under Captain Thomas Graves, in the Blenheim 74, stationed off Martinique, where he commanded that ship’s pinnace and barge at the capture of the French schooner privateer Fortunée, of two guns and twenty-nine men, Sep. 15th, 1803. A subsequent service of greater importance was thus officially reported to Commodore Hood, Nov. 17th following:–

“Sir,– I have the honor to acquaint you, that on the 14th instant, the French privateer schooner Harmonie, with a prize, having put into