to the Hawke brig, of 16 guns, Captain Henry Bourchier, whose high opinion of his merits will be seen by the handsome mention he makes of him in an official letter to Admiral Sir Roger Curtis, dated Aug. 19, 1811; a copy of which is given at p. 435 et seq. of Suppl. Part II.
Two days before the gallant action there described, Lieutenant Price, with the Hawke’s jolly-boat alone, had cut out a French vessel, near Cape Barfleur, under a galling fire from the shore. He subsequently received the following reply to a letter which he had addressed to Sir Samuel Hood, on hearing of his appointment to the chief command in India:
“My dear Sir,– I thank you for your congratulations, and am glad to hear of your welfare and success. A small ship is best, when an officer has zeal and exertion: so long as you continue to deserve my attention (which I have little doubt of), if fortune does not favor you, and it is in my power to serve you hereafter, I shall never neglect, nor forget that you are in the service under my protection. Believe me very faithfully yours,
This friendly epistle was followed by an offer from the writer to get his protegé removed into a frigate on the East India station; but as Sir Samuel had several very old followers then looking up to him for promotion. Lieutenant Price preferred remaining in the Hawke, which vessel continued to be actively employed on the Cherbourg station, under the command of Captain George Wyndham, by whom he is highly spoken of in an official letter, reporting the capture of a schooner in the river Isere, by a small gig under his directions, exposed to a smart fire of musketry from the shore. It would greatly exceed our limits were we to make particular mention of every boat affair in which he was engaged at that period; but there is one that we cannot pass over in silence, particularly as it remains unnoticed by either of our contemporaries.
On the 2lst Oct. 1811, Lieutenant Price reconnoitred Barfleur, and discovered a lugger and several brigs lying there, in a situation to be easily carried by the boats of a frigate and sloop. This being reported to Captain Stephen Thomas Digby, of the Theban 36, that officer immediately
