Ambassador did every thing in his power to have her acknowledged a lawful prize, yet it was at length deemed necessary, from political motives, to restore her. Mr. Adair, however, gave Lieutenant Branch the fullest assurance that, from his representation of the case to the British government, he would not only be promoted for his gallantry and sufferings, but also amply remunerated for his pecuniary sacrifice; sorry are we to say, that after so severe an action, with such a superior force, he obtained neither advancement nor compensation; even a pension for the loss of his limb was not granted to him till after many months had elapsed, and that only to commence from the day it was bestowed, instead of the day on which he had so dearly earned it.
Lieutenant Branch’s next appointment was, in the winter of 1813, to command the same armed ketch, then employed on the north coast of Spain, under the orders of Captain Sir George Collier. After the arrival of Rear-Admiral Penrose at Passages, to co-operate with the Marquis of Wellington in his advance upon Bayonne, that vessel was stationed off the mouth of the Adour, to prevent the enemy’s row-boats, &c. from issuing thence and intercepting the supplies sent coastways for the use of the allied armies. As a proof of his extreme watchfulness, not one instance of molestation occurred to the transports during the whole time he was so employed for their protection. His activity and exertions were strongly represented to the Admiralty, in various despatches, by both the above officers, and the victorious Field-Marshal was also pleased to express very high approbation of his vigilance, in a letter addressed to Rear Admiral Penrose.
When the preparations for throwing a bridge across the Adour were completed, Rear-Admiral Penrose did Lieutenant Branch the honor to hoist his flag in the Gleaner, which vessel ran close to the edge of the tremendous breakers on the bar of that river, and directed every movement of the flotilla, on the day that it was crossed; a service already described at pp. 277–286 of Suppl. Part II. After that most important operation. Lieutenant Branch was selected to convey the Rear-Admiral’s official account thereof to England; but ordered to
