In December following, the boats of the Berwick made anight attack on Fort Negaye, near Frejus, for the purpose of capturing a number of merchantmen lying under its protection. Lieutenant Sweedland, who likewise commanded upon this occasion, nothing daunted by the unexpected appearance of two French national schooners in the bay, gallantly pushed on, carried one of the latter and the fort, and obliged the enemy to scuttle the coasting vessels. The second schooner, however, found means to repel the divided force which assailed her, and Lieutenant Sweedland, Mr. James B. Hawkins Whitshed, Midshipman, and several seamen were killed, besides others wounded. The sailors in the fort now turned some field-pieces on this vessel, and damaged her so much, that she was finally scuttled by the enemy[1].
Captain Brace’s services during the operations which led to the surrender of Genoa and its dependencies in April 1814, were duly acknowledged by Sir Josias Rowley, who commanded the squadron employed on that occasion, in conjunction with the British army under Lord William Bentinck. After the reduction of that fortress, he acted as naval Commissioner on shore, until the arsenal was finally cleared of its valuable contents. He then returned to England, refitted his ship, and was again ordered to the Mediterranean. During the war with Murat, occasioned by that chieftain’s secession from the cause of the allied powers, the Berwick was employed under the orders of Captain (now Rear-Admiral) Fahie, at the siege of Gaeta[2]; on which service Captain Brace was the second in command.
On his arrival in England, about June or July 1816, all warfare between the European powers being at an end, and his
- ↑ Lieutenant Sweedland was the eldest son of Sir C. Sweedland, of St. Helen’s Place, London; and it may with truth be said, that, by his premature death, the navy lost one of its ornaments, his country a real patriot, his King a most loyal subject, and his disconsolate family a source of joy. Mr. Whitshed was the eldest son of the present Admiral of that name; he served under Lieutenant Sweedland in the affair at Cavalarie, and by his conduct as a youth, he gave high promise of possessing those virtues so eminently conspicuous in the officer whose fate he shared. His last words were, “Carry her if you can: I am no more.”
- ↑ See Vol. I. p. 718.
