by John Marshall

“ Lieutenant Branch was selected to convey the Rear-Admiral’s official account thereof to England; but ordered to remain in the bay of St. Jean de Luz, until the arrival of the officer charged with similar despatches from the triumphant Wellington.
Unfortunately, a dreadful gale of wind came on, while Lieutenant Branch was waiting for the military aide-de-camp; and of twenty-one sail then lying in the above bay, not a single vessel escaped destruction. The Gleaner was one of the first that suffered, owing to a transport driving on board ”

“ 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. ”

“ In this vessel (formerly rated a gun-brig, and as such commanded by a lieutenant) , Captain Branch, while cruising on the coast of Dutch Guiana, engaged and completely silenced a large American privateer of nearly double his own force: owing, however, to the superior sailing and sweeping of the enemy’s vessel, he could not prevent her escape into the Oronoco river ”