Lord Exmouth persisted in refusing all his relations.  The motive of duty, which was imperative on himself, applied to none of them; and all were anxious to go.  For himself, he might well trust that the Providence which had shielded him forty years, for so long was it since he had fought the Carleton on Lake Champlain, would guard him in the approaching battle; or, if he were doomed to fall in what might truly be deemed a holy war, he had a better confidence than the pride of a hero, or even the self-devotedness of a patriot.  Before he sailed, he made every arrangement which his death would render necessary; and among others, wrote a letter for his eldest son, chiefly on the subject of the duties which would devolve upon him as a British nobleman, and which he designed for his last injunctions.  The existence of this letter was not known until some time after his death, when it was found among his papers.

The Admiralty would not send back the squadron which had just returned from the Mediterranean, probably thinking it right that ships going expressly to fight a severe battle should be manned with volunteers.  This decision greatly increased his difficulties.  Naval officers seldom think a ship effective until she has been some time in commission.  Within two months, Lord Exmouth commissioned, fitted, and manned a fleet, and fought the battle.

As soon as he had completed his first arrangements at the Admiralty, he hastened to Portsmouth, where the Boyne, his flag-ship, was lying with her consorts.  He went on board as soon as he arrived, and there was not a little excitement when the Admiral was seen coming alongside at a very early hour in the morning.  He mustered the ship’s company on deck, and having read to them the Admiralty letter, invited them to join him; but at that time scarcely a man came forward.  They were unwilling to enter for a new service until they had enjoyed some liberty on shore; but after they had been paid off, and spent their money, numbers of them volunteered, and many more would probably have done so, but for the very short time in which the crews were completed.  No difficulty was experienced in manning the fleet.  The whole ship’s company of the Leander, then on the point of sailing as the flag-ship on the North American station, volunteered to go, and accordingly her destination was changed for the time.  Rear-Admiral Milne, for whom she had been fitted, obtained permission to go out with her; and as Sir Charles Penrose did not join at Gibraltar, he hoisted his flag in the Impregnable, as second in command.  Among other volunteers were a number of smugglers, who had been taken on the western coast, and sentenced to five years’ service in the navy.  They were sent to the eastward as prisoners in a cutter in which Mr. Pellew had taken a passage to make a parting visit to his brother, and they implored his intercession on their behalf.  He advised them to enter for the Queen Charlotte, and gain a title to the indulgence they sought by their good conduct in the battle.  They all did so:  no serious casualty occurred among them, and they behaved so well that Lord Exmouth applied to the Admiralty, and obtained their discharge.