On the 11th of March, 1803, he was appointed to the eighty-gun ship Tonnant, in which, after some delay, occasioned by the general difficulty of procuring men, he joined the Channel fleet.  Anxious to take part in the important naval operations to be expected, he wished to sail with Nelson, whose reputation gave a just presage that the most decisive blow would be struck where he commanded; but after he had been appointed to a station, his sense of naval obedience forbade any attempt to change it.  With that care for the improvement of his young officers which was always a prominent feature of his conduct, he advertised for a superior schoolmaster for the Tonnant, to whom he offered 50_l._ per annum, in addition to his pay, that he might obtain for them better instructions than the regulations of the service would afford.

Early in the summer, he was detached from the Channel fleet, with the Mars and Spartiate under his orders, to intercept or blockade a Dutch squadron, which had put into the neutral port of Ferrol, on their passage to India.  The enemy had proceeded on their voyage the day before he arrived, and he followed under a press of sail as far as Madeira.  They were the ships which he afterwards destroyed at Griessee.  In his absence, a French squadron of five sail of the line arrived at Corunna from St. Domingo, and took advantage of the first westerly gale to cross the bay to Ferrol.  Here they were blockaded by Sir Edward, whose force was soon increased to six, and afterwards to eight sail of the line.

On the 2nd of September, during a strong easterly gale, with thick weather, two other French ships from St. Domingo, the Duguay Tronin 74, and Guerriere frigate, were chased by Sir Robert Calder, who was coming out to relieve the Commodore.  The Culloden had a running fight with the enemy for two hours and a half, but could not prevent them from getting into Corunna.  In autumn, the Tonnant having been refitted at Plymouth, Sir Edward resumed the command, and maintained a very close blockade, at considerable risk, by night and day.  He constantly expected a French force from Brest, and often remarked to his officers, that they would have to fight both squadrons at once.  Under such circumstances, every precaution was required, and though unwilling to interfere with the men’s rest, yet, to prevent surprise, he thought it necessary to keep them at quarters all night, and pipe down the hammocks in the morning.

As the season advanced, the weather became so tempestuous that the squadron was often driven off the land for many days together, and only occasionally fetched near Ferrol.  Sir Edward became anxious therefore to find an anchorage in the neighbourhood, where the fleet could ride out a gale, and obtain necessary supplies.  He first examined a bay near Cape Ortugal, but this was too distant.  He then went in a cutter into the Bay of Bentancos, between Ferrol and Corunna,