the Bay of Biscay. In October 1794 he transported General Sir John Vaughan to the West Indies, to succeed Lieutenant-general Sir Charles Grey as the Commander-in-chief of British land forces there. Bickerton remained on this station until July 1795, when he was sent to Newfoundland. Bickerton returned home in November 1795 where he joined Admiral Adam Duncan's fleet on blockade duty in the North Sea. Bickerton served under Duncan for the whole of the following year, then in 1797, he and his ship transferred to the Channel Fleet under Admiral Alexander Hood. In 1798, Bickerton took command of the new HMS Terrible, built in 1785 to replace the old Terrible, scuttled after the Battle of Chesapeake. Later in 1798, Bickerton was given the title of Colonel of Marines, then on 14 February 1799, Bickerton attained the rank of rear-admiral and, towards the end of the year, took up the position of Assistant Port Admiral at Portsmouth. Service in the Mediterranean Bickerton hoisted his flag in Seahorse on 13 May 1800 and was ordered to transport generals Abercromby, Moore and Hutchinson to the Mediterranean; after which he spent the rest of the war under Lord Keith, on blockade duty. On 10 June, Bickerton transferred his flag to the 74-gun Swiftsure and began a five-month command of a squadron off Cádiz. During 1801, he worked on HMS Kent, maintaining a blockade on the port of Alexandria until its capitulation on 27 August. He provided support during this time for Lieutenant-General Hutchinson. Left to oversee the French withdrawal, Bickerton conducted this duty with such efficiency that he earned the respect of the French general, Jacques-François Menou, who also acknowledged that, " ...the vigilance of Sir Richard's squadron had accelerated the reduction of that place, as it cut them off from all supply". For his part in the British victory, the grateful Turks awarded Bickerton with the Order of the Crescent on 8 October 1801. Following the Treaty of Amiens, Bickerton was left behind in command of the Mediterranean Fleet. Napoleonic Wars By 1804, still in the Mediterranean and having transferred to Royal Sovereign, Bickerton was serving as Second-in-Command to Admiral Lord Nelson, maintaining a close blockade on the French port of Toulon and when Nelson received the thanks of the Corporation of London, he insisted that Bickerton received equal recognition. Bickerton was elevated to Commander-in-Chief in the Mediterranean when Nelson left to pursue