Lambert was the son of naval Captain Robert Lambert and entered the navy at an early age aboard in 1795. Serving in the
Mediterranean,
Cumberland was heavily engaged at the
Battle of Hyères where the French
ship of the line was blown up. For the next six years, Lambert served in the Mediterranean on board the frigate
HMS Virginie and the ship of the line before obtaining promotion to lieutenant in 1801. He later joined and the following year during the
Peace of Amiens. At the outbreak of the
Napoleonic Wars in 1803, Lambert was promoted to be commander of the 20-gun . In April 1804 he fought off the 36-gun French privateer on the
East India Station. The following year he became a
post captain in command of the 44-gun frigate
HMS San Fiorenzo. As captain of
San Fiorenzo, in February 1805 he encountered the
Psyché again, now a frigate of the French Navy. This time Lambert captured her. He then sailed
San Fiorenzo back to Britain in June. In 1808 Lambert took command of the frigate , initially based at
Quebec, but later transferring back to the Indian Ocean where he had previously been successful. Attached to the squadron then besieging
Île Bonaparte and
Île de France under
Josias Rowley, in July 1810 Lambert participated in the successful invasion of Île Bonaparte. The following month, Lambert was part of a frigate squadron led by
Samuel Pym which attempted to raid the anchorage of
Grand Port on Île de France. Due to poor charts of the numerous reefs within the harbour, the attack was a disaster, with two frigates destroyed and two more, including
Iphigenia severely damaged and captured. Lambert and his crew were released from captivity following the successful invasion of Île de France and honourably acquitted in the court martial inquiring into the loss of their ship, which had also been recaptured. In 1812, Lambert was given command of , originally a French frigate captured during the
Mauritius campaign. On 29 December,
Java engaged the larger American frigate which captured
Java in a bitter battle, Lambert opting to engage the American ship rather than flee in the hope of inflicting such damage that
Constitution would be forced to retire to the US for repairs. In the event,
Java was captured and destroyed and Lambert mortally wounded by a
musket ball in the chest. Despite the efforts of the American surgeon aboard
Constitution, Lambert died on 4 January 1813 in
Salvador,
Brazil from the effects of his wounds and was buried the following day. ==Literature==