In 1790 he was promoted to lieutenant and served in the
French Revolutionary Wars, becoming commander of the
brig in 1795.
Sylph was a highly successful cruiser in home waters. At the
action of 12 May 1796 she captured the Dutch brig
Mercury. Then in 1796 she captured the French privateer
Phoenix.
Sylph assisted in the destruction of the French
corvette Calliope at the
action of 16 July 1797. Together, they drove
Calliope on shore, where
Sylph proceeded to fire on her. When checked a week later,
Calliope was wrecked; her crew were camped on shore trying to salvage what stores they could.
Pomone confirmed that the
flute Freedom and a brig that
Anson and
Sylph had also driven ashore too were wrecked. In August,
Sylph attacked
Sable d'Olonne. In 1798, White seized six French, Spanish and American ships in the
Bay of Biscay, and during October participated in the opening stages of the
Battle of Tory Island. In 1799, White was rewarded with promotion to
post captain and was given command of the
ship of the line HMS Renown, flagship of his former squadron commander
Sir John Borlase Warren.
Renown served in the Mediterranean, and in 1801 engaged the defences of
Porto Ferrajo. In 1803,
Renown was attached to the blockade of
Toulon, and the following year Warren and White were transferred to the ship of the line
HMS Foudroyant in Britain, later assigned to find and defeat the French squadrons in the Atlantic during the
Atlantic campaign of 1806. These squadrons could not be found, but
Foudroyant was engaged at the successful
Action of 13 March 1806, when a separate French squadron was defeated and captured. In 1810, White took command of the
first rate HMS Hibernia under Admiral
Sir Samuel Hood, sailing for the Mediterranean, where he took command of
HMS Centaur off Toulon. In 1811 he assisted the Spanish defenders at the first
Siege of Tarragona and subsequently involved in the destruction of the
Regulus in 1814. ==Personal life==