On 7 January 1797, Druid, along with Doris and Unicorn captured the French frigate Ville de L'Orient, armed en flûte and carrying 400 hussars to join the rebels in Ireland.

In December 1802, he married Jane Hall, an English woman from Kingston, Jamaica (with whom he had 3 sons and 3 daughters),[4] and remained without a ship until the Peace of Amiens came to a close in 1803.

In 1797, Edward Codrington, his brother William John, and his sister Caroline, jointly inherited their uncle Christopher Bethell's residuary estates, including a slave plantation in Antigua.

[6] His eldest brother Christopher Bethell Codrington inherited their uncles main estates and Dodington park, which was later rebuilt by James Wyatt between 1798 and 1816.

Convinced that the Marquis de Campoverde,[7] the Spanish general in charge of Tarragona, was not up to the task, Codrington, who had a clearer understanding of the situation, helped the British military agent Charles William Doyle to contrive a plan of succour.

When the city fell, he rescued over 600 people from the beach in a Dunkirk-style operation under fire from enemy cannon and personally undertook to reunite mothers and babies who had been separated during the evacuation.

Codrington was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral of the Blue on 4 June 1814, while he was serving off the coast of North America as captain of the fleet to Vice Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane during the operations against Washington, Baltimore and New Orleans during the War of 1812.

From that date until his recall on 21 June 1828 he was engaged in the arduous duties imposed on him by the Greek War of Independence, which had led to anarchy in occupied Greece[8] and surrounding areas.

The Pasha made diplomatic difficulties, which came in the form of continuous genocide against the Greeks of Morea who were to be replaced with Muslims from Africa, and on 25 July the three admirals agreed that Codrington should go to Alexandria to obtain Ibrahim's recall by his father Mehemet Ali.

Codrington had heard on 22 June of his own supersession, but, as his successor had not arrived, he carried out the arrangement made on 25 July, and his presence at Alexandria led to the treaty of 6 August 1828, by which the evacuation of the Morea was settled.

His services were recognised by the grant of the Grand Cross of the Bath, but there is no doubt that the British government was embarrassed by his heavy-handed gunboat diplomacy and not too impressed by the further weakening of Russia's main opponent, the Ottomans.