On 20 November 1798, along with Insurgente, Volontaire, under Captain Laurent, captured the 14-gun corvette USS Retaliation.

[1] She took part in the Atlantic campaign of 1806 and was captured by HMS Diadem on 4 March 1806.

[2] She sailed into Table Bay, unaware that the British had captured Cape Town.

The transports Anacreon and Charlotte sailed from the Cape of Good Hope on 11 March 1806 bound for France as cartels carrying Volontaire's crew.

On 21 March, Volontaire sailed as escort to 17 transports in a convoy to Great Britain carrying invalids and Dutch prisoners.