[3][4][5] Following his junior officer training, he embarked to a sea voyage, at age 14 on board HMS Newcastle under the captaincy of George Stuart.

On this vessel he sailed to the east coast of the United States where he was engaged in blockading activities in the squadron of Admiral John Borlase Warren.

[6] Promotional opportunities were diminishing in the Royal Navy; while Wright had passed the Lieutenant's examination, he was not given a commission like many young junior officers in Britain.

Collectively, Wright and others decided to enlist in Simón Bolívar's revolutionary army and sail for South America in support of the uprisings against Spanish colonial rule.

In November 1817, Wright enlisted as an officer in the British Legion of Simón Bolívar, under the patronage of Luis Lopez Mendez, Bolivar's agent in London.

They departed from Fowey harbor and sailed on a brigantine named Dowson, under naval commander Captain Dormer, with 200 other volunteers armed with valuable weapons and ammunition.

Wright was to play leading roles in the Battle of Vargas Swamp, and later in the victory at Boyacá in August 1819, after which he was promoted to captain.

In 1820 he returned with his Rifles regiment to the coastal plains to campaign in the jungles east of the Magdalena against the Spanish based on Santa Marta.

The Rifles Corp were then transported by sea to Maracaibo, and on 21 June 1821 took part in Simon Bolívar's decisive victory at Carabobo.

After the successful battle at Bomboná on 7 April 1822, Wright was twice mentioned in Bolívar's order of the day for his exceptional skill and courage.

Again he was promoted and from February 1822 Wright was an acting lieutenant-Colonel, a rank to which was later confirmed in 1823, when he was serving under General Sucre, who joined up forces with Bolívar in Ecuador.

Early in 1824, Bolvar realized that, despite the Patriot Army's victories on land, the South American revolutionary troops would always be subject to Spanish imperial rule over the oceans.

After Guayaquil seized independence, a young British naval officer John Illingworth Hunt, was appointed as Commanding General of the Maritime Department.

Thus, in 1823, the first Ecuadorian naval force was formed with the following warships; the schooner Guayaquileña, the brig Chimborazo and the corvette Pichincha.

Wright, who in February 1824 was promoted to captain, became Commodore of the South Squadron, and embarked on the brig Chimborazo, where he had his flag pennant hoisted, and conducted patrols along the Peruvian coast with seven transports properly equipped and ready to assist in the transfer of troops, when Bolívar, who was with his army in Peru, would require it.

The Grancolombian units, forming this squadron, participated in some naval actions against the royalists and also in the blockade of Callao, the last Spanish stronghold in South America.

He was appointed to command this small fleet of ships including Chimborazo, Guayaquileña, Pichincha, and other minor vessels in support of Admiral Martin Guise and joined the Patriotic naval force blockading off Callao.

The downfall and expulsion of the Spanish colonial power later led to land disputes and new wars among the South American home nations that once were united against Spain.

Antonio José de Sucre, who had been the President of Bolivia since 1826, resigned his office (under duress) and was appointed Commander of the Gran Colombian Army.

The first engagement of the conflict took place on 31 August of that year when the Peruvian corvette Libertad, under the command of Carlos García del Postigo, was on patrol in international waters to the west of the Gulf of Guayaquil with the purpose of blockading that port, was attacked by the Gran Colombian ships Pichincha and Guayaquileña under the command of Thomas Charles Wright, off Punta Malpelo.

In this campaign, he managed to keep the Ecuadorian/Colombian defenses afloat and to silence much of the enemy artillery, but, on the night of 23 November, the Peruvian frigate Presidente ran aground, and the Colombians took advantage of the situation to counterattack.

After this victory, the corvette Arequipeña and the brig Congreso prepared to go to Panama to rescue a Peruvian merchant ship that had been captured by the Gran Colombians.