At the start of the French Revolutionary Wars ten years later Mackenzie was restored to service, and commanded the ship of the line Gibraltar at the Glorious First of June.

[1] He continued to rise in rank, and in 1776 at the start of the American Revolutionary War he was promoted to post captain for his services at the Battle of Quebec, and was assigned command of the 28-gun frigate Lizard.

[2] Mackenzie was later assigned to command the ship Ariel, but was captured with his vessel by the French frigate Amazone on 10 September 1779 [3] near Charleston, South Carolina.

The ensuing Battle of Porto Praya was inconclusive, but the French were able to reinforce the Cape before the British could attack, making an invasion impossible.

Continuing westwards, Active joined a squadron under Vice-Admiral Edward Hughes and was engaged in operations on the Malabar coast and against the Dutch city of Negapatam.