Birchall was made a commander for acting with "zeal and intrepidity" during a boat action with a French privateer and promoted to post-captain following the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801.

Very little is known about his early life but his examination for lieutenant in 1790 and eventual promotion on 18 June 1793, were recorded in the Bath Chronicle, which added that he had served 13 years as a midshipman.

[1] Having already taken the 16-gun Buonoparte earlier in the day, on the night of 23 October, Santa Margarita was approached by two other ships, that came almost within hailing distance before suddenly moving away in different directions.

[3] Having earned a mention in dispatches for his "Zeal and intrepidity" in the boat action with Potomac, Birchall was made a commander in 1797 and by 1798, had commissioned the lightly armed but fast troopship, Hebe.

At that time, the flotilla was travelling along the inland waterways of Belgium to Ostend, where the British hoped to stop them by destroying the lock gates and sluices there.

[4] A force was gathered at Margate, comprising 25 small vessels, of which Popham's 26-gun Expedition was the largest, and over 1,000 troops, a good proportion of which were held aboard Hebe.

Some of the smaller vessels were badly damaged by the enemy batteries and had to withdraw but Hebe, being more heavily constructed, was able to kedge in close to the shore to continue the bombardment.

[5] Immediately prior to the Battle of Copenhagen in April 1801, Harpy was one of the smaller vessels that took soundings and marked channels in the Hollands Diep and around the Middle Ground shoal, allowing all but three of Horatio Nelson's squadron to pass safely and engage the Danish fleet.

[3] In 1803, Birchall was given command of the Chester region Sea Fencibles and, according to the Bath Chronicle, caused a riot on 26 December when he impressed one of the local militia.