and returned to England, and on the 4th of May 1798 was advanced to the rank of Lieut.-Colonel of the Eighth Foot. In May 1799, Lieut.-Colonel Airey proceeded with the Eighth regiment to Minorca, which had been captured in the previous year from the Spaniards, and in August 1800 he embarked with his corps, which composed part of the expedition under General Sir Ralph Abercromby, against Cadiz. Upon arrival at that place the enterprise was abandoned, in consequence of a contagious disease carrying off great numbers of the inhabitants, and the fleet, to avoid infection, sailed to Gibraltar, and subsequently to Malta, when Lieut.-Colonel Airey returned to Minorca as Deputy Quartermaster-General, under Lieut.-General the Honorable Henry Edward Fox, and afterwards proceeded to Elba, as Commandant of the British troops serving in Porto Ferrajo, while that place was besieged by the French, and retained possession of that island until the Peace of Amiens in 1802. For his services in Porto Ferrajo he was created a Knight of the Tuscan Order of St. Joseph. Lieut.-Colonel Airey then rejoined Lieut.-General Fox as Deputy Quartermaster-General, and remained with that officer until his return to England, Minorca being restored to Spain by the treaty of peace. Lieut.-Colonel Airey served as Assistant Quartermaster-General in Ireland from the 1st of August 1803 to the 24th of September 1804, when he accompanied General the Honorable Henry Edward Fox to Gibraltar as Military Secretary. He proceeded with the General to Sicily in 1806, where (with the exception of going to Egypt with the expedition under Major-General Alexander Fraser in 1807) he served until the year 1813 as Deputy Adjutant-General. On the 25th of April 1808, he was promoted to the brevet rank of Colonel. In the year 1810 he commanded a brigade in Sicily, in addition to his duties as Deputy Adjutant-General, and was employed with the troops, of which the first battalion of the THIRTY-NINTH formed part, in the defence of the coast during the threatened invasion of General Joachim Murat, King of Naples. On the 12th of February 1811, Colonel Airey was appointed Brigadier-General in Sicily, when he vacated the duties of Deputy Adjutant-General. On the 4th of June 1811, he was promoted to the rank of Major-General, and was from that date appointed Major-General on the staff of Sicily, and in December following was ordered to proceed to Zante to take the command of the Ionian Islands, where he remained until succeeded by Lieut.-General James Campbell in 1813, who was appointed Commander and Civil Commissioner.