 Following his exchange and appearance as a witness, Bertie spent two years without a ship, due to the shortage of available positions for young officers during the American Revolutionary War.On 21 March 1782, after a change of government, Bertie was reinstated and made captain of the 24-gun frigate stationed in the Channel, serving in her until June.He remained on half-pay throughout the 1780s, marrying Emma Heywood of Maristow House in Devon on 1 July 1783, and having four children