 Between June and November 1620 he served under his kinsman, Sir Horatio Vere in the Palatinate, and on his return home was appointed, in January 1621, to the council of war that was ordered to determine the aid that England would render Frederick V, Elector Palatine.In July 1621 an incautious expression of dissatisfaction with the Spanish match led to a few weeks' imprisonment in the Tower of London.In December 1621 he was nominated by Buckingham to command the "Assurance", a vessel that was commissioned to guard the Channel.