 Patrolling the waters off Cherbourg, Bullen captured 23 merchantmen and the frigate sent to protect them.Between 14 July 1803 and 15 May 1804, Bullen commanded the Plymouth division of Sea Fencibles, protecting the south-west of England from an invasion which, fortunately, never came.In November 1803, he was additionally given command of a flotilla which was being fitted out in the Thames for the defence of tidal estuaries and creeks.