Editing Arthur Phillip (section)

===Retirement and the Portuguese Navy===
In July 1763, Phillip married Margaret Charlotte Denison ({{nee|Tibbott}}), known as Charlott, a widow 16 years his senior, and moved to [[Glasshayes]] in [[Lyndhurst, Hampshire]], establishing a farm there.{{sfn|Tink|2009|p=31}} The marriage was unhappy, and the couple separated in 1769 when Phillip returned to the Navy.{{sfn|Tink|2009|p=31}} Margaret Phillip died in August 1792 and is buried at Llanycil, Bala, North Wales with her companion, Mrs Cane.{{cn|date=February 2025}} The following year, he was posted as second lieutenant aboard {{HMS|Egmont|1768|6}}, a newly built 74-gun [[ship of the line]].{{sfn|Tink|2009|p=31}}

In 1774, Phillip was [[Secondment|seconded]] to the [[Portuguese Navy]] as a captain, serving in the [[Spanish–Portuguese War (1776–1777)|war against Spain]]. While with the Portuguese Navy, Phillip commanded a 26-gun frigate, ''Nossa Senhora do Pilar''. On that ship, he took a detachment of troops from [[Rio de Janeiro]] to [[Colonia del Sacramento|Colonia do Sacramento]] on the [[Río de la Plata]] (opposite [[Buenos Aires]]) to relieve the garrison there. The voyage also conveyed a consignment of convicts assigned to carry out work at Colonia. During a storm encountered in the course of the voyage, the convicts assisted in working the ship, and on arriving at Colonia, Phillip recommended that they be rewarded for saving the ship by remission of their sentences.{{sfn|King|1999}}{{sfn|Goldston-Morris|1997|p=4}} A garbled version of this recommendation eventually found its way into the English press in 1786, when Phillip was appointed to lead the expedition to Sydney.{{sfn|''The World''|1789}} Phillip played a leading role in the capture of the [[Spanish ship San Agustín (1768)|Spanish ship ''San Agustín'']], on 19&nbsp;April 1777, off Santa Catarina.{{sfn|King|1999}} The Portuguese Navy commissioned her as the ''Santo Agostinho'', under Phillip's command.{{sfn|King|1999}} The action was reported in the English press: 
<blockquote>
Madrid, 28 Aug. Letters from Lisbon bring the following Account from Rio Janeiro: That the St. Augustine, of 70 Guns, having been separated from the Squadron of M. Casa Tilly, was attacked by two Portugueze Ships, against which they defended themselves for a Day and a Night, but being next Day surrounded by the Portugueze Fleet, was obliged to surrender.{{sfn|''Norfolk Chronicle''|1777}}
</blockquote>