When he recovered, Lowe returned to Corsica, and was stationed in the citadel at Ajaccio as an aide to the Governor, Colonel Wauchope, close to where Napoléon Bonaparte's sisters had recently been living before they fled to mainland France. In October 1796 it was decided to abandon Corsica and the force at Ajaccio was embarked and taken to Elba. The following year Elba was also abandoned and Lowe was evacuated with his regiment first to Gibraltar and then to Lisbon. He spent the next two years as part of a British force which was placed to deter an invasion by French and Spanish forces.