Battle of the Saintes

Background. In October 1781, de Grasse, Francisco de Saavedra, and Bernardo de Gálvez devised a plan against British forces, later known as the De Grasse–Saavedra Convention. Its first objective was met by Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown in September 1781. Arriving in Saint-Domingue in November 1781, de Grasse was ordered to proceed with the conquest of Jamaica, which the French and Spanish sought in order to expel Britain from the West Indies and strike its economy.

Opening Movements, 7–9 April. On 7 April 1782 de Grasse sailed from Martinique with 35 ships of the line, including two 50-gun ships, and a convoy of more than 100 cargo ships, intending to meet a Spanish squadron of 12 ships of the line. On 9 April the copper-sheathed British fleet caught the French, whose speed surprised them; de Grasse sent his convoy toward Guadeloupe for repair and formed his line to cover the retreat of the two 50-gun ships Fier and Experiment.

Aftermath and Consequences. De Grasse, the first French admiral captured by an enemy, was sent to England and paroled; Rodney later presented him to George III and was made a peer with £2,000 a year. Hood pursued the French and took two 64-gun ships and two smaller warships at the Mona Passage on 19 April. France lost 15 ships of the line in 1782, nearly half in April. Owing to British military successes in 1782, the peace treaties that ended the war were less disadvantageous for Britain than had been anticipated, with a preliminary Anglo-American treaty on 30 November 1782 and peace with France and Spain in January 1783.