Prelude
King Louis XIV and his naval minister, Count Pontchartrain, planned to land an army in England and restore James II to the throne. They first planned to launch the invasion in April 1692 before the English and Dutch fleets put to sea and joined up. Troops were collected at Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue, and the cavalry and guns were to be loaded into transports at Le Havre. Tourville was to bring the French fleet up from Brest and collect the transports and the troops, then fight off the English fleet and land the army in England.
However, the French fleet was unable to concentrate in time; D’Estrees and the Toulon fleet were beaten back at the Straits of Gibraltar, losing two ships in a storm, and Villette Mursay with the Rochefort squadron was delayed. Tourville's Brest fleet was undermanned, and when he sailed, on 29 April, he was forced to leave 20 ships under Chateau-Renault behind. His fleet was further delayed by adverse winds and did not clear Berteaume Roads until 2 May.
Tourville entered the Channel with 37 ships of the line, accompanied by 7 fireships, plus frigates, scouts, and transports. He was joined on 15 May by Villette and the Rochefort squadron, 7 ships of the line and attendant vessels, giving Tourville a combined fleet of 44 ships, plus attendant vessels 70 or 80 sail altogether.
Meanwhile the allied fleet was assembling at St Helens on the Isle of Wight; Vice Admiral of the Red Sir Ralph Delaval arrived off St Helens on 8 May; next day he was joined by Carter, who had been in the western channel guarding a convoy, and delivering troops to Guernsey. The Dutch had despatched a fleet, under Almonde, from Texel in April, which was making its way south. Admiral of the Blue Sir John Ashby sailed from the Nore on 27 April. Admiral of the Fleet Edward Russell was delayed until 29 April, but gained time by making a risky passage through the Gull channel. He met Almonde at the Downs and a further Dutch squadron at Dungeness, arriving at St Helens in the second week of May. More detachments joined over the next few days, until 14 May, when Russell had a force of over 80 ships of the line, plus auxiliaries. Thus by 14 May, when the allied fleet was fully assembled, the French strategic aim of acting with a concentrated force while the allies were scattered was already lost.
However, Louis XIV had furnished Tourville with strict orders to seek battle, strong or weak (fort au faible), and this he proceeded to do.
Read more about this topic: Battles Of Barfleur And La Hogue
Famous quotes containing the word prelude:
“The less sophisticated of my forbears avoided foreigners at all costs, for the very good reason that, in their circles, speaking in tongues was commonly a prelude to snake handling. The more tolerant among us regarded foreign languages as a kind of speech impediment that could be overcome by willpower.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)
““We’re all friends here” is a prelude to fraud. “I am sincere” is a prelude to lying.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“I got a little secretarial job after college, but I thought of it as a prelude. Education, work, whatever you did before marriage, was only a prelude to your real life, which was marriage.”
—Bonnie Carr (c. early 1930s)