A highly illustrated account of the first and largest fleet action
between the navies of Great Britain and France during the French
Revolutionary Wars.
As 1794 opened, Revolutionary France stood on a knife's edge of failure.
Its army and navy had been shaken by the revolution, with civil war and
famine taking its toll on their resources. Seeking to bring a
revitalizing supply of food from its Caribbean colonies and the United
States, the French government decided to organize a massive convoy to
bring the New World's bounty to France. However, in order to succeed in
their mission, the French Navy would have to make a deadly crossing over
the North Atlantic, an ocean patrolled by the Royal Navy, the most
powerful navy force in the world, whose sailors were eager to inflict a
damaging defeat on Revolutionary France and win their fortune in prize
money.
Illustrated throughout with stunning full-color artwork, this is the
full story of the only fleet action during the Age of Fighting Sail
fought in the open ocean, hundreds of miles from shore. Taking place
over the course of a month, the inevitable battle was to be a close-run
affair, with both sides claiming victory. To the French, it was le
Bataille du 13 prairial, a notable day in their new, scientific
Revolutionary calendar. For the British, it was the Glorious First of
June.
