CHAPTER X.
MARITIME WAR IN NORTH AMERICA AND WEST INDIES, 1778-1781 .-- ITS INFLUENCE UPON THE COURSE OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION .-- FLEET ACTIONS OFF GRENADA, DOMINICA, AND CHESAPEAKE BAY.
On the 15th of April, 1778, Admiral Comte d'Estaing sailed from Toulon for the American continent, having under his command twelve ships-of-the-line and five frigates.

With him went as a passenger a minister accredited to Congress, who was instructed to decline all requests for subsidies, and to avoid explicit engagements relative to the conquest of Canada and other British possessions.

"The Cabinet of Versailles," says a French historian, "was not sorry for the United States to have near them a cause of anxiety, which would make them feel the value of the French alliance."[129] While acknowledging the generous sympathy of many Frenchmen for their struggle, Americans need not blind themselves to the self-interestedness of the French government.

Neither should they find fault; for its duty was to consider French interests first.
D'Estaing's progress was very slow.

It is said that he wasted much time in drills, and even uselessly.