Date of Issue: May 30, 1975Scott #: 209 - 212
The Battle of the Saintes (known to the French as the Battle of Dominica) took place over four days, April 09, 1782 – April 12, 1782, during the American War of Independence, and was a victory of a British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney over a French fleet under the Comte de Grasse forcing the French and Spanish to abandon a planned invasion of Jamaica.
The battle is named after the Saintes (or Saints), a group of islands between Guadeloupe and Dominica in the West Indies. The French fleet defeated here by the Royal Navy was the same French fleet that had blockaded the British Army during the Siege of Yorktown.
The battle is sometimes credited with pioneering the tactic of "breaking the line", in which the British ships passed though a gap in the French line, engaging the enemy from leeward and throwing them into disorder. But there is considerable controversy about whether the tactic was intentional, and, if so, who was responsible for the idea (Rodney, his Captain-of-the-Fleet Sir Charles Douglas, or John Clerk of Eldin).
Click here to see the ships involved on both sides.
Source: Wikipedia
The battle is sometimes credited with pioneering the tactic of "breaking the line", in which the British ships passed though a gap in the French line, engaging the enemy from leeward and throwing them into disorder. But there is considerable controversy about whether the tactic was intentional, and, if so, who was responsible for the idea (Rodney, his Captain-of-the-Fleet Sir Charles Douglas, or John Clerk of Eldin).
Click here to see the ships involved on both sides.
Source: Wikipedia
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hey thanks for the background on the Battle of the Saints! Much appreciated, Happy Philately!
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