Byron's decision under severe information limits

John Byron faced severe practical limits on an eighteenth-century admiral's information. He had no radio or aerial reconnaissance, lacked enough frigates, and did not have funds to hire local scouting craft. He therefore did not know that the French had been reinforced before he tried to retake Grenada. Greater caution might have avoided the engagement, but it could also have produced a standoff that left the strategic situation unchanged. The relatively close casualties and absence of ship losses further complicate any claim that one different decision would obviously have transformed the campaign.