The action belongs to the undeclared Quasi-War, when French privateering against American commerce grew from debts left unsettled after the American War of Independence. Commodore Thomas Truxtun cruised between Puerto Rico and Saint Kitts with Constellation and several smaller supporting ships, while French forces operated from Guadeloupe. The encounter became the first capture of a foreign naval vessel by the United States Navy. Truxtun displayed British and then American signals while trying to identify the stranger, and he prepared his guns for a fight at very close range. Commerce protection, debt collection, privateering, and state naval forces all overlapped in this undeclared maritime conflict.
Chapter · 28:41-35:14
Constellation and L'Insurgente in the Quasi-War
The 1799 duel between Constellation and L'Insurgente shows how frigates were used against privateering and how a close tactical encounter began.