With Rodney absent in England, Hood remained in command in the West Indies. De Grasse moved against St Kitts and Nevis with a force that included 7,000 troops. In this interpretation, France's intervention in North America also served its ambition to take British Caribbean possessions. Distracting Britain and damaging its fleet off North America helped that wider aim. The resulting contest at St Kitts placed Hood's twenty-two ships of the line against de Grasse's twenty-nine.
Notable Point · 1:28:38-1:29:34
French Caribbean ambitions after Chesapeake
French intervention in North America is connected to the ambition to seize British Caribbean possessions.