The fleet action took place 400 nautical miles west of Ushant during the War of the First Coalition. Howe brought twenty-five ships of the line against twenty-six French ships, with lighter vessels supporting both fleets. France was already fighting Austria, Prussia, and Piedmont before relations with Britain collapsed in 1793. The firing on HMS Childers and the execution of Louis XVI accompanied the break in diplomatic relations and France's declarations of war on Britain and the Dutch Republic. The Atlantic campaign formed part of a widening war fought by the Revolutionary state on land and at sea.
Chapter · 26:08-28:27
The War of the First Coalition reaches the Atlantic
The battle belonged to a widening coalition war in which Revolutionary France added Britain and the Dutch Republic to conflicts already raging on its land frontiers.