The battle belongs to the Anglo-French conflict rather than the fighting in the Thirteen Colonies. No Americans fought at the Saintes, Cornwallis had already surrendered, and negotiations over American independence were under way. Britain and France were still contesting possessions in the Mediterranean, Atlantic, Caribbean, North America, and East Indies, while the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War widened the struggle further. The American revolt helped cause this larger global contest and formed one of its theatres, but it was not the battle's immediate setting. Caribbean forces, imperial revenue, and the coming peace negotiations matter more here than the North American battlefield.
Chapter · 9:23-16:38
Why the Saintes was an Anglo-French battle
The opening places the Saintes in the wider global war of 1778-83 rather than treating it simply as an American Revolutionary battle.