The Armada of 1779 was a combined Franco-Spanish naval enterprise intended to divert British military assets, primarily of the Royal Navy, from other war theatres by invading the Kingdom of Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. This action was a part of the wider Anglo-French War (1778–1783). The proposed plan was to seize the Isle of Wight and then capture the British naval base of Portsmouth. Ultimately, no fleet battles were fought in the Channel and the Franco-Spanish invasion never materialized. This threat to Great Britain prompted comparisons to the earlier Spanish Armada of 1588.
Jeffrey Amherst was in command of the British land forces who prepared to resist the invasion.
Anglo-French War (1778–1783)
The Anglo-French War, also known as the War of 1778 or the Bourbon War in Britain, was a military conflict fought between France and Great Britain, sometimes with their respective allies, between 1778 and 1783. As a consequence, Great Britain was forced to divert resources used to fight the American War of Independence to theatres in Europe, India and the West Indies, and to rely on what turned out to be the chimera of Loyalist support in its North American operations. From 1778 to 1783, with or without their allies, France and Britain fought over dominance in the English Channel, the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean.
Battle of Cuddalore (June 20th 1783) between the French navy commanded by the Bailli de Suffren and the British one under the orders of Rear-Admiral Edward Hughes
Vergennes, foreign minister of France, worried that a war over the Bavarian succession would upset his plans against Britain
"Prise de la Dominique": French troops storm the island which fell into their hands in 1778
Plan of St. Lucia showing the positions of English and French forces and the attacks which led to its capture in December 1779
