que seized Dominica, while Admiral Barrington, in
command of a small squadron at Barbadoes, was waiting for orders. As
soon as Barrington received the reinforcements sent by Clinton, he
attacked St. Lucia. D'Estaing came over from America with a fleet of
twice the size, but failed to engage our ships closely, and, after some
fighting on the island, in which the French lost heavily, sailed off to
Martinique. St. Lucia was surrendered on December 29. Nothing further of
importance took place in those parts until the summer of 1779, when
D'Estaing seized St. Vincent while Byron, who was then in command, was
engaged in guarding a convoy. D'Estaing then sailed with all his fleet
to Grenada and forced the garrison to surrender. Byron, though
encumbered by a number of transports and with a smaller fleet, engaged
him in the hope of relieving the island. Some of Byron's ships suffered
badly, and when he found that the garrison had surrendered, he sailed
off. D'Estaing did not press his advantage, for his sole object was to
secure his conquest, and only one transport ship was taken. England was
no longer supreme by sea. The fault lay not with her admirals, who were
still skilful, nor with her seamen, who were as bold as ever. Her
weakness was due to her government, which first allowed the navy to fall
into an inefficient condition and then adopted a wrong system of naval
warfare. She began the contest unprepared, and instead of preventing the
fleets of the enemy from reaching the ocean, had to fight in distant
parts with inferior forces. As the war went on strenuous efforts brought
her navy to a higher pitch; yet she still neglected her first line of
defence, did not concentrate her forces off the ports of the enemy, and
strove to defend the distant parts of her empire with fleets of
inadequate strength.[143]

After much hesitation Spain made alliance with France against England on
April 12. The treaty, which did not include the Americans, provided that
Spain should recognise their independence and that the two contracting
powers should invade England; and the reconquest of Gibraltar and
Minorca, the acquisition of the coast of Florida, and the expulsion of
the English from Honduras were mentioned among the objects which Spain
desired to effect. She did not declare war until June 16, in order that
the two fleets might have time to prepare for united action. England
received the news of the combination with spirit; volunteers enlist