The Marquis de Bouillé has carefully maintained…
August 1778 CE
On September 2 he and Lieutenant Governor Stuart sign an agreement that formally prohibits privateering crews to plunder.
The next day Bouillé sends one of his officers to Dominica to see whether a Royal Navy frigate is still anchored in Prince Rupert's Bay (near present-day Portsmouth).
Stuart, suspicious of the man, has him questioned, then released.
On September 5 Bouillé is informed that the frigate has sailed for Barbados.
He strikes fast, defeating the British at Dominica in September 1778.
Bouillé leaves a garrison of eight hundred (seven hundred French regulars and one hundred free black militia) on the island, turns its command over to the Marquis de Duchilleau, and returns to Martinique.
These events are the first in a series of military actions resulting in the change of control of Caribbean islands during the war, in which Bouillé will often be involved.