 The conduct of the French fleet and its commander, D'Estrées is a matter of dispute.While Prud'homme states that they French fought hard, Jenkins argues that, either through poor seamanship, or because D'Estrées had been ordered by Louis XIV to preserve the French fleet, should England make peace with the Dutch, it failed to engage the Dutch closely for much of the day with D'Estrées disobeying Rupert's orders to attack the Dutch, claiming the wind was too weak.Davies accepts that, by the admission of several French officers, their fleet was not prominent in the action, attributing in part to inexperience, and Prud'homme accepts that the French allowed themselves to get separated from the English fleet.