 Bompart's force had been dispatched from Brest the month before with orders to reinforce a French army under Jean Humbert which had landed two months earlier.Unbeknown to Bompart's force, Humbert's army and the rebellion as a whole had been defeated by the British Army a week before Bompart departed France.Bompart's squadron too was woefully understrength consisting of only a single ship of the line and eight frigates carrying 3,000 men.