 In response to its rejection of his mediation, Louis XIV declared war on England on 16 January 1666.The greater part of the French fleet was in the Mediterranean under the duc de Beaufort, and Louis intended that much of this would be brought into the Atlantic to join up with the Atlantic squadron commanded by Abraham Duquesne.The combined French fleet would then, it was intended, link up with the Dutch in the English Channel and the two would outnumber the English fleet.