George Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau from France. These despatches included a request from the comte de Grasse, commander of the West Indies fleet, for information on planned allied operations and the delivery of pilots familiar with the American coast. She also carried 6 million livres to support the war effort, and the new commander of the French naval squadron at Newport, Rhode Island, the comte de Barras. Following a conference of allied leaders in May, Concorde was sent to Cap-Français with despatches for de Grasse and the requested pilots. When de Grasse received these despatches, he made the critical decision to sail his fleet to the Chesapeake Bay to assist in land operations against British forces operating under the command of Charles Cornwallis in Virginia. Concorde carried de Grasse's letters for Washington, Rochambeau, and de Barras back to Newport; arrival of this news set in motion Washington's march to Virginia and the eventual entrapment of Cornwallis at Yorktown. On 7 January 1783, Concorde was in company with . They sighted HMS Raven, which initially sailed towards them until she realized that they were not British frigates. An all-day chase ensued until about 9p.m. when one of the French frigates got within pistol-shot and fired a broadside that took away Ravens main topgallant-mast. The chase continued until about 10:30 p.m. when one of the frigates was again in range, with the other coming up rapidly. At this point, Raven, which was under the command of Commander John Wells, struck. The French Navy took Raven into service under the name Cérès, which she had born when under French colours between 1778 and 1782. Capture On 15 February the 74-gun , under Captain Robert Linzee, sighted Concorde. Magnificent had sailed from Gros Islet Bay on 12 February on a cruise in company with the 64-gun ships and , and on sighting the strange sail, Magnificent gave chase. She was close enough to identify the mysterious ship as a frigate by 18:00, and by 20:00 as darkness fell Concorde opened fire on her pursuer with her stern guns. Magnificent overhauled the French ship by 21:15, and after fifteen minutes forced her to strike her colours. Magnificent took possession of Concorde, the latter being described as carrying 36 guns and 300 men, and being under the command of M. le Chevalier du Clesmaur. Shortly after surrendering the Concordes maintopsail caught fire, forcing the