The action at Barfleur was part of the battle of Barfleur-La Hougue during the War of the Grand Alliance. A French fleet under Anne Hilarion de Tourville was seeking to cover an invasion of England by a French army to restore James II to the throne, but was intercepted by an Anglo-Dutch fleet under Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford on 19 May Old Style (29 May New Style) 1692. Background The fleets sighted each other at first light on the morning of 19 May 1692 off Cap Barfleur on the Cotentin peninsula. On sighting the allied fleet, at about 6am, Tourville held a council of war with his captains; the advice, and his own opinion, was against action; however, Tourville felt compelled by strict orders from the king to engage. He also may have expected defections from the English fleet by captains with Jacobite sympathies, though in this he was to be disappointed. In the light south-westerly breeze the fleets slowly closed, Russell from the north east, Tourville, with the weather gage, from the south west, on a starboard tack to bring his line of battle into contact with Russell's. Because of the calm conditions it was not until 11am, 5 hours after first sighting each other, that the two fleets were within range of each other. Dispositions The French line was led by the Blue-and-White squadron, 14 ships of the line in three divisions under the flag officers Nesmond, d'Amfreville and Relingue. They were matched by the Dutch White squadron of 26 ships under Almonde, again in three divisions under van der Putte, Gilles Schey and Gerard Callenburgh. In the centre, the French White squadron (16 ships under Villette Mursay, Tourville and Langeron) opposed the English Red squadron (27 ships under Delaval, Russell and Shovell). Bringing up the rear, the French Blue squadron (14 ships under Coetlogon, Gabaret and Pannetier) would face the English Blue squadron (29 ships under Carter, Ashby and Rooke). Tourville re-inforced his centre, the White squadron under his own command, by bringing Coetlogon's division forward in order to engage Russell's Red squadron with something approaching equal numbers, while he refused and extended the line of his White squadron to avoid them being turned and overwhelmed by superior numbers; the rest of his Blue squadron he held back also to keep the advantage of the weather gage. Russell countered by holding fire as long as