 The French Atlantic fleet was even more dispersed than the British in the spring of 1794 : Rear @-@ Admiral Pierre Vanstabel had been dispatched , with five ships including two of the line , to meet the much @-@ needed French grain convoy off the American eastern seaboard . Rear @-@ Admiral Joseph @-@ Marie Nielly had sailed from <unk> with five ships of the line and <unk> cruising warships to rendezvous with the convoy in the mid @-@ Atlantic . This left Villaret with 25 ships of the line at Brest to meet the threat posed by the British fleet under Lord Howe . 
