North Channel Naval Duel

]] Even before the official entry of other nations, the American War of Independence was by no means confined to American soil; naval operations by both the Continental Navy and privateers ranged across the Atlantic. In 1777, American captains such as Lambert Wickes, Gustavus Conyngham, and William Day had been making raids into British waters and capturing merchant ships, which they took into French ports, even though France was officially neutral. Captain Day had even been accorded a gun salute by the French admiral at Brest. Encouraged by such successes, and even more so by the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga that autumn, France signed two treaties with America in February…