It is a truth universally acknowledged that historians are prophets of the past. Reporting on naval campaigns whose results are known, historians enjoy a comprehensive understanding of events that enables them to produce a clear and logical narrative. However, this narrative does not necessarily correspond with the seamen's experiences of the same campaigns. Historians have too often taken for granted that those who served on board, from the quarterdeck to the lower deck, were more or less aware of the strategic issues at hand and that they knew the fleet's destination and its objectives. This can be truly illusory and even misleading. I would like to assess the degree of knowledge that captains had about their missions when they set sail and the extent to which admirals were more informed than everyone else on board.
Not unexpectedly, the term strategy was never used in its modern sense. However, a clear, if not necessarily accurate, definition of objectives and means of action did exist at the level of the Conseil du Roi, where operations were decided year after year. What remains to be ascertained is what was communicated or explained to the admirals and captains. What did the officers on the quarterdeck know about what they were expected to do? Had someone at Versailles consulted them prior to ordering naval operations? To answer these questions, we must investigate the instructions given to flag officers or captains, official and individual logbooks, letters and memoirs.
Let us first examine how officers understood the concept of strategy as being something they carried out. However, the lack of being in on the secret did not prevent some officers from expressing their views, and many of them tried to understand the purpose of their missions.
Strategy in Theory and Practice
It should be observed that in France naval officers left behind many treatises on naval tactics or shipbuilding, but not on what we would define today as strategy. This is hardly surprising given that decisions on matters of war and peace – the heart of politics at the time – were made exclusively by the Conseil du Roiat Versailles and were consequently shrouded in mystery. Secrecy and surprise were the mainsprings of victory.