Revolution, though its greatest exploits in the cruise of Paul Jones and the capture of the _Serapis_ were yet to come, must, henceforward, be largely of French ships. The French commander had one of the greatest chances in history. The British fleet was in the Delaware awaiting the preparation of the British army to return to New York from Philadelphia. Howe had but six 64’s, three 50’s, and six frigates. They had been a sure prey to the French had there been in command a man of greater energy. But d’Estaing had been transferred at the mature age of thirty-five from the army to the navy, the profession of all others which requires a life-long familiarity, and where the rigidity and formality of the army school of the period were wholly out of place. There have been rare exceptions to the general rule, Blake being a notable example, but d’Estaing was not one of these. He was, says a French writer, “detested from the first--the word is not too strong--by most of his officers.”[5] Whether through bad luck or want of energy, he was more than a month (thirty-three days) in even reaching the Straits of Gibraltar, 700 miles from Toulon, thus making an average of but twenty-one miles a day. A British frigate was noted by the French in passing Gibraltar, which “tranquilly and comfortably watched the French fleet defile by in three columns.” But this same ship followed for ninety leagues into the Atlantic, to make sure of the French course, and then hastened to England. It arrived there on June 5th, fifty-three days after d’Estaing had left Toulon and twenty after he had passed the Straits. This knowledge, however, was not necessary to British action. A force equal to d’Estaing’s and to be commanded by Vice-Admiral Byron had already been in preparation, though it had been hampered as much by poor dockyard administration and want of men as was d’Estaing by his own want of push. It was not until July 7, 1778, that the French fleet anchored at the Capes of the Delaware. But the quarry had gotten away. The British army had left Philadelphia on June 18th on its march to Sandy Hook. The scores of transports carrying the army baggage and stores had started down the Delaware next day. They did not get clear of the Capes until June 28th, and, convoyed by the men-of-war, reached inside of Sandy Hook on June 30th. Never was greater opportunity lost. A little earlier and with Howe’s fleet captured, the fall of New York, practically undefended, was a certainty. But for d’Estaing’s want of push the war would have ended in 1778 instead of five years later.