with Hood's opinion on this point. Nevertheless,
although the victory was not half of what it might have been in younger
hands, it proved decisive enough to shatter the naval organization
of the French in the West Indies. It stopped the projected campaign
against Jamaica and served to write better terms for England in
the peace treaty of January 20, 1783.

Tactically this battle has become famous for the maneuver of "breaking
the line," contrary to the express stipulations of the Fighting
Instructions. Certainly the move was not premeditated. Rodney may
well be said to have been pushed into making it, and two of his
captains made the same move on their own initiative. Indeed it
is quite likely that, after the event, too much has been made of
this as a piece of deliberate tactics, for the sudden shift of
wind had paid off the bows of the French ships so that they were
probably heading athwart the course of the British line, and the
British move was obviously the only thing to do. But the lesson of
the battle was clear,--the decisive effect of close fighting and
concentrated fire. In the words of Hannay, "It marked the beginning
of that fierce and headlong yet well calculated style of sea fighting
which led to Trafalgar and made England undisputed mistress of the
sea."[1] It marked, therefore, the end of the Fighting Instructions,
which had deadened the spirit as well as the tactics of the British
navy for over a hundred years.

[Footnote 1: Rodney (ENGLISH MEN OF ACTION SERIES), p. 213.]

The tactical value of "breaking the line" is well summarized by
Mahan in the following passage:

"The effect of breaking an enemy's line, or order-of-battle, depends
upon several conditions. The essential idea is to divide the opposing
force by penetrating through an interval found, or made, in it,
and then to concentrate upon that one of the fractions which can
be least easily helped by the other. In a column of ships this
will usually be the rear. The compactness of the order attacked,
the number of the ships cut off, the length of time during which
they can be isolated and outnumbered, will all affect the results.
A very great factor in the issue will be the moral effect, the
confusion introduced into a line thus broken. Ships coming up toward
the break are stopped, the rear doubles up, while the ships ahead
continue their course. Such a moment is critical, and calls for
instant action; but the men are rare who in an unforeseen