Le Cap. An English squadron of four ships of the line and several frigates takes station before it.

A few days after Rochambeau reached Le Cap, an English squadron of four ships of the line and several frigates came on 4 July to take station before that town. At the same time the English were blockading Port-Républicain and Les Cayes. Rochambeau no longer doubted that war existed between France and England, for the squadron of H. B. M. was committing hostilities along the coast. He at once declared Saint-Domingue in a state of siege, and the next day, 5 July, he decreed that flour, biscuit, rice and salted provisions of every kind would be admitted for import free of all duties, and that this exemption would last for the whole duration of the war. By the following proclamation he announced the war between France and England, which had begun as early as May 1803.