The Saintes archipelago was discovered by Christopher Columbus on November 4, 1493, and named LOS SANTOS in honor of All Saints' Day. The islands were deserted until the arrival of the first settlers in 1648, just like Saint-Barthélemy, Saint-Martin and Marie-Galante. The French feared that the English would seize the land before them, so the King of France sent a man named DU MÉ and his men to settle there. But they were soon driven out by a drought. It wasn't until 1652 that Hazier DUBUISSON succeeded in establishing a lasting colony. Some believe they were the first Saintois.

These early settlers had to contend with attacks from the Caribbean and the English, who attempted to seize the island on numerous occasions, most notably in 1666, when the English launched their first serious attack on Terre-de-Haut.

English ships took control of Terre-de-Haut, but on the night of August 4, a cyclone capsized most of their fleet, leaving the British without support. Taking advantage of this situation, Governor DULION sent his men to recapture the island.

This unusual French “victory” was immortalized by a Te Deum sung in the Terre-de-Haut church on August 15. This event is commemorated every year on the occasion of Terre-de-Haut's patron saint's day.

A second English attack, known as the Battle of the Saintes, took place from April 9 to 12, 1782, between the English fleet led by George Rodney and the French fleet led by the Comte de Grasse.

France already owned a number of islands in the West Indies and wanted to invade Jamaica, then an English colony.

On April 7, 1782, the Comte de Grasse left Martinique with 35 ships of the line, and a large convoy of over 100 transport ships, to meet the Spanish fleet of 12 ships of the line, with the aim of conquering Jamaica. They were pursued by the 36-ship English fleet commanded by Admirals George Brydges Rodney and Samuel Hood, who caught up with them that same evening thanks to the speed of their ships.

On April 9, de Grasse ordered the convoy to take refuge in Guadeloupe and put his ships in battle order to cover their retreat. Both fleets were now in the lee of the island of Dominica. First, 8 ships of the English vanguard engaged 15 French vessels. As the bulk of the English fleet approached the battle zone, the French ships broke contact to cover the convoy's retreat. For the next two days, the two units faced each other without fighting to repair the damage from the first confrontation.

On April 12, Rodney attacked the 30 French ships with his 36 ships. With a light wind from the east-northeast, the two fleets, lined up in two files, began the battle by running into each other in line-of-battle tactics. The French could not take advantage of their windward point of sail, as they were caught between the English fleet and the east coast of Dominica. At around 9:20 a.m., the wind shifted to the southeast, forcing the French, who had been tacking south, to swing to starboard towards the line of British ships.

A few French ships tried to tack, breaking the order of battle. The English now had the wind at their backs, and Rodney, on his flagship HMS Formidable, followed by five others, entered a gap between the French. Behind him, Hood did the same, interrupting the French line just in front of Comte de Grasse's flagship Ville de Paris.

In this position, the English could fire from both sides, and at close range, their cannons were particularly effective. By doing so, Rodney and Hood were abandoning the windward side to the French, and were no longer in a position to prevent them from fleeing. However, the wind died down, leaving the ships stranded. By afternoon, when a light easterly wind picked up, the French fleet was completely dislocated. De Grasse ordered a general withdrawal, but it was not an orderly one. The English captured four French ships and attacked the isolated Ville de Paris. De Grasse surrendered with his flagship and let his fleet escape. The César, captured by the English, exploded.

The rest of the French fleet joined the invasion fleet near Cap Français. Although it comprised a total of 40 ships of the line, the invasion of Jamaica did not take place: the loss of the commander-in-chief and illness among the crews were the reasons for abandoning the venture.

In September 1782, a British convoy escorting two captured French vessels (the Ville de Paris and the Glorieux) set sail for England. During a storm, both ships were lost. The British ships of the line Ramillies and Centaur sank.

Whether Rodney cut the French lines as a tactic, or whether the wind induced the maneuver, remains unclear. The question of why the French ships were not pursued also remains unanswered. Later, the Comte de Grasse blamed his captains Vaudreuil and Bougainville for the defeat.

This was the last naval battle fought in American waters during the war. In 1783, England, Spain and France signed a peace treaty delimiting the borders between the islands of the British, Spanish and French colonies in the West Indies. The Battaille des Saintes marked a turning point in the tactics of fighting at sea.