for two weeks the british and french squadrons watched one another, the british unable to attack and the french unable to escape. in an effort to break the deadlock, cochrane sent to martinique for a body of 3,000 men under major-general frederick maitland. with this force he launched a surprise invasion of the islands on 14 april, the amphibious operation commanded by captain philip beaver in hms "acasta" and executed successfully with only minor casualties. parties of seamen went ashore in the wake of the soldiers, working rapidly to establish a battery of two 8-inch howitzers on morne-russell. these guns began firing during the afternoon and by 20:00 troude had given orders for his squadron to sail through the western channel during the night.