By the end of April, a large French fleet had assembled in the harbour of Brest.On 18 May 1755, the fleet set sail carrying 3,000 French troops to reinforce New France. A German officer, Baron Ludwig A. Dieskau, commanded the force. The new governor general of Canada, the Canadian-born Marquis de Vaudreuil, accompanied Dieskau to Quebec.
Although war had not been declared, the Royal Navy dispatched a fleet under the command of Admiral Boscawen to intercept the French ships. The French, however, eluded the British and arrived in Quebec in early June.
