He received word that a French reinforcement of three ships-of-the-line had set sail from Toulon under Michel-Ange Duquesne de Menneville, intending to combine with La Clue.

[7][8] By July Osborn decided it was too late in the year for the French to sail to North America, and he withdrew from around Cartagena to allow his ships to re-supply.

Also coming to the conclusion that there was nothing he could do to assist Louisbourg, which fell on 26 July, La Clue and his ships sailed back to Toulon rather than attempt to force their passage through the Straits of Gibraltar.

This was particularly the case as Arthur Gardiner had Byng's flagship at the Battle of Minorca and his death while fighting served to remove the allegation of cowardice against him.

[10] The campaign offered an example of the "tight blockade" tactics that the British would use even more vigorously the following year, made possible by an innovation in naval warfare because of developments in supplying ships at sea.