Following the Franco-American success in the October 1781 Siege of Yorktown, French Admiral François Joseph Paul de Grasse returned to the West Indies to continue campaigning against British-held islands there.

In concert with the French governor of the West Indies, the Marquis de Bouillé, he sought to capture Barbados, a key British possession.

St. Kitts fell on 13 February, at which time de Grasse detached a squadron to take Montserrat.

The Comte de Barras, commander of the squadron, dispatched the Count of Flechin, along with 500 men from the Régiment Auxerrois, to capture the island from the British.

At the time of its surrender, British artillery on Montserrat consisted of 62 pieces of cannon of different bores and six howitzers.