The Battle of the Virginia Capes

 

by Meghan Schill, HRNM Historian

“Should a French fleet now come into Hampton Roads, the British army would, I think, be ours.” - Marquis de Lafayette

"Battle of the Chesapeake" (Naval History and Heritage Command)

This year marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and therefore the 250th anniversary of our nation and its armed forces. Throughout the year, we’ll be featuring stories from not only 1776, but all of the American Revolution. Today’s post brings the Revolution right to Hampton Roads’ doorstep. 

By 1781, the Revolution had raged across our new nation from New England to South Carolina. The French had joined the American cause in 1778 with the signing of the Treaty of Alliance. While France sent thousands of infantry troops to help bolster the struggling Continental Army, their largest contribution came in the form of its navy. After spending the years following their defeat in the Seven Years War revitalizing its fleet, the French were suddenly in a position to rival British naval supremacy. In July of 1781, Admiral François Joseph Paul, Comte de Grasse of the French fleet received directives from General Rochambeau to move his vessels from the West Indies to Virginia.

Admiral Comte de Grasse. (Palace of Versailles)

De Grasse immediately headed north with his entire fleet, comprised of twenty-eight ships of the line and four frigates. They arrived on August 30, 1781, and laid anchor between Cape Henry and Cape Charles at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. They began at once to unload troops and supplies. By September 4, de Grasse was short four ships of the line, three frigates, and over a thousand officers and sailors as they set out to deliver their goods farther up the James River. Their overall goal? Trap General Cornwallis in Yorktown. Brigadier General Louis le Bègue Duportail stated that "we must take Lord Cornwallis or be all dishonored."

Rear Admiral Thomas Graves (Portrait by Thomas Gainsborough)

The British arrived on the horizon on September 5. Commanded by Rear Admiral Thomas Graves, the British fleet totaled nineteen ships of the line and eight frigates. Graves had been convinced that the French would have no more than twelve ships, and was shocked to find himself suddenly outnumbered. In consequence, the British were slow to maneuver. De Grasse, forced to wait until the tide changed around noon, ordered a lign de vitesse (line of speed) to form a line of battle as quickly as possible, sailing out of the mouth of the Bay to confront the British in open water. At 4:00 pm, Graves gave his ships the order to attack. Two hours of fighting commenced.

Map of the Battle of the Capes (Library of Congress)

The majority of the fighting was done by the vanguards of the two navies. Over the course of the battle, the wind shifted more than 30 degrees, forcing the vanguards closer and closer together, until they were almost within pistol range. Chevalier de Thy, watching the fighting from the rearguard, later wrote that “all that could be seen was fire and smoke on either side.” Eventually, the two navies, exhausted, fought to a stalemate. One French officer aboard the Saint Esprit at the front of the line wrote, “for our part, we were so tired that though within gunshot, the vans no longer fired.”

As night began to fall, both navies separated. The French had sustained major damage to only one ship - the Diademe - while the rest suffered only minimally and were all able to continue fighting if necessary. In contrast, the British had four ships - the Shrewsburg, Intrepid, Montague, and Princessa - damaged badly enough they were unable to stay in a line, and others were in rough shape. As the French fleet resumed its position in the mouth of the Chesapeake, the British remained nearby for a few more days. Eventually, Admiral Graves decided his ships were too badly damaged to mount another attack, and made the fateful decision to return to New York for repairs.

Graves’ retreat was a pivotal moment in the Revolution. With the British fleet gone, General Cornwallis, waiting in Yorktown, was suddenly left abandoned, stranded and isolated from any hope of reinforcements. And as George Washington and Rochambeau marched from New York to Yorktown, Cornwallis found himself surrounded by land and by sea. His surrender, 44 days later on October 19, was inevitable. 

Surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown (Yale University Art Gallery)

Want to learn more about the Battle of the Capes? The Hampton Roads Naval Museum will be hosting a new exhibit starting September 1 of this year. The project is a celebration of the 250th anniversary of the US Navy, the 400th anniversary of the French Navy, and will feature more information about the battle, the partnership between France and the US during the war, and the two navies’ long history. We hope to see you there!