Battle Of The Virginia Capes Research Paper

Michael S. Korwan
LT. Nann
NVSC 102 Sea Power & Maritime Affairs- Spring 2017
21 February 2017
The Battle of the Capes Americas revolution was starting to dwindle. After the battle of Saratoga in 1777 and the surrender of Burgoyne on October 17th to the colonies militiamen, things drastically changed in favor of the Americans. The victory of the Americans sounded throughout the globe. This victory demonstrated that the colonies had a chance to defeat Great Britain which brought France to become allies with the colonies to defeat Great Britain. “On 6 February 1778 France signed with Benjamin Franklin treaties of commerce and alliance” (Adams 37). Frances military would benefit the revolution tremendously. Their navy consisted of 80 ships of

“Washington wrote in his Memorandum for Concerning a Plan of Operations “In any operation, under all circumstances, a decisive Naval superiority is to be considered a fundamental principle and the basis upon which every hope of success must ultimately depend”” (Nelson) The battle in the Virginia capes was a battle that American forces did not even participate in. This battle is still considered one of the biggest victories that happened throughout the Revolutionary war. “This battle — called variously the “Battle of the Chesapeake,” or the “Battle of the Virginia Capes” — is one very few Americans have even heard of. This is probably due to the fact that no Americans took part in the battle — or even witnessed it (except perhaps from afar) — because it was a slugfest between the British and the French navies” (Weigant). This battle was the first major naval battle fought in the revolutionary war after France joined sides with the colonies. Admiral Comte de Grasse was in command of the French fleet involved in this battle. This fleet consisted of 24 ships-of-the-line and two frigates. His flag ship was the “Ville de Paris”. The British fleet was under the command of Rear

As the battle began the two fleets were on parallel courses and each ship was firing at the adjacent ship. The fighting continued for two hours and 15 minutes and then each fleet separated away from each other. “Though neither commander knew it at the time, the battle was over. For two more days, the fleets maneuvered within sight of each other in blustery weather” (Symonds). De Grasse was perfectly fine with this happening because his objective was to make sure the British didn’t capture and take control of the Chesapeake Bay. Graves never came to realize that this was what De Grasse was doing. “Had the English Fleet succeeded in reaching an anchorage inside of Cape Henry, its position there might have resulted in saving Cornwallis's army, but the fleet itself would probably have been lost” (History). As this was going on De Grasse knew that the smaller French fleet under the command of Admiral de Barras was arriving in the Chesapeake Bay unharmed from Newport. This fleet was carrying Rochambeau’s cannons, guns, and supplies needed to bring Cornwallis and his Army to their fate. This naval battle was a very