Naval Battle of the Chesapeake

On 5 September 1781, Admiral de Grasse repulsed the British fleet off the Chesapeake, making the victory at Yorktown possible

On 5 September 1781, Admiral de Grasse sailed out of Chesapeake Bay with his fleet to confront the British fleet appearing offshore. Rarely has a naval battle had more decisive consequences for the history of the world.

  • Date: 5 September 1781
  • Location: Off the Virginia Capes (Chesapeake Bay)
  • French commander: Lieutenant General of Naval Forces comte de Grasse
  • French forces: 24 ships of the line
  • Opponent: Rear-Admiral Thomas Graves (21 ships, 7 frigates)
  • French losses: 223 killed or wounded
  • British losses: 336 killed or wounded, 1 ship scuttled

Preparations

Four months earlier, on 6 May 1781, the powerful squadron of 20 ships of the line, 3 frigates and 2 cutters commanded by Lieutenant General of Naval Forces comte de Grasse, having departed Brest at the end of March escorting an enormous convoy, entered Fort-Royal in Martinique. On 5 July, the squadron left the Windward Islands for Saint-Domingue, where the frigate la Concorde had just arrived from the United States carrying an urgent appeal from Washington requesting the support of the French fleet for the Franco-American land operations.

In accordance with instructions received from His Majesty King Louis XVI and the maréchal de Castries, General comte de Rochambeau, commanding the French expeditionary corps, had placed himself under the command of American Commander-in-Chief George Washington.

Reinforced by the division of chef d’escadre comte de Monteil, de Grasse embarked a corps of 3,300 officers and troops commanded by maréchal de camp de Rouvroy de Saint-Simon and sent the frigate l’Aigrette to Havana to collect funds provided by the Spanish government. Preparations having been conducted with speed, the naval force sailed on 4 August towards the Chesapeake and anchored at the entrance to the bay on 31 August, having captured en route the 14-gun corvette HMS Loyalist.

On 1 and 2 September, de Grasse entered the bay, established a blockade of the York and James rivers, and landed his expeditionary corps to reinforce the combined Franco-American armies that had begun the siege of Yorktown.

The Battle

On the morning of 5 September, the British squadrons approached the Virginia coast, and the French frigate posted as advance guard raised the alarm.

Admiral de Grasse, although deprived of nearly 2,000 officers and sailors who had remained ashore for the landing operations of siege guns and equipment, ordered cables cut and immediately sailed with 24 ships: la Ville de Paris, 104 guns; L’Auguste, le Saint-Esprit and le Languedoc, 80 guns; le Pluton, le Marseillais, la Bourgogne, le Diadème, le César, le Destin, la Victoire, le Sceptre, le Northumberland, le Palmier, le Scipion, le Citoyen, le Magnanime, l’Hercule, Le Zélé, l’Hector and le Souverain, 74 guns; Le Réfléchi, le Caton and Le Solitaire, 64 guns.

While he had expected a general cannonade or even a cutting of his greatly extended line of battle, de Grasse observed that the British squadron manoeuvred rigidly and employed only part of its forces. In fact, Graves had insisted on maintaining the sacrosanct line-ahead formation, forbidding any initiative from his subordinates. As a result, the two vanguards bore the brunt of the action. Manoeuvring with discipline and cohesion, the French drew their adversaries out to sea and inflicted severe damage on five British ships. At nightfall, the engagement ceased.

Consequences

Until 9 September, de Grasse pursued the British squadron, which avoided and refused battle. Weary of the chase, the British set course for New York; they counted 336 killed or wounded against 223 for the French, who had only two ships damaged (le Diadème and Le Réfléchi). The damaged British ships were HMS Montagu, Ajax, Shrewsbury, and Intrepid, and on the return voyage Graves was forced to scuttle HMS Terrible, 74 guns, too severely damaged. The enemy would not reappear until 24 October and would not dare to attack. In any case, it was too late, for on 19 October, General Lord Cornwallis, after enduring a vigorous siege by the American and French forces and seeing that Yorktown was deprived of all hope of relief, had capitulated.

The independence of the United States was now assured, and the French fleet had played a decisive role. General George Washington himself declared: “You will have observed that whatever efforts are made by the land armies, the navy must have the casting vote in the present contest,” and he wrote to de Grasse: “The triumphant manner in which Your Excellency has remained master of the seas of America and the glory of the French fleet lead our two nations to see in you the arbiter of the war.”

Philippe Henrat, member of the SAR History Committee

References