Portal:American Revolutionary War/Selected event/1

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The French battleships Ville de Paris and Auguste, in the "Second Battle of the Virginia Capes", September 1781

The Battle of the Chesapeake, also known as the Battle of the Virginia Capes or simply the Battle of the Capes, was a crucial naval battle in the American Revolutionary War which took place near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay on September 5, 1781, between a British fleet led by Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Graves and a French fleet led by Rear-Admiral Comte de Grasse. It was, in strategic terms, a major defeat for the Royal Navy.

The victory by the French fleet prevented the Royal Navy from resupplying the forces of General Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia. It also prevented interference with the supply of troops and provisions from New York to the armies of George Washington through Chesapeake Bay. As a result, Cornwallis surrendered after the siege of Yorktown, and Great Britain later recognized the independence of the United States of America.