page_title: Naval battles of the American Revolutionary War
section_title: Arrival of the fleets
hierarchical_section_title: Naval battles of the American Revolutionary War / Yorktown Campaign / Arrival of the fleets
caption_attribution_description: English: Diagram of the Battle of the Chesapeake, Sep. 5, 1781
context_page_description: The American Revolutionary War saw a series of military manoeuvres and battles involving naval forces of the British Royal Navy and the Continental Navy from 1775, and of the French Navy from 1778 onwards. While the British enjoyed more numerical victories these battles culminated in the surrender of the British Army force of Lieutenant-General Earl Charles Cornwallis, an event that led directly to the beginning of serious peace negotiations and the eventual end of the war. From the start of the hostilities, the British North American station under Vice-Admiral Samuel Graves blockaded the major colonial ports and carried raids against patriot communities. Colonial forces could do little to stop these developments due to British naval supremacy. In 1777, colonial privateers made raids into British waters capturing merchant ships, which they took into French and Spanish ports, although both were officially neutral. Seeking to challenge Britain, France signed two treaties with America in February 1778, but stopped short of declaring war on Britain.
context_section_description: The French fleet sailed from Brest on 22 March. The British fleet was busy with preparations to resupply Gibraltar, and did not attempt to oppose the departure. After the French fleet sailed, the packet ship Concorde sailed for Newport, carrying the comte de Barras, Rochambeau's orders, and credits for the six million livres. In a separate dispatch sent later, Admiral de Grasse also made two important requests.  The first was that he be notified at Cap-Français of the situation in North America so that he could decide how he might be able to assist in operations there, and the second was that he be supplied with 30 pilots familiar with North American waters.
  On 21 May Generals George Washington and the comte de Rochambeau, respectively the commanders of the American and French armies in North America, met to discuss potential operations against the British. They considered either an assault or siege on the principal British base at New York City, or operations against the British forces in Virginia.  Since either of these options would require the assistance of the French fleet then in the West Indies, a ship was dispatched to meet with de Grasse who was expected at Cap-Français, outlining the possibilities and requesting his assistance. Rochambeau, in a private note to de Grasse, indicated that his preference was for an operation against Virginia.  The two generals then moved their forces to White Plains, New York to study New York's defences and await news from de Grasse.
  De Grasse arrived at Cap-Français on 15 August. He immediately dispatched his response, which was that he would make for the Chesapeake. Taking on 3,200 troops, he sailed from Cap-Français with his entire fleet, 28 ships of the line. Sailing outside the normal shipping lanes to avoid notice, he arrived at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay on 30 August and disembarked the troops to assist in the land blockade of Cornwallis. Two British frigates that were supposed to be on patrol outside the bay were trapped inside the bay by de Grasse's arrival; this prevented the British in New York from learning the full strength of de Grasse's fleet until it was too late.
  British Vice-Admiral Sir George Brydges Rodney had been warned that de Grasse was planning to take at least part of his fleet north. Although he had some clues that he might take his whole fleet (he was aware of the number of pilots de Grasse had requested, for example), he assumed that de Grasse would not leave the French convoy at Cap-Français, and that part of his fleet would escort it to France. So Rodney accordingly divided his fleet, sending Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood north with 15 ships of the line and orders to find de Grasse's destination in North America and report to New York. Rodney, who was ill, took the rest of the fleet back to Britain in order to recover, refit his fleet, and to avoid the Atlantic hurricane season. Hood sailed from Antigua on 10 August, five days after de Grasse. During the voyage, one of his ships became separated and was captured by a privateer.
  Sailing more directly than de Grasse, Hood's fleet arrived off the entrance to the Chesapeake on 25 August. Finding no French ships there, he then sailed on to New York to meet with Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Graves, in command of the North American station following Arbuthnot's departure, whom had spent several weeks trying to intercept a convoy organised by John Laurens to bring much-needed supplies and hard currency from France to Boston. When Hood arrived at New York, he found that Graves was in port (having failed to intercept the convoy), but had only five ships of the line that were ready for battle.
  De Grasse had notified his counterpart in Newport, the comte de Barras Saint-Laurent, of his intentions and his planned arrival date. De Barras sailed from Newport on 27 August with 8 ships of the line, 4 frigates, and 18 transports carrying French armaments and siege equipment. He deliberately sailed via a circuitous route to minimise the possibility of an encounter with the British, should they sail from New York in pursuit.
caption: Diagram of the line of battles at the Chesapeake, 5 September 1781
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