Battle of Cape Henry The Battle of Cape Henry was a naval battle in the American War of Independence which took place near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay on 16 March 1781 between a British squadron led by Vice Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot and a French fleet under Admiral Charles René Dominique Sochet , Chevalier Destouches . Destouches , based in Newport , Rhode Island , had sailed for the Chesapeake as part of a joint operation with the Continental Army to oppose the British army of Brigadier General Benedict Arnold that was active in Virginia . Admiral Destouches was asked by General George Washington to take his fleet to the Chesapeake to support military operations against Arnold by the Marquis de Lafayette . Sailing on 8 March , he was followed two days later by Admiral Arbuthnot , who sailed from eastern Long Island . Arbuthnot ' s fleet outsailed that of Destouches , reaching the Virginia Capes just ahead of Destouches on 16 March . After manoeuvring for several hours , the battle was joined , and both fleets suffered some damage and casualties without losing any ships . However , Arbuthnot was positioned to enter the Chesapeake as the fleets disengaged , frustrating Destouches ' objective . Destouches returned to Newport , while Arbuthnot protected the bay for the arrival of additional land troops to reinforce General Arnold . Background . In December 1780 , British General Sir Henry Clinton sent Brigadier General Benedict Arnold ( who had changed sides to the British the previous September ) with about 1 , 700 troops to Virginia to do some raiding and to fortify Portsmouth . General George Washington responded by sending the Marquis de Lafayette south with a small army to oppose Arnold . Seeking to trap Arnold between Lafayette ' s army and a French naval detachment , Washington asked the French admiral Destouches , the commander of the fleet at Newport , Rhode Island for help . Destouches was wary of the threat posed by the slightly larger British North American fleet anchored at Gardiner ' s Bay off the eastern end of Long Island , and was reluctant to help . A storm in early February damaged some of Arbuthnot ' s fleet , which prompted Destouches to send a squadron of three ships south shortly after . When they reached the Chesapeake , the British ships supporting Arnold moved up the shallow Elizabeth River , where the French ships were unable to follow . The French fleet returned to Newport , having as their only success the capture of , a heavy frigate that was one of several ships sent by the British to investigate the French movements . This modest success , and the encouragement of General Washington , prompted Destouches to embark on a full - scale operation . On 8 March , Washington was in Newport when Destouches sailed with his entire fleet , carrying 1 , 200 troops for use in land operations when they arrived in the Chesapeake . Vice Admiral of the White Mariot Arbuthnot , the British fleet commander in North America , was aware that Destouches was planning something , but did not learn of Destouches ' sailing until 10 March , and immediately led his fleet out of Gardiner Bay in pursuit . He had the speed advantage of copper - clad vessels and a favourable wind , and reached Cape Henry on 16 March , slightly ahead of Destouches . Battle . Although the two fleets both had eight ships in their lines , the British had an advantage in firepower : the 90 - gun was the largest ship of either fleet ( compared to the 84 - gun " Duc de Bourgogne " ) , while the French fleet also included the recently captured 44 - gun " Romulus " , the smallest vessel on either line . When Arbuthnot spotted the French fleet to his northeast at 6 am on 16 March , they were about east - northeast of Cape Henry . Arbuthnot came about , and Destouches ordered his ships to form a line of battle heading west , with the wind . Between 8 and 9 am the winds began shifting , but visibility remained poor , and the two fleets manoeuvred for several hours , each seeking the advantage of the weather gage . By 1 pm the wind had stabilised from the northeast , and Arbuthnot , with superior seamanship , was coming up on the rear of the French line as both headed east - southeast , tacking against the wind . Destouches , in order to escape this position , gave orders to wear ship in sequence , and brought his line around in front of the advancing British line . With this manoeuvre he surrendered the weather gage ( giving Arbuthnot the advantage in determining the attack ) , but it also positioned his ships relative to the wind such that he could open his lower gundecks in the heavy seas , which the British could not do without the risk of water washing onto the lower decks . Arbuthnot responded to the French manoeuvre by ordering his fleet to wear . When the ships in the van of his line made the maneuver , they were fully exposed to the French line ' s fire , and consequently suffered significant damage . " Robust " , " Europe " , and " Prudent " were virtually unmanageable due to damage to their sails and rigging . Arbuthnot kept the signal for maintaining the line flying , and the British fleet thus lined up behind the damaged vessels . Destouches at this point again ordered his fleet to wear in succession , and his ships raked the damaged British ships once more , taking off " London " topsail yard before pulling away to the east . Aftermath . French casualties were 72 killed and 112 wounded , while the British suffered 30 killed and 73 wounded . Arbuthnot pulled into Chesapeake Bay , thus frustrating the original intent of Destouches ' mission , while the French fleet returned to Newport . After transports delivered 2 , 000 men to reinforce Arnold , Arbuthnot returned to New York . He resigned his post as station chief due to age and infirmity in July and left for England , ending a stormy , difficult , and unproductive relationship with General Clinton . General Washington , unhappy that the operation had failed , wrote a letter that was mildly critical of Destouches . This letter was intercepted and published in an English newspaper , prompting a critical response to Washington by the Comte de Rochambeau , the French army commander at Newport . The Comte de Barras , who arrived in May to take command of the Newport station , justified Destouches ' failure to pursue the attack : " It is a principle in war that one should risk much to defend one ' s positions , and very little to attack those of the enemy . " Naval historian Alfred Thayer Mahan points out that " this aversion from risks [ . . . ] goes far to explain the French want of success in the war . " Lafayette , when he learned of the French failure , turned back north to rejoin Washington . Washington then ordered Lafayette to stay in Virginia , having learned of the reinforcements sent to Arnold . Although the French operation to support Lafayette was unsuccessful , the later naval operations by the Comte de Grasse that culminated in the French naval victory in the September 1781 Battle of the Chesapeake paved the way for a successful naval blockade and land siege of Lord Cornwallis ' army at Yorktown , Virginia . The battle has been memorialized by American singer - songwriter Todd Snider in " The Ballad of Cape Henry " . Although there is a marker commemorating the Battle of the Chesapeake at the Cape Henry Memorial in Virginia , there is no recognition of this battle at the site . Order of battle . Basic information ( ship names and gun counts ) are provided by Morrissey unless otherwise cited . The names of ship captains are provided by Mahan unless otherwise cited , and casualty figured are provided by Lapeyrouse . Mahan and Lapeyrouse disagree on the casualty count ; Mahan reports that the British had 30 killed and 73 wounded , and that the French had 72 killed and 112 wounded . Sources also disagree on which ship carried Destouches and his flag . The English - language sources ( Mahan , p . 492 , and Morrissey , p . 51 ) list his flag on board the " Neptune " , while Lapeyrouse ( p . 170 ) lists the " Duc de Bourgogne " . The " Duc de Bourgogne " was the flagship of Destouches ' predecessor , the Chevalier de Ternay , during which time Destouches was captain of the " Neptune " ; Destouches may have moved to the " Duc de Bourgogne " upon Ternay ' s death .