The Battle of Chesapeake, 5th September 1781 - Steven Dews

The Battle of the Chesapeake, also known as the Battle of the Virginia Capes, was fought during the American Revolution (1775 - 1783). 

 

The battle was a key naval engagement during the Yorktown Campaign.   As a consequence, the British Army of some 7,500 men under General Lord Charles Cornwallis was forced to surrender two weeks later. 

 

Both the French Fleet, fighting on behalf of General George Washington, and the British Fleet, suffered some 320 casualties, and many of the British ships were heavily damaged and unable to continue fighting. The battle itself was tactically inconclusive but it was a massive strategic victory for the French, who drew the British away from the Chesapeake thus ensuring that the Navy could not rescue Cornwallis' Army. The subsequent successful siege of Yorktown broke the back of British power in the Colonies and led to American Independence.