Cape Henry

In December 1780, British General Sir Henry Clinton sent Brigadier General Benedict Arnold (who crossed over to the British side last September), from 1700 troops to Virginia , to raids and fortify Portsmouth . General George Washington responded by sending south against Arnold the Marquis de Lafayette with a small army. In an effort to squeeze Arnold between the Lafayette army and the French ships, Washington turned for help to the French admiral Detouch ( French Charles René Dominique Sochet, Chevalier Destouches ), commander of the fleet in Newport , (Rhode Island). Detouch, mindful of the threat from the somewhat superior British North American squadron anchored at Gardiner Bay, on the eastern tip of Long Island , was reluctant to help.

In early February, a storm damaged the Arbuthnot fleet, prompting Detush to soon send a detachment of three ships to the south. When they reached Chesapeake, the British ships supporting Arnold crossed to the mouth of the shallow Elizabeth River, where the French ships were unable to pursue them. The French returned to Newport. Their only success was the capture of the 44-gun HMS Romulus , from among the ships sent to monitor the French maneuvers. This modest success, and the encouragement of General Washington, prompted Detouch to a full-scale operation. On March 8 , when Washington was in Newport, Detush went out with the entire fleet, having 1,200 people on board for operations on land upon arrival at Chesapeake.

Vice Admiral of the White Squadron Mariotte Arbuthnot, the British fleet commander in North America, understood that Detush was up to something, but only learned about his going to sea on March 10 , and immediately set off with his fleet in pursuit. Due to the advantage in speed of copper-lined ships and tailwind, he reached Cape Henry on March 16 , slightly ahead of the Baby.

Although both had eight pennants, the British had an advantage in firepower: the 90-gun HMS London , the largest of those present (compared to the 84-gun Duc de Bourgogne ). Also, the French squadron included the newly captured 44-gun Romulus , the smallest of all. When Arbuthnot discovered the French to the northeast at 6 a.m. on March 16, they were about 40 miles (74 km) to ENE from Cape Henry. Arbutnot turned the overstag , and Detush ordered his ships to build a battle line with fair wind, heading for W. Between 8 and 9 o’clock in the morning, windsets began, visibility was poor. For several hours, the squadron maneuvered, trying to win an advantage and go off the air . By 1 o'clock in the afternoon the wind had set in from the northeast, and Arbuthnot, showing the superiority of maritime practice, was approaching the French rearguard . Squadrons moved on the ESE , tacking against the wind. In order to avoid such a situation, Detush ordered to turn the fordevind consistently, and turned back in front of the advancing British line. By this maneuver, he gave upwind position (giving Arbyutnot the initiative in choosing an attack), but also set his ships relative to the wind in such a way that he could open the lower ports with a high wave, which the British could not do without risking flooding the lower decks.

Arbyutnot answered the French maneuver, ordering his ships to also turn the fordewind. When the ships at the forefront completed the maneuver, they were completely in the fire zone of the French line, and therefore suffered significant damage. HMS Robust , HMS Europe and HMS Prudent almost lost control due to damage to the sails and rigging . Arbuthnot kept a signal to maintain the line, and as a result of his squadron, the damaged ships lined up in the wake . The kid at that moment again ordered to turn sequentially, and his ships once again gave a longitudinal salvo to the damaged British, and shot down Mars - Ray London , and then retreated to the stop.

Losses of the French amounted to 72 killed and 112 wounded, while the British lost 30 killed and 73 wounded. ^[2] Arbuthnot was drawn into the Chesapeake Bay, thereby making the goal of the Baby Expedition inaccessible, and the latter returned to Newport. After the transports delivered 2,000 reinforcements to Arnold, Arbuthnot returned to New York . He left the post of commander of the station due to age and infirmity, and in July left for England. This ended his stormy, difficult and unproductive collaboration with General Clinton.

General Washington, unhappy that the operation was unsuccessful, wrote a letter that gently criticizes Detush. This letter was intercepted and published in English newspapers, which caused a critical response from Washington Earl de Rocheambo , commander of the French army in Newport. The Count de Barras , who arrived in May to take command in Newport, justified Detusch’s refusal to continue the attack: "The principle of war is to take risks much greater, defending their positions, and very small, attacking the enemy’s positions." Mahan also points out that "this desire to avoid risk ... largely explains the lack of success of the French in [that] war." ^[2]

Lafayette, when he learned of the French failure, turned back north to connect with Washington. Washington ordered Lafayette to stay in Virginia, learning of reinforcements sent to Arnold. Although the French operation to strengthen Lafayette was unsuccessful, later the actions of the Count de Grasse ended with a naval victory of the French in September 1781 at Chesapeake and paved the way for the success of the naval blockade and siege of the army of Lord Cornwallis in Yorktown.

The fight was immortalized by American singer-songwriter Todd Snyder in The Cape Henry Ballad. Although there is a commemorative sign in the memorial on Cape Henry in Virginia dedicated to the Battle of Chesapeake, there is no mention of the battle at Cape Henry.

• Gardiner, Asa Bird. The Order of the Cincinnati in France
• National Park Service: Cape Henry Memorial

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• Morrissey, Brendan. Yorktown 1781: the World Turned Upside Down . London: Osprey, 1997. ISBN 978-1-85532-688-0