Battle of the Chesapeake [SEP] end time
Battle of the Chesapeake
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 that took place near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay on 5 September 1781. The combatants were a British fleet led by Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Graves and a French fleet led by Rear Admiral Francois Joseph Paul, the Comte de Grasse. The battle was strategically decisive, in that it prevented the Royal Navy from reinforcing or evacuating
a sail and proceeded north up the Chesapeake Bay exploring and mapping its coasts and rivers, creeks and bays up to the later named Susquehanna River which fed the Bay. 
In 1781, the waters off of these Virginia Capes and the entrance to the Chesapeake and Hampton Roads harbor were the site of an important naval clash between warships of the Kingdom of France and the Kingdom of England near the end of the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) in the Battle of the Capes. The victory of the French Navy over