Hampton Roads Naval Museum
Battle off the Virginia Capes![Location Pin](https://wejunket-comb.b-cdn.net/wp-content/themes/wejunket/assets/images/location_pin.png)
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Hampton Roads Naval Museum
4. Battle off the Virginia Capes![Location Pin](https://wejunket-comb.b-cdn.net/wp-content/themes/wejunket/assets/images/location_pin.png)
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Naval power was a decisive factor in winning America's independence. The young United States had no real navy and relied on that of its ally, France. General George Washington consistently pleaded for the strong French Fleet to act in coordination with the French and American armies. He called naval power "the pivot upon which everything turned." In 1781 the General got his wish when the French Admiral Comte de Grasse agreed to bring his fleet from the West Indies to the Chesapeake Bay. There, de Grasse would coordinate with French and American forces arriving in the Tidewater region by land and water. Their intent was to attack the British Army under Lord Cornwallis, which had fortified itself at Yorktown, Virginia. General Lafayette, the French General, and his army opposed Cornwallis at Yorktown. Washington and his army marched from the Hudson River. Washington soon found that DeGrasse had reached the entrance of the Chesapeake Bay. There, de Grasse landed troops to reinforce Lafayette. His fleet guarded the Bay to prevent the British navy from rescuing Cornwallis. On September 5, 1781, a British fleet of 19 ships approached the Chesapeake Bay. DeGrasse and his fleet went out to meet them. The fleets blazed away in parallel lines east-southeast of Cape Henry. Strangely, the rear squadrons of the fleets did not engage, much to the benefit of the French. The battle was broken off at sunset. On September 9, DeGrasse sailed for the Chesapeake to continue his support of the Yorktown operation. He could not and did not allow the British to slip into the Bay and rescue Cornwallis. Meanwhile, the British fleet returned to New York. Cornwallis realized that relief by sea was impossible, and on October 19 he surrendered to the Allied forces.
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- Puppet Tour of the Museum
- Hampton Roads
- Seaman's Jacket & ECD uniform
- Battle off the Virginia Capes
- Ville de Paris
- Capture of USS Chesapeake
- 18-Pounder Naval Cannon
- USS Chesapeake
- USS Constellation
- US Gunboat 135
- American Musket, 1812
- First American Drydock
- USS Delaware
- USS Norfolk
- Fore and Aft Hat
- USS Pennsylvania
- Intro to the Civil War
- The Anaconda Plan
- Life At Sea
- Confederate Defenses
- USS Monitor
- CSS Virginia
- Duel of the Ironclads
- USS Cumberland
- USS Congress
- USS Minnesota
- Capture of Roanoke Island
- G.W.P. Custis
- USS Roanoke
- USS New Ironsides
- Engine Room Clock
- Gangway Headboards
- USS Onondaga
- Fall of Fort Fisher
- CSS Richmond
- CSS Florida
- The Civil War Final
- Shipfitters' tools, 1800s
- Steel Navy
- USS Maine
- Spanish-American War
- The Great White Fleet
- Jamestown Exposition
- Naval Station Norfolk
- Birth of Naval Aviation
- USS Truxtun (DD-14)
- USS Subchaser 136
- Mines in WWI
- Propaganda Posters
- USS New York (BB-34)
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