19. The British fleet failed to relieve the British garrison in Virginia
In 1781, with the knowledge that two French fleets would be available in the late summer, Washington met with the French commander in North America, the Comte de Rochambeau, to plan joint operations. Washington wanted to concentrate on New York, but Rochambeau pointed out that the army under Earl Cornwallis, in Virginia, was vulnerable. Defeat or victory in the upcoming campaign was entirely dependent on the French Navy preventing the Royal Navy from coming to the aid of the Earl’s troops, which had established a base on the tip of the York Peninsula in Virginia. The French and British troops left New York for Yorktown surreptitiously.
Two French fleets, one from Newport under de Barras, the other from the West Indies under the Comte de Grasse, converged on North American waters that summer. British Admiral Thomas Graves, aware of both sailings and of the opinion that the mutual target was the Chesapeake, sailed for those waters, arriving on September 5. De Grasse was already there, and sailed forth to meet the British fleet. De Grasse was aware that de Barras’s fleet was due shortly, carrying with it the siege equipment and heavy artillery for the arriving American and French troops, and fought the upcoming battle accordingly.