On September 5, 1781, 234 years ago today, a French Fleet engaged a British Fleet in the Battle of Chesapeake Bay, also know as the The Second Battle of the Virgina Cape. This sea battle was what secured the Americans victory in the American Revolution.
Every American school kid knows that the American Revolution ended when General Cornwallis surrendered to Washington at Yorktown, but what they don't hear is that this was but a part of a World War that was fought on five continents. From India, to Gibraltar, to West Indies, a war raged between the British on one hand and the Dutch, French and Spaniards on the other. After the Seven Years War, the British had gained control of Canada, Florida, Gibraltar and the Caribbean islands of Grenada and the Grenadines. Ever since then the loser in the war, France and Spain, had been hankering for a rematch. When the colonies openly revolted in 1776 they saw their opportunity. In the early years much of thier effort was covert. Spain sent money and France more boldly sent much-needed engineers and experienced commanders.
Read on to find out how a Spaniard and a Frenchman won the American Revolution.
Both controlled by the house of Burbon, the French and the Spanish joined together in an alliance against the British. Spain hoped to regain control of the lands east of the Mississippi, Florida and Gibraltar; the French's ambition was nothing short of the invasion of England itself. But to accomplish this they needed to divert a lager portion of the formidable British navy away form the home coast so that they could land 70,000 troops. By 1779 it became apparent that the Spaniards were not going to commit the necessary troops for this invasion and the focus switched to an invasion of Jamaica, the prize of the British colonies. To further this goal, King Carlos III sent Don Francisco Saavedra de Sangronis to Cuba where he would have the mandate to speak as the King, but en route to Havana late 1780 he was captured by the British who believed his cover that he was nothing more than a simple merchant. The British took him to Jamaica where he was able to study the British's defenses. In early 1781 the British allowed Saavedra to sail to Cuba on a merchant ship.
Once in Cuba Saavedra immediately got into action reinforcing General Matías Gálvez army for his campaign in Florida. He personally took part in the Siege of Pensacola and the ensuing surrender negotiations. With the Gulf coast secured, he turned his attention to Jamaica. In July of 1781 Saavedra met with the French Admiral de Grasse in St Domingue. Together they put together a three-part plan that is known as the de Grasse/Saavedra Accord. (After ratification in Paris and Madrid it was referred to as the Grasse/Saavedra Convention.) In his diary Saavedra describes the goals of the Accord.
"These were to aid the Anglo- Americans powerfully, in such a way that the English cabinet would in the end lose the hope of subduing them; to take possession of various points in the Windward Islands, where the English fleets lying in protected forts were threatening French and Spanish possessions; and to conquer Jamaica, the center of the wealth and power of Great Britain in that part of the world."
In the north the war was not going well. By 1781 hyperinflation was ravaging the Americans currency and it finally collapsed in May of 1781. Washington had no money to pay his troops and open rebellions were starting to occur in his ranks. In a desperate plea for money Rochambeau wrote to Admiral de Grasse,
"I should not conceal from you, M. l'Amiral, that these people are at the very end of the resources or that Washington will not have at his disposal half of the number of troops he counted upon having. While he is secretive on this subject I believe that at present he has not more than 6,000 men all told."
The French were not much better off. They were waiting for funds to arrive in Boston but transporting the funds across land from Boston was dicey at best. The funds on hand were insufficient to maintain Rochabeau's forces past August. To fulfill the first stage of the Accord, Saavedra and de Grasse put together a detail plan to raise 1,600,000 livres in gold and sail north to Chesapeake Bay with twenty ships of the line and 3,200 reinforcements for Rochambeau.
The funds would prove difficult to obtain. De Grasse was able to raise 50,000 livers by mortgaging his sugar plantation in Haiti and Saavedra secured another 100,000 pesos from Cap Français, still well short of the 1,600,000 livres needed. Saavedra believed the funds would be available in the treasury in Havana, so they moved their fleet to Cuba. When they arrived they discovered that the treasury was empty. Saavedra turned to the people of Havana and in six hours was able to raise an additional 500,000 pesos. (A bit of an urban legend goes that the women of Havana offered up their jewelry and diamonds, but in reality diamonds would have been of little value in the desperate economic environment in America.) The funds were immediately dispatched to de Grasse's fleet in Mananzas.
Now time was of the essences. The beleaguered armies of Washington and Rochambeau were already marching toward Virginia. Admiral de Grasse made a bold decision and sailed his fleet through the Bahamian Channel where no French fleet had ever passed. The British were aware that de Grasse's fleet had departed, but they didn't know where he was headed. British Admiral George Brydges Rodney dispatched Rear Admiral Sir Samuel Hood and his 14 ships to leave the West Indies and sail north to try and find de Grasse. When Hood arrived at Chesapeake on 25th of August, there were no French ships to be found, and he continued on to New York. Once he arrived word reached the British that French Admiral de Barras had sailed from Newport, Rhode Island. After hasty repairs, British Admiral Thomas Graves set sail from New York with Hood and 19 ships of the line back towards Chesapeake Bay.
The gamble of sailing through the Bahamian Channel paid off for de Grasse. The fleet arrived undetected in Chesapeake Bay on the 30th August. Three small British sloops were captured, but otherwise the bay was deserted. The captured sloops ended up disastrous for the British, because they were never allowed to alert the British that de Grasse was in the Chesapeake Bay.
The French were busy landing the reinforcements and much needed cash, when British Admiral Thomas Graves arrived at the bay with his 19 ships of the line on September 5th, 1781. The French cut their anchors and sailed out to engage the British fleet (that's right, the French cut and ran, thus winning the American Revolution).
The French Fleet came out of the bay heading east. The British Fleet was order to wear, or turn 180 degrees so that the two fleets would be sailing the same direction. This meant that what was the rear of the British line become the van (front), and what was the van, commanded by the more aggressive Hood, became the rear. The wind was coming out of the northeast to the advantage of the British who were better able to maneuver, and the rear of the French Fleet kept getting pushed to the south due to the shifting of the wind and the movement of the current. Hood, now in the rear, received mix orders that he Interpreted to mean to 'stay in line'. This meant he never closed with the French rear. When the battle commenced at about 4:15 P.M. the two rear guards were too far away to engage in the fighting. All the action was between the van and the middle - mostly the van, as de Grasse edged away with the ships of the center division.
Both sides were taking damage, but the British ships were taking the brunt of it. The Intrepid had 21 killed and 35 wounded. The Shrewsbury had 14 dead and 52 wounded. Both ships were barely able to move. And the Terrible was taking on more water then it could pump out. By 6:30 P.M. the light was fading and the firing stopped. As night fell the two fleets were about two miles apart and still heading south east.
During the next three days the two fleets shadowed each other, but remained a good seven to eight miles apart as they drifted farther and farther south. Graves decided that the fleet was in no condition to continue the fight and sailed back to New York. When de Grasse lost sight of the British Fleet, he worried that the British had head back to Chesapeake Bay, and turn back to the port. When he arrived he found the ships of Admiral de Barras unloading the artillery and siege equipment needed for the Siege of Yorktown.
Cornwallis, realizing he was trapped with no way to evacuate to New York, surrendered.
So there you are boys and girls, that is the real story of how a Spaniard named Saavedra and a Frenchman named de Grasse won the American Revolution - 234 years ago today.