Carte de la partie de la Virginie ou l'armée combinée de France & des Etats-Nies de l'Amérique..

Extremely rare map of the lower Chesapeake Bay emphasizes the Revolutionary War naval battle that took place off the Virginia coast prior to General Charles Cornwalllis's surrender at Yorktown, October 19, 1781.
Engraved by Etienne Claude Voysard (1746-1812) and published by Esnauts et Rapilly in Paris.
It graphically illustrates the French blockade at the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay, preventing the combined fleets of English Admirals Thomas Graves and Samuel Hood from providing reinforcements to Cornwallis. The battle marked a turning point in American history with the remainder of hostilities between France and Great Britain taking place elsewhere.

Dissected and laid on linen. With contemporarily paper label with manuscript title in brown pen and ink.

Only a handful examples are recorded. The last example offered on the market was sold in our antique map of March 2008 auctionnr />
The battle
Around mid-morning, the French frigate Aigrette signaled 20 sails approaching from the northeast. Initially assumed that it was De Barras fleet., when it became obvious that the force could only be British 1.900 men foraging ashore had to rush to their ships. At 2:00 pm French fleet emerged finally from Chesapeake Bay in a straggling line ahead formation, many ships undermanned. Graves ordered his fleet to wear, reversing battle line, this would let De Grasse´s center come abreast of his own and allow each British ship to engage the vessel opposite to it. At about 4:05pm the leading British ship opened fire.
The action lasted for two hours, all of the fighting on the vans and center, while Hood´s rear division hardly fired a shot because of some signal confusion (American and Caribbean squadrons used different signals!) Initially Graves signaled "line of battle" , but later added ?close action?, which flew simultaneously for at least one and a half hours. The dual signal cause no problems for the van and center , since being in close contact with the enemy, the two orders were perfectly compatible. But it was impossible for Hood´s division to do both, as his angle of approach would require to brake the line in order to close. Hood decided to preserve the line.
With both fleets heading away from the Capes, firing died down around dusk, though the fleets maintained contact through the night. On the morning of 6 British observers felt that the French fleet looked the less badly damaged. The two fleets remained in contact for two days. On the evening of September 9, De Grasse turned northwest, back to Chesapeake Bay. On the morning of 11 September he entered the Chesapeake to find De Barras safely at anchor in Lynnhaven Bay.
Meanwhile the British fleet had continued on into the Atlantic, having been forced to burn HMS Terrible (74), too damaged to be saved. On 12 September Graves sent the frigate HMS Medea to look into Chesapeake Bay. Her captain reported De Barras arrival, and Graves decided to sail to New York for repairs.
The Battle of the Virginia Capes should be regarded as a major strategic victory for the French. The British fleet failed to accomplish anything, neither capturing De Barras´ fleet nor forcing De Grasse to leave Yorktown blockade. This failure sealed the fate of Cornwallis army at Yorktown.
For the French, this battle marks the finest hour of their fleet in the XVIII century.

frigate "Hermione" recently visited Yorktown
Nearly 235 years after the Revolution was decided at Yorktown, a replica of the18th-century French frigate "Hermione" recently visited Yorktown after it left France earlier this year.
Without the French ships and sailors who defeated the Royal Navy in the Sept. 5, 1781 Battle of the Capes -- including the Concorde-class frigate that transported the Marquis de Lafayette to Boston the previous April -- Washington's triumph over Cornwallis wouldn't have happened.
The epic clash off the coast lasted only 2 1/2 hours -- and no Americans were involved. But by the time the ships of the line parted just before sunset the British fleet was battered so badly it could not continue the fight. And that ended any hope that the British army could escape the siege that insured America's victory in the Revolution.
"The Battle of the Chesapeake Bay was one of the decisive battles of the world," writes historian Michael Lewis in "The History of the British Navy."
Before it, the creation of the United States was possible, after it, it was certain.