Comte de Grasse won the 1781 Battle of the Chesapeake, blocking British relief of Yorktown.
François Joseph Paul, Comte de Grasse, commanded the French fleet at the Battle of the Chesapeake on September 5, 1781. The engagement took place near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, where his fleet fought a British force led by Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Graves. Although the tactical result was limited, the strategic consequences were decisive.
By preventing the Royal Navy from controlling the bay, de Grasse stopped British forces from reinforcing or evacuating Lord Cornwallis’s army at Yorktown, Virginia. French ships also helped maintain the blockade and supported the movement of troops and supplies. This naval advantage allowed the combined American and French armies to complete the siege.
Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown on October 19, 1781. De Grasse’s role is sometimes overshadowed by George Washington and the land forces, but control of the sea lanes was essential to trapping the British army. The victory helped secure the negotiations that produced the Treaty of Paris in 1783.