Which naval battle helped trap Cornwallis at Yorktown during the American Revolution?

The Battle of the Chesapeake helped trap Cornwallis at Yorktown during the American Revolution.

Fought on September 5, 1781, the battle pitted a French fleet commanded by the Comte de Grasse against a British fleet led by Rear Admiral Thomas Graves. The fleets met off the Virginia Capes, near the entrance to Chesapeake Bay.

The battle was tactically inconclusive in the sense that neither side captured an enemy ship, but its strategic result was decisive. The British fleet withdrew, leaving the French in control of the bay and preventing relief or evacuation of Cornwallis’s army at Yorktown.

This maritime victory enabled the allied American and French forces to complete the Siege of Yorktown. Cornwallis surrendered on October 19, 1781. The battle is also called the Battle of the Virginia Capes, a name that can cause confusion with other Chesapeake-area engagements.