battle cape henry naval battle american war independence took place near mouth chesapeake_bay march british squadron led vice admiral french fleet admiral based newport rhode_island sailed joint operation continental_army oppose british army brigadier general active virginia admiral asked general george_washington fleet support military operations arnold sailing march followed days later admiral sailed eastern long_island fleet reaching virginia ahead march hours battle joined fleets suffered damage casualties losing ships positioned enter fleets frustrating objective returned newport protected bay arrival additional land troops reinforce general arnold background december british general sir sent brigadier general changed sides british previous september troops virginia raiding portsmouth general george_washington responded sending south small army oppose arnold seeking trap arnold army french naval detachment washington asked french admiral commander fleet newport rhode_island help wary threat posed slightly larger british north american fleet anchored eastern end long_island reluctant help storm early february damaged fleet prompted send squadron ships south shortly reached british ships supporting arnold moved shallow french ships unable follow french fleet returned newport having success capture heavy frigate ships sent british investigate french movements modest success encouragement prompted embark scale operation march washington newport sailed entire fleet carrying troops use land operations arrived vice admiral british fleet commander north_america aware planning learn sailing march immediately led fleet pursuit speed advantage copper clad vessels favourable wind reached march slightly ahead battle fleets ships lines british advantage firepower gun hms london largest ship fleet compared gun french fleet included recently captured gun smallest vessel line spotted french fleet northeast march nmi east northeast came ordered ships form line battle heading west wind winds began shifting visibility remained poor fleets hours seeking advantage weather wind northeast superior coming rear french line headed east southeast wind order escape position gave orders wear ship sequence brought line advancing british line manoeuvre surrendered weather giving advantage determining attack positioned ships relative wind open lower heavy seas british risk water washing lower decks responded french manoeuvre ordering fleet wear ships van line maneuver fully exposed french line fire consequently suffered significant damage robust europe virtually damage sails rigging kept signal maintaining line flying british fleet lined damaged vessels point ordered fleet wear succession ships damaged british ships taking london yard pulling away east aftermath french casualties killed wounded british suffered killed wounded pulled chesapeake_bay frustrating original intent mission french fleet returned newport transports delivered men reinforce arnold returned new_york resigned post station chief age july left england ending stormy difficult relationship general clinton general washington unhappy operation failed wrote letter mildly critical letter intercepted published english newspaper prompting critical response washington french army commander newport arrived command newport station justified failure pursue attack principle war risk defend positions little attack enemy naval historian points risks goes far explain french want success war learned french failure turned north rejoin washington washington ordered stay virginia having learned reinforcements sent arnold french operation support unsuccessful later naval operations culminated french naval victory september battle paved way successful naval blockade land siege lord army virginia battle american singer songwriter ballad cape henry marker commemorating battle cape henry memorial virginia recognition battle site order battle basic information ship names gun counts provided cited names ship captains provided cited casualty figured provided disagree casualty count reports british killed wounded french killed wounded sources disagree ship carried flag english language sources list flag board neptune lists flagship predecessor time captain neptune moved death popular culture singer recorded ballad cape henry album peace based naval engagement included following lyrics ships frigate pearl frigate iris frigate frigate ships frigate frigate
Battle of Cape Henry