Battle of Cape Henry 1781
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Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 16 March 1781 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1781 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Nearest landmass | At sea (nearest continent: North America) | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | North America | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | American Revolutionary War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | France, Kingdom of Great Britain | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 37.1500, -75.1520 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Cape Henry was a naval battle in the American War of Independence which took place near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay on 16 March 1781 between a British squadron under Vice-admiral Mariot Arbuthnot and a French squadron under Admiral Charles René Dominique Sochet, Chevalier Destouches. Destouches, based in Newport, Rhode Island, had sailed for the Chesapeake as part of a joint operation with the Continental Army to oppose the British army of Brigadier General Benedict Arnold that was active in Virginia.
Destouches was asked by General George Washington to take his fleet to the Chesapeake to support military operations against Arnold by the Marquis de Lafayette. Sailing on 8 March, he was followed two days later by Admiral Arbuthnot, who sailed from eastern Long Island. Arbuthnot's fleet outsailed that of Destouches, reaching the Virginia Capes just ahead of Destouches on 16 March. After manoeuvring for several hours, the battle was joined, and both fleets suffered some damage and casualties without losing any ships. However, Arbuthnot was positioned to enter the Chesapeake as the fleets disengaged, frustrating Destouches' objective.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Cape Henry (revision 1370436183), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of the Chesapeake 1781 · 40 km
- Raid on Chesconessex Creek · 87 km
- Action of 22 January 1783 1783 · 89 km
- Battle of Kemp's Landing 1775 · 96 km
- Battle of Hampton Roads 1862 · 105 km
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Other battles of the American Revolutionary War
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- Battle of Wahab's Plantation 1780
- Battle of Waxhaws 1780
- Battle of Young's House 1780
- Siege of Charleston 1780
- Action of 21 July 1781 1781
- Battle of Blandford 1781
- Battle of Cowan's Ford 1781
- Battle of Cowpens 1781
- Battle of Eutaw Springs 1781
All 190 battles of the American Revolutionary War →
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