Wasn't that Degrasse?
British
The combined Spanish French Fleet decided to leave port, and make for open waters, the British attacked as they exited their port.
In part it was about "Empire" in that it was a sea battle about sea power. Also it was all part of Napoleon Bonapartes planned Invasion of England 1803-05 which was called off due to not only the Royal Navy but the British anti invasion force on the Southern English coast opposing them. The Battle of Trafalgar was a large part of this and after defeating a larger French and Spanish navys at Trafalgar this confirmed British supremacy in the world at sea all the way through till 1918.
20 to 1
French NEW RESPONDENT The French Fleet commanded by Admiral De Grasse.
Because the British Fleet had been driven off from the Bay of Chesapeake by De Grasse's French Fleet at the Battle of Chesapeake Capes on September 5,1781, leaving Cornwallis's British Army completely blocked in Yorktown and Gloucester.
A french fleet of 24 ships in Chesapeake Bay was able to seal off the waters to the east.
A french fleet of 24 ships in Chesapeake Bay was able to seal off the waters to the east.
Francois de Grasse was a French admiral. He is best known for his command of the French fleet at the Battle of the Chesapeake, which led directly to the British surrender at Yorktown.
A fleet of French warships, commanded by Comte De Grasse, a French leader, defeated British warships and then blockaded the British army led by Cornwallis. The naval battle, known as the Battle of the Chesapeake, took place in September of 1781, with the final surrender of Cornwallis and his men taking place in October of the same year.
The French Fleet, under Admiral the Comte de Grasse, which on Sept. 5, 1781, in the Battle of Chesapeake Capes had driven off the British Fleet from the Bay. De Grasse's Fleet maintained a sea blockade of Cornwallis' Army, preventing them from receiving supplies.
September 5, 1781. The French fleet won, preventing the British fleet from resupplying or reinforcing the British army under Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, through the Capes and on a peninsula extending into Chesapeake Bay. With this failure to relieve Cornwallis, his army was soon forced to surrender.
They thought Cornwallis was a traitor. NEW RESPONDENT Because the British fleet had been driven off in the Battle of Chesapeake Capes on September 5, 1781 and therefore couldn't prevent Cornwallis Army from being blockaded by the French fleet.
Washington D.C.
The French fleet under Admiral DeGrasse (François-Joseph Paul, marquis de Grasse Tilly, comte de Grasse) kept the British fleet from reinforcing or evacuating Cornwallis's forces at Yorktown. His ships defeated the British Admiral Thomas Graves in the Battle of the Chesapeake.
The British were unsuccessful in splitting the land by the Hudson, the Americans start to see how powerful they are, and the colonial army becomes much stronger with the help of the French troops, who help the Americans control the British fleet at Chesapeake Bay and defeat the British led by Cornwallis at Yorktown.