Chesapeake Channel

The entrance to Chesapeake Bay lies between Cape Charles and Cape Henry, opening from the Atlantic into a great estuary fed by many rivers. Control of the passage mattered during the American Revolution. On 5 September 1781 a British fleet encountered the French fleet under the Comte de Grasse near the capes. The ensuing battle prevented British relief by sea from reaching Cornwallis at Yorktown, while French and American forces closed around his army on land.