f the
French, Hood sailed on to New York and joined Admiral Graves, who
being senior, took command of the combined squadrons. As it was
an open secret at that time that the allied operations would be
directed at Cornwallis, Graves immediately sailed for the Capes,
hoping on the way to intercept the Newport squadron which was known
to be bound far the same destination. On reaching the Capes, September
5, he found de Grasse guarding the entrance to the bay with 24 ships
of the line, the remaining four having been detailed to block the
mouths of the James and York rivers. To oppose this force Graves
had only 19 ships of the line, but he did not hesitate to offer
battle.

In de Grasse's mind there were two things to accomplish: first,
to hold the bay, and secondly, to keep the British occupied far
enough at sea to allow the Newport squadron to slip in. Of course
he could have made sure of both objects and a great deal more by
defeating the British fleet in a decisive action, but that was not
the French naval doctrine. The entrance to the Chesapeake is ten
miles wide but the main channel lies between the southern promontory
and a shoal called the Middle Ground three miles north of it. The
British stood for the channel during the morning and the French,
taking advantage of the ebbing tide at noon, cleared the bay, forming
line of battle as they went. As they had to make several tacks to
clear Cape Henry, the ships issued in straggling order, offering
an opportunity for attack which Graves did not appreciate. Instead
he went about, heading east an a course parallel to that of de
Grasse, and holding the windward position. When the two lines were
nearly opposite each other the British admiral ware down to attack.

[Illustration: BATTLE OF THE VIRGINIA CAPES, SEPT. 5, 1781

(After diagram in Mahan's _Major Operations in the War of American
Independence,_ p. 180.)]

Graves's method followed the orthodox tradition exactly, and with
the unvarying result. As the attacking fleet bore down in line ahead
at an angle, the van of course came into action first, unsupported for
some time by the rest. As the signal for close action was repeated,
this angle was made sharper, and in attempting to close up the line
several ships got bunched in such a way as to mask their fire.
Meanwhile the rear, the seven ships under Hood, still trailing
along in line ahead, never got into the action at all. Graves had
signaled for "close action," but Ho