Heart-stirring events had happened while the armies were marching
to the South. The Comte de Grasse, with his great fleet, arrived
at the entrance to the Chesapeake on the 30th of August while the
British fleet under Admiral Graves still lay at New York. Grasse,
now the pivot upon which everything turned, was the French
admiral in the West Indies. Taking advantage of a lull in
operations he had slipped away with his whole fleet, to make his
stroke and be back again before his absence had caused great
loss. It was a risky enterprise, but a wise leader takes risks.
He intended to be back in the West Indies before the end of
October.
It was not easy for the British to realize that they could be
outmatched on the sea. Rodney had sent word from the West Indies
that ten ships were the limit of Grasse's numbers and that even
fourteen British ships would be adequate to meet him. A British
fleet, numbering nineteen ships of the line, commanded by Admiral
Graves, left New York on the 31st of August and five days later
stood off the entrance to Chesapeake Bay. On the mainland across
the Bay lay Yorktown, the one point now held by the British on
that great stretch of coast. When Graves arrived he had an
unpleasant surprise.
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