Tag: Battle of Cape Henry

Posted on July 30, 2024July 30, 2024

Cape Henry in the American Revolution

The strategic economic importance of Cape Henry, at the juncture between the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay, was recognized early on in the American colonies with a recommendation that building a lighthouse at that location would be “of great Advantage to the Trade of this Bay.”[1] It took almost half of a century to […]

by Christopher Pieczynski

Posted on August 25, 2020August 19, 2020

L’Expédition Particuliere: Winter 1780 and the Battle of Cape Henry

In July 1780, after three and half months at sea, nearly 6,000 thousand men[1] and supplies crammed on four frigates, seven ships of the line, and thirty-six transport vessels, sailed into Narragansett Bay. Ludwig von Closen of the Royal Deux-Ponts was dispatched to alert Gen. George Washington that the French allies had arrived. Washington quickly […]

by Kim Burdick