Lieutenant General Rochambeau to George Washington, 27 March 1781
From Lieutenant General Rochambeau
Newport, March 27th 1781. 8th A.M.
Sir,
Our fleet entered yesternight and the chevalier Destouches has the honor to give your Excellency an account of his engagement, by duplicata, as he already wrote to your Excellency [by] the Hermione which he sent to Philadelphy,1 I join here a copy of the Letter which I received from the Baron de Viomenil, and a return of the Loss of our detachment of Land forces.2 All that has yet reached my knowledge, is that on the 14th, after having reconnoitred Cape charles, the unluckily contrary winds, made them tack all that day and the next, on the 16th, the wind having changed, they got much nearer, and found in a very thick fogg the British fleet between them and the Capes of Virginia, the engagement begun at one o’clock P.M. and Lasted till four, it has been very warm, specially between 4. of our ships in the van, and 4. of the British, which British ships being very ill used, and having the advantage of the wind did Lye by, and deferred fighting, our fleet continued and then went under very little sail, and at night Lighted all their fires, the next morning one of our frigates saw the British fleet entering chesapeak bay, which made our fleet take the resolution to come back here, as one of our Ships has been very much damaged. The Land and naval armies have renewed on this occasion their union by the courage which they have shewn in this encounter but It is very unhappy that all the chances should have been against us, and that the principal object has miscarried. I hope that our allies will at least be persuaded that every thing in our Power has been done. Humanity cannot command to the Winds.3 I am with respect, Sir, Your Excellency’s Most humble & most obedient servant
le Cte de Rochambeau
The Loss of the Seamen has been considerable The 2d captain of the Conqueror has been killed, and another officer whom I much Lament. Tomorrow all the wounded will be Landed. I do not know their number.4
LS, DLC:GW; LB, in French, DLC: Rochambeau Papers, vol. 7; LB, in French, DLC: Rochambeau Papers, vol. 9.
1. See Destouches to GW, 19 March, and the source note to that document.
Rochambeau’s aide-de-camp Ludwig von Closen wrote in his journal entry for 26 March about the Battle of Cape Henry aftermath: “You cannot imagine the consternation of all the army officers who were on this defeated expedition. All of them blamed M. Destouches for having been too far out to sea, instead of going directly towards the Chesapeake, as did Arbuthnot, who, by the course he followed along the coast took a short-cut and gained an advantage over our fleet, which made a great turn and found bad weather and a contrary wind in approaching the Chesapeake from that side. The three days’ start that we had over the English proves these arguments” (, 74–75).
2. The enclosed “Copy of the Letter of the Baron de Viomenil to the Count de rochambeau, dated a board the Duc de Bourgogne, 26. march. 1781,” reads: “We have not fulfilled, my dear General, the object of our mission, as it should have been done, and as we Wished, to put your orders in execution according to your views, to be really usefull to Virginia, And to the American cause: It is Mr Destouches’s department to tell you and to Let you know the reasons ou’t; Mr De Menonville whom I have the honor to send you, will take your orders as to the day and hour that you chuse the troops of my detachment should Land: If agreable to you, Mr Destouche to morrow morning, will give us all the boats necessary to that purpose and in the afternoon the wounded will be Landed. I will wait for your orders as to my own Landing, as well as for all the other objects” (DLC:GW).
Rochambeau also enclosed “A return of the men belonging to the Detachment, under the orders of the Baron de Viomenil, who have been wounded or killed in the Sea engagement, near Chesapeak Bay, on the 16th march 1781.” According to the return, one grenadier of the Bourbonnais Regiment embarked on the Duc de Bourgogne was killed and six soldiers of the same regiment embarked on the Jason were wounded. Of the grenadiers from the Soissonnais Regiment embarked on the Conquérant, two were killed and fifteen were wounded. Two chasseurs of the Saintonge Regiment embarked on the Éveillé were wounded and of the soldiers from the same regiment embarked on the Ardent, three were killed and three wounded. One soldier from the Royal Deux-Ponts Regiment embarked on the Romulus was wounded. Onboard the Duc de Bourgogne, one soldier from the Royal Corps of Artillery was killed. Two soldiers from the same corps were wounded on the Conquérant. A note at the bottom of the document reads: “One officer of the Grenadiers of Soissonnois has been wounded, his name is Guichard” (DLC:GW).
3. In a later account of the failed expedition, Rochambeau concluded that Captain Destouches “finally returned to Newport with the Baron de Viomenil, after a hard but doubtful combat, and with the bitter regret of not having accomplished his mission” (, 34–36, quote on 36).
4. GW replied to Rochambeau on 31 March.