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In
memory of the men of the French fleet who
died in the naval phase of the Yorktown campaign
in the battle off the Virginia capes on
5 September 1781. in
appreciation of the service of admiral François
Joseph Paul de grasse who brought his
entire west Indies fleet to the aid of the
Americans, who transported more than 3000
French troops under the command of the marquis
de saint-Simon to reinforce the land forces,
and who commanded the French fleet in
the battle off the Virginia capes, defeating a
squadron of the British royal navy under admiral
Thomas graves. general George Washington
called French naval superiority "the
pivot upon which everything turned" as the
French victory prevented general earl Cornwallis
from aid or escape by sea and allowed
a smaller French fleet from Newport under
commodore de barras to enter the Chesapeake
bay with siege guns essential in the
land battle that followed. in
commemoration of the bicentennial of this most
important naval battle fought in American waters
which assured the victory at Yorktown and
American independence. this
tablet is erected by the
national society daughters
of the American revolution October
19, 1981
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