Presented by John V. Quarstein, Director Emeritus, USS Monitor Center

Hampton Roads History Lectures are free with $1 Museum admission, but reserving a seat is suggested as seating is limited. Reserve seats online – see each lecture below.

On September 5, 1781, the fate of Lord Cornwallis’s army stationed at Yorktown, Virginia, was sealed by the Battle of the Capes. A British fleet, commanded by Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Graves, failed to dislodge a larger French fleet guarding the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay that was commanded by Comte de Grasse. Graves’s inability to take advantage of several tactical opportunities resulted in the isolation of Cornwallis and his eventual surrender.