British Admiral Samuel Hood tailed Admiral de Grasse's French fleet as it headed north from the West Indies.  Then he lost sight of the French and reached the Virginia Capes ahead of them.  Hood assumed de Grasse had continued north, possibly as far north as Newport, Rhode Island, where de Grasse's compatriot Admiral de Barras had been locked in for three years by the British navy, and headed for New York.  There Hood conferred with Clinton and Rear Admiral Thomas Graves, who knew by then that de Grasse's destination had been Virginia.

A fleet of 19 British ships -- with Hood and Graves on board -- left New York harbour headed for the Chesapeake August 31.  That same day de Grasse's fleet sailed into the Chesapeake.  The next day 40 French ships went up the James River with 3,000 reinforcements for Lafayette in Williamsburg.  Four French ships anchored at the entrance to the York River.