This luxuriously stylized, map of the lower Chesapeake Bay created in 1782, concentrates on the Revolutionary War naval battle that took place off the Virginia coast prior to General Charles Cornwalllis's surrender at Yorktown, October 19, 1781. It graphically illustrates the French blockade at the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay, preventing the combined fleets of English Admirals Thomas Graves and Samuel Hood from providing reinforcements to Cornwallis. This battle at Yorktown, marked a turning point in American history with the remainder of conflicts between France and Great Britain taking place elsewhere.