In 1781, now a rear admiral and in command of the Newport fleet, he led an attempt to deliver troops to Virginia to oppose those of the British general Benedict Arnold, who was engaged in the raids against economic and military targets there. This effort failed when he encountered the fleet of Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot in the Battle of Cape Henry, and drew away after several of his ships sustained significant damage. He served in 1782 under de Grasse in the Battle of the Saintes, a decisive naval victory for the British in the West Indies in which de Grasse was captured.
