At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, the Colonies barely had an army, let alone a navy. To help support the cause, the Continental Congress issues Letters of Marque to merchant ships. A “letter of marque and reprisal” was a government license authorizing a person (known as a privateer) to attack and capture enemy vessels. Cruising for prizes with a letter of marque was considered an honorable calling combining patriotism and profit, in contrast to unlicensed piracy, which was universally reviled. Many Cape May County ship captains, already sailing between Boston and Charleston, and even into the Caribbean, were issued Letters of Marque and were attacking British ships, capturing needed supplies like gunpowder, arms and rum for the Continental Army. The British, to stem the tide of supplies reaching the Army through the port of Philadelphia, blockaded the Delaware Bay.
The Continental Congress recognized the need for a navy to defend the colonies and protect the privateers as they plied the waters along the coast. In the spring of 1776, Continental Congressman Robert Morris of Pennsylvania chartered the newly built brig, the Nancy, and her captain Hugh Montgomery to travel to the Caribbean to load supplies and then sail for Philadelphia with “386 barrels of gunpowder, 55 fire-locks, 101 hogsheads of rum and 62 hogsheads of sugar, etc. on board.”
About the same time, John Barry was commissioned captain of the fourteen-gun USS Lexington in the new Continental Navy. Morris sent word to Captain Barry that the Nancy would be heading his way and would need protection from the blockade since she only carried an eleven man crew and six cannons. Barry, on the Lexington, along with the USS Reprisal, captained by Lambert Wickes, and the USS Wasp, captained by William Hallock, patrolled the mouth of the bay, waiting for the Nancy. The British blockade forces were led by the 28-gun HMS Liverpool and included the 32-gun HMS Orpheus and the 16-gun Kingfisher.
Late on the afternoon of June 28th, a lookout on the Kingfisher spotted the Nancy and gave chase, followed by the Orpheus. Unable to enter the bay, Captain Montgomery on the Nancy turned into a small inlet called Turtle Gut Inlet where the Nancy ran aground in shallow water on the morning of the 29th. The larger British ships, unable to pursue her, began bombarding the ship from a distance. Spotters on shore signaled the Lexington by flag code that the Nancy needed help. Barry in turn signaled the Reprisal and the Wasp. Longboats from all three ships went to the Nancy’s rescue, where they began unloading the gunpowder and taking it to dry land where it was hidden by locals. The British, meanwhile, unable to sail closer, sent longboats of their own to try to capture the ship. Some of Barry’s sailors returned fire while the others helped the crew of the Nancy unload her cargo. In a few hours, with two thirds of the gunpowder unloaded and with the Nancy seriously damaged from cannon fire, Barry ordered the men to abandon ship. He ordered the main sail wrapped around 50 pounds of gunpowder to create a long fuse running from the nearly 100 pounds of gunpowder remaining in the hold to the deck and over the side. Their last act was the removal of the flag from the mast.
The British soldiers who were floating in the longboats nearby thought this was an act of surrender and quickly boarded the Nancy. By then, the fuse reached the hold. The gunpowder exploded with a huge blast felt for miles. The entire seven man crew of the first British longboat was killed. Lieutenant Richard Wickes, brother of Captain Lambert Wickes of the Reprisal, was killed by British cannon fire near the end of the battle. He was the first American casualty of the war in New Jersey and is buried at the Cold Spring Presbyterian Church cemetery.
The Battle of Turtle Gut Inlet brought Captain Barry to Congress’ attention. He was congratulated for his bravery and ingenuity in securing the gunpowder and rescuing the crew of the Nancy. He would go on to capture over 20 British vessels during the war. After the Revolution, he would receive the US Navy’s first commission from President George Washington.
Today, Turtle Gut Inlet is just a memory. It originally ran from the south end of Sunset Lake to the ocean, but it was filled in during the development of Wildwood Crest. Today, the battle is commemorated at Turtle Gut Inlet Part, Miami and New Jersey Aves, in Wildwood Crest.
