The Battle of Turtle Gut was fought off Cape May on June 29, 1776, resulting in our first naval casualty, Richard Wickes
Our story begins with the Nancy which was a brig outfitted by financier Robert Morris to bring badly needed munitions and especially gunpowder to the Continental Army. The Nancy took on a cargo of powder, muskets and other war materiel in St. Thomas and sailed for Philadelphia. On the morning of June 28, 1776, the brig was spotted by three British ships guarding the mouth of the Delaware Bay. The ships gave chase and the captain of the Nancy signaled to sentries ashore Cape May that help was needed.
Captain John Barry (later appointed Commodore by Congress), was aboard the USS Lexington in nearby waters. He and two other ships in our fledgling navy headed to the aid of the Nancy in our nation's first real naval battle. The Nancy raced for the safety of Turtle Gut Inlet between present-day Cape May and Wildwood Crest. However the ship ran aground on a shoal at the entrance to the inlet and the British were closing in.
Captain Barry arrived at the inlet and sent three longboats under the command of Lt. Wickes to try to save the precious cargo of gunpowder before it was captured by the British. Wickes and his men managed to carry off 280 barrels of powder before the British longboats arrived the next morning. Just as the British sailors were about to board the Nancy, Wickes pulled down the topsail and wrapped it into a long fuse around the remaining barrels of powder. He lit the fuse and dove overboard just as the British arrived alongside.
The explosion took the lives of 7 British sailors and was heard in Philadelphia more than 80 miles away. Both sides exchanged prolonged fire following the explosion and Richard Wickes was the sole American casualty, being decapitated by a British cannonball. He is buried in Cold Spring Cemetery on Seashore Road in Cape May.