Revolutionary Cape May County

Many of us can recall learning about the most famous events of the American Revolution: perhaps the Battles of Lexington and Concord or Washington crossing the Delaware come to mind. Yet beyond these iconic moments, countless small communities much like our own also played a role—often in ways less celebrated but no less vital. In conjunction with the upcoming 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution, the Museum of Cape May County is unveiling a new permanent exhibit dedicated to telling the story of our community during the Revolution.

Though small in size and population, Cape May County contributed greatly to the Revolution. Its people financed ships, ran saltworks, captured enemy vessels, endured prison ships, gathered and transmitted intelligence, and fought on both land and sea. Families turned their homes, businesses, and very lives into instruments of resistance. Cape May stood as a sentinel at the edge of the new nation—a place where the fight for independence was carried out not only with muskets and cannon but with salt, sails, sharp wits, and unyielding courage.

Presented here are some of the Museum’s favorite highlights from our Revolutionary history. 

The Battle of Turtle Gut

The first privateer battle of the Revolutionary War occurred in the waters that once separated Wildwood from Wildwood Crest. This was the Battle of Turtle Gut Inlet—a clash in which the ingenuity of American mariners and the stark patriotism of local residents became the stuff of legend.

The brig Nancy—a privateer led by Captain Hugh Montgomery of Wilmington, Delaware—was chartered by the Continental Congress to bring military supplies into Philadelphia in the spring of 1776. Just a few months later, the crew of the Nancy was unable to make its delivery due to a British blockade of the Delaware Bay. The British Kingfisher and Orpheus spotted the Nancy and pursued her into the night. Taking advantage of dense fog and familiarity with the coastline, Captain Montgomery slipped into the protection of Turtle Gut Inlet.

Continental Navy Captains John Barry, Lambert Wickes, and William Hallock, anticipating such a conflict, were already patrolling the area with the Lexington, Reprisal, and Wasp, respectively. Flag codes sent between the Nancy, spotters on shore, and the Lexington initiated a cooperative defense against the British men-of-war—an effort that foreshadowed the highly successful collaboration between the Navy and privateers throughout the war.

Despite the protection of the inlet, the Nancy remained under attack from the Kingfisher and Orpheus, which dispatched longboats with the intent to capture her. Determined to keep the ship and her supplies out of British hands, Captain Montgomery ran her aground and ordered the crew to transfer her cargo to shore. By this time, Captain Barry had sent reinforcements via longboats from the Lexington, Reprisal, and Wasp. The additional crew helped prevent the British from boarding the Nancy and sped up the transfer process, while local residents hid the offloaded supplies.

With the protective fog lifting and five barges full of men approaching to attack, Captain Barry made a quick-witted decision that would truly ignite his legacy as the “Father of the American Navy.” Knowing that more than 100 barrels of gunpowder remained in the hold, Barry ordered the crew to secure 50 pounds of gunpowder to the main mast with a sail, running it down the side of the Nancy. They lit the sail as a fuse, removed the flag, and abandoned ship. Perhaps mistaking the removal of the flag as a signal of surrender, British men boarded the smoking vessel and cheered. Moments later, the Nancy erupted in an explosion so powerful it reportedly sent the men on board as much as 50 yards into the air; the sound could be heard as far away as Philadelphia.

As the surviving barges retreated, American mariners and local residents mounted a gun on shore and fired at them. The British men-of-war returned fire, killing Richard Wickes (3rd Lieutenant of the Reprisal and brother of Captain Lambert Wickes), making him the first American casualty of the Revolutionary War in New Jersey.

The Battle of Turtle Gut Inlet was an important win for the fledgling Continental Navy and for the American spirit. Thanks to these heroic and cooperative efforts, approximately two-thirds of the Nancy’s military supplies made their way to the Continental Army as intended.

Privateers, Militia, and Lore

As coastal people deeply rooted in maritime industries, many Cape May natives answered the call of duty in the best way they knew how: by navigating the ocean, bays, and inlets. Some of the county’s greatest contributions to the war came from privateering. Privateers were privately owned armed vessels authorized by Congress with “Letters of Marque” to attack and capture enemy ships. At least 51 Letters of Marque went to Cape May ships between 1778 and 1782. Some 24 captains and hundreds of crew members hailed directly from the county—an astonishing number for such a small place.

Captain Joseph Edwards, Jr., a Cape May privateer, captured two express boats carrying messages from Clinton to Cornwallis and in the process seized mail with critical intelligence for the army. Thomas Leaming, Jr., of Cape May County, became one of Philadelphia’s most successful privateer financiers, bankrolling the capture of fifty prize ships and thousands of prisoners, whom he used to secure exchanges for captured Americans.

Nicholas Stillwell Jr., a New Jersey militia colonel, owned property at Beesley’s Point, where he used his Ferry House to hold and auction goods seized from captured ships. After the British brig Delight was stranded at Pecks Beach (Ocean City) due to fog, the local militia—in which several Willets men served—took possession of the ship and escorted its crew to Philadelphia. The cargo was then auctioned at the Ferry House. The Willets family owned property on Pecks Beach, but the cooperation was more than neighborly: Col. Nicholas Stillwell’s sister, Rebecca, was married to privateer captain James Willets, Jr.

Rebecca and James became legendary in their own right. Rebecca was propelled into local lore after allegedly firing a cannon from the Ferry House to scare off British raiders. James became the center of family lore due to his muscular prowess. According to an account written by his nephew, James once took eleven steps with four barrels of flour hanging from poles across his shoulders—a total weight of more than 1,000 pounds. The flour had just been offloaded from a ship captured at Great Egg Harbor near the end of the war.

Nicholas and Rebecca’s sister Sarah braved British lines to advocate for the release of her husband, privateer Captain Moses Griffing, from the dreaded prison ship Jersey in New York Harbor. Enoch Stillwell, another sibling, rose through the militia and captured enemy ships as a privateer before also being imprisoned on the Jersey.

Other Cape May figures were equally bold. Col. Elijah Hand of Fishing Creek commanded the Cumberland militia at Quinton’s Bridge in Salem County, helping repel a British attack. When ordered by Col. Charles Mawhood to lay down his arms, Hand replied with defiance, comparing him to a “barbarous Attila” and warning that the wanton destruction he threatened would only strengthen the patriot cause. Later, as a privateer, Hand captured multiple vessels alongside his cousin Enoch Willets before enduring imprisonment on the Jersey.

Captain Stephen Decatur, Sr., one of the most famous privateers to patrol our coastline, heavily relied on Cape May. According to Jacob Nagle, a mariner on the Fair American, Decatur’s wife lived in Cape May with their young son while he was at sea. Decatur would escort captured ships as far as Cape May, leaving his prize crew to finish the course to Philadelphia. His crew would then find passage back to Cape May, where they would wait with Mrs. Decatur for rendezvous. This system allowed the Fair American to maintain a constant supply of men during its four-month cruise in 1780. Decatur was not the only privateer to use Cape May in this way; Nagle also recounts coming to Cape May for provisions and rendezvous while working aboard other vessels.

The Battle of Delaware Bay

Cape May stood watch over another important naval battle in 1782: the Battle of Delaware Bay. Near Cape May Point, the American sloop Hyder Ally—commanded by young Lt. Joshua Barney—faced the British sloop General Monk, an infamous warship that had captured more than 60 American vessels in one year.

Barney’s mission, with support from two additional sloops, was to escort a fleet of merchantmen from Philadelphia past a British blockade. The General Monk, under the command of British Captain Josiah Rodgers, was cruising the bay with the frigate Quebec when he spotted the convoy anchored off Cape May. The British men-of-war moved to block their escape and attempted to hail British privateers to join what was supposed to be an “easy capture” of American ships and supplies.

Lt. Barney quickly became aware of these movements thanks to a forward-thinking decision to send a pilot spy to shore the night before. He ordered the convoy to head back up the Delaware. When Rodgers attacked, two American vessels were quickly lost, but Barney held firm. Using a clever ruse—feinting a port turn while swinging starboard—Barney forced a collision with the General Monk, locking the ships together.

Above: 1782 John Brown Images: Handwritten letter dated April 16th, 1782, from James Crawford of Philadelphia to John Brown of Boston, describing the Battle of Delaware Bay; Museum of Cape May County Archives.

Twenty-six minutes of brutal close quarters combat ensued. The Hyder Ally unleashed thirteen broadsides, relentless musket fire, and grapeshot, while its riflemen picked off British crew from the rigging. In the midst of the action, Barney was nearly killed twice — a musket ball tore through his hat just missing his head, and another ripped through the skirt of his coat.

The General Monk suffered 26 killed and 33 wounded, including most of its officers, and had more than 300 shot holes in her side by the end of the battle. Barney’s crew lost only four killed and 11 wounded. The Quebec fled to sea, leaving the Americans victorious.

An original handwritten letter describing the Battle of Delaware Bay is just one of the items that will be on display in the new Revolutionary War exhibit at the Museum of Cape May County. Other featured items include Hessian rifles, an officer’s sword belonging to the Stites family, and a piece of the balcony on which George Washington stood as he took his oath as the first President of the United States.

Together, these artifacts and the stories behind them remind us that the Revolution was not only fought on great battlefields but lived daily in places like Cape May — in homes, on sandy beaches, and across its waters. By linking personal stories with materials that have endured the centuries, the exhibit invites visitors to step into the world of Cape May’s patriots, to feel the weight of their choices, and to reflect on the resilience and sacrifices that shaped both our county and our country.