dChan - Q Origins Project Archive

The Battle of Turtle Gut Inlet

The island that now makes up the Wildwoods was once two smaller islands, Two Mile Beach to the south, and Five Mile Beach to the north. A strip of water called Turtle Gut Inlet separated the two islands. Turtle Gut Inlet no longer exists; it was filled in artificially in 1922 to make the one long beach which now runs the length of the Wildwoods and Diamond Beach. [1]

In the era before trains, trucks and modern highways were invented, ships were the main method of transporting goods over distances. The waters around Cape May and the Wildwoods were of strategic importance in the Revolutionary War because they are at the opening of Delaware Bay. In 1776, Philadelphia served as the American capitol, and the only water path to Philadelphia from the Atlantic Ocean is through Delaware Bay into the Delaware River. Because of this, the British set up a naval blockade of Delaware Bay early in the war to prevent ships from sailing to Philadelphia with war supplies.

The Battle of Turtle Gut Inlet - June 29, 1776 [2]

One of the American ships which attempted to make it past the British naval blockade was called the Nancy. It was a type of two-masted ship called a brigantine. The Nancy arrived in the waters outside Cape May on June 28, 1776. It was returning from St. Croix and St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, loaded with gunpowder and weapons, as well as rum and sugar. [3]

Two British warships, the Kingfisher and Orpheus, were blockading the entrance to Delaware Bay. Upon sighting the Nancy on the afternoon of June 28, the two British warships pursued her. Unable to enter Delaware Bay, the Nancy headed towards Turtle Gut Inlet. A fog came in over the water as the sun was setting, and they lost site of the Nancy.

The fog lifted in the morning, and the British warships closed in to attack the Nancy. The Nancy was anchored a distance from the shoreline of Turtle Gut Inlet. The small eleven-man crew of the Nancy attempted to save the war supplies by carrying them on to the shore, while at the same time returning cannonfire to the attacking British warships. The Nancy's captain, Hugh Montgomery, decided it was best to run the ship into the shoreline of Turtle Gut Inlet. Although this could damage the ship, it would give them some distance from the British ships, and it would also make it easier to carry the supplies to shore.

Three American vessels in the area, the Lexington, the Wasp, and the Reprisal, came to the aid of the Nancy. Some of the crewman of these vessels rowed out to the Nancy on smaller boats, and they assisted with the carrying of supplies and manning the cannons. When about two-thirds of the supplies had been carried ashore, Captain Montgomery determined that the Nancy could no longer hold out against the British vessels, and he had the crew abandon the ship. Montgomery decided to blow up the Nancy and the remaining supplies, rather than allow them to fall into the hands of the British. Before leaving the ship, an improvised fuse was created by wrapping gunpowder in the cloth of one of the sails. The fuse led to the main supply of gunpowder still on the ship. It was lit as the men abandoned the Nancy.

The British were unaware that a fuse had been set. They believed that the crew of the Nancy was simply abandoning and surrendering the ship. British seamen boarded the Nancy, which soon exploded, killing everyone on board. A contemporary report described the grisly scene: "Eleven dead bodies have since come on shore, with two gold-laced hats, and a leg with a garter. From the great number of limbs floating and driven ashore, it is supposed thirty or forty of them were destroyed by the explosion." [4]

https://www.revolutionarywarnewjersey.com/new_jersey_revolutionary_war_sites/towns/wildwood_crest_nj_revolutionary_war_sites.htm