The beginning of May 1776 found Captain Andrew Snape Hamond of the Royal Navy’s Roebuck, a fifth rate of forty-four guns, operating off the Delaware capes.  His job was to control traffic in and out of the bay and maintain a de facto British blockade while seizing any supplies that might be of use to the rebel Americans and instead secure them for British forces.  On Saturday, May 4, Hamond began moving up the bay and into the Delaware river in company with Liverpool, 28 guns, the brig Betsey and several tenders.   He was short of water and needed to refill empty casks at a fresh source.  It was also an opportunity to take a look at rebel defenses on the critical waterway.^[i]  The British enjoyed only light winds and cloudy skies as they sailed upstream for the next two days, periodically anchoring and frequently taking soundings to avoid the muddy shallows.  Operating at some distance, on May 6 the Liverpool spotted a grounded sloop and sent a boat to recover it.  But, it was stuck fast and Captain Henry Bellew’s crew burned the ship instead.^[ii]

Between 6 and 7 am on Tuesday, May 7, Hamond signaled his little squadron to raise anchor and continue moving up the Delaware River in the direction of Wilmington.  Off New Castle, they spied an armed schooner and several boats and gave chase in the afternoon, just as the weather broke and began pelting the ships in strong winds and heavy rain.  The schooner ran for the shallows under fire from the British ships.  She grounded and Hamond sent boats to seize her around 3 pm.  Unable to refloat her, they settled on taking off her cargo: bread and flour.^[iii]  At the end of a productive day, around 7 pm, Hamond anchored his ships near the Christina River and Wilmington.

Ashore, word spread quickly of Roebuck’s advance up the river.  At Dover on May 6, Colonel John Haslet of the Delaware Regiment received word that the British were off Port Penn in the area of Reedy’s Island and the local militia expected an attack.  The British were already upstream from Haslet.  As Roebuck alternately sailed and anchored, the troops ashore had time to assemble, although they were often chasing dated intelligence about the British position.  One hundred thirty men assembled in Cantwells Bridge about 4 am on the 7^th, but by then Roebuck had already moved up to New Castle.^[iv]  Word of the British anchoring off New Castle reached Philadelphia in the afternoon, about the same time that American gondolas at Fort Island left to drop down the river and attack the British at their anchorage.  Robert Morris, Vice President of the Continental Congress Marine Committee, ordered Continental Navy Captain John Barry to assemble as many Continental Navy crew as possible and dispatch them to the Pennsylvania ship Reprisal and a floating battery, which were both also to drop down the river and join in the attack on the British.^[v]  Men from Captain Proctor’s Company of Artillery in the fort even joined the slapdash crews, serving aboard the American vessel Hornet.^[vi]  It was an all hands moment for Philadelphia’s naval defenders.

Continue reading “A Naval Battle off Wilmington, DE: May 8, 1776” →