The Committee of Secret Correspondence of Congress, by arrangement with the Marine Committee, issued orders for Capt. Wickes to proceed to the West Indies in Reprisal and bring out munitions for use by General Washington’s army. In addition, Wickes was to transport William Bingham to his post, the French possession of Martinique, as agent for the American colonies.
Reprisal passed down the Delaware River from Philadelphia during the latter part of June 1776. While en route, Reprisal went to the aid of the harried Continental 6-gun brig Nancy—bound from St. Croix and St. Thomas with 386 barrels of gunpowder—which was being chased by six British men-of-war. In order to save Nancy, her captain ran her aground. Reprisal and Lexington—the latter under the command of Capt. John Barry—kept boats from HMS Kingfisher at bay and succeeded in landing some 200 barrels of the precious powder. In this engagement, Wickes’ brother Richard was killed while serving as third lieutenant in Reprisal.
Clearing the Delaware capes on 3 July, Reprisal, under Wickes’ sterling seamanship, captured a number of prizes in the West Indies and had a sharp engagement with HMS Shark, beating her off and escaping into port.
On 24 October 1776, Wickes was ordered to France with Benjamin Franklin as passenger. During the voyage, Reprisal captured two brigs and reached Nantes on 29 November, where the ship’s important passenger disembarked. Setting sail in January 1777, Wickes took Reprisal to sea on a cruise which took her to the Bay of Biscay and the mouth of the English Channel. On 5 February, his ship captured the British merchantman Lisbon Packet after a hard action of 40 minutes duration. During the battle, Reprisal suffered two officers seriously wounded and one man killed.
During the remainder of this foray against British shipping, Wickes took five additional prizes and left them at Port Louis. Wickes moved Reprisal to L’Orient but was ordered to leave the port in 24 hours by the French government—the port authorities apparently stirred to action by bitter remonstrances from the British government. Wickes, however, claimed that Reprisal had sprung a leak and needed to be careened for hull repairs. Wickes proved to be skillful at gaining time as, on several occasions, he thwarted the intentions of the French government to have him sail.
In April 1777, the Continental vessels Lexington and Dolphin joined Reprisal and constituted a squadron under Wickes’ command. Setting sail from St. Auzeau on 28 May, the ships cruised around Ireland in June, July and August. During one phase of the voyage, the three ships captured 15 ships in five days. On 14 September, Wickes left France in Reprisal, in company with Dolphin, bound for home. Around 1 October, Reprisal foundered off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, with the loss of all hands except the cook.
Louis H. Bolander, the assistant librarian at the Naval Academy, wrote an article in 1928, entitled “A Forgotten Hero of the American Revolution.” Appearing in Americana in April 1928, the article closed with a fitting epitaph for Capt. Lambert Wickes: “Thus closed a career distinguished for patriotism, gallantry and humanity, for not a single charge of cruelty or harshness was ever breathed against him by any one of his many prisoners. Franklin, who knew him well, said of him, ‘He was a gallant officer, and a very worthy man’.”
Source: Naval History & Heritage Command including Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.