Barry holds off three British warships; the Nancy's powder reaches shore, then the ship goes up

Three months after the Continental Congress authorized privateering, the British blockade of Delaware Bay was already strangling Philadelphia's supply lines. On June 29, 1776, the brigantine Nancy — chartered by Robert Morris and loaded with Caribbean gunpowder — ran aground at Turtle Gut Inlet near Cape May, New Jersey, with HMS Liverpool, Orpheus, and Kingfisher bearing down on her. Captain John Barry of the Lexington organized a two-part operation under British cannon fire: hold the warships off while longboats ferried 265 to 286 kegs of powder to safety. When the British finally closed in to board, a lit fuse ended the Nancy in a blast that killed seven of them…