While Cape May was remote and distant from the American Revolutionary War on land, it occupied a strategic location at the tip of the Cape. It was home to skilled pilots who knew the shoals of the ocean and bay, was already well involved in shipping trade, offered safe anchorage for ships on their way to and from Philadelphia, was already becoming known as a seashore resort, popular with Philadelphians, and could serve as a lookout on the activities of the British Navy, serving as Philadelphia’s early warning system. Learn about Cape May’s little-known naval role in the American War of Independence and the ingenuity of its citizens in battle on local waterways fighting to forge a new nation.