In addition, Wickes was to transport William Bingham to his post, the French possession of Martinique, as agent for the American colonies.

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.

[2] Clearing the Delaware capes on July 3, 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 November 27, while approaching the coast of France, Captain Wickes received Ambassador Franklin's permission to engage two brigs, and captured them both: the brigantines George and La Vigne.

On February 5, his ship captured the armed packet-boat Swallow, carrying mail between Britain and its ally Portugal,[4] after a hard action of 40 minutes duration.

Louis H. Bolander, the assistant librarian at the Naval Academy, wrote an article on Wickes in 1928, entitled "A Forgotten Hero of the American Revolution."

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.