Originally the merchantman brig Molly, she was purchased from Robert Morris by the Marine Committee of the Continental Congress on March 28, 1776, renamed Reprisal, and placed under the command of Captain Lambert Wickes.

On June 10, 1776, the Committee of Secret Correspondence of Congress, by arrangement with the Marine Committee, issued orders to Captain Wickes, to proceed in Reprisal to Martinique and bring from there munitions of war for George Washington's armies, and also to take as passenger Mr. William Bingham, who had been appointed agent from the American colonies to Martinique.

Before the Continental armed brig Nancy, six guns, slipped out to the Atlantic, six British men-of-war had sighted and chased her as she was returning from St. Croix and St. Thomas with 386 barrels of gunpowder for the Army.

During that month, Captain Wickes captured a number of vessels in the West Indies, and, on July 27, had a sharp encounter with HMS Shark off Martinique, beating her off and escaping into port.

He received permission to make his repairs and by excuses was able several times to defeat the intentions of those in charge of the port while he made ready for another cruise.

The American Commissioners in Paris sent the squadron on a cruise along the shores of the British Isles, where Wickes had planned an attack on the Irish linen merchant fleet.

Having created serious turmoil in the British shipping industry, Reprisal returned to Saint-Malo, France at the end of June to face a diplomatic crisis.

[2] In the interest of avoiding British hostilities, the French authorities detained Wickes and sequestered Reprisal and her companions until mid-September 1777, during which time the three vessels were refitted.