George Washington, Spymaster

American author and historian Thomas B. Allen’s biography George Washington, Spymaster: How the Americans Outspied the British and Won the Revolutionary War (2000) focuses on George Washington's legacy in espionage, a subject that generally attracts less attention than his roles as a military general and US president. Allen places particular emphasis on the Culper Spy Ring, which fed the colonial army crucial information, including the revelation of Benedict Arnold's plan to turn over West Point to the British.

The book begins with a brief summary of Washington's life before the Revolutionary War. A descendant of John Washington who immigrated from Great Britain to the United States in 1656, George Washington was born in 1732 in the colony of Virginia. At the age of ten, Washington inherited a modest farm and ten slaves upon the death of his father. Though not formally educated, Washington learned mathematics and writing throughout his childhood and young adulthood. In 1752, at the age of twenty, Washington obtained an appointment of Major in the Virginia militia. Though Washington rose to the rank of colonel during the early years of the French and Indian War, a key military defeat along with a series of power struggles within the colonial army led to Washington's resignation. Having learned a great deal from these struggles, Washington joined the staff of British General Edward Braddock as an aide. Over the next few years, Washington redeemed himself in the eyes of the military elite owing to a series of tactical successes.

Once again a civilian, Washington married Martha Dandridge Custis, the widow of a wealthy plantation owner. This made Washington one of the wealthiest men in the Virginia colony. His wealthy status, along with his reputation as a war hero, allowed him to hold a series of political positions, including serving in the Virginia provincial legislature. During the 1760s, his opposition to British Parliament intensified in the wake of a series of royal proclamations, including the prohibition on settling land West of the Allegheny Mountains and the controversial Stamp Act, a tax on printed materials that Washington termed "an act of oppression." When the American Revolutionary War began in 1775, Washington was nominated by John and Samuel Adams to be commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.



Washington long considered espionage to be a key component of a successful military campaign against the British. One of his earliest agents was Captain Nathan Hale, who volunteered to embark on an intelligence-gathering mission in New York City. Unfortunately, the loyalist Robert Rogers captured Hale, delivering him to the British to be executed. After Hale's execution, Washington was convinced that civilians would be better suited to act as spies because they would be less likely to draw attention. His first civilian spy was general store owner Nathaniel Sackett. Though Sackett was unable to complete many of the initiatives assigned to him, he created a vast network of spies that would serve as an indispensable resource to Sackett's replacement, Benjamin Tallmadge.

Using Sackett's network as a foundation, Tallmadge—known by his codename "John Bolton"—built a vast and effective espionage network known as the Culper Spy Ring. It was named for "Samuel Culper," the codename of Abraham Woodhull, one of Tallmadge's neighbors recruited to enlist spies and gather intelligence. The methods of gathering and transmitting this intelligence were rather sophisticated. For example, coffee shop owner and reporter Robert Townsend—codenamed Samuel Culper, Jr.—would write articles in favor of the British. Having proved himself as a loyalist to Britain, this would grant him access to social events where members of the British elite gathered. Townsend then reported any potentially valuable information to a local woman named Anna Strong who then transmitted a message to the colonial army by arranging clothes in a specific way on her clothesline. Shipping businessman Caleb Brewster transmitted messages between Long Island and Connecticut on the whaling ship he operated. Other tactics used by Washington included having members of the spy ring spread disinformation and false propaganda exaggerating the size of the American army in order to scare the British. Washington also employed "lone wolf" spies who operated outside the Cupler Ring. The most notable of these was Hercules Mulligan, who along with his slave Cato delivered information about an imminent capture attempt that likely saved Washington's life.

Arguably the Culper Spy Ring's biggest success came in 1780 when the network uncovered the British army's plan to ambush French troops before they had to chance to provide aid to the colonial army. This forced the British to alter their plans and postpone the attack. And thanks to Woodhull's sister, Mary Underhill, the Ring was able to capture British Major John Andre who had been colluding with Benedict Arnold to turn over the critical West Point fort to the British.



George Washington: Spymaster details a less well known but equally fascinating aspect of George Washington's impressive legacy.