Regardless, African Americans-both free and enslaved-had difficult choices to make during the era of the Revolution. Nell’s The Colored Patriots of the American Revolution, published in Boston in 1855, fails to mention activities of espionage in its pages. Even the earliest source of information about the activities of African Americans during the war, William C. Much more is known about the activities of free, white spies during the American Revolution-little is known about the enslaved and free Black spies who acted during the war. Share to Google Classroom Added by 28 EducatorsĮven 250 years after the events of the American Revolution, there is much that historians are still piecing together about the activities of spies during the war-including the identities of the men and women who risked their lives for the British and patriot armies. Saved Land Browse Interactive Map View active campaigns.Stop the Largest Rezoning in Orange County History.Support the American Battlefield Protection Program Enhancement Act.Protect the Heart of Chancellorsville Battlefield.Help Acquire 20 Sacred Acres at Antietam.Help Us Save Hallowed Ground in Tennessee and Kentucky.Help Restore History at Gettysburg, Cold Harbor & More.Help Save 125 Battlefield Acres in Virginia.Help Preserve 32 Acres at Chickasaw Bayou and Champion Hill.Don’t Let Data Centers Destroy the Wilderness.Help Preserve 29 Acres at Gettysburg & Second Deep Bottom.Virtual Tours View All See Antietam now!. National Teacher Institute July 13 - 16, 2023 Learn More.USS Constitution In 4 Minutes Watch Video.African Americans During the Revolutionary War.The First American President: Setting the Precedent.This discovery by Pennypacker was first announced at a meeting of the New York State Historical Society on September 27, 1930, when he read a paper that he prepared on Nathan Hale and Robert Townsend (723) (source: The New York Times, September 28, 1930). Pennypacker retained the services of graphologist Albert S. His double life remained a secret until the 20th century when Long Island historian Morton Pennypacker sought to match the handwriting in "Culper Jr's" letters to Washington (711) with the script contained in ledgers and other documents found in Oyster Bay, belonging to an obscure New York and Long Island merchant, who turned out to be Townsend. Washington thought highly of Townsend's (723) reports, according to letters he later wrote to Tallmadge (721).Īlthough the British (72) captured a Washington (711) letter to spy Abraham Woodhull (722) that referred to "Culper," they never figured out his identity and Townsend (723) took his secret with him to the grave in 1838. Once in Setauket, the intelligence was carried across the sound by Caleb Brewster (725) to Major Tallmadge in Connecticut (735). It was then passed to Austin Roe (724) for transport to Setauket (729), Long Island (728). Robert Townsend (alias, Samuel Culper, Jr./723) and Abraham Woodhull (alias, Samuel Culper, Sr./722) gathered intelligence in British (72) occupied New York City (727). Nathan Hale and Joshua Davis were hung for spying before the Culper Spy Ring was formed. In sources associated members, sub-agents, associates and informants have included: Selah Strong, Anna (Nancy) Smith Strong, James Rivington, Jonas Hawkins, Amos Underhill, Mary (Woodhull) Underhill (sister of Abraham Woodhull), Nathaniel Ruggles, Zachariah Hawkins, "John Cork," Hercules Mulligan, Cato (an African America slave and spy courier for Mulligan), Hugh Mulligan (brother of Hercules), Daniel Bissel, Lewis Costigin, and Haym Salomon. Members with code numbers and/or aliases were Robert Townsend (joined 1779), Abraham Woodhull, Austin Roe, and Caleb Brewster. Spies were managed by Benjamin Tallmadge. In this letter, Washington gives us insights and reveals his own hints for gathering intelligence about British activities in and around Long Island and New York City, which he so desperately needed to inform his military tactics. And although Washington did not want to know the true identities of the spies, this letter shows how profoundly involved he was involved in: 1) giving directives on handling spies, 2) suggesting methods of spycraft, and 3) stating how to pass along intelligence without detection. “Matters of Business to his Friend at Satuket” is a phrase George Washington stated in Stony Brook University's Septemletter to Major Benjamin Tallmadge. Codes and aliases were used to conceal the identities of the members. The Culper Spy Ring was assembled in 1778 by Major Benjamin Tallmadge (alias, John Bolton/721) at the request of General George Washington (711) and operated on Long Island (728) and New York City (727) during the Revolutionary War. Code numbers are included in parentheses.
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