Culper Ring
Encyclopedia
The Culper Ring was a spy ring organized by Major Benjamin Tallmadge
under the orders of General George Washington
in the summer of 1778 during British occupation of New York City
at the height of the American Revolutionary War
. Their name was derived from the aliases taken by two of its main members, Samuel Culper, Sr
. and Samuel Culper, Jr.
, Long Island
and Connecticut
. The Ring conducted covert operations until after the end of the American Revolutionary War. Its heyday was between 1778 and 1781. It was the pre-cursor of intelligence services such as CIA and OSS
.
in late June of 1778, British forces under General Sir Henry Clinton
retreated to Sandy Hook, New Jersey
. From there, they took a ship for New York, New York
, which they had already occupied for almost two years (since General Washington's defeat at the Battle of Fort Washington
in September 1776). General Washington was well aware of the need for good intelligence, and he asked one of his officers, Major Benjamin Tallmadge, to recruit people who could be trusted to collect it in New York City.
noticed the resemblance of the handwriting in these letters and letters written by Robert Townsend
in George Washington's collection. Among the techniques they used to relay messages included coded messages published in newspapers and developing a method of using invisible ink
to write between the lines of what appeared to be a typical letter. The invisible ink methods are still in use by the CIA today. Women were also an integral part of the Culper Ring. At this time in history, women were expected to share their husbands beliefs and not to be directly and openly involved in politics. For this reason, they would not be suspected of being spies.
The relatives of former Vice President Aaron Burr
were also involved in the Culper Ring, and their participation is detailed by the Reverend Andrew Eliot of Fairfield, Connecticut
(who married Burr's cousin, Mary Pynchon Eliot). A series of weekly letters dating from January 29, 1777 to August 21, 1778 were inherited by noted Long Island television and radio personality Bernadine Fawcett.
where Tallmadge’s dragoons were waiting to carry it to Washington’s headquarters. Brewster was in New York, New York, years earlier when the British had caught Nathan Hale
with drawings of their fortifications and hanged him. Perhaps with Hale in mind, Washington made sure that the Culper Ring spies had more support. Through Tallmadge, he provided them with code
s, dead drop
s, and aliases
. Members were given code names. For example, George Washington's code was 711.
Anna Strong was a resident of Long Island, New York
. She helped pass along messages from the spy ring by posting pre-arranged signals to indicate when one of the spies was ready to submit intelligence data. If Strong hung a black petticoat on her clothesline, it meant that Brewster had arrived in town in his whaleboat. Next to that she would hang a quantity of white handkerchiefs. The specific number of handkerchiefs indicated one of six hiding places where Brewster might be located. Abraham Woodhull
, another local resident, used Strong's signals to go meet Brewster at one of the meeting-places.
Woodhull was known in dispatches as "Samuel Culper Sr.", and Townsend was referred to as "Samuel Culper Jr." Townsend's role was finally determined in 1939 by handwriting analysis and has since been confirmed by other evidence.
to the shore near West Point to prevent ships from sailing up the river. The only way to get past was for someone to unlock the chain. The key was kept by the commanding officer at West Point, General Benedict Arnold
. Arnold had become disgruntled with the American cause after he had not been paid for seven years. He devised a plot to sell West Point to the British for 20,000 pounds. This plot was discovered by the Culper Ring. The information was relayed to Washington, but Arnold also caught word that his plot had been discovered and he fled down the Hudson River
to the British. He attempted to round up the members of the Culper Ring but only succeeded in being captured by some of them.
,” the group’s code for “lady.” Some historians believe that she was the only member of the ring arrested by the British and hanged as a spy. Others claim that she was a prisoner aboard the British hulk, The Jersey, and gave birth to Robert Townsend's illegitimate child, though that part of the story has been discredited. Robert Townsend did allegedly father a child by another woman after 355's death.
, and Tallmadge's entry into the secret world was not accidental, nor did it begin with the Culper Ring in 1778. As early as 1777, Tallmadge acted as the operative John Clark
's contact in Connecticut when Clark was based on Long Island. Before that, he worked for the spymaster Nathaniel Sackett, who was later fired.
Benjamin Tallmadge
Benjamin Tallmadge was a member of the United States House of Representatives. His birth date is alternately listed as February 25, 1754....
under the orders of General George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
in the summer of 1778 during British occupation of New York City
New York and New Jersey campaign
The New York and New Jersey campaign was a series of battles for control of New York City and the state of New Jersey in the American Revolutionary War between British forces under General Sir William Howe and the Continental Army under General George Washington in 1776 and the winter months of 1777...
at the height of the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. Their name was derived from the aliases taken by two of its main members, Samuel Culper, Sr
Abraham Woodhull
Captain Abraham Cooper Woodhull, Esq. was a member of the Culper Spy Ring during the American Revolution. After the Revolution, he served as a magistrate and a judge. It may be that James Fenimore Cooper's character Harry Birch was based upon his work as a spy.-Background:Woodhull's father was a...
. and Samuel Culper, Jr.
Robert Townsend (spy)
Robert Townsend was a member of the Culper Ring during the American Revolution. With the aliases “Samuel Culper, Jr.” and “723,” Townsend operated in New York City and gathered information as a service to General George Washington...
Purpose
The Ring's task was to send messages to General George Washington about the activities of the British in New York. They operated mostly in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
and Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
. The Ring conducted covert operations until after the end of the American Revolutionary War. Its heyday was between 1778 and 1781. It was the pre-cursor of intelligence services such as CIA and OSS
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
.
Establishment
After the battle of MonmouthBattle of Monmouth
The Battle of Monmouth was an American Revolutionary War battle fought on June 28, 1778 in Monmouth County, New Jersey. The Continental Army under General George Washington attacked the rear of the British Army column commanded by Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton as they left Monmouth Court...
in late June of 1778, British forces under General Sir Henry Clinton
Henry Clinton (American War of Independence)
General Sir Henry Clinton KB was a British army officer and politician, best known for his service as a general during the American War of Independence. First arriving in Boston in May 1775, from 1778 to 1782 he was the British Commander-in-Chief in North America...
retreated to Sandy Hook, New Jersey
Sandy Hook, New Jersey
Sandy Hook is a barrier spit, approximately 6.0 miles in length and varying between 0.10 and 1 miles wide in Middletown Township in Monmouth County, along the Atlantic Ocean coast of eastern New Jersey in the United States. The barrier spit encloses the southern entrance of Lower New York Bay...
. From there, they took a ship for New York, New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, which they had already occupied for almost two years (since General Washington's defeat at the Battle of Fort Washington
Battle of Fort Washington
The Battle of Fort Washington was fought in the American Revolutionary War between the United States and Great Britain on November 16, 1776. It was a decisive British victory, forcing the entire garrison of Fort Washington to surrender....
in September 1776). General Washington was well aware of the need for good intelligence, and he asked one of his officers, Major Benjamin Tallmadge, to recruit people who could be trusted to collect it in New York City.
Secrecy
Secrecy was so strict that Washington did not know the identity of all the operatives. The general public was not aware of the Ring's existence until the 1930s. "Culper Junior’s" identity was discovered in 1939, with the discovery of a trunk of old letters in the Townsend family home. Historian Morton PennypackerMorton Pennypacker
Frank Knox Morton Pennypacker was a collector of Long Island, New York historical material and author of several books on Long Island history, including "George Washington's Spies," the story of the [Culper Ring]....
noticed the resemblance of the handwriting in these letters and letters written by Robert Townsend
Robert Townsend (spy)
Robert Townsend was a member of the Culper Ring during the American Revolution. With the aliases “Samuel Culper, Jr.” and “723,” Townsend operated in New York City and gathered information as a service to General George Washington...
in George Washington's collection. Among the techniques they used to relay messages included coded messages published in newspapers and developing a method of using invisible ink
Invisible ink
Invisible ink, also known as security ink, is a substance used for writing, which is invisible either on application or soon thereafter, and which later on can be made visible by some means. Invisible ink is one form of steganography, and it has been used in espionage...
to write between the lines of what appeared to be a typical letter. The invisible ink methods are still in use by the CIA today. Women were also an integral part of the Culper Ring. At this time in history, women were expected to share their husbands beliefs and not to be directly and openly involved in politics. For this reason, they would not be suspected of being spies.
Agents
Tallmadge enlisted the services of many private citizens, including:- Abraham WoodhullAbraham WoodhullCaptain Abraham Cooper Woodhull, Esq. was a member of the Culper Spy Ring during the American Revolution. After the Revolution, he served as a magistrate and a judge. It may be that James Fenimore Cooper's character Harry Birch was based upon his work as a spy.-Background:Woodhull's father was a...
, a farmer from Setauket (a village on Long Island's north coast). - Robert TownsendRobert Townsend (spy)Robert Townsend was a member of the Culper Ring during the American Revolution. With the aliases “Samuel Culper, Jr.” and “723,” Townsend operated in New York City and gathered information as a service to General George Washington...
, a merchant in Manhattan who agreed to supply much of the information. - A Setauket tavern keeper named Austin Roe who served as the courier.
- Jonas Hawkins also served in this role for a short time.
- James RivingtonJames RivingtonJames Rivington was an English-born American journalist who published one of the most infamous Loyalist newspapers in the American colonies, Rivington's Gazette.-Early life:...
, in the capacity of "The King's Printer" published a newspaper known as the Royal Gazette which was considered to be a pro-British newspaper. He published articles with the intent of getting information about the British to George WashingtonGeorge WashingtonGeorge Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
. He also obtained a copy of the Royal Navy's signal book, which was instrumental in the French fleet's defense against the British in its attempts to send additional troops to assist General Cornwallis at YorktownSiege of YorktownThe Siege of Yorktown, Battle of Yorktown, or Surrender of Yorktown in 1781 was a decisive victory by a combined assault of American forces led by General George Washington and French forces led by the Comte de Rochambeau over a British Army commanded by Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis...
. - Brothers Phillips Roe, Nathaniel Roe along with their cousin Austin Roe helped to deliver messages from New York City to Long IslandLong IslandLong Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
. These messages were then picked up by Captain Caleb Brewster, a whaleboatman and some of his men. - Lieutenant Lewis Costigen.
- James Townsend, cousin of Robert TownsendRobert Townsend (spy)Robert Townsend was a member of the Culper Ring during the American Revolution. With the aliases “Samuel Culper, Jr.” and “723,” Townsend operated in New York City and gathered information as a service to General George Washington...
- Joseph Lawrence.
- Sarah Townsend, sister of Robert TownsendRobert Townsend (spy)Robert Townsend was a member of the Culper Ring during the American Revolution. With the aliases “Samuel Culper, Jr.” and “723,” Townsend operated in New York City and gathered information as a service to General George Washington...
. - Hercules Mulligan, a prominent tailor.
The relatives of former Vice President Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr, Jr. was an important political figure in the early history of the United States of America. After serving as a Continental Army officer in the Revolutionary War, Burr became a successful lawyer and politician...
were also involved in the Culper Ring, and their participation is detailed by the Reverend Andrew Eliot of Fairfield, Connecticut
Fairfield, Connecticut
Fairfield is a town located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is bordered by the towns of Bridgeport, Trumbull, Easton, Redding and Westport along the Gold Coast of Connecticut. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 59,404...
(who married Burr's cousin, Mary Pynchon Eliot). A series of weekly letters dating from January 29, 1777 to August 21, 1778 were inherited by noted Long Island television and radio personality Bernadine Fawcett.
Activities
Once Townsend’s reports reached Setauket, Caleb Brewster and his men ferried it across Long Island SoundLong Island Sound
Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...
where Tallmadge’s dragoons were waiting to carry it to Washington’s headquarters. Brewster was in New York, New York, years earlier when the British had caught Nathan Hale
Nathan Hale
Nathan Hale was a soldier for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He volunteered for an intelligence-gathering mission in New York City but was captured by the British...
with drawings of their fortifications and hanged him. Perhaps with Hale in mind, Washington made sure that the Culper Ring spies had more support. Through Tallmadge, he provided them with code
Code
A code is a rule for converting a piece of information into another form or representation , not necessarily of the same type....
s, dead drop
Dead drop
A dead drop or dead letter box is a method of espionage tradecraft used to pass items between two individuals by using a secret location and thus does not require them to meet directly. Using a dead drop permits a Case Officer and his Agent to exchange objects and information while maintaining...
s, and aliases
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
. Members were given code names. For example, George Washington's code was 711.
Anna Strong was a resident of Long Island, New York
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
. She helped pass along messages from the spy ring by posting pre-arranged signals to indicate when one of the spies was ready to submit intelligence data. If Strong hung a black petticoat on her clothesline, it meant that Brewster had arrived in town in his whaleboat. Next to that she would hang a quantity of white handkerchiefs. The specific number of handkerchiefs indicated one of six hiding places where Brewster might be located. Abraham Woodhull
Abraham Woodhull
Captain Abraham Cooper Woodhull, Esq. was a member of the Culper Spy Ring during the American Revolution. After the Revolution, he served as a magistrate and a judge. It may be that James Fenimore Cooper's character Harry Birch was based upon his work as a spy.-Background:Woodhull's father was a...
, another local resident, used Strong's signals to go meet Brewster at one of the meeting-places.
Woodhull was known in dispatches as "Samuel Culper Sr.", and Townsend was referred to as "Samuel Culper Jr." Townsend's role was finally determined in 1939 by handwriting analysis and has since been confirmed by other evidence.
Benedict Arnold
The British felt that if they could capture West Point they could cut off the American supplies. The Americans had a large chain across the river from Constitution IslandConstitution Island
Constitution Island is an island in the Hudson River, at West Point, New York. It is part of the grounds of the United States Army Garrison, West Point. United States Military Academy...
to the shore near West Point to prevent ships from sailing up the river. The only way to get past was for someone to unlock the chain. The key was kept by the commanding officer at West Point, General Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold V was a general during the American Revolutionary War. He began the war in the Continental Army but later defected to the British Army. While a general on the American side, he obtained command of the fort at West Point, New York, and plotted to surrender it to the British forces...
. Arnold had become disgruntled with the American cause after he had not been paid for seven years. He devised a plot to sell West Point to the British for 20,000 pounds. This plot was discovered by the Culper Ring. The information was relayed to Washington, but Arnold also caught word that his plot had been discovered and he fled down the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
to the British. He attempted to round up the members of the Culper Ring but only succeeded in being captured by some of them.
Agent 355
One of those who allegedly aided the Culper Ring was an operative known only as “355Agent 355
Agent 355 was the code name of a female spy during the American Revolution, part of the Culper Ring. Her real identity is unknown.-Career:The only direct reference to Agent 355 in any of the Culper Ring's missives was from Abraham Woodhull , to General George Washington in 1778. Little is known for...
,” the group’s code for “lady.” Some historians believe that she was the only member of the ring arrested by the British and hanged as a spy. Others claim that she was a prisoner aboard the British hulk, The Jersey, and gave birth to Robert Townsend's illegitimate child, though that part of the story has been discredited. Robert Townsend did allegedly father a child by another woman after 355's death.
Tallmadge
Nathan Hale and Tallmadge were close friends at YaleYALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
, and Tallmadge's entry into the secret world was not accidental, nor did it begin with the Culper Ring in 1778. As early as 1777, Tallmadge acted as the operative John Clark
John Clark (spy)
Maj. John Clark was an American spy for George Washington, primarily responsible for running the intelligence network in and around Philadelphia during the British occupation of that city during the American Revolutionary War....
's contact in Connecticut when Clark was based on Long Island. Before that, he worked for the spymaster Nathaniel Sackett, who was later fired.