Chapter I: Part 1

Transcriber’s Notes

This book contains both Footnotes and Endnotes. The Footnote numbers and their references are numbered 1-72 and are enclosed in [square brackets]; the Endnote numbers and their references are numbered 101-142 and are enclosed in (parentheses).

Superscripts on page 80 are indicated by a caret symbol: ^l and ^t.

Other Notes will be found after the Index.

GENERAL WASHINGTON’S SPIES

_On Long Island and
In New York_

LONG ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY

OFFICERS

President B. Herbert Smith
First Vice-President Guy Du Val
Second Vice-President William H. Cary
Corresponding Secretary Norman Taylor
Recording Secretary Richards M. Cahoone
Treasurer John D. Talmage
Assistant Treasurer Guy Du Val
Librarian Miss Edna Huntington

DIRECTORS

Joseph Dana Allen, Litt.D.
Hon. George E. Brower
Richards M. Cahoone
William H. Cary
Francis D. Dodge, Ph.D.
Guy Du Val
Rev. Phillips Packer Elliott
Lewis W. Francis
George Hewlett
David H. Lanman
A. Augustus Low
Evelyn Pierrepont Luquer
D. Irving Mead
Walter M. Meserole
Hon. Howard Pervear Nash
Frederic C. Paffard, M.D.
William A. Robbins
Arnold W. Sherman
B. Herbert Smith
John D. Talmage
Norman Taylor
Edwin H. Thatcher

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

B. Herbert Smith, _Chairman_

Joseph Dana Allen
Richards M. Cahoone
William H. Cary
Guy Du Val
Lewis W. Francis
William A. Robbins
John D. Talmage
Norman Taylor

COUNCILORS

_Kings County_

Miss Jessie A. Addoms, J.D.
Mrs. Samuel K. Frost
Rev. John H. Lathrop, D.D.
Lester D. Mapes
Frank L. Van Cleef
Wheeler N. Voorhees

_Nassau County_

George D. A. Combes
Courtney R. Hall, Ph.D.
Henry Hicks
Jesse Merritt
Rt. Rev. Ernest M. Stires, D.D.

_Suffolk County_

Mrs. J. D. Cockcroft
Perry Duryea
Ralph G. Duvall
Morton Pennypacker
Wallace Reid
Mrs. Joseph H. Willets

_Queens County_

William G. Clossen
Arthur White

Painted by John Ward Dunsmore. (Used by permission of the Title
Guarantee & Trust Co.)

GENERAL WASHINGTON’S COUNCIL OF WAR AFTER THE BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND

In the Philip Livingston house, later known as the Teunis Joralemon House, east side of Hicks St., Brooklyn.

In the picture are General Washington, Samuel Parsons, Joseph Spencer, Thomas Mifflin, John Morin Scott, Alexander McDougall, Israel Putnam, Peleg Wadsworth and John Fellows.]

GENERAL
WASHINGTON’S
SPIES
_On Long Island and
In New York_

_BY MORTON PENNYPACKER_

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK
_Published by the Long Island Historical Society_
PIERREPONT STREET CORNER CLINTON STREET
_1939_

COPYRIGHT, 1939, BY
MORTON PENNYPACKER
EAST HAMPTON, L. I.

PRINTED BY
COUNTRY LIFE PRESS CORPORATION
GARDEN CITY, N. Y.

PREFATORY NOTE TO “THE TWO SPIES, NATHAN HALE AND ROBERT TOWNSEND.”

_It is nearly one hundred and ten years since America’s first great novel was written, it being James Fenimore Cooper’s second book. With “The Spy” for title, it was hailed with unprecedented enthusiasm. There can be no question but what Governor John Jay’s recital of the work of the spies made a deep impression upon Cooper, but years passed before he attempted to record it permanently. Meanwhile, he had many opportunities to converse with others who were more intimately connected with the Secret Service work than he ever realized. Elizabeth Floyd was his mother-in-law, and the visits to members of her family on Long Island were frequent. Two years preceding the publication of “The Spy,” he became temporarily a resident of Sag Harbor, although still retaining his home in Westchester County. It is not, therefore, surprising to discover that so much that he has placed in Westchester County actually happened on Long Island._

_To Cooper “The Spy” must have been a disappointment, particularly after Enoch Crosby had been exploited. Crosby did not conform to his ideal, but the spies of Washington did. When Tallmadge wished to send Long Island assistance in October, 1780, Townsend’s reply, as will be found in these pages, was, “I do not choose that the person you mention, or any other of his character, should call on me.” When Abraham Woodhull discovered our country’s need for ready money, he used his own for incidental expenses of the Secret Service, such as repairs to their four whaleboats and feed for the horses, and never complained, although more than seven years of peace passed before our government reimbursed him. It is inspiring to a greater patriotism to discover the type of men that these pages reveal._

_The story of Nathan Hale will commend itself for brevity. No statements at the present day known to be incorrect are even quoted therein. The hitherto unpublished statement regarding his capture is on the authority of Robert Townsend, whom General Washington says he found always reliable. This might have been known seventy years ago had not Henry Onderdonk added confusing details that discredited it._

_An elaborate chapter was in preparation detailing the scientifically planned investigation that made certain the identity of Robert Townsend as the “Culper Junior” of the American Revolution, when it was observed that the material collected and here published evinced that beyond comment. Therefore, no documents are here offered to prove what obviously is a fact._

_Many startling revelations will be discovered by the careful reader of these pages. Some of them will be observed only after referring to the secret code printed among the Notes. The return of Major André after he had been started on his way to freedom is timely as well as interesting, for we are this fall celebrating the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of his execution. A strange hesitancy to-day, as during the life of Major Tallmadge, may necessitate patient waiting for more intimate details that will be merely stronger confirmation of this interesting fact._

_Where letters from either of the Culpers have been condensed for the sake of brevity, a figure within parentheses has been used to indicate that the same letter will be found among the Notes beginning on page 232. A more perfect analysis is thus assured to the student of history._

_Acknowledgment is due for assistance to so many, particularly among the heads of the larger public libraries and historical societies, that it becomes impracticable to name them individually. They have shown a uniform enthusiasm and untiring effort that makes the present publication possible._

MORTON PENNYPACKER

_Kew Gardens, L.I._

_September, 1930._

CONTENTS

FOREWORD 1

NATHAN HALE 19

GENERAL WASHINGTON’S SPIES 30

SECRET SERVICE SECRETS 60

TOWNSEND’S PERSONALITY 102

SPIES AND SPIES 112

JOHN ANDRÉ AND ARNOLD’S TREASON 120

ARNOLD AND ANDRÉ MEET 144

EYEWITNESSES EXPLAIN ANDRÉ’S CAPTURE 160

AFTERMATH 184

CODES AND CAMOUFLAGE 209

A CREW THAT DOUBLE CROSSED 219

NOTES AND AMPLIFICATION 232

INDEX 289

ILLUSTRATIONS

COUNCIL OF WAR, BROOKLYN, AUGUST
29th, 1776 Frontispiece

_From a painting by John Ward Dunsmore_

Showing Generals George Washington, Samuel Parsons,
Joseph Spencer, Thomas Mifflin, John Morin Scott,
Alexander McDougall, Israel Putnam, Peleg Wadsworth
and John Fellows.

FACING PAGE

MAJOR TALLMADGE AND GROUP OF
AMERICAN GENERALS 32

Philip Schuyler, Marquis de LaFayette, Nathaniel
Green, George Clinton, Robert Howe, Israel Putnam,
John Lamb and William Heath.

JOHN JAY’S LETTER TO WASHINGTON 52

Introducing the mode of secret correspondence invented
by his brother James.

WRAPPER ENCLOSING URGENT MESSAGES 82

This is in the handwriting of Abraham Woodhull, made
directly from the original without reduction.

ALEXANDER HAMILTON’S LETTER TO LAFAYETTE 84

Showing how quickly messages from the Culpers were
forwarded through Lafayette to the French fleet.

HOUSES ONCE OCCUPIED BY WASHINGTON’S
SPIES 102

Raynham Hall, Oyster Bay, L. I. Home of Culper Junior
and his sister Sarah Townsend. These contemporary
silhouettes give their only known likenesses.

Lower left--Present-day home of the Colonial Dames
of America. Built by one of Washington’s spies. (See
p. 10 in this volume, and Iconography of Manhattan,
vol. 6, p. 79.) Lower right--Culper Senior’s home at
Setauket. His three great-great-grandchildren in the
foreground.

J. L. GARDINER EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
RECORD 115

His record made near 150 years ago, of a whispered conversation
with Clinton, Major André and Col. Simcoe
that had been overheard by a servant.

A BENEDICT ARNOLD CODE LETTER 126

Advising the British commander that he has accepted the
command of West Point and will betray it.

COL. SIMCOE AND PROMINENT BRITISH
OFFICERS 136

Lord Cornwallis, Major John André, Sir Henry Clinton,
Admiral Arbuthnot, General John Burgoyne, General
Riedesel and Lord Rawdon.

THE CAPTURE OF MAJOR ANDRÉ 160

_Engraved from a painting by J. Halpin_

ALEXANDER HAMILTON’S NOTE 178

Informing General Washington that he was too late to
have Arnold recalled.

WASHINGTON’S LETTER 192

Thanking those who engaged in the capture of Fort St.
George near Mastic, Long Island.

WASHINGTON IN NEW YORK, 1783 206

_From a painting by J. R. Chapin_

There is a story, perhaps true but lacking satisfactory
proof, that one of the mounted figures at the right of the
picture is there to represent Major Tallmadge and the
other, one of his Dragoons; and that the man this way
from him with hat in air is Robert Townsend, otherwise
Culper Junior.

MASKED LETTER USED BY BRITISH 208

Sir Henry Clinton thus informed Burgoyne that there
would be no British army to meet him at Albany.

ROBERT MORRIS’ LETTER TO WASHINGTON
216

His Quaker friends approved the work of the Culpers,
and he could get money for them when it was refused for
other purposes.

CODE USED BY WASHINGTON’S SPIES 218

This was prepared by Major Tallmadge and used by the
Culpers, Senior and Junior.

HANDWRITING THAT DISCOVERED ROBERT
TOWNSEND TO BE GENERAL WASHINGTON’S
CULPER JUNIOR 232

PORTRAITS ON JACKET.

General Washington, Major Tallmadge, John Paulding,
Nathan Hale, James Rivington, Sarah Townsend, Robert
Townsend, alias Culper Junior.

_On backstrap of jacket_, Washington in 1772.

FOREWORD

Certainly there are but few Americans to whom the name of Nathan Hale is not as familiar as a household word. Everybody has heard of that Martyr Spy and almost everybody knows his life story. A graduate of Yale College in 1773 he became a school teacher[1] and more, a patriot, in every sense the word implies. He enjoyed his work as a pedagogue but his country’s call was irresistible. Soon he was captain of a Company and on Long Island he received from the British his Baptism of fire. Then illness caused him to wonder if after all to him would come the privilege of rendering worth while service. Can it not be said he hoped, or better he prayed that he might be useful, and then, sooner than he expected, he was called to render an unusual service. There was no reckless haste in his decision. He considered well the hazard of the work he had been asked to do. It was more than to report the position of the British Army. It was to discover their intentions, and to report his findings to General Washington.--A week later he was dead--and not a line from him had reached the Commander in Chief. His work was a magnificent failure but the spirit that prompted him to undertake it entitled him to the everlasting glory which is his.

Hale’s was an unnecessary sacrifice that more careful planning might have prevented, but as yet there was no time for organized effort, and for some months no better method was devised than to entrust some officer to get what was needed, either by the capture of prisoners or by sending a trusted man into the enemy’s camp. Upon these latter occasions individuals were met with who seemed anxious to be of service. Among them were two men later to be known as Culper Junior and Senior. Certain officers, particularly General Chas. Scott, became popular with General Washington because of their ability to locate these men and to get from them intelligence that could be relied upon. It will be seen that they later formed the Secret Service Bureau that was so helpful to General Washington all through the Revolutionary War.

This organized service differed from that of Hale’s time in that it became a business with the men who conducted it, and enabled them usually to have some one who could get the information when they feared they were suspected or for any other reason they believed it too hazardous to undertake themselves. It is remarkable that although their lives were every moment in danger so carefully were their secrets guarded that not only to the end of the war but for a hundred and fifty years thereafter, in spite of frequent efforts to discover their identity the real men were never suspected. Primarily this was due to the caution of the men themselves, each declaring that if to any one other than those of their own selection they should learn that their names were known they would leave the service and never return; but it was also due to the care of General Washington in exacting from all who knew them the most solemn pledge that not to any one at any time or under any circumstances would they reveal their identity. It is interesting at this day to observe the fear they had that their handwriting might betray them, and to note that although they practiced several styles of writing with the intention of concealing their real hand nevertheless it was finally this that first enabled positive identification. It will also be discovered that although those in the Secret Service requested that the letters they were sending for General Washington should be destroyed the majority of them were preserved by him, and that on the contrary with one exception the letters from General Washington to the Culpers were promptly destroyed by them in order that they should not be betrayed thereby if searched. That the contents of so many of the letters to the members of the Secret Service from General Washington is known is due to his system of saving copies of them and these as a rule are in the handwriting of the General himself.

Long before the Culpers were requested to do their own writing both furnished intelligence, and it is not possible to say which was first so engaged. Culper Senior had made his fourteenth written report when Culper Junior’s first was sent, but most of Senior’s information was furnished by Junior, and probably Scott had it from him before Senior had attempted it. Their work did not end with the closing days of 1783 but General Washington’s temporary retirement occasioned them to look to others who may have been less careful in preserving the records. After the war Culper Senior was from 1799 to 1810 First Judge of Suffolk County but Junior never accepted any important political position, although Oliver Templeton, a leader among the business men of the day, wrote to Culper’s brother when in 1789 it was announced that his father had been made a member of the Council of Appointment, saying: “I am informed your father is one of the Council of Appointment. For God’s sake if that is the case, write your father immediately not to forget his sons. I am afraid for the opportunity he may have too much modesty.... Your Brother Robert is fitted for any office.” He wielded an influence however that was almost uncanny. No one knew the real patriots in the City of New York at the close of the war as he did and much that seemed mysterious at the time can be traced to him, for besides Washington and Tallmadge, Alexander Hamilton, Richard Varick and several others were familiar with his handwriting and gave weight to his suggestions and opinions.

Publication of “The Two Spies, Nathan Hale and Robert Townsend”[2] by Houghton Mifflin Company in 1930 revealed for the first time the names of those in the secret service employed by General Washington. It was discovered that Culper Senior was Abraham Woodhull[3] of Setauket, Long Island, and that Culper Junior was Robert Townsend of Oyster Bay. It was Robert Townsend who remained in New York City from the beginning of the war until and after its close. Culper Junior was the man whose identity every historian from Judge William Smith to those at the present day was trying to discover. Smith was a co-worker with him and at times they would both hand communications to James Rivington for his newspaper at the same moment, but Smith never guessed that Townsend was General Washington’s Culper Junior. Jared Sparks later went to the greatest pains to try to identify him, begging those who he knew could tell him if they would, but no one at any time was willing to break the pledge by revealing his identity. To prevent any misunderstanding as to Rivington’s part in the Secret Service a brief sketch of him here seems necessary.

James Rivington was the son of Charles and Eleanor Rivington. He was born in 1724. Was twice married, his second wife being Elizabeth Van Horne of New York, by whom he had two sons and a daughter. A brother was John, with whom he was in partnership in the publishing business in London until 1756, when he joined James Fletcher, son of the bookseller of Oxford. Their most successful venture was Smollett’s History of England, upon which they cleared ten thousand pounds, the largest profit then known to have been made on any single work. A growing love for horse-racing and gambling possessed him until most of his money was gone. He then came to America and settled as a bookseller in Philadelphia in 1760. The following year he opened a book store at the lower end of Wall Street in New York. Then in 1762 he commenced bookselling in Boston, where he failed. In 1764 he was in Bermuda, where he opened a printing office for a short time. He soon returned to New York where in April, 1773, he began “Rivington’s New York Gazetteer.” By 1775 the matter he permitted to appear in the Gazetteer was so offensive to the Sons of Liberty that on May 10th his office and home were mobbed and he with Miles Cooper was obliged to seek refuge on a British man-of-war in the harbor. Although his plant was damaged his assistants were able to continue the paper whilst he petitioned the Continental Congress, saying:

“It is his wish and ambition to be an useful member of society. Although an Englishman by birth, he is an American by choice, and he is desirous of devoting his life in the business of his profession, to the service of the Country he has adopted for his own. He lately employed no less than sixteen workmen, at near one thousand pounds annually: and his consumption of printing paper, the manufacture of Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts Bay, has amounted nearly to that sum. His extensive foreign correspondence, his large acquaintance in Europe and America, and the manner of his education, are circumstances which, he conceives, have not improperly qualified him for the situation in which he wishes to continue, and in which he will exert every endeavour to be useful.”

However, before the close of the year, on November 23d, 1775, his plant was again mobbed. This time under Colonel Sears’s directions the presses were ruined and the type all carried away to later be melted into bullets. Rivington then went to England, but returned to New York in 1777, now as the king’s printer with a Royal commission and a grant of £100. per annum. He brought with him new machinery and type and began republishing his paper on October 4th of that year. He also had received commissions from several publishers to supply them with the news of British activities in this country. Several have stated that Rivington was permitted to remain in New York after the close of the Revolution; for example, in the news from Springfield, Mass., published in the Salem (Mass.) Gazette, December 25th, 1783, it was reported as “an undoubted fact Mr. Rivington, publisher, of New York was, as soon as our troops entered the city, protected in person, and property, by a guard and that he will be allowed to reside in the country, for reasons best known to the great men at helm.” But most have neglected to show that his treatment was worse than exile. A rival publisher in his issue of January 1st, 1784, says: “Yesterday Rivington, who has had the audacity to continue his obnoxious publications was waited on by General John Lamb, Colonel Willett and Colonel Sears, and forbid the prosecution of any further business in this city, in consequence of which, he has discharged his hands, and obeyed the order. To the joy of every one in the United States, Jemmy Rivington’s political existence terminated last Wednesday, the 31st ulto. [1783].”

Personal injury was soon to be added to insult, for on the 11th of the same month Nicholas Cruger gave him a violent beating, claiming he had suffered in prison during the war because of statements made by Rivington’s paper.

Rivington had a caller in 1794 in the person of Henry Wansey, who wrote in his Journal: “June 23d, I dined with James Rivington, the bookseller, formerly of St. Pauls Churchyard; he is still a cheerful old man, and enquired of me for Mr. Collins, and Mr. Baston, and many of his quandam acquaintances in England. During the time the British kept possession of New York, he printed a newspaper for them, and opened a kind of coffee-house for the officers; his house was a great place of resort; he made a great deal of money during that period, though many of the officers quitted it considerably in arrears to him.”

A record exists in a letter written on May 8th, 1797, showing that Rivington was then in jail for debts contracted by others but which he was held responsible for. On the fourth of July, 1802, he breathed his last, at the age of 78, and was buried in the cemetery of the New Dutch Church.

After discovering that the chiefs of General Washington’s spies were Robert Townsend and Abraham Woodhull the problem was still to be solved how these two men could so frequently meet without attracting suspicion. For many months it seemed beyond solution. Townsend’s books showed that he changed his boarding place usually after a year’s stay but this could be attributed to no more than a precautionary measure. However when the account books of Woodhull were compared with those of Townsend it was noticed that both men carried ledger accounts with these landlords. The first for example was Amos Underhill.[4] There seemed nothing significant in the name until the family genealogies were searched. Then it was discovered that on March 21, 1774, Amos Underhill had married Mary Woodhull. Mary Woodhull was the sister of Abraham Woodhull. The matter was solved! Townsend was an incidental roomer at the Underhills’ and Woodhull was a frequent caller on his sister and brother in law. Culper Senior and Junior could therefore be with each other whenever necessary without attracting the least suspicion.

Townsend next boarded with Jacob Seaman, who was married to Margaret Birdsall. This Margaret was the daughter of Col. Benjamin Birdsall who furnished our Gen. George Clinton with much valuable information.

Townsend and Woodhull found it necessary to personally scout for information at its source (see Woodhull’s letter dated Oct. 31, 1778). Their system also included a score of the most respectable citizens who were never seen anywhere in situations the least suspicious, but each employed trusted friends who regularly corresponded with them and the items they secured were promptly communicated to either Townsend or Woodhull. Much in these letters might be called camouflage. They usually began with some expression such as “We have no news” and then followed the style suggested by General Washington in several of his communications. Sometimes the information was promptly forwarded, the following letter being an example:

_My dear Friend_:

We all arrived here yesterday at three o’clock after a passage
of 2 hours. The kindness of yourself and wife and the pleasure
I found at your house are strongly fixed on my mind, and make
me desirous of contributing any thing to the information,
amusement &c. of yourself and friends. I enclose a paper which
will give you all the news that is yet published about Charles
Town. Tomorrow a hand bill will come out with the Capitulation.
Yesterday most of the troops here, Staten Island &c. were
embarked in Sloops &c. to the number, it is said, of 7 or 8
thousand, and proceeding up the Kills, landed about sunset near
Elizabeth Town, and immediately began their march to attack
Washington in his camp at Morris Town. At five o’clock this
morning the troops had got to Springfield, 8 miles short of the
place without much opposition, but since, much firing has been
heard. Brigadier Genl. Sterling[5] was wounded in the thigh by
a random shot at Elizabeth Town last evening and is brought
back but the British met with no other loss there.

A vessel is just arrived from St. Kits but brings no news
except that the fleets were within sight of each other and
another action expected. The British had been reinforced with
three sail.

My Respects to C. Wistar and family. I am sorry katy’s
indisposition prevented her coming with us. I shall send the
nickanees by Tommy. I am affectionately &c.

WILLIAM T. ROBINSON.

7 June, 1780.

Culper Senior had the contents of the above letter on its way to Washington three days later; see his letter of June 10, 1780, on p. 79.

A shorter but no less important letter reads:

New York, 31st December, 1779.

_My good Friend_:

When I left you at D. Bowne’s, I galloped directly to the
Ferry the nearest way without stopping, and arrived there in
two hours and twenty five minutes, and had there been a boat
ready I might, if I chose it, have gone to meeting here in the
afternoon, but you will readily imagine that I was more intent
on procuring a good dinner, which I did at Brooklyn and got
over before sundown....

We have no news--besides what the enclosed papers contain. The
Southern Fleet, consisting of 150 sail, went out of the Hook at
two o’clock on Sunday and ’tis feared that they have suffered
in the dreadful storm that followed soon after. The fleet for
Europe sailed the thursday before.

This goes by Hick’s boat to Great Neck, to the care of Richard
Thorne. I also send a small paper bundle containing a Book for
Eliza and a pair of skates for my friend Harry--of which I
beg their acceptance. My respects and best wishes attend Mrs.
Lawrence and the family and our two friends over the ICE. I am
affectionately yours,

WM. T. ROBINSON.

_Another Robinson letter will be found in the notes (125)._

It may interest some to know that this Wm. T. Robinson once owned the property 421 E. 61st Street, New York, now owned and occupied by the Colonial Dames of America. His helpful intelligence reached the spies through Joseph Lawrence of Bayside, L. I. The original documents were preserved in a manner so similar to all the rest of the Culper Jr. material as to be remarkable. The wife of Joseph Lawrence was Phebe and there were not so many that knew her maiden name, but it was Townsend and she was the daughter of the Fourth Henry Townsend. They were married in 1764 when he was 23. Their son Effingham married Anne Townsend daughter of Solomon Townsend who was Robert Townsend’s brother. A daughter of Anne and Effingham twenty three years after her mother’s death had occasion to go through the homestead and there under the eaves in the garret at the stone house she found (in 1868) this interesting correspondence that had evidently been placed there by her grandparents and had remained unobserved for nearly a century. It reached the Long Island Collection in East Hampton a few months ago, having been carefully preserved but without critical examination during the past seventy years.

John Bolton was the assumed name of the man who stood between the Culpers and General Washington. With the occasional exception of a letter to General Washington all from the Culpers were addressed to Mr. John Bolton, the name assumed by Major Benjamin Tallmadge in the secret service work. Major Tallmadge did not try to conceal his identity after the war. Caleb Brewster always permitted his own name to be used. With his trusty gun and sword he defended it, although the British at one time offered a large reward for his capture. Austin Roe, also of Setauket, was the chief messenger. He was given no other name, but was known by a number, which was 724. Jonas Hawkins was another messenger, and there were several more that could be depended upon if required, but Austin Roe became so expert in the service as to eclipse the rest. One who can realize what he had to contend with must view with amazement the work of Austin Roe. Across the Sound General Washington had Dragoons posted, three every fifteen miles apart, to carry the messages to him, whilst on the Long Island side Austin Roe rode the fifty-five miles from Setauket to New York and the same distance back, through the enemy’s country, unattended. True, officers in British uniforms had permitted him to arrange for relays of horses which he could exchange along the way as required, but nevertheless it was a remarkable feat and should yet be recognised as such.

* * * * *

Had it been possible to follow a message from New York to Headquarters in 1781 one might have seen Austin Roe enter a coffee house in the vicinity of Wall Street. Visibly tired, and probably hungry as well, for he had just finished a long ride. Few were in the room at that hour but in the far corner we will observe two British officers in conversation with a gentleman dressed in the fashion of the day. This is Mr. Townsend, and the officers are persuading him to visit their encampment. They have been advised that he is diffident but they have discovered that preferment comes to those who receive favorable publicity in the English Magazines as well as in the Royal Gazette. Mr. Rivington, the king’s printer, had advised them to cultivate Mr. Townsend’s acquaintance; to keep him posted as to all their activities if they value publicity such as he may give them; and they exact from Townsend the promise of an early visit. They do not know that the Coffee Room was established for that very purpose: that Townsend and Rivington although silent partners were its financial backers; and that Rivington wished to establish it in order to provide a place close by his printing office where British officers would meet and furnish him with copy for the English Magazines and his own Royal Gazette. Townsend he found apt, and most willing to run down news that made good copy; and the fact that Townsend refused to be on his pay roll or to accept money for his work did not lessen Rivington’s regard for him. That James Rivington ever imagined Robert Townsend to be in the service of General Washington there is no evidence to show. In fact it is very unlikely. Rivington was not the type of man that Townsend would trust with that secret.

The sight of Roe was sufficient to apprise Townsend that the General was expecting a message. When he could excuse himself he left the Coffee Shop and returned to his own rooms, which were nearby. He was soon followed by Austin Roe, who handed him a letter from Mr. John Bolton. This read: “I wish you to send by bearer ½ ream letter paper, same as the last. Mr. Roe will pay for it.” Townsend paid little attention to this message, but opening a secret closet brought out a vial of liquid which he proceeded to brush over the letter. Soon another message appeared on the same sheet of paper. It was from General Washington requesting certain important information. Meanwhile Roe had started down the street for the printing office of James Rivington at the corner of Queen Street facing the North Front of the Coffee House. Here he purchased a half ream of paper--had it carefully wrapped and labeled and then started back with it to Townsend’s rooms. Very carefully it was unwrapped, in order that it could be sealed again without showing that it had been opened. Townsend then began counting the sheets until he arrived at a number previously agreed upon. That sheet was then extracted, and reaching for a vial of a different liquid he proceeded to write. But only momentarily could the words be seen. As soon as the stain was dry it disappeared, leaving no hint that it was there waiting to be developed by the other liquid.

The supper hour was now approaching when the Coffee Room would be a scene of great gaiety. There would be gathered new arrivals from abroad, anxious for an introduction, and those expecting soon to leave would be tendered an affectionate adieu. It was a huge success from the standpoint of a news gatherer, and would have been worth while even if it had not been returning the handsome revenue it did at that time. So thought Rivington. Doubtless Townsend from the standpoint of a Spy thought the same, but unlike Rivington he kept his own counsel. It should not be presumed that all could be gotten in this fashion. There were reports from at least a dozen to be checked over, and out of the way places to be visited. When all had been summed up Townsend finished his letter and returned it to its proper place in the package of letter paper. Austin Roe packed his saddle bags with a variety of articles needed by those at the east end of the Island, and carefully stowed among the things was this half ream of paper for Mr. John Bolton. In the late forenoon he set off, crossing the Brooklyn ferry and from there heading either for Jamaica or Flushing he soon was well on his way. There were times when he met with trouble along the road but upon this occasion we presume that he reached Setauket without incident, and just in time to give attention to his cattle, which were kept pastured in a field belonging to Abraham Woodhull. It might have been a matter of suspicion had he always left a package with Woodhull, therefore a box in the field was resorted to on this as upon many occasions, and straightway home Roe drove the cows. Later Woodhull, passing through the field, transferred the contents of the box to a bag he was carrying and soon the intelligence for General Washington was in his private room. Other messages to accompany those just arrived were now prepared by Woodhull, who we will not forget always signed himself Culper Senior in this correspondence.

Caleb Brewster was waiting with his boats to convey these messages across the Sound. Woodhull knew he was waiting but had not seen him. He had observed the black petticoat which was the signal of his arrival hanging on the line across the creek on Strong’s Neck. He knew where the boats were hid, too, although there were six landing places, but he had observed hanging with the clothes on the line near half a mile away four handkerchiefs. Just as one, two, three, five or six hanging there at one time indicated certain landing places Woodhull knew that four indicated the Neck, and there when the messages were ready he took them.[6] It was long a question as to who it was that used this clothes line signal to guide the delivery of the messages to Brewster who was to carry them across the sound on their way to Washington’s headquarters. Finally a clue was found among the papers of the Floyd family and when this was compared with the Woodhull account book it was discovered that the signals were arranged by no less a personage than the wife of Judge Selah Strong. Anna Smith was her maiden name. She was born on April 14th, 1740, and married Judge Strong on Nov. 9th, 1760.[7]

Brewster sometimes would capture an enemy crew on the way across, and sometimes when not well protected they would chase him. Occasionally he found it necessary to kill some of them. Major Tallmadge was not always to be found in the same place but kept Brewster sufficiently informed to be able to steer in the right direction. When to Major Tallmadge the messages were handed they were again examined, in fact frequently the stain letters were developed and then forwarded to the nearest Dragoons posted along the road, from whence they were relayed to Headquarters.

* * * * *

No one will challenge the emphasis put upon the importance of the Secret Service. Only lack of details has deterred its recognition. As early as April 1779, Major Tallmadge began by saying: “Some pieces of useful intelligence respecting the movements of the Enemy in this late intended Expedition to New London, and which I have reason to believe in a great measure defeated their intentions, have been communicated by Culper.” “Of very great importance” Washington considered it, and so wrote on July 11, 1780 “I rely upon this intelligence,” he wrote at another time. When G. W. P. Custis, adopted son of General Washington, was told by friends, who probably over-estimated, that the service had cost between one thousand and fifteen hundred pounds, he wrote: “It was a cheap, a dog cheap bargain; for, although gold was precious in the days of the Continental currency, yet the gold paid for the secret service was of inestimable value, when it is remembered how much it contributed to the safety and success of the army of Independence.”

Too much can not be said of the personnel of the service, due largely to Robert Townsend, whom all the others speak of in the highest terms. “Nothing could induce me to be here but the earnest desire of Culper Jur.,” said Woodhull in 1779. “He is the person in whom I have the greatest confidence,” General Washington wrote of Culper Junior in a letter to Congress. “This much I can assure you,” says Major Tallmadge, “he is a Gentleman of business, of Education and honor.” Of him on June 20th, 1779, Woodhull wrote: “He is a person that hath the interest of our Country at heart and of good reputation, character and family, I have reason to think his advantages for serving you, and abilities, are far superior to mine. As long as I am here shall be an assistant and do all that I can.” Again on February 5th, 1780, General Washington wrote of Culper Junior: “His accounts are intelligent, clear, and satisfactory ... I rely upon his intelligence,” and Woodhull echoes “He’s allowed to be a person of good sense and judgment, and his firmness and friendship towards our Country I do assure, you need not doubt. I have known him several years and confident he is a sincere friend, and hath undertaken it solely for to be some advantage to our distressed Country.” Then in May, 1781, General Washington recorded: “Of the Culpers fidelity and ability I entertain the highest opinion.”

In this volume are now collected a majority of the letters still in existence from spies in the American service during the Revolutionary War. That General Washington was contented with an occasional report from other scenes of action evinces the importance he attached to the territory around New York. That the Spies of Washington are worthy of important recognition in the annals of the State becomes evident as their work is examined.

G. M. Pierce, Registrar General of the National Society, D. A. R. in 1918 summed up the Revolutionary Spy in these words: “The man or woman who enters upon such a career must possess strength of character and be endowed with all the qualifications of a good soldier and a commanding officer besides. A soldier must possess bravery and courage, but a spy must be not only brave and courageous, but must also have what is called ‘nerve,’ poise, self possession, absolute control of facial expression, fearlessness, tact and discretion unequalled. For his is the most hazardous of all undertakings. Discovery means death, the penalty inflicted alike by all nations.”

FOOTNOTES to “FOREWORD”:

[1] In October, 1773, Nathan Hale began teaching in East Haddam, Connecticut, but in May, 1774, he took charge of a school in New London, called the “Union School.” Here he remained until the summer of 1775, when he joined the third company of the 7th Connecticut Regiment, commanded by Colonel Charles Webb.

[2] “The Two Spies, Nathan Hale and Robert Townsend,” might almost be called a first edition of this volume, but there being more new material in this than the entire contents of the first issue, it is given a new title.

[3] Until this publication the identity of Culper Senior was not positive. Some said Nathaniel Ruggles was the man; others were correct in assuming that it was Abraham Woodhull, but others confused matters by declaring that it was Abraham C. Woodhull, an entirely different person, although he lived in the same town at the same time.

[4] The above Amos Underhill had brothers, one being Benjamin, whose wife was the daughter of Sylvanus Townsend. After his death she married in 1789, John Franklin, son of Thomas. Benjamin’s only son he called Townsend Underhill, born in 1765. His daughter was Elizabeth. This Elizabeth Underhill married John Butler Coles. In 1780 he was a clerk for Thos. Buchanan & Co., and later had his own business at 12 Dock Street, now Pearl. He was a director of the Bank of New York from 1806 to 1820 and died January 2, 1827, leaving a large estate. His father, Nathaniel Coles, happy over the return of peace, in 1783 roasted an entire ox and invited the neighborhood to partake of it. Both Amos and Benjamin Underhill had business dealings with Robert Townsend.

[5] Sir Thomas Sterling.

[6] A somewhat similar method was used on the New England side, at least in the vicinity of Newport. It is described on page 48 of a Discourse by Arthur A. Ross, who a hundred years ago was Pastor of the First Baptist Church there. Mr. Ross says: “During the whole time the British had possession of the Island, a correspondence was maintained between certain individuals of the Island and the main at Little-Compton, so that the American officers were constantly apprized of the general movements of the enemy, while in possession of Rhode-Island. This correspondence was maintained by signals given on the Island, indicating a clear coast, and that a messenger could pass over in safety, after dark. The first signal was the leaving down of a certain pair of bars, which, with a spy-glass, could be distinctly seen from the main. Afterward, for fear of exciting the suspicion of the enemy, the signal was changed, when an open window of Mr. Peleg Peckham’s barn, answered the same purpose. A small vault in the ground, near the shore, and at no great distance from Mr. Peckham’s, covered with a flat stone, served as a depository of communication.--Here, letters and papers were regularly deposited and removed, by the respective individuals engaged in the correspondence.”

[7] Judge Strong was born on Dec. 25th, 1737, and died July 4, 1815. His parents were Thomas Strong and Susannah Thompson, daughter of Samuel Thompson and Hannah Brewster. His wife died August 2, 1812. Anna Strong’s father was William Henry Smith, b. Mar. 13, 1689, Brookhaven and d. Jan. 27, 1743. Her mother was Margaret Lloyd, granddaughter of Grizzell Sylvester.

NATHAN HALE

Late in the evening of September 22, 1776, Captain John Montressor, of the British Engineers, who was serving as aide-de-camp to Lord Howe, appeared under flag of truce at the American outposts on Harlem Plains, New York. He bore a letter to General Washington respecting the exchange of prisoners. General Putnam, Captain Alexander Hamilton, and Captain William Hull were among those who met him. To them Montressor verbally gave the information that an American officer, one Captain Hale, had been executed that morning as a spy. It was startling news, and to Hull it came like a shock, for Nathan Hale had been his chum at college[8] and confided to him details of the dangerous mission he had undertaken. A week later, the sad news reached the home of Hale, and one of his brothers, Enoch, started for the encampment of Washington’s army. There Lieutenant-Colonel Webb was induced to visit the British headquarters under a flag, and he returned with information that enabled Enoch to record that “Nathan, being suspected by his movements that he wanted to get out of New York, was taken up and examined by the general, and, some minutes being found with him, orders were immediately given that he should be hanged. When at the gallows, he spoke and told that he was a captain in the Continental army, by name Nathan Hale.”

Enoch carried this news home, and later his brother John made entry in the town records of Coventry which reads as follows: “Capt. Nathan Hale, the son of Deacon Richard Hale, was taken in the City of New York by the Britons and Executed as a spie some time in the month of September, A.D. 1776.”

Tench Tilghman, in a letter to William Duer, written ten days after the announcement of Hale’s execution, betrays the feeling in the American army. “The General is determined, if he can bring some in his hands under the denomination of spies, to execute them,” he writes: “General Howe hanged a Captain of ours belonging to Knowlton’s Rangers who went into New York to make discoveries. I don’t see why we should not make retaliation.”

Another letter, written by an American officer in camp at Harlem, is dated September 26, 1776, and reads: “One Hale, in N.Y. on suspicion of being a spy, was taken up and dragged without ceremony to the Execution Post and hung up.” “Yesterday we hanged an officer of the Provincials who came as a spy,” writes a British officer to friends at home; and James Drewett, on board the British frigate Mercury at New York, writes: “On the 22d we hung a man who was sent as spy by Gen. Washington.”

It was almost five months later when the newspapers began publishing garbled accounts. The “Conquest of Canaan,” an epic poem, by Timothy Dwight, probably the first book to mention Hale, was not published until nearly nine years after his execution, although, strangely enough, its author had early in 1776 solicited Hale to get subscribers to it for him.

Hannah Adams was in fact the first historian to record a concise account of Hale, and her “History of New England,” in which it appears, was not published until 1799, nearly twenty-three years after the event. The story in her book reads as follows:

“The retreat from Long Island left the British in full possession. What would be their future operations remained uncertain. To obtain information of their situation, their strength and future movements, was of high importance. For this purpose, general Washington applied to Colonel Knowlton, who commanded a regiment of light infantry, which formed the van of the American army, and desired him to adopt some mode of gaining the necessary information. Colonel Knowlton communicated this request to Captain Nathan Hale, of Connecticut, who was then a captain in his regiment.

“This young officer, animated by a sense of duty, and considering that an opportunity presented itself, by which he might be useful to his country, at once offered himself a volunteer for this hazardous service. He passed in disguise to Long Island, examined every part of the British army, and obtained the best possible information respecting their situation and future operations.

“In his attempt to return he was apprehended, carried before Sir William Howe, and the proof of his object was so clear, that he frankly acknowledged who he was, and what were his views.

“Sir William Howe at once gave an order to the provost marshal to execute him the next morning. This order was accordingly executed, in a most unfeeling manner, and by as great a savage as ever disgraced humanity. A clergyman, whose attendance was desired, was refused him; a bible for a few moments devotion was not procured, although he requested it. Letters, which, on the morning of his execution, he wrote to his mother[9] and other friends, were destroyed; and this very extraordinary reason given by the provost marshal, ‘that the rebels should not know they had a man in their army who could die with so much firmness.’

“Unknown to all around him, without a single friend to offer him the least consolation, thus fell as amiable and as worthy a young man as America could boast, with this as his dying observation, ‘that he only lamented, that he had but one life to lose for his country.’... To see such a character, in the flower of youth, cheerfully treading in the most hazardous paths, influenced by the purest intentions, and only emulous to do good to his country, without the imputation of a crime, fall a victim to policy, must have been wounding to the feelings, even of his enemies. So far [1799] Hale has remained unnoticed, and, it is scarcely known such a character ever existed....”

Fifty years after Hale’s execution the “Long Island Star” published (April 2, 1827) extracts from a letter of Stephen Hempstead, Sen., aged sixty-nine, which Hempstead had published in the “Missouri Republican.” Another ten years went by before the first printed address appeared, and thereafter memoirs and biographies followed at frequent intervals to the present time. Attempts have been made to trace every step in his career, but there is much that still puzzles the historians. Nobody has been able to prove how he got to New York, and no one can say positively where he was captured. From all that has been gathered on the subject, we have arrived at the following conclusions:

The retreat of the American army from Long Island had been satisfactorily accomplished, but the officers found themselves in a most perilous condition when on September 7, 1776, Washington called a council of war to consider the important question: Should they defend or abandon New York? At another council on the 12th, it was decided to move to a position on Harlem Heights, leaving a guard of four thousand men under General Putnam in the city, with orders to follow if necessary. On the 14th, Washington made his headquarters at the house of Robert Murray, father of Lindley Murray the grammarian. From there he wrote to General Heath, then stationed at Kingsbridge:

“As everything, in a manner, depends upon obtaining intelligence of the enemy’s motions, I do most earnestly entreat you and General Clinton to exert yourselves to accomplish this most desirable end. Leave no stone unturned, nor do not stick at expense, to bring this to pass, as I was never more uneasy than on account of my want of knowledge on this score....”

To quote a paragraph from Lossing: “The vital questions pressing for an answer were, Will they make a direct attack upon the city? Will they land upon the island, above the city, or at Morrisania beyond the Harlem River? Will they attempt to cut off our communications with the main, by seizing the region along the Harlem River or at Kingsbridge, by landing forces on the shores of the East and Hudson Rivers, at Turtle Bay, or at Bloomingdale, and, stretching a cordon of armed men from river to river, cut off the four thousand troops left in the city?”

Washington, in his perplexity, called another council of war at Murray’s. He told his officers that he could not procure the least information concerning the intentions of the enemy, and again asked, What shall be done? It was resolved to send a competent person, in disguise, into the British camps on Long Island to unveil the momentous secret. It needed one skilled in military and scientific knowledge; a man possessed of a quick eye, a cool head, unflinching courage; tact, caution, and sagacity--a man on whose judgment and fidelity implicit reliance might be placed.

Washington sent for Lieutenant-Colonel Knowlton and asked him to find a man for the service. Knowlton summoned a number of officers to a conference at his quarters and after explaining the service required called for volunteers. Late in the conference, when it seemed he would not find a man competent and willing to undertake the perilous mission, “a young officer appeared, pale from the effects of recent severe sickness. Knowlton repeated the invitation, when, almost immediately, the voice of the young soldier was heard uttering the momentous words, ‘I will undertake it!’ It was the voice of Captain Nathan Hale.”

Everybody was astonished. The whole company knew Hale. They loved and admired him. After the meeting his friends tried to dissuade him from his decision, setting forth the risk of sacrificing all his good prospects in life and the fond hopes of his family and friends. Hull employed all the force of friendship and the arts of persuasion to bend him from his purpose, but in vain. With warmth and decision Hale said: