The "Ever Hear Of The Culper Ring?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading about one of the American Revolution's most famous spies.  Guy by the name of Nathan Hale.  Oh, yeah!  I remember reading about him in my high school history class.  How about you?  

Nathan Hale being prepared for hanging.

Mr. Hale has been embraced as a symbol of rebellion and is the namesake of schools, dormi- tories, inns and even a book series.  Only problem was...he wasn't a very good spy, since he was caught!  Ever hear of the Culper Spy Ring?  Probably not...since they were part of one of the most successful spy rings in history.  The group of small-town friends, who worked with George Washington, helped change the tide of the American Revolution War.  And, they were so good at spying that we never heard of them.  Until now...when you read my story.  During the Revolutionary War, Nathan Hale exchanged his uniform for civilian clothes to go behind enemy lines to ask around about what the British were up to, but on his first mission he was captured and hung.  The loss of Hale was felt by his old college friend Benjamin Tallmage who was serving as a Major under General Washington.  

Benjamin Tallmage, a.k.a John Bolton.

Tallmage recognized the importance of good intelligence and the risks involved in getting that intelli- gence, so after the loss of his friend Nathan, when General Washington asked him to help obtain that intelligence, he created the Culper Spy Ring.  Most of those recruited were childhood friends and trustworthy people whom he knew.  Abraham Woodhull, a farmer in Setauket, New Jersey, used selling his crop to the British army as an excuse to access New York City and a reason to talk to British soldiers.  Another Setauket native, Caleb Brewster, who was a whale boatman, became a courier for the intelligence and Anna Strong was used as a signal, which is much the same as a courier.  

Raynham Hall was home to Townsends, a member of the spy ring.

Woodhull gathered information on British troop numbers while the other two brought that info to Tallmadge who informed Washing- ton.  And, the group of friends made it work to perfection.  The spy ring began to grow over time and Robert Townsends, a New York City café owner signed on as another informant while Setauket neighbor Austin Roe helped to act as a courier between New York and Setauket.  Hercules Mulligan, a New York tailer-turned-spy also helped, but he was not considered an official member of the spy ring.  Agent 355, known only as "lady" was a female member of the spy ring and was a former slave of Anna Strong who worked for British head of intelligence John André.  Little is known of her.  In addition to using non-military people, the ring employed cryptography.  Messages were sent in numbered code and signed using code names.  Tallmadge was known as John Bolton, Woodhull was Samuel Culper and Townsends was Culper Jr.  The ring used invisible ink and coded newspaper articles to send messages.  The secrets of the ring were so secure that General Washington never knew who these people might have been.  Hey, this is stuff you only read about or see in the movies.  The Culper Ring was the most successful spy ring in the Revolutionary War.  It also helped uncover the betrayal of Benedict Arnold as well as capture of John André, but that's another story for tomorrow.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.