American Intelligence in the American Revolutionary War was essentially monitored and sanctioned by the Continental Congress to provide military intelligence to the Continental Army to aid them in fighting the British during the American Revolutionary War. Congress created a Secret Committee for domestic intelligence, a Committee of Secret Correspondence for foreign intelligence, and a committee on spies, for tracking spies within the Patriot movement.
Frank Knox Morton Pennypacker (1872–1956) 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.
Shadow Patriots is 2005 historical novel by Lucia St. Clair Robson. It tells of the Culper Ring, a group of George Washington's spies operating out of New York City during the Revolution. The story includes familiar names—Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Benedict Arnold, Peggy Shippen—and one unfamiliar number, the mysterious Spy 355. 355 was the Culpers' code for "lady," and after 225 years she remains a nameless heroine who, many historians believe, died for her country.
Benjamin Tallmadge was an American military officer, spymaster, and politician. He is best known for his service as an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He acted as leader of the Culper Ring during the war, a celebrated network of spies in New York where major British forces were based. He also led a successful raid across Long Island that culminated in the Battle of Fort St. George. Following the war, Tallmadge was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a member of the Federalist Party.
The Culper Ring was a spy ring organized by Major Benjamin Tallmadge under orders from General George Washington in the summer of 1778, during the British occupation of New York City at the height of the American Revolutionary War.
Alexander Rose is an author and a historian.
James Rivington was an English-born American journalist who published a loyalist newspaper in the American colonies called Rivington's Gazette. Some scholars in the 1950s determined that despite all outward appearances, Rivington was a member of the American Culper Spy Ring.
Abraham Woodhull was a leading member of the American Culper Spy Ring in New York City and Setauket, New York during the American Revolutionary War. He used the alias "Samuel Culper" which was a play on Culpeper County, Virginia suggested by George Washington. The Culper Ring was a successful operation which provided Washington with valuable information on the British Army headquartered in New York from October 1778 until the end of the war. After the United States gained independence, Woodhull served as a magistrate, as his father did before him, and he served as a judge in Suffolk County, New York.
Agent 355 was the code name of a female spy during the American Revolution, part of the Culper Ring. Agent 355 was one of the first spies for the United States, but her real identity is unknown. The number, 355, could be de-crypted from the system the Culper Ring used to mean "lady."
Robert Townsend was a member of the Culper Ring during the American Revolution. He operated in New York City with the aliases "Samuel Culper, Jr." and "723" and gathered information as a service to General George Washington. He is one of the least-known operatives in the spy ring, once demanding that Abraham Woodhull never tell his name to anyone, not even to Washington.
Andrew Colville is an American screenwriter.
Caleb Brewster was a member of the Culper spy ring during the American Revolutionary War, reporting to General George Washington through Major Benjamin Tallmadge. He carried messages across Long Island Sound between Major Tallmadge and the ring's main spies on Long Island, New York and in New York City. He also made direct reports to Washington concerning naval activities in the New York City area.
Turn: Washington's Spies is an American period drama television series based on Alexander Rose's book Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring (2007), a history of the Culper Ring. The series originally aired on the AMC network for four seasons, from April 6, 2014, to August 12, 2017.
Anna Smith Strong of Setauket, New York was an American Patriot, and she may have been one of the only female members of the Culper Spy Ring during the American Revolution. Her perceived main contribution in the ring was to relay signals to a courier who ran smuggling and military missions for General George Washington. No information has been found concerning Anna's activities after the war other than that she and her husband, Selah Strong, lived quietly in Setauket for the rest of their lives. She died on August 12, 1812.
Jonas Hawkins was an American Patriot and a member of the Culper Spy Ring during the American Revolution.
Cato was an enslaved African American who served as an American Black Patriot spy and courier gathering intelligence with his owner, Hercules Mulligan, who was a "sub-agent of the Culper Ring" in New York City. Mulligan's activities began before the Ring was formed and he operated both independently and in connection with the Ring. Cato was a vital associate in Mulligan's activities, often acting as a courier, in part through British-held territory. Historian Paul R. Misencik has written that Cato was a "faithful accomplice" of Mulligan.
Hercules Mulligan was an Irish-American tailor and spy during the American Revolutionary War. He was a member of the Sons of Liberty.
Sarah "Sally" Townsend (c.1760–1842) was thought to be an informant for George Washington's Culper Ring, a spy ring founded in the summer of 1778. Townsend lived in Oyster Bay and passed information to her brother, Robert Townsend, a main member of the ring. She died in December 1842 and is buried at the Townsend Cemetery.
Nathaniel Sackett was the spymaster appointed by General George Washington to create a network of civilian spies located in New York during the American Revolution. Sackett and his new spy ring would report to William Duer, a Continental Congressman, and General Washington. Nathaniel’s later lack of progress lead him to be relieved of his post. He was replaced with Benjamin Tallmadge, who built upon Sackett’s work and established the Culper Spy Ring.
The Whaleboat War was a series of actions fought by American privateers in the aftermath of their government's loss in the Battle of Long Island and in the context of the subsequent Northern theater of the American Revolutionary War after Saratoga. The Americans used whaleboats rowed from the Province of New Jersey into New York Bay and from Connecticut Colony into Long Island Sound to rob British commercial shipping, occasionally making raids on coastal communities of Long Island. The privateers sold the booty thus captured and divided the proceeds among themselves.
