George W’s Spooks: Inside the Culper Ring. [NR Interview]

National Review ^ | June 19, 2013 | Alexander Rose

[Pharmboy]

ALEXANDER ROSE: Thankfully, this isn’t a chicken-and-egg question, so the answer is a simple one: Washington’s spies, otherwise known as the Culper Ring. There were five primary members. First in seniority was Benjamin Tallmadge, a dragoons officer who acted as the Ring’s manager in American-held Connecticut and made sure their intelligence was passed on to Washington back at headquarters. The agent who sailed back and forth across Long Island Sound (I prefer the more colorful contemporary description of it, “the Devil’s Belt”), tussling with freebooters and dodging patrol-boats, was Caleb Brewster, a former whaleboatman who really, really liked fighting. Brewster’s contact in Setauket, Long Island, was the farmer Abraham Woodhull, the cell-leader and the man who collated the Ring’s reports for Tallmadge and Washington. Based in New York itself, then under British occupation, was Robert Townsend, a well-connected merchant and ostensibly impeccable Loyalist. The agent usually detailed to ride the perilous road between New York and Setauket was Austin Roe, who owned a tavern. Getting back to the question, the Culper Ring began operations in the summer of 1778 and continued its work until the end of the Revolutionary War. Tallmadge, incidentally, had performed some secret service as early as 1777, so I guess you could say he predated even the Culpers. By way of comparison, Arnold and Andre (his case-officer, Tallmadge’s equivalent in what might be called British Intelligence) only began working together in 1780.

LOPEZ: How did Washington’s differ from British spies?

ROSE: There’s no easy warm-up questions with you, is there? O.K, I’ll try to summarise the general differences, but I’ll restrict myself to talking about the Culper Ring, if you don’t mind. The reason is, there were so many spies working on either side at various points and in different theaters that I couldn’t possibly consider

[Pharmboy]

This is an interview with the author of "Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring" Paperback by Alexander Rose

I thought you might enjoy this more than a review.

[Kenny Bunk]

Read "George Washington's Expense Account,"
by Marvin Kitman (It is absolutely real, from the National Archives)

This could explain mysterious references like:
"Reconnoiter Staten Island: $10,000.00"

[Pharmboy]

The grave of Caleb Brewster in Old Burying Ground, Fairfield CT

"...a former whaleboatman who really, really liked fighting."

Birth: 1748
Death: Feb. 13, 1827

Note from "Ye OLD BURYING GROUND OF FAIRFIELD, CONN." by Kate Perry, p. 27: "Captain Brewster was a large powerful man. He resided in Black Rock."
Inscription:
In memory of
Captain CALEB BREWSTER, who died
February 13th. 1827;
aged 79 years.
He was a brave and active officer
of the Revolution.
"Ye OLD BURYING GROUND OF FAIRFIELD, CONN." by Kate Perry

The RevWar/Colonial History/General Washington ping list

[Pharmboy]

Kitman is a vicious lefty who has attacked General Washington in previous books. I’ll skip anything of his, but thanks.

[Kenny Bunk]

Kitman is a vicious lefty

Sure is. And, he is the man behind Bill O'Reilly.

[max americana]

good article, there are still good stuff about the American Revolution that no one knew about

[Tijeras_Slim]

ping

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Pharmboy.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Wow! I want to read that. Washington was an equal opportunity employer too. He had at least one woman on his team. I read about her in the Smithsonian a few years back. A Quaker, I believe, but (like any tiger mom) she was concerned about protecting one of her sons who had joined the Revolutionaries and so she reported on the plans of the British troops who had occupied her home.

[Pharmboy]

Indeed. Lydia Barrington Darragh.

The Quakers were the only group General Washington did not care for; and only because they would not fight. But, it should also be remembered that Nathaniel Greene--his best field general--was a Rhode Island Quaker who went against the wishes of his family.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Thank you. I couldn’t remember her name. I loved that story the way it was told in The Smithsonian — with Lydia listening to the British officers through a hole in her bedroom floor and then writing the plans on a small crap of paper, or muslin, and encasing it into a handcrafted button on her younger son’s shirt. That must have taken an incredible amount of bravery because she was putting her whole family at risk.

[colorado tanker]

Thanks for the interesting post. Maybe I missed it, but I didn’t see how they got their name, “Culper.”

[Pharmboy]

You're welcome indeed.

"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." from here.

[colorado tanker]

Ah, it was their alias. Makes sense. Thanks!