Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring

391 Pages·2014·4.14 MB·English

by  Alexander Rose

Praise for
WASHINGTON’S SPIES
“Fascinating … tells how the work of the spies proved to be the tipping
point in the summer of 1778, helping Washington begin breaking the
stalemate with the British … [and] brings to light their crucial help in
winning American independence.”
—The Dallas Morning News
“Gen. George Washington, who brushed ‘counter liquor’ across
seemingly innocuous letters to reveal messages written in invisible ink,
knew that intelligence is a mosaic formed from many small parts, some
fitting more precisely than others. In Washington’s Spies, Alexander Rose
has done an admirable job of investigating and reporting on
Washington’s wartime intelligence service.”
—The Virginian-Pilot
“After working on Washington, I knew there was a story to tell about his
reliance on spies during the Revolutionary War. But I believed the story
could never be told because the evidence did not exist. Well, I was
wrong, and Alexander Rose tells this important story with style and wit.”
— , author of His Excellency: George Washington
JOSEPH J. ELLIS
“First in war, first in peace, first in covert ops—Alex Rose unfolds the
story of a Long Island–based spy ring of idealists and misfits who kept
George Washington informed of what was going on in enemy-occupied
New York. Making brilliant use of documentary sources, Rose gives us
intrigue, crossed signals, derring-do, and a priceless slice of eighteenth-
century life. Think of Alan Furst with muskets.”
— , author of Founding Father: Rediscovering George
RICHARD BROOKHISER
Washington
“This fascinating and carefully crafted book shows us a side of the Father
of Our Country that hero-worshippers since Reverend Weems never
imagined—and the almost forgotten covert side of the Revolutionary
War.… [Rose] gives us a compelling portrait of [a] rogues’ gallery of
barkeeps, misfits, hypochondriacs, part-time smugglers, and full-time
neurotics that will remind every reader of the cast of a John le Carré
novel.”
— , National Review
ARTHUR HERMAN
“Offers fascinating new research on how Washington organized an
intelligence-gathering network that helped turn the American Revolution
in his side’s favor.”
—Chicago Tribune

2014 Bantam Books eBook Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Alexander Rose Maps copyright © 2006 by David Lindroth, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Bantam Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of
Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York.
BANTAM BOOKS and the HOUSE colophon are registered trademarks of Random House LLC.
Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Bantam Books, an imprint of Random
House, a division of Random House LLC, in 2006.
ISBN 978-0-553-39259-3
eBook ISBN 978-0-80417982-9
www.bantamdell.com
v3.1_r2
I
will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before
me.
Psalm 39
I
n passing him they did not even see him, or hear him, rather
they saw through him as through a pane of glass at their
familiars beyond.
Thomas Hardy, J O
UDE THE BSCURE
W
orse than having no human sources is being seduced by a
human source who is telling lies.
Report of the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the
United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction, 2005
L
ord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.
Luke 2:29
I
ntelligence is the life of every thing in war.
Letter, General Nathanael Greene to Major John Clark, November
5, 1777
C
ONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Epigraph
Maps
CHAPTER ONE “As Subtil & Deep as Hell Itself”: Nathan Hale and the Spying Game
CHAPTER TWO The Year of the Hangman
CHAPTER THREE Genesis of the Culper Ring
CHAPTER FOUR 711 and the Sympathetic Stain
CHAPTER FIVE The Man of Parts and Halves
CHAPTER SIX The Adventures of the Culper Ring
CHAPTER SEVEN On His Majesty’s Secret Service
CHAPTER EIGHT Spyhunters and Whaleboatmen
CHAPTER NINE The Wilderness of Mirrors
EPILOGUE “Lord, Now Lettest Thou Thy Servants Depart in Peace”
Photo Insert
Dedication
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
NOTES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Other Books by This Author
About the Author