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  First published by Sentinel, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, 2013

  Copyright © 2013 by So Lonely Productions, Inc. and Don Yaeger

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  Illustration credits

  Collection of the New-York Historical Society: Insert 4: no. 1940.16; 9, top: no. 87315d; 10: no. 45397; 11: no. 87312d; 12: no. 87311d.

  Credits for other illustrations appear adjacent to the respective images.

  LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

  Kilmeade, Brian.

  George Washington’s secret six : the spy ring that saved the American Revolution / Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger.

  pages cm

  Includes bibliographical references and index.

  ISBN 978-0-698-13765-3

  1. United States—History—Revolution, 1775–1783—Secret service. 2. New York (State)—History—Revolution, 1775–1783—Secret service. 3. Spies—United States—History—18th century. 4. Spies—New York (State)—History—18th century. 5. Washington, George, 1732–1799—Friends and associates. 6. Townsend, Robert, 1753–1838. I. Yaeger, Don. II. Title.

  E279.K55 2013

  973.4'1092—dc23

  2013032285

  While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers, Internet addresses, and other contact information at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors or for changes that occur after publication. Further, publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.

  This book is dedicated to my Fantastic Five—wife, Dawn; son, Bryan; daughters, Kirstyn and Kaitlyn; and my incredible mom—who have heard me talk about this story for years, spent countless hours researching it, and urged me to write this book. Finally, it’s done.

  —B.K.

  Tiffany: You are a pro’s pro, one of the best writers I’ve ever worked with. I’m honored you’re on my team.

  —D.Y.

  Washington did not really outfight the British, he simply outspied us!

  MAJOR GEORGE BECKWITH,

  BRITISH INTELLIGENCE OFFICER 1782–1783

  CONTENTS

  TITLE PAGE

  COPYRIGHT

  DEDICATION

  EPIGRAPH

  AUTHORS’ NOTE

  PREFACE

  INTRODUCTION

  CHAPTER 1

  Hold New York, Win the War

  CHAPTER 2

  The Need for a Spy Ring

  CHAPTER 3

  Launching the Ring

  CHAPTER 4

  Crossing the Sound

  CHAPTER 5

  The Ring Springs into Action

  CHAPTER 6

  Townsend Joins the Fight

  CHAPTER 7

  Creating a Code

  CHAPTER 8

  Mounting Tensions and Double-Dealings

  CHAPTER 9

  Washington Demands More

  CHAPTER 10

  The French Connection

  CHAPTER 11

  Benedict and Peggy

  CHAPTER 12

  Negotiations and Treachery

  CHAPTER 13

  The Deal Is Done

  CHAPTER 14

  Another Spy at the Gallows

  CHAPTER 15

  The Ring in Peril

  CHAPTER 16

  The Beginning of the End

  CHAPTER 17

  Retaking New York at Last

  CHAPTER 18

  Life After the Ring

  EPILOGUE

  PHOTOGRAPHS

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  SELECTED SOURCES

  INDEX

  AUTHORS’ NOTE

  Much of the dialogue contained in this book is fictional, but it is based on conversations that did take place and, wherever possible, incorporates actual phrases used by the speaker.

  PREFACE

  How do you discover the identity of a spy—someone whose main concern is remaining anonymous—who has been dead for nearly a century? That was the mission of Morton Pennypacker, Long Island’s premier historian, during the 1920s. He knew the Americans would not have won the Revolutionary War without the Culper Spy Ring, but he didn’t know the identity of the ring’s most valuable member.

  The spies’ contributions included uncovering a British counterfeiting scheme, preventing an ambush of French reinforcements, smuggling a British naval codebook to Yorktown, and (most important) preventing Benedict Arnold from carrying out one of the greatest acts of treachery in American history: his plan to surrender West Point to the enemy.

  Although these events were recorded as part of Revolutionary War history, none of them were attributed to any individual or group. No plaques attested to the brave work of the men and women responsible for alerting George Washington to the plots; no statues were erected in their honor. The six members of the Culper Spy Ring had served Washington under one condition: their names and activities were never to be revealed. Washington kept his promise, but he also kept their letters.

  By the 1920s, the passing years had revealed the identities of most of the spies, but two—including that of the ring’s chief spy—were still in question. Pennypacker, a relentless, solemn archivist, made it his personal mission to identify the principal spy, the unknown man who fed George Washington crucial information about the British presence in New York City and helped turn the tide of the Revolutionary War. He needed a name to finally solve the mystery of the man Washington had lauded in his letters but never met. Pennypacker believed that if he could give a name to the man known only by the pseudonym “Culper Junior,” then this citizen-spy and all those who served in the ring with him could ascend to their rightful, prominent place alongside Paul Revere, Patrick Henry, Betsy Ross, and the rest of America’s most famous Patriots.

  Pennypacker was no stranger to intricate historical detective work, but for years his efforts brought him no closer to solving the mystery. And then a phone call in the summer of 1929 changed everything.

  Whenever the telephone rang at Morton Pennypacker’s house, the call was almost always about the history of New York, not a social event—and this particular call was no exception.

  “We’ve found some Townsend family papers,” a voice crackled on the other end of the line. “Do you have any interest in sifting through them?”

  A few days later, the yellowed sheets of paper were piled high on his desk. Pennypacker handled each one gingerly, as if it were made of spun gold. Anything with the name Townsend dating to the eighteenth century was considered historically significant by Long Island historians. The Townsend family had been on American soil since the sixteen hundreds, and a prominent family in Oyster Bay, Long Island, since before the Revolution. Any scraps of ledgers or old bills would help cre
ate a more complete picture of the family’s history, and Pennypacker was eager to see what new details he might learn.

  Townsend papers were fairly ordinary finds, but something about these particular discoveries intrigued Pennypacker. They were not just isolated receipts or bills of sale; they were letters and account books dated during the Revolutionary War and immediately afterward. The handwriting seemed oddly familiar. Pennypacker adjusted his glasses to get a closer look at the distinct way the fourth son of Samuel Townsend, Robert, had hooked his D’s and arched his C’s. It almost reminded him of—!

  Pennypacker rushed to the archives where he stored several letters of espionage that had been signed by members of Washington’s secret service during the war. He took a sample from the stack of Robert Townsend’s papers next to him and placed it side by side with the Culper Junior letters, peering through a magnifying glass until he was convinced he had a match. Was he holding in his hands clear proof of the identity of the New York spy Washington trusted with his secrets? The reserved, bookish Robert Townsend—perhaps the most private of all the Townsend brothers of his generation—was the daring and courageous Culper Junior!

  Of course, Pennypacker needed a professional confirmation of his hunch, so he sent the samples to the nation’s leading handwriting analyst. Just a few weeks later, he received a reply. There was no doubt: Oyster Bay, the home of President Teddy Roosevelt, had another hero to celebrate.

  With Townsend’s identity confirmed, the pieces of the Culper puzzle began to fall into place. The previously disconnected spies now formed a coherent ring, with Townsend at its center. Under the command of Major Benjamin Tallmadge, these five men and one unidentified woman—Robert Townsend, Abraham Woodhull, Austin Roe, Caleb Brewster, James Rivington, and Agent 355—never received the acclaim they deserved in their lifetimes. Together, these men and one woman who had no formal training in the art of espionage, living in Oyster Bay, Setauket, and Manhattan, broke the back of the British military and helped defeat the most powerful fighting force on earth.

  One agent remains unidentified: a woman mentioned in the Culper Ring’s correspondence by the specific code number 355, “lady.” The pages that follow present a compilation of the various activities associated with 355, what history tells us about her probable contributions to the efforts of the Culper Ring, and what resulted from her work. Though her name cannot be verified, and many details about her life are unclear, her presence and her courage undoubtedly made a difference. She represents all covert agents—those men and women whose true identities are never revealed and whose stories are never told, but who offer their service and their lives on behalf of their country. To each of them, we owe an inexpressible debt.

  This book recounts the methods, the bravery, the cunning, the near misses, and the incredible successes of the Culper Ring, which helped to save our nation and shape our future. Most of all, this is a story about ordinary citizens doing extraordinary things, people whose fears and hopes and lives were not much different from our own, and how they changed the course of history. Their humility stopped them from seeking fame or fortune because their love of country sparked their exploits.

  All Americans owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to George Washington’s secret six. This book is written to honor them and the groundwork they laid for our future of freedom.

  Introduction

  SEPTEMBER 1776

  He was twenty-one years old and knew that in a matter of moments he would die. His request for a clergyman—refused. His request for a Bible—refused. After writing a letter or two to his family, this Yale grad uttered, with dignity, the famous statement “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”

  A noose was placed around his neck, and the ladder he had climbed was ripped away. On September 22, 1776, on the island of Manhattan in an area now located at Sixty-Sixth Street and Third Avenue, Captain Nathan Hale was hanged for being a spy. He had volunteered to go behind enemy lines on Long Island for George Washington, and the British would claim that he was caught with sketches of British fortifications and memos of their troop movements. Without a trial, he was sentenced to death. The message sent to all New Yorkers was clear: You spy, you die.

  CHAPTER 1

  Hold New York, Win the War

  New York, without exaggeration, is the pivot on which the entire Revolutionary War turns.

  —John Adams

  The execution of Nathan Hale on September 22, 1776, was the lowest point in a month of low points for General George Washington. First, the British had taken New York City and Long Island—the cornerstones of Washington’s strategy because of their valuable geographic and economic positions at the heart of the North American colonies. Now, Washington’s attempt at building an intelligence network to recoup that loss had failed spectacularly. Just two months after the fledgling country’s declaration of independence, there seemed to be no future for the new nation.

  And yet there had been so much hope just a season ago, in spring. After successfully sending the British packing from Boston in March after a prolonged siege, Washington had begun ordering troops toward New York City, whose harbor was of tremendous tactical—and psychological—importance. If the Patriots could hold that other great port of the Northeast, victory might be within reach.

  As Washington left Massachusetts on April 4, 1776, to begin his own march southward to rejoin his men, the cheerful reports sent back by the advance parties were confirmed: Farmers and tradesmen were greeting the American troops as they passed through rural villages, pressing gifts of food and drink on the soldiers who had displayed such courage and pluck fighting the redcoats.

  “Enjoy this bacon,” urged local butchers, heaving slabs of salted meat onto the supply wagons.

  “Fresh milk!” announced the housewives who scrambled out of their cottages wielding buckets and dippers.

  Gaggles of little boys wearing homespun blue jackets gathered to parade in front of the men as they traversed through town—one child held up a twig as if playing a fife; another pretended to beat a drum in a marching rhythm; the rest chanted the popular refrain “Join or die!” as they reveled in the Patriotic fervor and holiday atmosphere.

  Even the sophisticated city crowd, usually much more reserved in their displays of celebration than the country folk, had cheered in the streets as Washington crossed into Providence, Rhode Island. In roadside taverns and stylish urban coffeehouses across Connecticut, toasts were raised to the unlikely homegrown heroes and their quiet but imposing leader. As word spread up the Hudson Valley that the Continental Army was on the move, settlers who now considered themselves Americans, rather than Dutch or German or British subjects, had whispered prayers for the protection and advancement of the cause of independence.

  Throughout his nine-day journey spanning four states and nearly three hundred miles of forest roads soggy with springtime mud, Washington had seen increasing hope among the people. There were dissenting voices—those whose closed shutters and drawn shades as the Continental Army passed bespoke their loyalty to King George III and the motherland. But it was clear that there was a sense of growing excitement that this wild, untested experiment in personal freedom and individual rights just might prove more powerful than the most disciplined and well-equipped fighting force on earth.

  Despite the buoyant spirits of the people, Washington’s own hope was kept in check by a sober view of facts. While the Patriots had enjoyed some early victories in Massachusetts, these wins came at a high cost when compared with their tactical significance. The Battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775, however, had gone to the British, though with heavy loss of life and limb on both sides. The Siege of Boston, which ended the following March, had been a win for the Patriots, but their success was due more to the position and strength of the American fortifications than any great offensive maneuvers to rout the enemy. In the end, the British gave up on the city, leaving voluntarily rather than
fleeing in an all-out retreat. General William Howe, commander in chief of the British army in North America, had his sights set on a much bigger and more agreeable prize than belligerent Boston.

  New York, tenuously held by a few American troops, was desired by both sides. In the north, the Americans had secured Boston for the moment. To the south, the action had not yet reached a critical point, though its time was coming. Right now, the most pressing concern was in the middle states, where Philadelphia and New York lay vulnerable. Philadelphia was the largest city in the colonies at the time and held great symbolic status as a seat of innovation, boasting one of the first hospitals and public libraries, as well as hosting the meetings of the Continental Congress. Capturing the seat of the fledgling nation’s government would be a great victory for the British. And New York City was the linchpin—if the British won it they could bring the colonies to their knees.

  As the second-most-populous city in the colonies, New York was their northern economic hub. But even more significant was New York’s location and situation—right in the center of Britain’s North American settlements and home to both a large deep-water harbor and access to the Hudson River. The army that held New York City and its waterways had a strategic advantage not only in controlling the import and export of foodstuffs and dry goods (which, in turn, affected the economic stability of the region) but also in securing a key foothold for transporting troops up and down the coast.

  Maintaining control of New York would give the American fighting corps and the colonial populace a tremendous boost in confidence. Failing to capture and hold New York City and New York Harbor would certainly be an embarrassment to the British army and navy, but they would survive the blow. For the Americans, however, losing the region would be a tragedy, destroying morale, cutting off trade, and drastically lowering the odds that the Patriots would win the war.