The Culper Spy Ring

The Culper Spy Ring: America's Most Effective Intelligence Network during the Revolutionary War

• British forces occupied New York City in August 1776, and it remained a British stronghold and a major naval base for the duration of the Revolutionary War.
• General George Washington needed intelligence on British troop movements and plans, but there was no reliable intelligence network on the Patriot side at that time.
• In 1778, Benjamin Tallmadge established the Culper Spy Ring, a small group of trustworthy men and women from his hometown of Setauket, Long Island, which became the most effective intelligence-gathering operation of the Revolutionary War.
• Spying for the rebels during the Revolutionary War was dangerous, as illustrated by the hanging of American officer Nathan Hale in mid-September 1776 in New York City.
• Tallmadge recruited only those he could trust, starting with his childhood friend, farmer Abraham Woodhull, and Caleb Brewster, who commanded a fleet of whaleboats against British and Tory shipping on Long Island Sound.
• Woodhull ran the group's day-to-day operations on Long Island and traveled to New York to collect information and observe naval maneuvers.
• Dispatches were given to Brewster, who carried them across the Sound to Fairfield, Connecticut, and Tallmadge passed them on to Washington.
• Robert Townsend, a well-connected New York merchant, served as the ring's primary source in the city, writing his reports as "Samuel Culper, Jr.," while Woodhull went by "Samuel Culper, Sr."
• Austin Roe, a Setauket tavernkeeper, acted as a courier for the Culper ring and traveled to Manhattan to buy supplies.
• Anna Smith Strong, a Setauket woman and Woodhull's neighbor, aided in the spy ring's activities by leaving signals regarding Brewster's location for meetings with Woodhull.
• Despite strained relations within the group and pressure from Washington to send more information, the Culper Spy Ring achieved more than any other American or British intelligence network during the war.
• The ring provided information on key British troop movements, fortifications, and plans in New York and the surrounding region, and their greatest achievement was uncovering British plans to ambush the newly arrived French army in Rhode Island in 1780.

The Culper Spy Ring: America's Most Effective Intelligence Network during the Revolutionary War

• British forces occupied New York City in August 1776, and it remained a British stronghold and a major naval base for the duration of the Revolutionary War.
• General George Washington needed intelligence on British troop movements and plans, but there was no reliable intelligence network on the Patriot side at that time.
• In 1778, Benjamin Tallmadge established the Culper Spy Ring, a small group of trustworthy men and women from his hometown of Setauket, Long Island, which became the most effective intelligence-gathering operation of the Revolutionary War.
• Spying for the rebels during the Revolutionary War was dangerous, as illustrated by the hanging of American officer Nathan Hale in mid-September 1776 in New York City.
• Tallmadge recruited only those he could trust, starting with his childhood friend, farmer Abraham Woodhull, and Caleb Brewster, who commanded a fleet of whaleboats against British and Tory shipping on Long Island Sound.
• Woodhull ran the group's day-to-day operations on Long Island and traveled to New York to collect information and observe naval maneuvers.
• Dispatches were given to Brewster, who carried them across the Sound to Fairfield, Connecticut, and Tallmadge passed them on to Washington.
• Robert Townsend, a well-connected New York merchant, served as the ring's primary source in the city, writing his reports as "Samuel Culper, Jr.," while Woodhull went by "Samuel Culper, Sr."
• Austin Roe, a Setauket tavernkeeper, acted as a courier for the Culper ring and traveled to Manhattan to buy supplies.
• Anna Smith Strong, a Setauket woman and Woodhull's neighbor, aided in the spy ring's activities by leaving signals regarding Brewster's location for meetings with Woodhull.
• Despite strained relations within the group and pressure from Washington to send more information, the Culper Spy Ring achieved more than any other American or British intelligence network during the war.
• The ring provided information on key British troop movements, fortifications, and plans in New York and the surrounding region, and their greatest achievement was uncovering British plans to ambush the newly arrived French army in Rhode Island in 1780.