HS #131 2026.6.11
George Washington’s Spies
“Washington didn’t outfight the British; he simply out-spied us” – a British Revolutionary War officer.
Did you know that? “Washington’s Secret Six” by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger is a fascinating account showing how the Revolutionary War was indeed won because of a handful of closeted patriots in New York City who spied for Washington. (Audiobook available from Herrick District Library.) Also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4yLzC85w3Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNRLd85eKW8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF8fg58tW68
These spies were so secretive that even Washington knew some only by their code names. He kept his promise to keep their identities secret, but he also saved their correspondence – ostensibly to allow historians one day to give them their due credit.
Yet the identity of the principal spy eluded historians’ best efforts. Until in 1929 Morten Pennypacker noticed the handwriting of a prominent New Englander was identical to that of the unidentified spy. Discovering his identity allowed their collective story to be told.
The spy-ring included one woman, still known only by her code name: 355. She was in a position (and perhaps occupation) that enabled her to get valuable detailed information, all unsuspected until she was discovered and likely imprisoned on a British prisoner ship where she eventually died. 355 was probably as essential for the outcome of the war as any of the patriots we read about in our school history books – yet we don’t even know her name. Ponder that.
How did they contribute to the victory? What did they accomplish?
You likely know of the Christmas 1776 surprise attack by Washington in which his army crossed the Delaware River at night, marched nine miles and attacked the Hessian enlisted soldiers in a complete victory which gave their struggling cause new hope. Probably you don’t know that the surprise happened because a spy (trusted by the British) told the British that Washington’s troops were discouraged and tired and would be resting over the Christmas holiday. So the Hessian soldiers drank and partied before bedding down for – they assumed - a good night’s sleep.
You know of the traitor Major General Benedict Arnold. Perhaps you don’t know that he came very close to giving the victory to England by convincing Washington to give him control of the fort at West Point, which he would turn over to the British (possibly with Washington inside). It was Washington’s spies who helped uncover the plot, which in turn led to the capture of Britain’s venerable spy, Major John Andre. Although Andre was liked and respected by friend and enemy alike, Washington had him hung – likely in retaliation for the hanging of unsuccessful spy Nathan Hale. Such a fate awaited any captured spy. It was not just a witticism of Ben Franklin when he told his colleagues, “We must all hang together, or we shall all hang separately.” (England buried Andre in Westminster Abbey.)
You perhaps know that Washington finally defeated General Cornwallis at Yorktown because the French navy defeated the British on sea, while Washington penned the enemy forces on land. However, only in reading this book did I learn the reason for the French naval victory. One of Washington’s spies who worked in a NYC print shop obtained the entire British naval codebook, so the French forces knew immediately how the British ships would move as secret orders were passed from the command ship to other ships during the battle.
Washington’s spies also discovered a clever plot by the British to flood the country with counterfeit American currency bills. This would have rendered U.S. currency useless and crippled the new nation.
When Ben Franklin convinced the French to support the American cause by committing their naval forces and thousands of accompanying troops, it was clear to everyone (including the British) that France was preparing to send a major force. Washington, who had himself served as a spy two decades earlier during the French and Indian War, was clever enough to realize that England had a spy network as well. So Washington made fake detailed plans for an attack of New York City, and arranged to have the plans lost so that they ended up in British hands. This caused the British to keep their forces in NYC rather than to use them to repel the French forces as they landed in Rhode Island. Washington’s attack never came, and the British realized they had been tricked – big time!
The whole account is fascinating. These spies, whose sacrifices gained our independence, deserve a statue, and their story deserves to be told and known.
