Washington and the Culper Spy Ring

This prevents the theft of secret information and detects the presence of spies in the United States. Some think the history of espionage goes back to prehistoric times. The bible tells of Moses sending spies into Canaan. Frederick the Great of Prussia is credited with originating organized espionage. George Washington's spies obtained intelligence and information during the Revolutionary war.

Espionage at the commencement of the American Civil War was not an organized system; however the war necessitated the development of more structured intelligence systems for both the Union and the Confederacy. By the middle of the war the dimensions of the espionage system had augmented significantly. Thus espionage came to play a critically important role that affected general’s decisions in both the North and the South, ultimately affecting the outcome of the Civil War as a whole.

Counterintelligence is one of the most vital areas of the United States intelligence system, and is heavily intertwined with our history, laws and ethics. According to the National Security Act of 1947, counterintelligence (CI) is defined as “information gathered and activities conducted to protect against espionage, other intelligence activities, sabotage, or assassinations conducted by or on behalf of foreign governments or elements thereof, foreign organizations or foreign persons, or international terrorist activities.” It consists of five activities and functions: operations, investigations, collection, analysis and production, and functional services. In this aspect, CI is unique in that it is both an activity and its product. U.S. intelligence agencies, including the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) collect and analyze both CI information and foreign intelligence. There are many counterintelligence activities that the United States is involved in, as both CI and foreign intelligence play an important role in countering threats to our country’s national security. Among these most controversial and misunderstood activities are counterespionage and disinformation.

In the early years of the Revolutionary War, General Washington started using what would become the forerunner of today’s counterintelligence and counterespionage fields by utilizing undercover agents, spy rings, and discreet reporting methods, much of which was focused

George Washington, the man that couldn’t tell a lie, was the American Revolution’s spymaster. Washington was able to bend

George Washington’s Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution, a monograph written by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger, narrates the Culper Spy Ring’s operation in New York City and its contribution toward the American victory over the Great Britain in the American Revolution. Under the order of General George Washington, Major Benjamin Tallmadge established the Culper Spy Ring with the purpose to outspy the British troops’ activities and movements in Manhattan, therefore allowing the Continental Army to recapture New York City. The ring included six members: Robert Townsend, Abraham Woodhull, James Rivington, Austin Roe, Caleb Brewster, and the secret Agent 355; under the command of General Washington and Major Tallmadge, these six members collected information about the British troops’ activities in Manhattan, subsequently sending the information via an intelligence route to General George in order to help him anticipating and making appropriate moves to counter the British schemes. Although there were sacrifices during the operation of the Culper Spy Ring, typically the loss of Agent 355, the Secret Six’s espionage significantly contributed toward the American victory, even with New Work City being occupied by the British Army.

The American Revolution saw the rise of the American spy, and the father of these spies was George Washington, commander in Chief of the Continental Army. The siege of New York demonstrated the importance and dire need for an intelligence to General Washington. Unfortunately, the difficulty, at least initially, lay with finding people willing and able to serve in this manner.

Intelligence provided by the Culper Spy Ring was instrumental in the defeat of the British during the Revolutionary War. Picture this: Benedict Arnold, one of the United State’s (U.S.) most infamous traitors and John Andre are successful in conspiring to attack West Point in 1780 (“The Culper Spy Ring,” 2010). General George Washington becoming captured or killed would be a secondary effect of Arnold’s treasonous act. The U.S. Army losing the Revolutionary War and securing any chance of independence from King George III would be the third and final order of effect. From 1778 to 1783 the Culper Ring identified key British movements, plans in New York and surrounding areas, and fortifications of enemy forces. Together they used tradecraft practices to gain intelligence; such practices included: code names, secret writing, enciphered communication, couriers, dead drops, and signal sites (“The Founding Fathers of American Intelligence,” 2008).

Washingtons spies during the Revolutionary War helped him win the war in many ways. Nearing the end of the Revolutionary War George Washington realized that to win the war, he needed to not only have political power, but military intelligence as well, by using things like propaganda, espionage, scouting, deception, and misinformation to use against the British forces. One the first groups were known as the Knowltons Rangers founded in 1776 by Thomas Knowlton, not only did they undertake missions in the U.S but spanned all the way to Europe and Great Britain, among them were Benjamin Franklin, John Jay and Washington himself, these three would be working together in Counterintelligence later on in the War. When the British recruited one of Washingtons

Together, they are known for uncovering the British plan to “depreciate the colonial currency” {105}, preventing the British from attacking French reinforcements in 1778 {121 – 124}, and uncovering Benedict Arnold as a double agent {149}.

America’s first spy ring, better known as the Cupler ring, was Washington’s carefully thought out solution to gain intelligence on the overpowering British troops. The revolution was happening; there was no turning back and no denying that America was going to gain independence from Great Britain. Washington needed a plan, a way to foresee what the British planned to do next. Washington’s only solution was to resort to spying.

Counterintelligence: exposing, preventing, and investigating intelligence activities on U.S. soil; foreign espionage strikes at the heart of national security, impacting political, military, and economic strengths.

The term “Covert Action” brings with it a connotation of shadowy figures wrapped in secrecy and intrigue. It also brings with it a substantial amount of moral questions as to “what is right.” The use of covert action has been widely publicized since the early seventies, but trying to find out the truth to these events has been difficult to say the least. What is even more difficult, is historically recording these events into categories of successes or failures. These operations are difficult to dissect because of their secrecy and although events have been recorded, some facts simply aren’t apparent. This paper will seek to identify the complex issues associated with covert operations.

The United States has the most capable intelligence apparatus of any country in the world. The information produced by various agencies gives the United States a substantial advantage when it comes to understanding world events, predicting and preparing for unsettled times, fielding military forces, and making a host of other political and economic decisions. From an ethical perspective, it means that the United States Intelligences information can create the risk of security for the United

George Washington’s Secret Six presents the somewhat untold story of the Culper spy ring. The ring was formed after the death of Captain Nathan Hale who was Washington’s first spy, in the aftermath of his death Washington decided that he would do everything in his power to keep his spies from meeting an unfortunate demise. With the help of Major Benjamin Tallmadge, the roots for the Culper spy ring were laid. The ring was designed to keep the identities of the members a secret at all costs. The Culper ring operated out of British occupied New York where all the members were generally considered to be loyal to Britain. The ring's members were Abraham Woodhull, Robert Townsend, Caleb Brewster, James Rivington, Benjamin Tallmadge, Austin Roe, and Agent 355. They communicated using clothesline messaging, dead drops, invisible ink that only reacted to a secret chemical, code names, and coded messages. The ring successfully brought light to Benedict Arnold’s treason, the British plan to ambush French troops as soon as they landed, as well as keeping accurate information on troops and ships in New York. The ring only suffered the loss of one member, this was outstanding considering that the ring was quite large and operated in British controlled New York. Given the effectiveness of the ring, the Continental army might have been defeated if the Culper Spy Ring didn’t exist.