The Importance Of The Culper Spy Ring

1200 Words5 Pages
During the Revolutionary War, gaining the upper hand was imperative to defeat the British. George Washington wanted to know every detail on what was occurring, in all 13 colonies, especially involving the British. Washington understood the importance of espionage and therefore creating a spy group called “The Culper Spy Ring”. The Culper Ring was vital to a the Revolutionary war, because it provided George Washington with information on British troop movements, it was credited with uncovering information involving the treasonous correspondence between Benedict Arnold and John Andre, and providing Washington with vital information using intriguing methods of communication. This was essentially the first Spy Agency created, and in which no…show more content…
Communication is key on to be successful especially on the battlefield. The first being that Tallmadge created a code that would be used between the Culper Ring members and Washington. Washington knew many of theses members only by a code name and never knew their true identity. For-example John Bolton (Tallmadge) was 721, and Sam l. Culper (Woodhull) was 722. After Washington was informed that James Jay discovered invisible ink, this was implemented for secretive communication amongst the group. They would use sympatheic developer to read the messages that were often between the lines, at the end of the letter, or on the reverse side. In the daily newspapers, they would also publish coded messages. This way, the message could be sent and read secretively over a large amount of area. They would also make use of dead drops. Which are items between two individuals using a secret location and thus does not require them to meet directly. Anna Strong would use hanging clothes as a means of communication. For-example if she put a black petticoat on her clothesline, it meant Brewster had arrived in town in his whaleboat. They would also communicate using various
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