Special Thank You to Local Historian Beverly Tyler. More Information Can Be Found at Spyring.Emmaclark.Org

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Special Thank You to Local Historian Beverly Tyler. More Information Can Be Found at Spyring.Emmaclark.Org

October 7, 1750 – Abraham Woodhull (alias “Samuel Culper, Sr.”), leading member of the Culper Spy Ring, was born in Setauket. November 25, 1753 – Robert Townsend (alias “Samuel February 25, 1754 – Benjamin Culper, Jr.”), member of the Tallmadge was born in Setauket. Culper Spy Ring, was born in Only surviving Oyster Bay. Tallmadge was the organizer and portrait of Robert leader of the Revolutionary War Townsend Setauket Spies, and son of the minister of the Setauket Presbyterian Church. April 1775 – American Revolution begins (Gunfire July 4, 1776 – Declaration of at Lexington and Concord in Independence approved. The Massachusetts was famously thirteen American colonies declare described as "the shot heard themselves no longer under round the world.”) British rule. Summer of 1778 – Benjamin Tallmadge, under orders from August 25, 1778 – Washington General Washington, established a wrote to Tallmadge, agreeing to chain of American spies on Long his choice of Abraham Woodhull Island and in New York City. as spy leader in Setauket, the point at which correspondence would cross April 1779 – Washington the Sound from Long Island to Connecticut. forwarded a vial of invisible ink to Woodhull in response 1780 – Culper Spy Ring uncovered to his concern that his letters might be information that prevented the intercepted, leading to his discovery. British from attacking the French fleet when they arrived in Newport, May 4, 1780 – as noted by Woodhull in a RI. and led to the detection of letter, Robert Townsend decided to resign Benedict Arnold’s treason. because he felt it was only a matter of time until he was uncovered. April 1783 – peace treaty with the British was signed, ending the American Revolution. Special thank you to local historian Beverly Tyler. More information can be found at spyring.emmaclark.org..

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Stealth and Secrecy: the Culper Spy Ring's Triumph Over the Tragedy Of
Stealth and Secrecy: The Culper Spy Ring’s Triumph over the Tragedy of Betrayal Andi Bradsher Junior Division Historical Paper Paper Length: 2,496 2 A group of brave Patriots faced the hangman’s noose daily while fighting for freedom during the American Revolution. Their weapons were not muskets or bayonets but stealth and secrecy. The Culper Spy Ring made many important discoveries, including the identification of Benedict Arnold’s tragic betrayal, which led to the Patriot triumph over the British in the Revolutionary War. When the British Army invaded New York City in September of 1776, they procured one of the largest cities on the continent.1 General George Washington, commander of the Continental Army, needed inside information about what transpired behind British lines in the city. Having been an officer in the French and Indian War, he knew the value of advance knowledge about the enemy’s plans. He wrote, “There is nothing more necessary than good intelligence to frustrate a designing Enemy: and nothing that requires greater pains to obtain.”2 Securing those spies proved to be difficult. One of Washington’s first agents to go behind British lines never made it out. Nathan Hale was hanged on September 22, 1776.3 Washington realized that in the future he would need an organized group of people to gather information. He chose a trustworthy officer to be the director of military intelligence. Benjamin Tallmadge wrote in his memoir, “...I opened a private correspondence with some persons in New York (for Gen. Washington) which lasted through the war.”4 These “persons” operating on Setauket, Long Island, and in New York City together became known as the Culper Spy Ring.
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