Ann bates revolutionary war Continue Learn more about some of the spies who helped the Patriot cause during the American Revolution. During the Battle of Long Island, Nathan Hale, captain of the Continental Army, volunteered to go behind enemy lines in disguise to report on the movements of British troops. Hale was captured by the British Army and executed as a spy on September 22, 1776. Hale remains part of the popular knowledge associated with the American Revolution for his supposed last words: I only regret that I have only one life to give for my country. Benjamin Tallmadge In November 1778, George Washington accused Major Benjamin Tallmadge of creating a spy ring in New York, the site of the British headquarters. Tallmadge led the creation of The Culper Spy Ring, recruiting friends to work as their informants. Talmaj served as the chief handler of Culper's spy ring until the end of the war. Read more: Culper Spy Ring Austin Roe Tavern owner, Austin Rowe has been closely associated with other members of the Culper Ring, even growing up near the home of fellow spy Caleb Brewster. Rowe served as a courier for the group, transporting supplies from Robert Townsend's New York coffee shop on a journey back to Setauket, Long Island, traveling more than fifty miles. Rowe's position as a courier was fraught with danger, travelling long distances with the possibility of being caught with incriminating evidence of his activities. Abraham Woodhall Farmer and son of local Patriot judge Abraham Woodhall joined the Culper Ring in November 1778. Woodhall was, in fact, the leader of Culper's Spy Ring, deciding what information was being passed on to the entire group that would eventually reach George Washington. In order to avoid British discovery, Woodhall operated under the pseudonym Samuel Culper Sr. Anna Strong well connected in New York, colonial, upper class, Anna Strong used her manor on Long Island to help pass on intelligence to other members of the Culper Ring. Strong's husband, Sela Strong III, was a prominent Patriot judge who served as a captain during the war. Anna Strong arranged clothes on her rope as a means to signal to fellow Culper spy Caleb Brewster about the whereabouts of hidden documents for transportation. Robert Townsend The owner of a tavern in New York, Robert Townsend participated in a complex cover-up to disguise his true loyalty. Townsend was a patriot who publicly introduced himself as a supporter of UK loyalists, even writing for the loyalist newspaper to build trust. The guise worked as Townsend was trusted with sensitive information, even from British military officers. Townsend then passed the information on to Austin Rowe. James Armithid Lafayette enslaved African American who volunteered to join the Army under Lafayette in 1781, Armithide served as a double working for the Patriots. Patriots. he pretended to be a fugitive slave who agreed to work with the British, when in fact he collected intelligence from the British and reported to the Patriot forces. Armithide spied on Brigadier General Benedict Arnold (who had already deserted to lead British troops), and eventually visited Lord Cornwallis' camp to gather information on British plans to deploy troops and weapons. Intelligence reports from Armistey's efforts played an important role in defeating the British during the Battle of Yorktown. Main source: Testimony of Lafayette James Armithid Lafayette (November 21, 1784 ) Ann Bates Philadelphia schoolteacher and wife of a British soldier, Anne Bates claimed to be a patriot in order to gather and identify important information to send to British troops. After a walk at George Washington's headquarters in White Plains, Bates explained that she was able to go through her entire army, noticing at the same time the strength and position of each brigade, and the number of guns, with their position and weight of the ball, each gun was charged. Christian M. McBurney With the recent popularity of spies in the War of Independence, led by AMC in the TURN cable television series and george Washington's bestseller The Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution, the influence that spies had on the outcome of campaigns and other aspects of the war is sometimes exaggerated. I focus on two examples in my recently published book, The Spies in Revolutionary Rhode Island (History Press, 2014). One example is Ann Bates, the subject of this article. One of the few known female spies on both sides of the War of Independence, Anne Bates spied on the British during the Rhode Island Campaign in July and August 1778, the first time French and American forces collaborated together to attack a British outpost. The joint expedition failed to capture the British garrison protecting Newport, but the U.S. Army fought well at the Battle of Rhode Island on August 28, 1778. Bates has provided his British handlers with valuable intelligence, despite never stepping into Rhode Island. However, it, according to some historians, did not play a decisive role in the British triumph. Born around 1748, Bates worked as a schoolteacher in Philadelphia. Since her husband was a soldier and arms repairman in the British Army, she learned about weapons and the importance of military information such as enemy guns, soldiers and supplies. At one point during the British occupation of Philadelphia, Anne Bates met John Craig (sometimes Craigie or Cregge), a British-speaking civilian Sir Henry Clinton's spy network. Craig judged her, exactly as it turned out, to be smart and resourceful - just the right type to thrive as a spy. Bates completed several secret assignments for Craig. The Bates family's world changed dramatically when Clinton, the new commander-in-chief of British forces in North America, decided to evacuate Philadelphia in response to news of an alliance between France and America and the expected imminent arrival of the French navy in the Chesapeake Bay. After her husband joined the Clinton Army, who left Philadelphia on June 18, 1778, en route to New York, Anne followed her. When she arrived in the city as a British headquarters on June 26, she asked to see Craig. Instead, she was brought to a meeting with one of Clinton's spies, Major Duncan Drummond. Drummond and Craig together convinced Bates to spy on the British army. Drummond later wrote: The woman Craig trusted was a frequent come-to-town last night. She is well acquainted with many of the R.A. (Royal Army)... Offered to send her under the idea of selling little issues in the Washington camp and there she would communicate with the cameras and would come back whenever she might have learned all that deserves to be known. Craig later received a good fee from the British Secret Service for bringing Bates to The Attention of Duncan. After just one day of training, on June 29, Ann left New York on her first mission. Using the cover name of Mrs. Barnes, Bates disguised himself as a merchant. She was given five guineas for the cost of buying items for the merchant's package - thread, needles, combs, knives and some medicines. On July 2, she arrived at Camp Washington in White Plains, New York. Like Mrs. Barnes, she traveled freely among American soldiers and camp followers. Bates was instructed by Drummond to find a disloyal soldier named Chambers and get any useful information from him. However, she could not find him. Bates then resourcefully changed her mission to find out what useful intelligence she could. She listened to conversations, had weapons and counted artillery. After finally selling most of her merchandise, she made her way back to Drummond in New York. Bates began spying on the Washington army while he was sending continental regiments east to boost the U.S. army in Rhode Island. On July 29, 1778, Major Drummond sent Bates back to white plains. Still disguised as Mrs. Barnes, a merchant, she evaded or passed through several military checkpoints and finally arrived at the Washington camp. She again couldn't find Chambers, her contact. (She learned later that he had been killed in a battle in the Mohawk Valley.) Bates therefore spent the next three or four days wandering American camp, counting 119 guns and estimating the number of soldiers at 23,000. She noticed ten carriages rolling into the camp with the wounded in them. She also spoke about the whereabouts of U.S. brigades. She even boldly entered the residence, temporarily used as the headquarters of Washington, and noticed the commander general there, but did not learn any useful information. However, she was informed that U.S. troops had not yet been sent to Rhode Island. During her time among them, Drummond wrote after Bates returned to New York on August 6, she could neither study nor see a squad that would be sent to Rhode Island. Excerpted from Major Duncan Drummond's memo book, in a report on Ann Bates. Source: The Library of Congress just two days later, Bates was sent back to White Plains for the third time, arriving on August 12. At Washington headquarters, she overheard an officer she believed to be a general, telling a Washington aide (possibly Alexander Hamilton) that 600 boats were preparing to invade Long Island with 5,000 troops (an attempt never made). She also learned that some 3,000 continental and 2,000 militiamen had left the camp in Rhode Island. Bates noted that with the departure of another squad of 3,800 picked up by men in Dobbs Ferry, the American camp was not as much as when it was there for the first time, nor their parades are half as full.