War History Network members often look for the story behind the headlines and "George Washington’s Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution" takes the reader behind the shades into the world of espionage.
The heart of the story is the Culper Ring that gathered information from their British customers and acquaintances in New York that was surreptitiously transmitted to General Washington as he sought to recapture the city. So secret was their identity, even to Washington, only documents surfacing in the twentieth century lifted their cover. Robert Townsend, the reserved Quaker merchant and reporter headed the ring. Tavern keeper Austin Roe risked his employment and life to protect the mission. Caleb Brewster ferried messages between New York and Connecticut. Abraham Woodhull used his business and family to justify travel to Manhattan. Printer and coffeehouse proprietor James Riverton relayed copies of printing jobs and military gossip to the American Commander. Then there is Agent 355, the only woman and only conspirator whose name remains a mystery.
While focusing on the Culper Ring, authors Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger weave the tragedies of Nathan Hale and Benedict Arnold into the narrative as nimbly as did life itself.
Captain Hale responded to Washington’s request for a man to venture behind enemy lines, disguised as a Loyalist, to ascertain and report British supplies and troop movements. As a Connecticut native and Yale student who had never been on Long Island, Hale was, though enthusiastic, ill-suited for his assignment, deficiencies borne out by his capture and execution ten days after his arrival on the Island.
The authors flesh out the details of the Arnold-Andre cabal that threatened to upend the cause for which Arnold had so courageously fought. The contrast between Andre’s honorable conduct and Arnold’s self-promotion after the scheme was revealed is striking.
The techniques described are eighteenth century versions of clandestine methods. Coded names and vocabulary and invisible ink really were em[;oyed in those days. Despite the passage of time, false names and forged documents presage Operation Mincemeat of World War II and Argo in twenty-first century Iran. Capture of a Royal Navy signal book that gave a great advantage to French sailors off Yorktown brings to mind World War II’s Enigma Machine and German naval codes seized from U-505 in 1944. Washington’s arrangement for British agents to capture false plans for an attack on New York bring to mind Patton’s Phantom Army opposite Pas de Calais leading up to D-Day.
Though a short book, it is long enough to bring reveal insights. The interrelatedness of seemingly disparate events such as Hale, Arnold-Andre and Culper, including the risk that Arnold could blow Culper’s cover, illustrate angles that I, at least, had overlooked. Perhaps most heart-rendering is the post-war plight of the Culper Six. While other Patriots basked in the glory of victory, the Culper Six maintained the anonymity that made their success possible, even suffering retribution from those who interpreted their fraternization with British forces as treacherous, rather than service to the cause of Independence. The importance of the Culper Six? Let British Major George Beckwith cast judgement on that: “Washington did not really outfight the British, he simply outspied us!” "George Washington's Secret Six" is an informative read for War History Members seeking to dive below the surface of the Revolution's narrative.
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