Spies of the Revolution
Espionage played a significant role in American operations during the Revolutionary War. Women were successful in covertly gathering information based on the notion they were incapable of doing a task viewed as masculine. General Washington often hired women as spies, messengers, and scouts during the war effort because of their ability to be undetected as they worked as camp followers, nurses on the battlefield, and within the domestic sphere as cooks and cleaners. At the onset of the war, Washington understood the need to establish reliable networks to gather information about the British behind enemy lines. Washington appointed Major Benjamin Tallmadge as the director of military intelligence in November of 1776 and established an intelligence network out of New York City from Setauket, Long Island.
Known today as the Culper Spy Ring, it would become one of the most successful, known for uncovering Benedict Arnold's treasonous defection to the British. The ring communicated through a series of coded numbers, and members were assigned a specific number to protect their identity in case of exposure. While some ring members are known, such as Abraham Woodhull and Robert Townsend, others are not, such as Agent 355. There are few mentions of "355" in surviving letters. On August 15, 1779, Culper Sr. (Abraham Woodhull) wrote to John Bolton (Benjamin Tallmadge), "I intend to visit 727 [code for New York] before long and think by the assistance of a 355 [code for lady] of my acquaintance, shall be able to outwit them all." Within two months, detailed headquarters-level intelligence on the British Army flowed to Washington in Newburgh, New York.
Scholars speculate that 355 was a woman from New York society and possibly a member of a Loyalist family. This would allow her access to British officers and intelligence. Popular theories around the identity include Anna Smith Strong, known for hanging her linens as a signal code in Setauket, Long Island. Other historians point to Elizabeth Burgin, Robert Townsend's common-law wife. It is also assumed Agent 355 was captured and imprisoned aboard the HMS Jersey, a British prison ship in New York Harbor.
