George Washington's Secret Six by Brian Kilmeade

Author:Brian Kilmeade
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2013-10-07T04:00:00+00:00

It is no wonder that the Culper communications had proved so disappointing to General Washington in the spring of 1780. The difficulties of delivering the messages in a timely fashion given the geographical constraints and weather were real, but the other reality was that there was little reliable information to be sent. General Clinton had left the city for South Carolina, taking the key decision makers with him. Even if the spies had been at the top of their game, they still would have had little news for Washington.

Agent 355 found herself in an especially difficult position. Only camp women and wives traveled with officers on the move—no respectable single woman would ever follow the soldiers, and certainly not a lady of her social standing. In the absence of the officers, whatever intelligence she was gleaning from whispered conversations with André, or from plots carelessly (or cockily) mentioned in passing, completely dried up. Townsend, for his part, could continue to chat with soldiers in his shop or make his inquiries at the docks and around the city as he inspected cargo ships for their wares or interviewed people for his newspaper column. Rivington could continue passing on bits of gossip he collected as a newspaperman and coffeehouse owner. But 355 could only await the return of her sources and the revival of her set before she could impart any further information.

Clinton’s absence was short-lived. Charleston fell much the same way Manhattan had, and Clinton felt no need to stay to put down the backwoods colonists still causing trouble in the Appalachians. He would leave that to his officers and return to the metropolitan delights of New York: mistresses, theaters, balls, and the satisfaction of being the toast of one of the largest cities on the continent.

There was another reason why General Clinton hastened back to the glittering pleasures of New York in June 1780. Rumor had reached his ears that a fleet of French ships carrying troops was bound for North America. As complacent as he was, this new development troubled him. With the assistance of the French, the Americans might be able to take back New York—or even win the war without the city.

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