The Ghostly Tales of Long Island by Rachel Kempster Barry

Author:Rachel Kempster Barry
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Inc.
Published: 2020-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

8

The Culper Spy Ring

SETAUKET

Long Island was home to an amazing group of spies during the American Revolution. They used their wits, invisible ink, disguises, and even laundry hung out to dry to thwart the British in one of the most fascinating pieces of Long Island history—a piece of history that was ALMOST lost to the ages.

At the time the Declaration of Independence was signed, in 1776, the British (also known as the redcoats, because of their red uniforms) had a large army in America. When the revolution broke out, those British troops commandeered—or took over—everything they could from people’s homes and businesses to cemeteries and village greens. Even in the quiet little town of Setauket, the world was turned upside down with the arrival of the redcoats. The soldiers turned the Presbyterian church into a British fort. The pews in the church were knocked down to make stalls for horses, and the tombstones were used as building materials for barracks. Watching their town destroyed by the British was very hard for the people of Setauket.

Those who were against the British occupation were called Patriots. In time, a group of Patriot soldiers sailed over to Long Island from Connecticut to wage war against the British. In August 1777, the Battle of Setauket took place, but the Patriots were outnumbered. Their attempt to overtake the British soldiers failed.

But those Patriots were not ready to give up. They wanted their freedom.

With careful planning and effort, the Culper Spy Ring was put into place a year later. The ring lasted for a full six years without the British ever catching on. In fact, it was such a secret that it took over 150 years for people to find out about it! A historian stumbled upon the secrets of the ring in 1939. Now that’s the sign of a really, really good spy ring!

How did they do it?

It all started when General George Washington asked his trusted aide, Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge, to start a network of spies on Long Island. Tallmadge was based in Connecticut but had grown up in Setauket.

He turned to some trusted friends, including twenty-five-year-old Robert Townsend, a merchant and Patriot from Oyster Bay. His family owned a house that had been taken over by the British during the occupation.

Robert Townsend secretly served his country during the Revolution by becoming one of General George Washington’s chief spies. He worked under the codename “Culper Jr.”

Robert was a terrific spy. One time he dressed up as a redcoat and went to New York City, where he talked with British soldiers over tea. After, he shared what he learned with General Washington by sending him a note written in invisible ink.

Another member of the spy ring was Austin Roe, a twenty-nine-year old tavern keeper from Setauket. His job was to carry messages from New York City to the spy ring in Setauket. He disguised himself as a country merchant and rode fifty-five miles on horseback several days a week. He made hundreds of journeys and never got caught.

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