The Postwar Lives of Key Members of the Culper Ring
As the war in the northern colonies settled into a stalemate, the British adopted a southern strategy, and shifted their military focus to the southern colonies in hopes of reviving their fortunes. With the war’s center of gravity shifting to the south, and especially after Washington and his French allies’ decisive victory at Yorktown in October of 1781, New York City, and with it the Culper Ring, became less important. The ring closed shop and ceased activities soon thereafter.
However, although Yorktown proved to be the last major battle of the Revolutionary War, the war did not officially end until Congress accepted the terms of the 1783 Paris Peace Treaty, and formally ratified it in January of 1784. Until then, George Washington remained skeptical of the British – who held on to New York City until November of 1783 – and their intentions. Accordingly, he ordered the Culper Ring reactivated in September of 1782, but there was not much to report. As Robert Townsend wrote on September 19th, 1782, the British had truly thrown in the towel, accepted American independence, and were just waiting for peace negotiations to conclude so they could leave.
After the war, Townsend withdrew into anonymity, and his wishes to remain anonymous were respected by those who knew of his espionage. He wrapped up his business activities in New York City, and returned to the family home in Oyster Bay, Long Island. He never married, although he fathered an illegitimate son upon a housemaid. Robert Townsend lived with his sister in Oyster Bay until he died of old age in 1838.
Abraham Woodhull got married in 1781, as the war was winding down. He had three children with his wife before she died in 1806. He remarried late in life, in 1824, before dying two years later in Setauket, in 1826. By then, he had become a man of stature in local politics, having served as magistrate of Setauket, judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and first judge of Suffolk County.
After the war, Caleb Brewster married a woman from Fairfield, Connecticut, and settled there with her, where the couple raised a family of eight children. He made a living as a blacksmith and a farmer until 1793, when he joined the United States Revenue Cutter Service – forerunner of today’s Coast Guard. He eventually retired to a farm in Black Rock, Connecticut, and died in 1827.
Benjamin Tallmadge served in the Continental Army until it was disbanded in 1783. He then returned to civilian life, and settled down to raise a family of seven children with his wife in Connecticut. He became a businessman and entered into a variety of business ventures, including serving as a bank president, and speculating in land in Ohio. When George Washington was elected president, he appointed Tallmadge as postmaster for Litchfield, Connecticut. In 1800, he was elected to Congress as a Federalist, and served in the House of Representatives until 1817. He died in 1835.
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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources & Further Reading
Connecticut History – Caleb Brewster and the Culper Spy Ring
Encyclopedia Britannica – Benjamin Tallmadge: American Continental Army Officer
Encyclopedia Britannica – Culper Spy Ring
Mount Vernon Online – Benjamin Tallmadge
Mount Vernon Online – John Andre
New England Historical Society – A Spy For a Spy: John Andre Hanged
New York Times, December 15th, 1985 – Remembering a Master Spy at Home
New York Times, November 13th, 2017 – When New York City Was a (Literal) Battlefield