Washington’s Intelligence Ring in New York
When the British occupied New York in 1776, George Washington realized the importance of intelligence about his enemies’ troop movements and intentions. After he was defeated and forced to evacuate the city in the summer of 1776, Washington directed that a “channel of information” be established on Long Island. It was an ad hoc and poorly run affair, without permanent agents on the ground. It ended with the capture of Nathan Hale, a young Continental Army officer who volunteered to gather intelligence behind British lines. He was hanged as a spy.
That convinced Washington that civilians would make less conspicuous spies than military officers. So in February of 1777, he requested the aid of a Nathaniel Sackett to spy on the British. He appointed a Major Benjamin Tallmadge (1754 – 1835), a New Yorker and Yale graduate, as military liaison and point of contact. Sackett’s information was hit and miss, accurate at times, and inaccurate at others. Even the accurate intelligence lacked both the quantity and timeliness to satisfy Washington, so he sacked Sackett.