29. The American Revolution’s Undercover Heroine
During the American Revolution, the Patriot’s most important spy network, the Culper Ring, owed a great debt to Anna Smith Strong (1740 – 1812) of Setauket, New York. The ring’s leader, Abraham Woodhull, frequently traveled to New York City under the cover of his occupation as a farmer delivering produce, or to visit his sister, who lived in the city. While in New York, he gathered information about British units in the city, their dispositions, and any news he overheard from talkative Loyalists and British officers.
Close questioning by inquisitive British soldiers during one of those visits drove home to Woodhull the deadly risks he was running. To reduce his exposure and the frequency of his travels, he began leaning more on recruiting spies in the city, and using their reports instead of his personal observations. Anna Strong helped speed up the transmission of the gathered intelligence.