28. The Laundry Code
Abraham Woodhull gathered intelligence from NYC, and took it to Setauket on Long Island. He then delivered it to Caleb Brewster, a courier and smuggler who delivered it to Major Benjamin Tallmadge, who handed it to George Washington. It was a time-consuming process that was eventually shortened by using couriers to collect the information in New York, and speedily get it to Setauket, 55 miles away.
Anna Strong used her laundry as a code to coordinate between Brewster and Woodhull. When Brewster was ready to pick up Woodhull’s reports, Anna would hang a black petticoat in her laundry as a signal to Woodhull. Woodhull would then finish compiling a report, and stash it in a prearranged hiding spot in one of six coves near Setauket. Anna would then hang up white handkerchiefs to dry, their number corresponding to the number of the cove where Woodhull had stashed the report. Brewster would then go to the correct cove, pick up the report, and deliver it across the Long Island Sound.