Do you enjoy a good spy thriller? I know I do, movie or book. We often see spy thrillers set in a modern-day, Cold War, and both World Wars. For this Pinch of the Past, we are going to look even further back into history, all the way back to the Revolutionary War.
Did you know that there were female spies for George Washington? Yep. One, in particular, is referred to so briefly in code that she is known simply as Agent 355.
It is believed she was part of the Culper Spy Ring–a ring of spies established by General Washington and Major Benjamin Tallmadge. She was tasked with finding information about the British Army’s operations in New York City.
- Likely, a lady of some class who had privy to the inner circles of British Military higher-ups.
- Some believe Agent 355 was Ms. Anna Strong, a neighbor of Abraham Woodhull– a leading member of the Culper Spy Ring in New York during the American Revolutionary War.
- According to oral history, Anna relayed messages regarding a whaleboat courier that smuggled across the Long Island Sound by hanging a black pettie coat and colored handkerchiefs on her clothesline, signaling which of the coves the boat would dock.
Another possible candidate for the role of this female spy is Lydia Darrah, a wife in Philadelphia who eavesdropped on a secret meeting while British soldiers met in her house.
- She was able to warn George Washington about an impending attack, thereby preventing much blood shed.
- Later when the chief of British Intelligence, Major John Andre investigated the leak, Lydia (whose husband had hosted the meeting) was never suspected since being a woman she would naturally have the same political views as her husband.
Another theory is that Agent 355 was a relative of Robert Townsend, an operative in the Culper spy.
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- Some believe she was arrested in 1780 when Benedict Arnold betrayed the Patriots. She was said to be imprisoned on the HMS Jersey where she gave birth to a boy, and then later died aboard a prison ship. However, there are no records to support the birth and women were also not held on prison ships at that time.
- One truth that may have given birth to the alleged imprisonment of Agent 355 on a ship is that Anna Strong was said to bring her husband food while he was imprisoned on the Jersey.
We see remnants of Agent 355 in fiction today. In real life, the Culper Spy Ring was so secret, their existence to the public did not become known until the 1930s. That’s 150 years of anonymity.
One piece of evidence we do have is a message written by Abraham Woodhull which says he would be visiting New York again and, “by the assistance of a [lady] of my acquaintance, shall be able to outwit them all.” In two months, a steady stream of headquarters-level intelligence on the British Army entail poured to Washington.
Some believe the code 355 which, when the cryptography system the Culper Ring used was decrypted meant simply “lady,” might have alluded to female spies that worked for the Patriots in the Culper Ring.
Well, there you have it–a tiny glimpse at espionage in the Revolutionary War.
