Evening Star Newspaper, February 22, 1931, Page 80

e 2 THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHIN(G RECENTLY DISCOVERED PAPER Maj. Andre began to search idly through the cupboards. W hen he came to the letter he hurriedly hid it in his pocket, picked up a dish of doughnuts to cover his action, and strolled leisurely Bt o e e Martyred N athan Hale Is Knozon i Service Agent, but the Man 7V ho Succ the British Lines and Made Coiifidentia He IV as Robert Townsend, or “Sami Heroic Deeds Have Until Noww Neve Helped Capture the British Spy, Ang 4 By Bruce Catton. fHEN Nathan Hale stood in the / back end of a wagon box in New York City in the Fall of 1776 and, with a rope around his neck, stepped off into eternity, George Washington's first attempt to set up an Army Intelligence Service came to a dramatic and tragic end. For Hale, who paused before stepping into history-book immortality, to turn a phrase familiar to millions of school boys ever since, was not only the most notable Army spy of the American Revolution; he himself, in his slender person, was just about the entire American Army Sccret Service. And his pass- ing left George Washington blind, and without any inside means of knowing what the British were doing. Armies in those days needed espionage systems quite as ‘much as they do now. And the ragged Continentals of Washington, who lacked many things, sorely lacked spies. Lack- ing spies, they could not tell how many British there were, or where the American force should be chiefly concentrated, or what it might expect from the fates, and if Nathan Hale had never been replaced it is quite possible that the American Revolution would have been snuffed out, in which case Washington and many an- other patriot would have followed Hale to a similar gallows. But. as a matter of fact, Hale was replaced. Washington found another spy; a man who risked his life for several years to lurk within the British lines and send out invaluable news of PBritish troop movements, arrivals and de- partures, British headquarters rumors,, official orcders, the conditions of supply and the morale of British troops. The identity of this man has always been tnknown, even to most his s, and Hale, who tried espionage only once, and paid for it with his life, became a national hero almost bcfore the British cut down his body from the rope, and he has remained a national hero €ver since. N()“' however, Morton Pennypacker of Kew Gardens, New York, has brought to light the facts about this other spy. He has chown how the man worked, what he did, and how jmportant the man’s work was to Gen. Wash- ington and to America, and he has also shown who the man was. This man—George Washington's “other spy,” as he might be called—has been identified by Mr. Pennypacker as Robert Townsend, a native ©of Oyster Bay on Long Island. A recent book by Mr. Pennypacker, “The Two Spies,” published in a limited edition by Houghton Mifflin Co., tells Townsend's story In detail, and provides a fascinating and im- portant sidelight on a little known phase of $he Revolutionary War. Mr. Pennypacker has been able to make these Yevelations by what amounts to a surprising bit of detective work. In Gen. Washington’s papers were found many reports from a spy who signed himself Samuel Culper, jr. Who this Samuel Culper, jr, was remained a mystery until Mr. Pennypacker came upon a chest of old docu- ments belonging to Robert Townsend. The similarity of Townsend's handwriting and that of the unknown Culper were at once apparent. Experts were then called in, and Albert S. Osborn, one of the world's greatest authorities on handwriting, pronounced the penmanship, the paper, the ink and the stains for bringing out invisible ink all identical. Culper was thus established as Townsend, the most active spy of the American Revolution. Study of the documents of Townsend and Culper, jr., further confirmed their identity. Their movements on certain dates coincided, and now an irrefutable chain of evidence has been produced to make possible this most im- portant unknown chapter of Revolutionary War history. Townsend's spy work during the Revolution, naturally, was kept a carefully guarded secret, known only to Gen. Washington and one or two other American officers. After the war, fear- ing that some harm might come to the man if the part he had played became known, yashington continued to keep the secret. Townsend’s books, which reveal the role he filled, remained sealed for over a century. Only ncw has it been possible for the story to come to light. To understand the part Townsend played in the war, it is first necessary to sketch the military situation at the time that this first branch of the American Army Intelligence Service was founded. The Fall of 1776 was a dark hour for the Colonists. Washington had been overwhelmed in the Battle of Long Island, and was with- drawing slowly up the Hudson. Sir William Howe was establishing himself in New York, flinging patrols out over Lomg Island and gath- ering his forces for a new move. The British fleet had dropped anchor in New York Harbor. It became imperative for Washington to know what was being planned. Washington, accordingly, asked Col. Knowl- ton, commanding an infantry regiment in the van of the American Army, to fined a young officer who would go beyond the lines to get the needed information. Nathan Hale, captain in Col. Knowlton's regiment, volunteered for Maj. John Andre, the popular and emiable young British officer. His con- viction was aided by “Washington’s Other Spy.” i Traitor, Benedict Arnold. o The only known likeness of Robert Townsend, “Washington’s Other Spy.” The silhouette bears Townsend's signa- ture, the duty, passed in disguise to Long Island and got some detailed knowledge about enemy troops and movements. While trying to get out of New York Hale was seized, taken before Sir William Howe, court-martialed and hanged. His death spurred the American cause. Hale's capture, incidentally, was chiefly the result of bad luck. He had entered the city of New York by going from Norwalk, Conn., to Huntington, Long Island, by boat, and pro- ceeding thence to New York in a boat canrying farm produce for the redcoats’ commissariat. I,.IALE then nosed about New York, got most of the information he wanted, and started back toward the American lines by simply walking up the shore of Harlem Creek. He had only three miles to go, and with ordinary luck would have made it, for he had already passed the British sentry line. But the great fire of that day, in whi 1,000 houses were burned, caused a heavy cloud of smoke to overhang Manhattan I d, and a British warship sent a picket boat in to inv gate. Hale saw this boat coming, and—as the warship was out cf sight—assumed that it was manned by Ameri- cans. He had hailed the boat and attracted at- tention before he discovered his mistake, and then it was too late. Hale was executed, and the information he had so carefully gathered went to the grave with him. And Gen. Washington, for some time, had to get along with only fragmentary, sketchy and unreliable reports about the doings of the British. So, eventually, Washington de- cided to establish a regular Secret Service Bureau in New York, smack in the center of the British territory; and the man chosen to manage it was this Robert Townsend of Oyster Bay. Robert Townsend's father was a trader, im- porting flax and sugar and molasses, tea and coffee and rum and similar commodities; and Townsend, the son, acting as his father’s pur- chasing agent, had established himself in an office in New York before the Revolution opened. Mr. Pennypacker, studying old docu- ments of the period, thinks it possible that the young man may have joined in the “Sons of Liberty” movement as early as 1772, collecting funds for that organization long before hos- tilities commenced. It is known that Town- send was appointed a commissary to supply Brig. Gen. Nathaniel Woodhull’s brigade with provisions in 1776, but that assignment evi- dently was short-lived, as Gen. Woodhull was soon overwhelmed by the British and captured, his command being dispersed. At any rate, it seems cbvious that young Townsend’s strong sympathy with the patriot cause was not generally known., For after the British occupied New York, Townsend stayed on the job in his office there, mingling freely with the city’s many loyal Tories and, appar- ently, never coming under suspicion of giving aid to Washington. : Thus, some time after Nathan Hale's tragic death, when Washington wrote to Maj. Benja- min Tallmadge, of the 2d Regiment, Light Dragoons, and asked him to establish a spy system to get news out of New York, Townsend was one of the first men Tallmadge called on. Like Townsend, Maj. Tallmadge was a Long Islander; so, indeed, were moast of the men he chose for the spy system. All, of course, knew the neighborhood wzll. Maj. Tallmadge stationed himself in West- chester County, N. Y., not far outside the Brit= ish lines, and communicated with his agents in New York by boat, having his messenger cross the sound to Long Island and receive there let- ters from Townsend. He had, in addition to Townsend, another trusted man to get news for him, one Abraham Woodhull, another Long Islander; and Townsend and Woodhull together shared, for the purposes of id-ntification in the spy system, the name “Samuel Culper.” Town- send was known as Samuel Culper, jr., and Woodhull was Samuel Culper, sr. Letters from them were signed in this way; letters to them were addressed in this way; and only they themselves, Maj. Tallnadge and Gen. Wash- ington knew just who the Culpers, senior and Junior, really were. This, of course, was to pre- vent the British frcm #dentifying these two daring spies. NE of the letters Mr. Pennypacker discovered was written to Maj. Tallmadge, outlining instructions for Townsend. Parts of it read as follows: “C——, jr., to remain in the city, to collect all the useful information he can—to do this he should mix as much as possible among the officers and refugees, visit the coffee houses, and all public places. He is to pay particular attention to the movements by land and water in and about the city especially. “How their transports are secured against at- tempts to destroy them—whether by armed vessels upon the flanks, or by chains, booms, or any contrivances to keep off fire rafts. “The number of men destincd for the defense of the city and environs, endeavoring to desig- nate the particular corps, and where each is posted. “To be particular in describing the place where the works cross the island in the rear of the city—how many redcoubts are upon the line from river to river, how many cannon in each, and of what weight and whether the redoubts are closed or open next the city “Whether there are any works upon the Is- land of New York between those near the city and the works at Fort Knyphausen or Wash- ington, and if any, whereabouts and what kind. “To be very particular to find out whether any works are thrown up on Harlm River, near Harlem Town, and whether Horns Hook is fortified. If so, how many men are kept at each place, and what number and what sized cannon are in those works. “To inquire whether they have dug pits within and in front of the lines and works in general, three or four feet deep, in which sharp- pointed stakes are fixed. These are intended to receive and wound men who attempt to surprise at night. “The state of provisions, forage and fuel to be attended to, as also the health and spirits of the army, navy and city. “These are the principal matters to be ob- served within the island and about the City of New York. Many more may occur to a person of C. Junr’s penetration which he will note and communicate.” Washington then ordered that Townsend— Culper, jr., or “C. Junr,” as he called him— should stay in New York to get this informa- tion, while Woodhull, known as Culper, sr., should be stationed somewhere on Long Island to receive news from Townsend and transmit it to Maj. Tallmadge or his representatives. During the World War there was a great deal of talk about secret codes and invisible inks used by spies in transmitting information.