…there is one evil I dread, and that is their Spies…
—General George Washington, 1776
In 1775, bitter quarreling between Great Britain and its American colonies over British policies and practices on the continent erupted into war for American independence. With the onset of the Revolutionary War came the dawning of espionage in America, when spying emerged as a pivotal dynamic, from the opening shots fired at Lexington and Concord to the climactic British surrender at Yorktown on the Virginia Peninsula.
In a land of divided loyalties, a bevy of cunning, resourceful characters on both sides managed to flourish in the art. Their scheming influenced campaign strategies, impeded advancing armies, and deceived enemy forces. Many of their stories are largely unknown. Even today, a number of prominent espionage figures from the Revolutionary War still languish in obscurity, despite the scale of their secret maneuvering that shaped key events throughout the conflict.