Committee of Secrets

War in the Shadows

Students of insurgencies have long understood the need to deprive the insurgents of external support. Throughout history, few insurgencies or rebellions have succeeded without external assistance, which can take various forms, including moral support, funding, training, weapons, equipment, supplies, political backing, and military support. 

                                                Moro insurgents vs US Army  in the Philippines

Early in the insurgency that would erupt into rebellion after Lexington and Concord, the Americans set up a way to maintain dialogue and coordination among the colonies and later states. It quickly became evident that America would need to reach across the Atlantic as well. Winning over Americans was just one part of the complex struggle now underway. Securing support in Britain and building alliances with sympathetic countrymen would also be crucial for gaining recognition for the new nation. Additionally, the European powers would provide fertile ground for support if properly “tilled.”

                                                    Burning of Revenue Cutter, Gaspee at 

                                                      Warwick, RI, early act of Insurgency

A Secret Committee

By the time the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in 1775, this need for international support resulted in the formation of the Committee of Secret Correspondence via two resolutions of 29 November:

RESOLVED, That a committee...would be appointed for the sole purpose of corresponding with our friends in Great Britain, and other parts of the world, and that they lay their correspondence before Congress when directed.

RESOLVED, That this Congress will make provision to defray all such expenses as they may arise by carrying on such correspondence, and for the payment of such agents as the said Committee may send on this service.

Due to the secret nature of the work involved, the members soon added the word “Secret” to its name. The committee received considerable authority from Congress to perform multiple functions: public and secret diplomacy, intelligence gathering, and public relations/influencing opinion. In many ways, it operated as both the State Department and the CIA. It served as the Continental Congress’s eyes and ears in Europe and would soon become its arm in that region.

                                                  Extract of Committee's Secret Instructions

First Members

Congress effectively selected the initial members of the committee, bringing together notable figures such as Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Johnson, John Dickinson, John Jay, and Robert Morris. Additional members were included later, such as James Lovell, a former schoolmaster, Bunker Hill veteran (arrested by the British for spying), and member of Congress, who developed the committee’s first codes and ciphers. One can surmise that Dr. Benjamin Franklin, who represented the American colonies with the British government for many years, provided a wealth of ideas and actions drawn from his experience abroad. John Jay and likely the others had experience organizing secret meetings and activities on the path to rebellion while surrounded by loyalists eager to root them out.

                                                       The Committee at Work

Tactics and Tradecraft

It is a tribute to the American leaders of the era that they were quick to learn and adopt the most sophisticated techniques and practices long utilized by the great powers of Europe. They used clandestine agents abroad, conducted covert operations, created codes and ciphers, employed propaganda, and executed covert postal surveillance of both official and private mail. They utilized open-source intelligence by purchasing foreign publications, which they analyzed. Most notably, they established an elaborate communication system that employed various couriers. Another crucial innovation was the creation of a maritime capability independent of the Continental Navy, intended for smuggling, moving agents, managing correspondence, and intercepting British ships.

                                                  Secure communications were essential

First Actions

The committee acted swiftly. They began regular correspondence with English Whigs and Scots who supported the ideas, if not all the actions, of the Americans. The experienced and worldly Benjamin Franklin was the most active, reaching out to a diverse range of contacts he had cultivated in Britain and Europe in a sophisticated effort to garner sympathy for the patriot cause.

                                                 Dr. Franklin's experience in London proved 

                                                         invaluable to the new committee

Franklin initiated secret correspondence with Spain through Don Gabriel de Bourbon, a member of the Spanish royal family and an associate of Franklin. He subtly hinted at the advantages that an American alliance might yield for Spain.

                                                                Don Gabriel de Bourbon

                                                         one of Franklin's A-List contacts

Agents at Home

But curiously, it was France that reached out first, dispatching Julien Alexandre Achard de Bonvouloir to Philadelphia to assess the feasibility of covert aid and political involvement support.

                                                                 Achard de Bonvouloir

 In December 1775, committee members Benjamin Franklin and John Jay held a secret meeting with the French intelligence agent de Bonvouloir, who was disguised as a Flemish merchant. 

Franklin and Jay wanted to know if France would assist America and at what cost. They emphasized an urgent need for arms and munitions, which would be exchanged for American tobacco, rice, and other crops. De Bonvouloir advised that the French government should avoid any involvement in transactions with the rebels. Instead, private merchants would be utilized.

                                     

                                      Father of American Counterintelligence - John Jay

Franklin assured de Bonvouloir that America would not reconcile with Britain and that once it declared independence, France should form an alliance. This marked the beginning of a long-term campaign to bring not only French aid but also French arms into the struggle.

                                                                            Silas Deane

Agents Abroad

Franklin and Jay were encouraged by French interest in the American cause. In early March 1776, the Secret Committee appointed Connecticut lawyer Silas Deane as a special envoy to negotiate with the French government in Paris. His mission was to secure covert aid and gain political support through Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes, Louis XVI’s Foreign Minister. Vergennes expertly handled both public and secret diplomacy for the French king, managing them with a steady hand.

                                                      Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes

The committee eventually included an American living in London, Arthur Lee, a member of the famed Lee family of Virginia. Lee had contact with the French playwright Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, a polymath, playwright, clockmaker, and diplomat who was also a secret French agent. Using a letter sent by the committee, Lee provided Beaumarchais with information about American successes—much of which was propaganda intended to influence French thinking. Interestingly, people today might recognize Beaumarchais not for his devotion to freedom (and money-making) but for composing the Figaro plays: Le Barbier de Séville, Le Mariage de Figaro, and La Mère coupable. These later became adaptations as operas that are still enjoyed today.

                                                                            Arthur Lee

But Beaumarchais was a champion of the American cause and needed no exaggerated reports to ignite his passion for freedom. While working with Deane back in Paris, he helped influence French Foreign Minister Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes, and King Louis XVI to provide the colonies with clandestine shipments of gunpowder and war materials. This support was critical in the early years of what had now become a war. The vehicle for this effort was the front company Rodrigue y Hortalez (R&H), chartered as a Spanish trading company. R&H served as the means of shipping surplus French arms and munitions to the West Indies, primarily to the Dutch colony Saint Eustatius, where American agricultural products were exchanged for the war goods.

                                               Beaumarchais: Polymath and Freedom-Lover

Deane was responsible for the earliest aid to America’s struggling army as a result of his efforts. In addition to arranging for clandestine shipments (R&H was just one covert operation), he recruited French officers, made introductions, sought out ships for privateering, and promoted the American cause among the French cognoscenti. Some of the officers he recruited included the Marquis de Lafayette, Baron Johann de Kalb, Thomas Conway, Casimir Pulaski, and Baron von Steuben—a who's who of ex-pat freedom fighters.

                                                                   Marquis de Lafayette

The American commissioners in Paris navigated a whirlwind of intrigue as they wooed and charmed the French while fending off Sir William Eden’s British secret service. Eden had sent an American named Paul Wentworth to Paris when Silas Deane arrived. Deane was familiar with Wentworth, and soon he was reporting on Deane’s activities and later, Franklin’s. Wentworth also recruited Edward Bancroft, the secretary of the American Commission.

                                                        William Eden,1st Baron Auckland

                                                                     & British Spymaster

But Lee was now in Paris. So was Benjamin Franklin himself, who had sailed for France in December 1776. Throughout 1777, the full-court press was on. The British and French were opening the American commission's mail through various clandestine operations. Servants and friends were recruited to spy, influence, and report. Bancroft provided insider information to Wentworth and Eden. And so it went. Meanwhile, Franklin charmed everyone in sight, was the toast of Paris, and continued to wield influence. He knew that every word and gesture reached Versailles and London, and every step he took reflected that awareness.

                                            Franklin's every move and comment were tracked,

                                                             and he acted accordingly

What's in a Name?

The Committee of Secret Correspondence became the Committee of Foreign Affairs in April 1777 but retained its intelligence functions. As the first American government agency for both foreign intelligence and diplomatic representation, it essentially served as the forerunner of the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency, as well as today's Congressional intelligence oversight committees. Despite the name change, the Foreign Affairs Committee continued to play a crucial role for Congress, acting as the eyes and ears of the nation in Europe. 

Note: Perhaps to confuse the British, Congress created a separate "Secret Committee" in 1775 to acquire supplies, which, by its nature, required concealment from British eyes and ships. Many of its members also served on the Committee of Secret Correspondence. It became the Committee of Commerce around the same time that its 'sister" committee was renamed the Committee of Foreign Affairs.

 

                                                The Committee of Foreign Affairs combined

                                                 the roles of State and CIA, plus "Oversight"

Payoff

The Committee of Secret Correspondence/Secret/Foreign Affairs Committee’s efforts paid off significantly when an American army, equipped with arms and munitions covertly provided by France, forced the surrender of a British army at Saratoga in October 1777. No one in France could remember the last time a British army surrendered to the French. The long and winding road to a treaty with France had now become a superhighway. However, the committee was not finished. The details of an alliance, future loans to America, and the foundation for negotiations and peace were all tasks to be accomplished by the committee. The capitals of Europe were also a target as the commission aimed to enlist the Netherlands, Prussia, Spain, and Russia to the cause. But those are stories for another time.

 

The Queen’s Ranger

A Bad Rap

This profile is truly one of THE badasses of the American Revolution, a struggle that had more than its share of badasses. But John Graves Simcoe was not the usual badass, fueled by testosterone and a lust for blood – although the (very excellent) TV series TURN might have you think he was that and more – psychopath comes to mind.    

                                                Simcoe as played by actor Samuel Roukin
                                                   

But the real John Graves Simcoe was anything but. He was, in fact, a well educated professional officer, liked by his troops and superiors, and respected, and sometimes feared, by his adversaries. Born in Cotterstock, England on 25 February 1752, he was the son of a Royal naval officer who received a classical education at Eton and Oxford. But in 1771, Simcoe left school at 19 and purchased an ensign’s commission with the 35th Regiment. His education would place him above most of his peers as he had a thorough knowledge of classical Greek and Roman military tracts. He would soon get to put theory into practice in the dark woods and green fields of America.

                                                          Simcoe took a commission at 19

Off to America

Simcoe was delayed in sailing to America and arrived after his 35th Regiment was devastated in the bloodbath that was Breed’s Hill. So during the American siege that followed, he purchased a captaincy in the grenadier company of the 40th Regiment where he fought in several of the engagements in New York and New Jersey. Ambitious, he had sought command of the Queen's Rangers as early as the summer of 1776, when the army was on Staten Island. But it was not offered to him.

                                                                            Brandywine

Simcoe fought gallantly at the Battle of Brandywine in September of 1777, suffering major wounds during the British triumph. While recuperating, things went into play that would shift the trajectory of his career, snatching him from the humdrum career of a line officer. Simcoe was an outspoken critic of military tactics and had opined to his leadership that the British needed a light infantry force to counter the skirmishing tactics of the Americans.                               

New Kind of Unit

He must have impressed his commander In chief, Lieutenant General William Howe, who promoted him to major in October and gave him command of the Queen’s Rangers. The Rangers were once a storied unit formed by the even more storied hero of the French and Indian War, Major Robert Rogers. The unit’s star had faded along with that of Rogers, who had left the army. Simcoe went right to work drilling it in the unorthodox tactics he knew the American war demanded.  Outfitted in green uniforms and tirelessly drilled to fight as skirmishers in deep woods, patrol dense forests, and conduct raids and ambushes, they would eventually strike fear in all they faced. He eventually raised the unit to around 11 companies of some 30 men each. One was a “hussar” (light cavalry) company. He also added a light infantry and a grenadier company. 

                                   Queens Rangers were trained for strength and skirmishing

New Kind of Action

With the coming of the spring campaign in March 1778, Simcoe’s new unit had its first action. The Queen’s Rangers squared off against two American militia detachments in actions at Quinton’s and Hancock’s bridges, in New Jersey. The Americans were thrashed by the aggressive actions of Simcoe and his men. A few months later the rangers gave a sound drubbing to General John Lacey’s boys at Crooked Billet, Pennsylvania on 1 May. Less successful was the attempt to trap a reconnaissance detachment led by the Marquis de Lafayette at the end of May. But things were shifting in the middle Atlantic. The new commander in chief, Sir Henry Clinton, was directed to abandon the American capital at Philadelphia and march his army to the secure base of New York City. With the replenished and newly trained Continental Army hovering in nearby Pennsylvania, Clinton knew the move posed risks. So, he called on Simcoe to help screen the force.

                                                    Rare photo of Queens Rangers screening

The Queens Rangers were in their element and performed well at their task, covering the withdrawal through the hot, humid fields and woods of New Jersey. In June 1778, Simcoe received word of his promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, a meteoric rise for a British officer and a sign of more to come.  The year 1779 would see Simcoe, the Queen’s Rangers, and the kind of warfare they were made for, come to the fore. A series of small actions and skirmishes took place throughout the New York region, but mostly along the North (Hudson) River. On 31 August 1778, he led a massacre of forty members of the Stockbridge Militia, Indians allied with the Continental Army, in what is today the Bronx. His men were known to burn houses, barns, and stores - all actions not unknown to American units in a war that had become one of fire and smoke.

                                                  Simcoe employed his rangers aggressively

In June 1779 his rangers successfully spearheaded the capture of Stony Point and Verplank’s Point on the North River. Simcoe’s men soon joined Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton’s British Legion in a successful foray against rebels at Pound Ridge, New Jersey. With two of the top three British badasses commanding, it was hard for the defenders. A series of small actions followed raids, ambushes, skirmishes, and patrols. During one foray, on 17 October 1779, Simcoe himself was ambushed and taken by the New Jersey militia. He was briefly interred and finally exchanged on 31 December. The Queen’s Ranger returned just as General Clinton’s amphibious expedition against South Carolina was commencing.

Rangers go South

In the spring of 1780, Simcoe sailed south to support the British siege of Charleston. After a brief siege, the city surrendered in May. In what may have proved an eventful blunder, Simcoe was returned north with Clinton and was soon dispatched to help Hessian General von Knyphausen conduct large-scale thrusts in the Jerseys. His talents and his rangers would have proved more useful in helping subdue the south, as would Clinton’s presence. Instead, after a remarkable start, the southern strategy would begin to unravel in the kind of warfare that demanded Simcoe and his men.

                                                                Seige of Charleston

Traitor’s Partner

In another curious turn (sic), in December 1780 Simcoe was assigned to support traitor in chief, British General Benedict Arnold’s powerfully destructive raid through Virginia. He was in-part placed at Arnold’s side to keep a close eye on him.  But the two talented leaders and co-bad asses actually got along well together. Brigaded with hessian Jaegers under major Johann Ewald, Simcoe’s command thrashed the hapless Virginia militia in several bold attacks around Richmond.  At a place called Point of Forks, Simcoe deceived former General Wilhelm von Steuben and seized a trove of valuable supplies.

                                                    Benedict Arnold  as a British general

Climax in the Old Dominion

As luck would have it, Simcoe was in the right place, but at the wrong time. Britain’s eight-year effort to maintain its hold on the 13 colonies would end, for all purposes, in the Old Dominion. Frustrated at every turn in the Carolinas, British General Charles Cornwallis marched his depleted and tired army north into Virginia. There, Simcoe and his queen’s Rangers joined him as part of the advance guard. As battle-hardened as the rangers were, they, like so many British units, were finding the rebels reaching parity. Things were definitely “going south.” One example is the 26 June 1781 engagement at Spencer’s Ordinary. There, in an unlikely turn of events, the Queen's Rangers were hotly engaged by Pennsylvania riflemen under Colonel Richard Butler. The precise adversaries they were created to defeat.  The rangers abandoned the field, and their wounded, and made a hurried march to Yorktown and the main army. 

          

Colonel Richard Butler
               

When they arrived at Yorktown, Cornwallis sent them across the York River to secure Gloucester Point. During the summer, the rangers were on a quiet front. This worked well for Simcoe, who had suffered several bouts of illness during the war, exacerbated by his wounding. His health was in decline. 

                                                                Yorktown under Seige

While ill with a fever, the French blockaded the York River. A week later, the French Admiral Comte de Grasse defeated Simcoe's godfather, Admiral Thomas Graves, and the British fleet in the Chesapeake.  Cornwallis's army was trapped. In September the American-French army arrived at Yorktown. Not long after some 1,000 French troops cut off Gloucester Point. The siege was on.

                                                     Chesapeake: French fleet drives off 

                                                    British fleet under Simcoe's godfather

But Simcoe was too ill to be of service and his rangers fell under Tarleton’s command. Simcoe was not expected to live. Still, in mid-October, he requested permission to escape with his men on boats to Maryland and fight his way through to New York. He feared many of his men, being deserters, would hang if taken prisoner. But Cornwallis insisted the entire army share its fate. Lieutenant Colonel John Graves Simcoe did not die but suffered the ignominy of surrender on the field of Yorktown on 17 October 1781. He was soon paroled and sailed to New York with his unit. The Queens Rangers ultimately went to New Brunswick, Canada, and disbanded in October 1783. 

                                                                Surrender at Yorktown

Convalescent and Cupid

In 1782, the still ailing Simcoe returned home to Devon, England to convalesce. There, he met and married Elizabeth Posthuma Gwillim, a wealthy heiress.  Her adopted mother, Margaret, had married Admiral Samuel Graves, Simcoe's godfather. So it was a family affair. They had four daughters and a son. By all accounts, he was a devoted family man. Venus, it turns out, was better to him than Mars.

                                                                       Elizabeth Simcoe

Author, Author

It is beyond the scope of this blog to give details of Simcoe’s post-war life in England. He entered Parliament briefly and offered to raise a ranger unit to fight the French.  Simcoe wrote a book on his experiences with the Rangers, titled "A Journal of the Operations of the Queen's Rangers" from the end of the year 1777 to the conclusion of the late American War, self-published in 1787 for distribution to his friends.

                                            Simcoe added Author to his other accomplishments

Lieutenant Governor

Simcoe returned to North America when he resigned from Parliament in 1792 to accept the post of Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada (today’s Ontario) under Governor-General Guy Carleton. His tenacious personality, so suited to combat, kept him at odds with London.  But Simcoe proved a remarkably effective and visionary leader. His ideas were progressive for the period. While cherishing and promoting British institutions, he also promoted American style economics and self-reliance. He promoted agriculture, property rights, and settlement of what was then the Canadian frontier. He built roads.

                                                        As Lieut. Gov. Simcoe was a builder

He was even-handed with the Indians, supported the loyalists, and pushed for education and culture. He was anti-slavery when slavery was still a thing in the British Empire. Fearing a war with America, he moved the capital from Newark to York on the north shore of Lake Ontario - today's Toronto.  To help defend Upper Canada from possible American encroachment or invasion, Simcoe raised a Canadian version of the Queen's Rangers, with himself as its colonel. But illness would once more strike. In 1796, neuralgia and gout spurred a leave of absence to England. Simcoe resigned from his post in  1798 and did not return to Canada.

                                          Simcoe as colonel of the Queen's Rangers in Canada

War with France

By 1797, war with France was on again and Simcoe was made governor of Santo Domingo. Simcoe faced a slave revolt with French Republican and Spanish support. He was also promoted to Lieutenant General (the highest rank in the army at the time). Illness again cut his time short. Simcoe returned to England to prepare the defenses of Plymouth against possible French invasion. Simcoe accepted command of the Western District but did not receive another active field command from the Pitt government. When the British were putting together a coalition against Napoleon in 1806, General Simcoe sailed to Portugal as part of a military mission. But his old illnesses caught up with him for the last time. He was forced to return home, where he learned of his appointment as commander in chief of British forces in India. 

                                                            Governor of Santo Domingo

                                             

Lost Opportunity

India was arguably the most prestigious and challenging overseas appointment for any British military office or administrator. And Simcoe excelled at both. There is no telling how the future of the subcontinent might have fared with him at the helm. But it was not to be. He succumbed to his illness on 26 October 1806 in Devonshire.  Lieutenant General John Graves Simcoe was just 54. Simcoe was not the crazed character portrayed on television. Quite the opposite, Simcoe proved himself to be a learned and scholarly warrior and aggressive leader of partisan forces, among the best serving in the Revolutionary War. And a genuine man of peace who helped make Canada one of the best-governed provinces, and nations, on earth. And he might have done the same for India.

                                                            Simcoe monument in Toronto

Noble Warrior of Peace

Clash of Empires

The Native American tribes played an interesting role in the American War for Independence. In some ways, the friction caused by the westward push of European settlers contributed to the friction between the colonists and the British authorities in London, who viewed the Indian Territory west of the Alleghanies as a buffer against Spain. Americans settling the west posed a risk as possible future allies of Spain or a potential cause of war with Spain. The tribes were caught in the middle, especially in the Carolinas and western New York.

In New York, the British had forged strong trade and political alliances with the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederation, who were strong military allies during the French and Indian War. Most of the tribes aligned with the British. Among these was the Seneca nation. And among these proud people arose a leader who would garner laurels in war and praise in peace. His name was Gyantwakia, which in English was Cornplanter.

Seneca Chief

Cornplanter was born in 1740 to a Dutch trader named John Abeel and a Seneca woman in the village of Conawagaus, current Avon, New York. He grew up a Seneca, living among his mother’s prominent family, the Wolf Clan, which was a warrior clan. He led a war party in support of the British in the French and Indian War and by the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775, was an established war chief, having made his bones as a young warrior. The Iroquois were among the most capable warriors of all the native tribes and both sides sought their support. Cornplanter, showing remarkable caution, urged neutrality in the white civil war.

                                                           Gyantwakia aka Cornplanter

Raising the Tomahawk

However, as the struggle grew more bitter, he could not keep the Seneca on the sidelines. In August 1777 the Seneca took up the tomahawk on the side of their former allies, the British.  By then, the war in New York was at its most intense with General John Burgoyne’s three-pronged campaign to seize New York well underway. It would be a campaign that in many ways would decide the course of the war.

                                                   The War Chief addresses the Wolf Clan

Valley of Death

Once committed, Cornplanter was all-in. He soon led a Seneca war party in support of the expedition of Lieutenant Colonel Barry St. Leger’s thrust east through the Mohawk Valley. Standing between him and his objective, Albany, was the tiny bastion known as Fort Stanwix. In this capacity, he participated in the siege of Fort Stanwix, New York, and then helped plan the ambush of Colonel Nicholas Herkimer’s relief column in the dense woods near Oriskany on 6 August 1777. The ambush was classic Indian-warfare. Cornplanter’s braves surprised destroyed the column and mortally wounded Herkimer. But the approach of another column under Benedict Arnold forced the British to withdraw their regular forces from New York and resorted to hit and run guerrilla raids against frontier settlements.

                                    Seneca ambush at Oriskany mortally wounds Col Herkimer

Frontier on Fire

Cornplanter led many raids against American settlements, particularly at Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania, where on 3 July 1778, his braves ambushed and wiped out a pursuit-force of 400 militia led by Colonel Zebulon Butler. In November, his Seneca supported Loyalist Captain Walter Butler (no relation to Zebulon) in a brutal attack upon Cherry Valley, New York. The Indian and Loyalist raids were so devastating to American lives, property, and morale, that General George Washington ordered a punitive campaign against the Six Nations the following year.

                                                              Cherry Valley Massacre

Yankee Retribution

American retribution came with the 1779-expedition led by General John Sullivan, who launched a punishing attack on 28 August defeating the Iroquois and Loyalists at Newtown (Elmira), New York.  Sullivan then launched a scorched earth campaign to punish Iroquois villages in the region. Under pressure, he Seneca stood-down for the winter, but the next summer Cornplanter was back on the warpath with raids against the Canajoharie and the Schoharie Valley, New York. At Canajoharie, his band took his father John Abeel prisoner. Cornplanter offered to make him a guest of his clan, but Abeel declined, so the dutiful son released him.

                                                                   Wolf Clan attacks

Smoking the Peace Pipe

At the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, things became complicated for the Iroquois as they struggled to come to terms with the new American government. Cornplanter participated in the many treaty signings, that slowly resulted in the loss of his people’s land. The Iroquois had little leverage against the triumphant Americans, who did not forget their depravations in support of the British. Cornplanter argued in defense of his nation and clan with poise and determination. This caused the more bellicose leaders like Red Jacket to denounce him and forcefully oppose land sales hoping to boost his own standing among the clans.

                                                           The  Senecas and the rest of the 

                                                                Six Nations stood-down

A Moderate Influence

The Ohio (Northwest) Territory burst into flames as tribes along the Ohio River began to chafe at American encroachment and British manipulation. The tribes formed a Great Confederation under such leaders as Little Turtle and had initial success, destroying an American army under Revolutionary War General Arthur St. Clair, in 1791. Because of his bearing and fame as a warrior, the new American government appointed him to represent them with the warring tribes at a great peace conference known as the Council on the Auglaize.  But Cornplanter and other moderate native leaders proved unsuccessful. The bitter war continued until former Revolutionary War leader Anthony Wayne broke the back of the confederation at the Battle of Fallen Timbers and the Ohio tribes made peace at the Treaty of Greeneville. For his services in attempting to reconcile the western tribes, the state of Pennsylvania granted Cornplanter a large tract of land on the Allegheny River.

    Treaty of Greeneville settled Indian Affairs 

in the Northwest Territory

Smoking the War Pipe

With the coming of war with Britain in 1812, the now aged chief Cornplanter offered his services to the United States, but was turned down. However, his son, Henry O’Bail served with some distinction. Cornplanter, one of the fiercest Seneca warriors, now lived peacefully on his land grant for two more decades.

                                                   Monument to Chief of the Wolf Clan

When he died on 18 February 1836, the great war chief was widely mourned as a man of peace. Many decades later, in 1871, Pennsylvania decided to honor the noble Seneca and erected a marble shrine on his grave as a symbol of respect and appreciation.

 

The Winter Spy

“I shall constantly bear in Mind, that as the Sword was the last Resort for the preservation of our Liberties, so it ought to be the first thing laid aside, when those Liberties are firmly established.”

Letter from General George Washington to the Executive Committee of the Continental Congress, January 1, 1777

                                                Washington's pen was as mighty as his sword

January 1777

The Jerseys are aflame in a deep winter-war!

Backs against a frozen river and facing a column of crack redcoats intent on their destruction, George Washington’s army has a serious gut-check. They must outfight or outwit the British to preserve the faltering struggle for independence. With the help of the winter spy, General Washington intends to do both…

Back cover of The Winter Spy, Legatum Books, June 2020

The Winter Spy

The Genesis

This is a book I never intended to write. But as I finished book two in the Yankee Doodle Spies series my research and interest took me the obvious question: what did Washington do AFTER he crossed the Delaware? Quite a lot, as it turns out. So much I became intrigued and crafted a follow-on story to capture the feel and the action of this critical, but little-understood chapter in the American War for Independence.

                                       What did Washington do, after he crossed the Delaware?

Winter Quarters

In the 18^th century, armies traditionally did their fighting from late April/early May through Novemberish. In between campaign seasons, some soldiers and officers were sent home on furlough, but most just tried to survive the winter while the armies were replenished and outfitted for the next season of marching and fighting. The British had the luxury of quartering many of their forces in towns and cities, utilizing stores, shops, stables, public buildings, and private dwellings.

                                         Gen Steuben drilling American troops at Valley Forge

 

For the Americans, winter quarters were usually a painful ordeal of cold, disease, and starvation. For the British, a time of relative comfort in between numbing military chores. Of course, both sides would have to mount guards and sentries. Some patrols were sent out. And during the Valley Forge encampment in 1778, winter quarters became a training ground with the arrival of General Steuben as Inspector-General und Drillmeister.

Winter Action

My readings for my second novel, The Cavalier Spy opened my eyes to the actions General George Washington took following the Battle of Trenton: two pitched battles (2^nd Trenton, Princeton), plus lots of skirmishing, marching, and suffering before his ever-dwindling army reached its final destination at Morristown, New Jersey. And that choice was very strategic. His actions forced the British to withdraw most of their outposts in the Jerseys, leaving them clinging to the area around Brunswick, the Paulhus Hook (Jersey City) as well as their main strongholds in Staten Island, Long Island, and the Island of New York. With the British in winter quarters, most armies would have hunkered down, licked their wounds, and reoutfitted. The selection was strategic because Washington could observe enemy activities with his forces safely ensconced behind the Watchung Hills, prepared to move in whatever direction the British marched in the spring. That was the original plan.

                                        Princeton was one of two actions fought in as many days

But as the British launched foraging parties into the Jerseys to purchase or requisition foodstuffs, the Jersey militia took action. Small parties were ambushed, engendering larger foraging parties and larger ambushes. The numbers grew to the point where Washington allowed some of his Continental regiments under the likes of  Generals Philemon Dickinson, William Alexander (Lord Stirling -an American who claimed a Scots peerage) and Ulster-born William “Scotch Willie” Maxell. By the end of this winter of discontent, the British had lost about as many men killed or wounded during “winter quarters” as they did in the previous three pitched battles. Losses British commander-in-chief, General William Howe could not afford.

                                                     Gen William Alexander - Lord Stirling

The Plot

No spoiler alerts here – read the book! But needless to say, Lieutenant Jeremiah Creed and his White Knights are thrown into action once more, operating in and out of the Continental Army. They again clash with the ruthless British dragoon, Major Sandy Drummond, who continues to leverage his intelligence network to break the rebellion. Along the way, a variety of soldiers and citizens clash, make friends, make enemies, fall in love, and struggle to stay sane during the time that tried men’s souls. Woven into the plot are two themes: the bonding of men in conflict and the war’s impact on families. And, there is always the weather. Winds that can cut a man in two, frigid temperatures, and ice-covered roads and rivers play a significant role in a story that, after all, was named for them.

The Book

All three books in the Yankee Doodle Spies series are published by Legatum Books.

The Winter Spy can be found at Amazon in Paperback or Kindle.

https://www.amazon.com/Winter-Spy-Yankee-Doodle-Spies/dp/B08JVNPPKG/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=