Committee of Secrets

War in the Shadows

Students involved in insurgencies have long recognized the importance of cutting off the insurgents' external support. Throughout history, few insurgencies or rebellions have succeeded without outside help, which can include moral support, funding, training, weapons, equipment, supplies, political backing, and military aid. 

                                                Philippine Moro insurgents vs the US Army 

Early in the insurgency that would turn into rebellion after Lexington and Concord, the Americans established a way to keep dialogue and coordination among the colonies and later states. It quickly became clear that America would need to reach across the Atlantic as well. Winning over Americans was only one part of the complex struggle now beginning. Securing support in Britain and forming alliances with sympathetic countrymen would also be vital for gaining recognition for the new nation. Furthermore, the European powers would offer 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.

Because of the secret nature of the work involved, the members soon added the word “Secret” to its name. The committee received significant authority from Congress to carry out multiple functions: public and secret diplomacy, intelligence gathering, and public relations/influencing opinion. In many ways, it functioned 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 chose the original members of the committee, bringing together notable figures such as Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Johnson, John Dickinson, John Jay, and Robert Morris. Later, additional members joined, including James Lovell, a former schoolmaster, Bunker Hill veteran (arrested by the British for spying), and a Congress member, who developed the committee’s first codes and ciphers. It’s likely that Dr. Benjamin Franklin, who represented the American colonies in dealings with the British government for many years, contributed a wealth of ideas and experience gained abroad. John Jay and probably the others had experience organizing secret meetings and activities on the road to rebellion while surrounded by loyalists eager to expose them.

                                                       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 used by the great powers of Europe. They employed clandestine agents abroad, conducted covert operations, created codes and ciphers, used propaganda, and carried out covert postal surveillance of both official and private mail. They made use of open-source intelligence by purchasing foreign publications and analyzing them. Most notably, they established an elaborate communication system that used various couriers. Another major innovation was the development of a maritime capability independent of the Continental Navy, designed for smuggling, moving agents, managing correspondence, and intercepting British ships.

                                                  Secure communications were essential

First Actions

The committee acted quickly. They started regular communication 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 wide range of contacts he had built up in Britain and Europe in a sophisticated effort to gain support for the patriot cause.

                                                 Dr. Franklin's experience in London proved 

                                                         invaluable to the new committee

Franklin secretly reached out to Spain through Don Gabriel de Bourbon, a member of the Spanish royal family and Franklin's associate. He subtly suggested the benefits an American alliance could bring to Spain.

                                                                Don Gabriel de Bourbon

                                                         one of Franklin's A-List contacts

Agents at Home

But curiously, France was the first to reach out, sending Julien Alexandre Achard de Bonvouloir to Philadelphia to evaluate the possibility of covert aid and political support.

                                                                 Achard de Bonvouloir

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

Franklin and Jay wanted to know if France would help America and at what cost. They stressed 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 handle them.

                                     

                                      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 start of a long-term effort to bring not only French aid but also French arms into the fight.

                                                                            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 skillfully managed both public and secret diplomacy for the French king, handling 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 well-known 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 supplied Beaumarchais with information about American successes—much of which served as propaganda to influence French opinion. Interestingly, people today might recognize Beaumarchais not for his dedication to freedom (and making money) but for writing the Figaro plays: Le Barbier de Séville, Le Mariage de Figaro, and La Mère coupable. These later became operatic adaptations that are still enjoyed today.

                                                                            Arthur Lee

But Beaumarchais was a supporter of the American cause and did not need exaggerated reports to spark his passion for freedom. While working with Deane in Paris, he influenced French Foreign Minister Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes, and King Louis XVI to provide the colonies with secret shipments of gunpowder and war supplies. This assistance was crucial in the early years of what had now become a war. The front company Rodrigue y Hortalez (R&H), registered as a Spanish trading firm, was used for this effort. R&H facilitated the shipment of surplus French arms and munitions to the West Indies, mainly to the Dutch colony Saint Eustatius, where American agricultural products were traded for war supplies.

                                               Beaumarchais: Polymath and Freedom-Lover

Deane was responsible for the earliest aid to America’s struggling army through his efforts. Besides organizing secret shipments (with R&H being just one covert operation), he recruited French officers, made introductions, sought ships for privateering, and promoted the American cause among French insiders. Some of the officers he recruited included the Marquis de Lafayette, Baron Johann de Kalb, Thomas Conway, Casimir Pulaski, and Baron von Steuben—a list of notable 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, as was Benjamin Franklin himself, who had sailed for France in December 1776. Throughout 1777, the full-court press was in motion. The British and French were secretly opening the American commission's mail through various covert 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 he could, was the toast of Paris, and kept wielding influence. He knew 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 kept its intelligence functions. As the first American government agency for both foreign intelligence and diplomatic representation, it basically served as the predecessor to the State Department, the Central Intelligence Agency, and today's Congressional intelligence oversight committees. 

Despite the name change, the Foreign Affairs Committee continued to play a key role for Congress, acting as the nation's eyes and ears in Europe. Note: To possibly confuse the British, Congress created a separate "Secret Committee" in 1775 to acquire supplies, which by its nature needed to be kept hidden 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 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 tremendously when an American army, equipped with arms and munitions secretly supplied by France, forced the surrender of a British army at Saratoga in October 1777. No one in France could recall the last time a British army surrendered to the French. The road to a treaty with France had now become a fast track. However, the committee was not finished. It still had to work out the details of an alliance, future loans to America, and the foundation for negotiations and peace. The capitals of Europe were also a target as the commission aimed to gain support from the Netherlands, Prussia, Spain, and Russia. But those are stories for another time.

 

The Queen’s Ranger

A Bad Rap

This profile is genuinely one of THE badasses of the American Revolution, a struggle that had more than its fair share of tough characters. But John Graves Simcoe wasn't your typical badass, driven by testosterone and a thirst for blood – even though the (very excellent) TV series TURN might make you think he was that and more – a psychopath comes to mind.    

                                                Simcoe, as played by actor Samuel Roukin
                                                   

But the real John Graves Simcoe was quite different. He was, in fact, a well-educated professional officer, liked by his troops and superiors, and respected, and sometimes feared, by his enemies. Born in Cotterstock, England, on February 25, 1752, he was the son of a Royal Navy officer who received a classical education at Eton and Oxford. However, in 1771, Simcoe left school at 19 and bought an ensign’s commission with the 35th Regiment. His education gave him an advantage over most of his peers, as he had a thorough knowledge of classical Greek and Roman military writings. He soon had the chance to apply his knowledge 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 had been decimated at Breed’s Hill. During the subsequent American siege, he purchased a captaincy in the grenadier company of the 40th Regiment, where he fought in several battles 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. However, it was not offered to him.

                                                                            Brandywine

Simcoe fought valiantly at the Battle of Brandywine in September 1777, suffering serious wounds during the British victory. While recovering, events unfolded that would change the course of his career, pulling him from a typical line officer’s path. Simcoe was a vocal critic of military tactics and had told his superiors that the British needed a light infantry force to counter the American skirmishing tactics.                               

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 legendary unit formed by the even more legendary hero of the French and Indian War, Major Robert Rogers. The unit’s reputation had faded along with Rogers, who had left the army. Simcoe quickly began training it in the unorthodox tactics needed for the American war. Clad in green uniforms and rigorously drilled to fight as skirmishers in deep woods, patrol dense forests, and carry out raids and ambushes, they would eventually instill fear in all they encountered. He eventually expanded the unit to about 11 companies, each with roughly 30 men. 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 arrival of the spring campaign in March 1778, Simcoe’s new unit saw its first action. The Queen’s Rangers engaged two American militia detachments at Quinton’s and Hancock’s bridges in New Jersey. The Americans were defeated by the aggressive tactics of Simcoe and his men. A few months later, the rangers handed a heavy defeat to General John Lacey’s forces at Crooked Billet, Pennsylvania, on May 1. An attempt to trap a reconnaissance detachment led by the Marquis de Lafayette at the end of May was less successful. But things were changing in the middle Atlantic. The new commander in chief, Sir Henry Clinton, was ordered to abandon the American capital, Philadelphia, and march his army to the safety of New York City. With the replenished and newly trained Continental Army nearby in Pennsylvania, Clinton knew the move carried risks. Therefore, he asked Simcoe to help cover the force.

                                                    Rare photo of Queens Rangers screening

The Queen's 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 rapid rise for a British officer and a sign of more to come. The year 1779 saw Simcoe, the Queen’s Rangers, and the kind of warfare they were made for, come to the forefront. A series of small actions and skirmishes occurred throughout the New York region, mainly along the North (Hudson) River. On August 31, 1778, he led a massacre of forty members of the Stockbridge Militia, Indians allied with the Continental Army, in what is now the Bronx. His men were known to burn houses, barns, and stores—actions not unfamiliar 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 led 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 raid against rebels at Pound Ridge, New Jersey. With two of the top three British leaders in command, it was difficult for the defenders. A series of small actions followed, including raids, ambushes, skirmishes, and patrols. During one raid on October 17, 1779, Simcoe was ambushed and captured by the New Jersey militia. He was briefly imprisoned and eventually exchanged on December 31. The Queen’s Ranger returned just as General Clinton’s amphibious expedition against South Carolina was beginning.

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 been a costly mistake, Simcoe was sent back north with Clinton and was soon dispatched to assist Hessian General von Knyphausen in conducting large-scale operations in the Jerseys. His skills and his rangers would likely have been more effective in helping to subdue the South, as would Clinton’s presence. Instead, after a promising start, the southern strategy began to fall apart in the kind of warfare that required Simcoe and his men.

                                                                Siege of Charleston

Traitor’s Partner

In an odd twist (sic), in December 1780, Simcoe was assigned to support traitor-in-chief British General Benedict Arnold’s heavily destructive raid through Virginia. He was partly placed at Arnold’s side to keep a close watch on him. However, the two skilled leaders and co-badasses actually got along well. Brigaded with Hessian Jaegers under Major Johann Ewald, Simcoe’s command defeated the unfortunate Virginia militia in several bold attacks around Richmond. At a place called Point of Forks, Simcoe tricked former General Wilhelm von Steuben and seized a stash 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 hold onto the 13 colonies would, for all practical purposes, end in the Old Dominion. Frustrated at every turn in the Carolinas, British General Charles Cornwallis marched his worn-out and exhausted army north into Virginia. There, Simcoe and his Queen’s Rangers joined him as part of the vanguard. Although battle-hardened, the rangers, like many other British units, found the rebels closing the gap. Things were clearly “going south.” One example is the engagement at Spencer’s Ordinary on June 26, 1781. In an unlikely turn of events, the Queen's Rangers were fiercely engaged by Pennsylvania riflemen under Colonel Richard Butler — the very enemies they were created to defeat. The rangers abandoned the field and their wounded, then hurriedly marched 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, worsened by his wounds. His health was deteriorating. 

                                                                Yorktown under Siege

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, about 1,000 French troops cut off Gloucester Point. The siege was underway.

                                                     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 survive. Still, in mid-October, he asked for permission to escape with his men on boats to Maryland and fight his way through to New York. He worried that many of his men, being deserters, would be hanged if captured. But Cornwallis insisted that the entire army share its fate. Lieutenant Colonel John Graves Simcoe did not die but suffered the shame of surrender at Yorktown on 17 October 1781. He was soon paroled and sailed to New York with his unit. The Queen’s Rangers eventually 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 this blog’s scope to detail Simcoe’s post-war life in England. He briefly entered Parliament and offered to raise a ranger unit to fight the French. Simcoe wrote a book about his experiences with the Rangers, titled "A Journal of the Operations of the Queen's Rangers," covering the period from late 1777 to the end of the American War. He self-published it in 1787 for his friends.

     Simcoe added Author to his 

other accomplishments

Lieutenant Governor

Simcoe returned to North America after resigning from Parliament in 1792 to accept the position of Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada (today’s Ontario) under Governor-General Guy Carleton. His resilient personality, well-suited for conflict, often put him at odds with London. However, Simcoe proved to be a highly effective and visionary leader. His ideas were considered progressive for his time. While he valued and supported British institutions, he also advocated for American-style economics and self-reliance. He supported agriculture, property rights, and settlement of what was then the Canadian frontier. He also built roads.

                                                        As Lieut. Gov. Simcoe was a builder

He was fair with the Indians, supported the loyalists, and promoted education and culture. He was anti-slavery even when slavery was still widespread 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 attacks or invasion, Simcoe created a Canadian version of the Queen's Rangers, with himself as its colonel. However, illness struck again. In 1796, neuralgia and gout forced him to take a leave of absence to England. Simcoe resigned from his position in 1798 and never returned to Canada.

                                          Simcoe as colonel of the Queen's Rangers in Canada

War with France

By 1797, war with France resumed, and Simcoe was appointed governor of Santo Domingo. He faced a slave revolt supported by French Republicans and Spaniards. Simcoe was also promoted to Lieutenant General, the highest rank in the army at that time. Illness again shortened his tenure. He returned to England to prepare Plymouth’s defenses against a possible French invasion. Although Simcoe accepted command of the Western District, he did not receive another active field command from the Pitt government. When Britain assembled a coalition against Napoleon in 1806, General Simcoe traveled to Portugal as part of a military mission. However, his old illnesses struck again, forcing him 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 officer or administrator. And Simcoe excelled at both. There is no telling how the future of the subcontinent might have turned out with him in charge. But it was not to be. He succumbed to his illness on October 26, 1806, in Devonshire. Lieutenant General John Graves Simcoe was only 54. Simcoe was not the crazy character often shown on television. Quite the opposite, Simcoe proved himself to be a learned and scholarly warrior and a forceful leader of partisan forces, among the best serving in the Revolutionary War. He was also a sincere 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 tension caused by the westward expansion of European settlers contributed to the strain between the colonists and the British authorities in London, who saw the Indian Territory west of the Alleghanies as a buffer zone against Spain. Americans moving westward posed a potential risk as future allies of Spain or even as a cause of war with Spain. The tribes found themselves caught in the middle, especially in the Carolinas and western New York.

In New York, the British had built strong trade and political alliances with the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederation, who served as powerful military allies during the French and Indian War. Most of the tribes sided with the British. Among them was the Seneca nation. And among these proud people rose a leader who would earn fame 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, now known as Avon, New York. He was raised as a Seneca, living among his mother’s influential family, the Wolf Clan, which was a warrior clan. He led a war party in support of the British during the French and Indian War, and by the start of the American Revolution in 1775, he was an established war chief, having gained his experience as a young warrior. The Iroquois were among the most skilled warriors of all the native tribes, and both sides sought their support. Cornplanter, showing notable caution, urged neutrality in the conflict between the white settlers.

                                                           Gyantwakia aka Cornplanter

Raising the Tomahawk

However, as the struggle grew more intense, he could not keep the Seneca on the sidelines. In August 1777, the Seneca joined their former allies, the British, in taking up the tomahawk. By that time, the war in New York was at its peak, with General John Burgoyne’s three-pronged campaign to capture New York already in progress. In many ways, this campaign would determine the outcome of the war.

                                                   The War Chief addresses the Wolf Clan

Valley of Death

Once committed, Cornplanter was fully involved. He soon led a Seneca war party in support of Lieutenant Colonel Barry St. Leger’s expedition east through the Mohawk Valley. Standing between him and his goal, Albany, was the small outpost known as Fort Stanwix. In this role, he participated in the siege of Fort Stanwix, New York, and later helped plan the ambush of Colonel Nicholas Herkimer’s relief column in the dense woods near Oriskany on August 6, 1777. The ambush was a typical Indian warfare tactic. Cornplanter’s warriors surprised and destroyed the column, mortally injuring Herkimer. However, the approach of another column under Benedict Arnold forced the British to withdraw their regular forces from New York and switch 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, especially at Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania, where on July 3, 1778, his warriors ambushed and defeated a pursuit force of 400 militia commanded by Colonel Zebulon Butler. In November, his Seneca allies supported Loyalist Captain Walter Butler (unrelated to Zebulon) in a brutal attack on Cherry Valley, New York. These Indian and Loyalist raids caused such significant damage 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 arrived with the 1779 expedition led by General John Sullivan, who launched a punishing attack on August 28, defeating the Iroquois and Loyalists at Newtown (Elmira), New York. Sullivan then carried out a scorched earth campaign to punish Iroquois villages in the region. Under pressure, he and the Seneca stood down for the winter, but the next summer, Cornplanter was back on the warpath with raids against 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 end of the Revolutionary War, the Iroquois faced complications as they tried to adapt to the new American government. Cornplanter participated in numerous treaty signings, which gradually led to the loss of his people’s land. The Iroquois had little influence against the victorious Americans, who never forgot their wrongdoings in support of the British. Cornplanter defended his nation and clan with calmness and resolve. This led more aggressive leaders like Red Jacket to criticize him and strongly oppose land sales, hoping to improve their own standing among the clans.

                                                           The  Senecas and the rest of the 

                                                                Six Nations stood down

A Moderate Influence

The Ohio (Northwest) Territory ignited with conflict as tribes along the Ohio River grew restless over American expansion and British interference. These tribes formed a Great Confederation led by figures like Little Turtle and initially achieved victory, notably defeating an American army led by Revolutionary War General Arthur St. Clair in 1791. Due to his reputation and prowess as a warrior, the new American government appointed him to represent them in negotiations with the tribes at a major peace conference called the Council on the Auglaize. However, Cornplanter and other moderate native leaders were unsuccessful. The fierce fighting persisted until former Revolutionary War leader Anthony Wayne defeated the confederation at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, leading the Ohio tribes to sign peace at the Treaty of Greeneville. In recognition of his efforts to unite the western tribes, Pennsylvania rewarded Cornplanter with a large land grant on the Allegheny River.

    Treaty of Greeneville settled Indian Affairs 

in the Northwest Territory

Smoking the War Pipe

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

                                                   Monument to Chief of the Wolf Clan

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

 

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=