The past several Yankee Doodle Spies posts have profiled the people, places, and things featured in my forthcoming novel, The North Spy. This installment breaks from those themes to give readers more background and set the scene for the upcoming action.
General Washington's Dilemma
As the winter's snows of 1777 turn to spring's flowering, General George Washington faces a dilemma. He knows the British Army, coiled up in winter quarters, will strike like a snake at the first opportunity to take the American capital, Philadelphia. But where and how? Rumors abound: Back across the Jerseys by land? Up the Delaware River by sea? Or maybe some combination? But another option proves the most problematic: a movement north to link with a British Army forming in Canada.
Diverse Approaches
General Washington did not know that the British armies in New York and Canada would soon be working at cross purposes. Washington has the Yankee Doodle Spies, in the form of Major Benjamin Tallmadge's troop of the 2nd Continental Line Dragoons, patrolling, scouting, and spying in the hope of discerning what the British commander in New York, Major General Sir William Howe, has in mind. Despite the soundness of Major General John Burgoyne's "three-pronged" plan to join with Howe at Albany and cut the colonies in two, Howe vacillates.
Northern Storm Clouds, Southern Squalls
The competent but often plodding Howe is under much fire for not taking the rebel capital in 1776 and is determined to finish the job and thrash Washington. As Burgoyne musters his forces, numbering over 8,000 men south of Montreal, for a move across Lake Champlain and down the North (Hudson) River, he is unaware that Howe has set his eyes south. Howe does order his second in command to remain in New York City with a few thousand men and help Burgoyne if feasible. We will see how that works.
Hopeless Mission
Enter Lieutenant Jeremiah Creed, who Washington sends on a daunting if the not hopeless, mission to penetrate Burgoyne's Army, ostensibly to report back on its strength and objectives. Washington's "Intelligence Advisor" and senior intelligence officer, Colonel Robert Fitzgerald, provides Creed with secret orders that will put him in contact with an agent in Canada. Now all Creed has to do is figure out a plan to get there, find the agent and work his way into the British Army!
To the North
Along the way, Creed will meet old friends and encounter new enemies. He will face ruthless Canadian backwoodsmen, fierce Iroquois (Mohawk) warriors, and an army of British regulars and German auxiliaries itching to bring the war to the Americans by any means necessary. Creed must use deception and guile at each phase of his journey. Creed also faces a crisis of conscience as he must deceive and manipulate people in a way he never has.
This is a story of tradecraft and daring as much as action – and there is enough action to fill Lake Champlain with blood!
TurningPoint
Americans rally to the Cause as the new commander of the Northern Department, General Horatio Gates, takes command. The armies collide in a series of battles, and Jeremiah Creed is in the mix. The Saratoga campaign is arguably the most important of the American Revolutionary War and its turning point. The North Spy provides my take on it, closely following the actions of British and American commanders and soldiers who collide in deep forests, shimmering lakes, and coursing rivers of the great north. Spoiler alert: Burgoyne's army surrendered to the American rebels at Saratoga in October 1777, bringing France openly into the fight.
The North Spy is due for release in December 2022 by Legatum Books. Available at Amazon.com
