Benjamin Tallmadge, 1778-1783: His Spies and Arnold

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From Memoir Of Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge by Henry Phelps Johnston, 1915.

Tallmadge and the Secret Service, 1778-1783. His Spies and Arnold.

The Major refers very briefly to the extensive and important service he rendered Washington in obtaining intelligence from the enemy's camp during the last five years of the war. The fullest account of this service, based on Tallmadge's correspondence, appears in an article in the "Magazine of American History," Vol. VIII, p. 95. The Major's first connection with it seems to date from August 25th, 1778, soon after the battle of Monmouth, when Washington sent him an invitation to dine with him and talk the business over. This note is given in facsimile on another page. Tallmadge secured agents or spies on Long Island who kept him informed of the British movements, thus putting Washington on his guard.

The two principal agents were known in the correspondence as Culper Senior and Culper Junior. Some of their letters may be found among Revolutionary papers in the State Department. The "Culpers" were probably old acquaintances of the Major's, as it now appears that they transmitted some of their information in cypher from Brookhaven, L. I., Tallmadge's home. Lieutenant Caleb Brewster, of the Second Artillery, a daring officer, managed to get their letters safely across the Sound. These were usually written in an invisible ink which Washington supplied. Among the numerous notes that passed between the Commander-in-Chief and the Major in this matter is the following, hitherto unpublished, in the possession of Morris P. Ferris, Esq., Secretary of the "Sons of the Revolution":

"West Point, July 27th, '79.

Sir

Your letter of the 25th came safe—the ink I sent a day or two ago by Col. Sam Webb who I hope has delivered it safe e're this.—I shall examine your dictionary the moment I am at leizure, thanking you in the meanwhile for the trouble you have have had in preparing it.

I am Dr Sir

yr most Obedt

G. Washington

The “dictionary" was evidently a cypher Tallmadge had made out for the spies to use.

Arnold's defection and flight to the enemy in 1780 alarmed all the American agents within the British lines, but Tallmadge assures us that none in his employ were known to the traitor, and no harm came to them. The Culpers, however, kept quiet for some time.

Extracts from two letters from them to the Major, written at this crisis, have an exceptional interest. Culper Junior writes:

"Setauket, Oct. 14, 1780.

...I am happy to think that Arnold does not know my name. However, no person has been taken up on his information. I was not much surprised at his conduct, for it was no more than I expected of him. General Clinton has introduced him to the general officers on parade as General Arnold in the British service; and he is much caressed by General Robinson. This will tend to gloss his character with the venal part of the army; but the independent part must hold him in Contempt, and his name will stink to eternity with the generous of all parties.

I never felt more sensibly for the death of a person whom I knew only by sight, and had heard converse, than I did for Major Andre. He was a most amiable character. General Clinton was inconsolable for some days, and the army in general and the inhabitants were much exasperated, and think that General Washington must have been destitute of feeling or he would have saved him."

Culper adds: "I hope and expect that all my letters are destroyed after they are perused." As stated, however, a number are still preserved as witnesses of the writer's invaluable services to the American Commander-in-Chief. One of them has all the marks of having been written in invisible ink and restored by the liquid Washington kept for the purpose.

On the same date and from the same place Culper Senior wrote to Tallmadge:

“C— Jr is now with me and I refer you to his letter for intelligence...Arnold's affair hath now become an old story. I am sorry for the death of Major Andre, but better so than to lose the Post; he was seeking your ruin."

The following letter from Tallmadge to Colonel Samuel B. Webb, of the Connecticut Line, bears further testimony to the impression Major Andre made on the young officers who had charge of him after his capture. It appears in the "Reminiscences" of Colonel Webb, edited by his son, James Watson Webb:

"Head Qrs., Tappan, Sept. 30th, 1780.

Dear Sir:

...You have doubtless heard before this of the rascally conduct of Arnold. He is gone to the Enemy, where I think his misery, from the neglect which must ensue, will be complete. Poor Andre, who has been under my charge almost ever since he was taken, has yesterday had his tryal, and tho' his Sentence is not known, a disgraceful death is undoubtedly allotted to him. By Heavens! Col. Webb, I never saw a man whose fate I foresaw whom I so sincerely pitied. He is a young fellow of the greatest accomplishments, and was the prime minister of Sr Harry on all occasions. He has unbosomed his heart to me so fully, & indeed let me know almost every motive of his actions since he came out on his late mission, that he has endeared me to him exceedingly. Unfortunate Man! He will undoubtedly suffer Death to-morrow, & tho' he knows his fate, seems to be as cheerful as if he was going to an Assembly. I am sure he will go to the Gallows less fearful for his fate and with less concern than I shall behold the tragedy. Had he been tried by a Court of Ladies, he is so genteel, handsome, polite a young Gentleman, that I am confident they would have acquitted him.

But enough of poor Andre, who, tho' he dies lamented, falls justly. I am happy to find he has wrote to Sr Harry Clinton, in which letter he speaks highly of our treatment towards him, & takes off the idea of his being under Sanction of a flagg when he was taken, which had been told by Arnold to Sr Harry, that our Conduct in punishing him might be Censurable. I think his letter to Gen. Clinton will effectually ruin Arnold with the Enemy.

Jos. Smith, an accomplice with Arnold, I also bro't on with me. He is now under tryal….

In haste, believe me

Your friend & most obed't Servant,

Benj. Tallmadge

Col. Samuel Webb, at Mr. Bancker's, on the Raritan, State of N. Jersey."

Two days before, or September 28th, Tallmadge had escorted Andre under a strong guard from West Point down the Hudson to the main army under Gen. Greene at Tappan, and it was on this occasion that the Major reminded his prisoner of the fate of Nathan Hale in 1776. The incident was told in a letter from Tallmadge to President Sparks in 1833, when the latter was preparing his account of Arnold's treason. The writer says:

"As we progressed on our way to Tappan, before we reached the Clove, where we dined, Major Andre was very inquisitive to know my Opinion as to the result of his Capture. In other words, he wished me to give him my Opinion as to the light in which he would be viewed by Genl Washington, & a Military Tribunal, if one should be ordered. I endeavored to evade the Question, unwilling to give him a true answer. When I could no longer evade this Importunity, I said to him that I had a much loved Classmate in Yale College by the name of Nathan Hale, who entered the Army with me in the year 1776. After the British Troops had entered N. York, Genl Washington wanted Information respecting the strength, position & probable movements of the Enemy.

Capt. Hale tendered his services, went into N. York, & was taken just as he was passing the out posts of the Enemy; said I, with Emphasis, do you remember the sequel of this Story; Yes, said Andre; he was hanged as a Spy; but you surely do not consider his Case & mine alike. I replied, precisely similar, & similar will be your fate. He endeavored to answer my remarks, but it was manifest he was more troubled than I had ever seen him before….

Give me leave to remark that so deeply were my feelings interested in the fate of this unfortunate young Man, that I believe I have never narrated the story, nor perused the account of his merited, but ignominious Death without shedding tears of sorrow over such blighted prospects. I hope & trust this will be the last trial of my feelings in this way. I am yours, &c.,

Benjamin Tallmadge

J Sparks Esqr"

The very interesting and valuable correspondence between Tallmadge and Sparks was first published by Mr. Stevens in his "Magazine of American History," December Number, 1879.

In January, 1817, when Tallmadge was in Congress, a resolution was offered to increase the pension originally granted to Paulding, one of the well-known captors of Major Andre. The Colonel opposed the grant on the ground, as stated by Sargent in his “Life" of Andre, that "the captors only brought their prisoner in because they thought they would get more for his surrender than for his release; that he fully believed in Andre's assertions that their object was to rob him, and that they would have let him go if he could have satisfied their demands.” The petition was rejected, but otherwise Tallmadge had to meet a storm of criticism and indignation, public opinion having pinned its faith to the patriotism of the captors.

Some years later Tallmadge referred to the matter in a letter to Timothy Pickering and added further information respecting the capture of Andre. Writing to the Colonel from Salem, Massachusetts, September 9, 1822, Pickering says:

"I remember that you once stated to me some interesting circumstances concerning Arnold's flight, by which it seemed that you would have arrested him, but for the scrupulocity or weakness of Lieut. Col. Jamisson. I am very desirous of obtaining your details of this matter, and request you will commit them to paper, & address your letter to me in this my native town, which is again my place of residence….Soon after the discovery of Arnold's treason and flight, I met Col. Jere. Wadsworth [Quarter-Master General, Continental Army] , who told me the event occasioned no surprize to him: for that when school-boys together, Arnold was always playing some ‘devilish trickes'; and when they were masters of vessels in the West India trade, then Arnold cheated every man with whom he had any dealings.

Since the occurrence in the House of Representatives concerning Paulding, the newspapers, I think, have announced his death."

To Pickering Tallmadge replied:

"Litchfield Sept 17th 1822

Dear Sir

By the last Mail I rec’d your Letter of the 9th ins; & have perused its contents with no ordinary Interest.

There was no Occurrence during the revolutionary War with which I became more intimately acquainted than those which related to Major Andre. From the time he was bro't to our Reg. by his Captors, to the moment that he swung from the Cart of the Executioner, I was constantly with him, & no Incidents of the Revolution have made a more deep & abiding Impression on my mind. I have had many doubts & conflicts in my own mind, both before & since we conversed on this subject at Washington, as to the propriety & even duty of making a full Exhibition of all the Incidents relating to the Capture, Detention & Execution of Major Andre; together with the propositions which were made to secure Genl Arnold, & the Course which was finally pursued, in Consequence of which the Traitor finally escaped, even as narrowly as he did.

The remarks which I made in the House of Representatives, which threw Mr. Forsyth & some others into such a fever, were occasioned by a proposition to increase the pensions of Paulding, Williams & Van Vert. Knowing the Circumstances which related to the Capture of Major Andre, I felt it to be my Duty to state some facts, that the House might act accordingly on the Occasion. This was all I attempted to do, & even then my remarks were sadly misrepresented.

There were only four Officers of our Army who knew all the Circumstances relating to the Capture & detention of Major Andre, with the other Incidents above hinted at, & of this Number I am the only survivor. The Question presented to my mind then is simply this; what benefits can result from a full statement of this interesting event?

In the first place, as to the Captors, I have no wish to detract from their merits in the public estimation, where no duty requires it; nor to wound their feelings, nor those of their friends in any degree.

Secondly As to the Course taken with the Prisoner after he was delivered over to our Reg, a full disclosure of all that was said & done on that occasion would appear almost incredible, and could have no other Effect but to wound most deeply the feelings of the friends of the deceased, and no public benefit to result from it.

Thirdly A view of the proposals which were made for the Detention of General Arnold, would have precisely the same Effect. And lastly, where no imperious Duty demands it, I have too high a relish for tranquility & peace, to expose myself to the malignity of every party-Scribler and time-serving Editor, who would glory in such a subject for abuse. In addition to all, I should be considered the Hero of my own Tale, without a living Witness to corroborate the Story.

The result of all is, after weighing all Circumstances, that I have deliberately concluded never to disclose the Circumstances which relate to that interesting Event. If to gratify a friend this my purpose could be altered, the request in your Letter should be promptly complied with. But having soberly weighed this subject, my purpose cannot now be shaken. I am very affectionately

Your friend

& obed Serv.

Benj’n Tallmadge.

P. S, Paulding is indeed dead, and it was somewhat singular that my Son, then a Cadet at West Point, should have been one to assist in escorting him to his Grave."

This correspondence appears in the "Pickering Papers" in possession of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Tallmadge invariably declined to say what passed between himself and Lieut.-Col. Jameson in regard to his project to seize Arnold instead of sending Andre on to him after the latter's capture. There was probably a stormy scene when Jameson refused to entertain the proposition in which the Lieutenant-Colonel's failure to grasp the situation must have been made apparent. None the less, it would have added to the dramatic features of Andre's story to know by what sudden dash or skillful manoeuvre the aroused and anxious Tallmadge proposed to arrest the arch-traitor before it was too late.

The Traitor Arnold to Tallmadge

A hitherto unknown episode of Arnold's treason is the insult he offered Tallmadge, and probably some other officers, in proposing to secure positions for them in the British army if they would follow him in his desertion of the American cause. His letter to Tallmadge, a certified copy of which appears in the Washington correspondence of the State Department, is as follows:

"Dr Sir,

As I know you to be a man of sense, I am convinced you are by this time fully of opinion that the real Interest & Happiness of America consists in a reunion with Great Britain. To effect which happy purpose I have taken a commission in the British Army, & invite you to join me with as many men as you can bring over with you. If you think proper to embrace my offer, you shall have the same Rank you now hold in the Cavalry I am about to raise. I shall make use of no arguments to convince you, or to induce you to take a step which I think right. Your own good sense will suggest anything I can say on the subject. I will only add that the English Fleet has just arrived with a very large Reinforcement of Troops.

I am, Sir,

Your Hble Sert,

N. York, Oct. 25th, 1780, B. Arnold.

To Maj. Tallmadge."

This letter Tallmadge forwarded to Washington with the following note:

"Wethersfield, Jany 28th, 1781.

Dr Genl

Inclosed your Excellency will receive a copy of a letter from B. Arnold which has this day come to hand.

I am equally a stranger to the channel thro' which it was conveyed, the Reasons why it was so long on the way, or the motives which induced the Traitor to address himself thus particularly to me. I have determined to treat the author with the contempt his conduct merits, by not answering his letter, unless your Excellency should advise a different measure. I am, &c., B. Tallmadge.

Genl Washington."

Washington commended Tallmadge's course and the matter dropped. The “very large reinforcement " which Arnold refers to, the arrival of which he probably expected would alarmingly impress Tallmadge, was in reality a disappointingly inadequate one in the opinion of Clinton, the British Commander-in-Chief. It failed to startle the American Camp.

Johnston, Henry Phelps. Memoir Of Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge. Gilliss Press. 1915.

Benjamin Tallmadge, George Washington, Henry Phelps Johnston

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