Spies of the American Revolution

The spies during the American revolution played a big role in the colonist victory over the British. Their main task is to retrieve information from the British such as battle plans, how much men does a British general has, and find out where and when British soldiers will attack next so the colonist can be one step in front of the British which would give the American colonist an advantage over the British. Obviously being a spy is very dangerous, if a spy was caught by the British he would most likely get hanged by British troops for treason.

The spies that spied on the British during the American revolution had to work in secrete to avoid being caught by British soldiers. The American spies had a secrete writing code to communicate with other American forces to ensure that a message from an American spy that contains important information got sent safely without having British forces understanding the message. The code was made up of used letters and numbers which mean a certain words in the code. The only way the messages can be decoded is by using a key or a code book. They are other methods for American spies of sending messages safely such as using invisible inks that would become visible by using heat and other chemicals The reader would heat the letter over a flame or put it in a chemical bath to reveal the message. The spy would write the message between the lines of another letter to make it seem more innocent. Another method was to leave a messages at a blind drop which was a location selected upon advance these messages would be in a park, a bench , or a tree. These messages would eventually be read by another person. These messages would be well hidden in hollow silver balls or bullets, these messages where also easy to swallow in case the spy was captured.

One of General Washington’s spies Nathan Hale who is considered Americas first spy was one of the most famous spies in American history. Nathan Hale was a captain in the Continental army. During the battle of Long Island Nathan Hale volunteered to go behind enemy lines to spy on the British to get information about British troop movements. Nathan Hale disguised himself as a Dutch school teacher carrying Yale diploma to prove his credits. While under cover New York fell to British forces and General Washington had to retreat to the islands Northern tip Nathan Hale was latter captured by British troops and was hanged.

The American spies were with out a doubt really Brave people for risking their lives just to send important information That would help the Continental Army . They were also very crafty and smart with how they sent messages and how they acted undercover. The American spies were one of the key roles that helped the colonist win the war by keeping the colonist one step in front of the British.