Revolutionary War Spies

Revolutionary War Spies

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During the revolutionary war, both sides had used spies to gain information and secrets because the needed accurate information. Being a spy was a very dangerous job and if you were caught you would be sentenceced to death. Spies did not have any of the high tech tools we have today so it was very hard. Especially for the women who were spies during the war. But as hard as it was to be a spy, it was one of the most important and difficult jobs some one could have! During the revolutionary war, it was hard to trust people and it was even more difficult to find out things, so too be a spy you had to be highly quallified.

What was it like as a spy?

Spies worked in tough conditions, long hours in the heat, pouring rain, or fridged cold. They did not have high tech gadgets like we have now a days. Most kept information they gathered in their heads because they did not have a safe way to keep it documented. If they were caught, they would have been killed. They had no one to trust except for who was employing them.

Tools Used By Revolutionary War Spies

A spy would find these tools helpful....

• Invisible Ink- Had to be revealed by some sort of chemical or heat.
• Hollow Quill- Thin strips of a message would be inside it until someone took them out and decoded it.
• Lock Pick- looked like a small ice pick and could pick a lock.
• Pocket Knife- It looked much like a little letter opener and it could flip into its small case, and flip out of it.

Some Famous Spies

Ann Bates- Ann Bates was a loyalist spy. She dressed up as a peddler and romed the patriots camps in order to gain information she would bring back to Major Drummond, leader of the Clinton Spy Network.

Lydia Darragh- Lydia had her own spy ring, she would watch the soldiers come and go, then write down what she saw, and finallny she would sew the information into clothing and she would send her 14 year old son, wearing the clothing, to visit his brother who was in the army, and he would give the information to his commanding officer.

Benedict Arnold- Benedict Arnold is one of Americas greatest hero, but he is also one of Americas biggest and most hated traitor. Washington admired him because he beleived him to be brave and smart, but his fellow officers thought he was rude and impatient. Because of the money he lacked he had decided to go to the British in secret and give them valuable information for a lot of money.

Nathan Hale- Natahn Hale is probably on of the most famous spies during the revolutionary war, but he was also one of the least successful. He had a very good education from Yale University. His planned was majorly flawed but he had figured out some very important information that would greatly help the Continental Army.

Isaac Ketchman- He was thrown in jail for counterfitting money and decided while in jail to be a Loyalist spy, and trade the secrets he heard from other prisoners for his freedom.

The Communication Of Spies

As a spy, you would have to use a letter to explain and share your findings. You couldn't just send a normal ltter, it would have to be coded so if it is intercepted, it could only be understood by those who understand the secret text. They also used the types of letters they wrote as a code. An example would be a mask letter, by holding up a cut out of a mask verticly over a section of the letter, it would reveal a secret message, normally coded in things like metaphores. Some spies would use ink that when heat was applied it would reveal the words, and others would appear when a special acid was applied to the ink. They also used a dictionary code to tell the page, column, and the word they wanted to use taken from two books.

Revolutionary War Spies

By Makenna Barrett