The American spy network organized in 1778 during the British occupation of New York was the Culper Ring.
George Washington and Major Benjamin Tallmadge organized the network to gather intelligence in British-controlled New York City and Long Island. Washington suggested the name “Culper,” based on Culpeper County, Virginia. The ring began operating in late 1778 and continued until the British evacuated New York in 1783.
Its principal agents used aliases. Abraham Woodhull wrote as Samuel Culper Sr., while merchant Robert Townsend used Samuel Culper Jr. Couriers such as Caleb Brewster carried messages across Long Island Sound, and Anna Strong is associated with the network’s covert signaling system.
The spies reported on British military plans, troop movements, and attempts to undermine the American war effort. Their intelligence helped Washington anticipate threats, including a planned British attack on the newly arrived French forces at Newport. The Culper Ring’s careful use of codes, invisible ink, aliases, and dead drops made it one of the best-known intelligence operations of the American Revolution commemorated by America250.