Celebrating Women of American History: Sarah Townsend
Forward: Wouldn’t it be great if impressive women of American history were as well-remembered as their male counterparts? Let’s be fair, we should celebrate historical American men. They built this country. But the women were building, too. So many women that paved the way for American achievement have been long forgotten. In this series, I will select impressive women of American history and tell their story.
The last post included Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Today, I’m turning attention to our American Ladies of the Revolutionary War.
Most of these many Revolutionary women were forgotten by history, but some of their stories were never told because they were a secret. The American Revolution was not all gunpowder and cannon fire. The Revolution was a chess game of covert operations. Information was king. Though, while the men thought the fight was between them, the players ironically underestimated the impact that women could make in turning the tides of war. Because women were so underestimated, they were under less suspicion and would be able to collect more information for the Continental Army.
In 1778 George Washington and Major Benjamin Tallmadge assembled the Culper Spy Ring. The Culper Ring was tasked with collecting intelligence particularly based in New York where the British Intelligence Headquarters were located. The Culper Ring was so clandestine that history is unclear about many of the details and the main players involved in the operation. Legends and rumors expand upon some critical moments during the Revolution, but one thing is certain, there was at least one if not a few female players that contributed to the Culper Ring. One of the ladies speculated to have contributed to the Culper Ring is Sarah Townsend.
The Culper Ring is credited with collecting intelligence for critical turning points in the Revolution including a British attempt to bankrupt the Continental Army through counterfeit bills. Robert Townsend was Culper Jr., the center of the Culper Ring’s intelligence in New York. John Graves Simcoe of the Queen’s Rangers was stationed at Robert Townsend’s home. Because of Simcoe’s presence in Townsend’s home he brought a frequent guest, Major John Andre, head of British intelligence. The surprising friend of the pair, was none other than Robert Townsend’s younger sister, Sarah Townsend. When Sarah was still a teenager she caught the eye of Simcoe and even courted him for a time.
Naturally, she was never suspected as a major player in a spy ring because she was a woman. If she was indeed part of the Culper Ring, Sarah very cleverly did her part playing on the sensitivities of Simcoe and Andre while they grew fond of her. Simcoe even proposed to Sarah Townsend in a Valentine he wrote to her in 1779, which she did not accept. But, legend declares that her brief relationship with Simcoe allowed her access to intelligence that even her brother could not access as Culper Jr. It is speculated that Sarah overheard a conversation between Simcoe and Andre which revealed the plot to take over West Point. The plot revealed the identity of Benedict Arnold as the notorious traitor history knows him as today. Sarah allegedly communicated the information to Robert, who shared the information with Washington. Sarah’s information helped foil a plot that may have devastated the Continental Army’s war effort. Without her concealed intelligence gathering, there may not have been a United States as we know it.
George Washington valued his spies so much and they were so critical to the Revolution that the secret of the Culper Ring was not disclosed until the 1930s. The major players including Abraham Woodhull, Robert Townsend, Hercules Mulligan, and Benjamin Tallmadge are acknowledged, but no woman has been officially named as having been part of the Culper Ring. In fact, to this day she is still only known as Agent 355. I strongly believe that the most likely candidate to be Agent 355 was Sarah Townsend. However, honorable mentions include Anna Strong of Setauket, wife of Selah Strong, and Mary Underhill, sister of Abraham Woodhull.
