The Culper Ring: Beyond Hercules Mulligan. Washington’s Secret Network Inside British New York
- Dana at Vibe Tours
- 6 hours ago
- 5 min read
The Spy War Hamilton Doesn’t Show You
If Hamilton gives you a glimpse into Revolutionary New York, it only scratches the surface.
Yes, you get Hercules Mulligan—the tailor-turned-spy who “took their measurements, then information.”
But Mulligan wasn’t operating alone. He was part of something much bigger.
A coordinated, multi-layered intelligence network operating deep inside British-occupied New York City.
A network so effective, so disciplined, and so modern in its methods that historians now consider it America’s first professional spy ring.
It was called the Culper Ring.
Why New York Became the Center of the Spy War
After the British captured New York in 1776, the city didn’t just become a military base—it became the headquarters of British power in North America.
Ships filled the harbor. Troops flooded the streets. Command decisions radiated outward from Manhattan.
For George Washington, this created a massive problem:
He had no visibility. No reliable intelligence.
And in war, that’s fatal.
Early attempts at espionage failed disastrously—most famously with the capture and execution of Nathan Hale in New York. While not officially recorded, he is famously credited with saying: "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country".
Washington learned quickly:
Sending lone spies into New York wasn’t enough. He needed a system.
The Creation of the Culper Ring
In 1778, Washington tasked a young officer, Benjamin Tallmadge, with building that system. (George Washington's Mount Vernon)
What Tallmadge created was revolutionary.
Instead of soldiers, he recruited civilians—people who could move through daily life without suspicion.
Farmers. Merchants. Tavern owners. Couriers.
People who already belonged.
This network became known as the Culper Ring, named after the alias “Samuel Culper,” used by its key operatives. (Wikipedia)
The story of the Culper Ring reached a wider audience through the AMC series TURN: Washington's Spies, which dramatizes the lives of the network’s key members, particularly Abraham Woodhull and his role operating behind British lines in New York.
While the show takes creative liberties for the sake of storytelling—compressing timelines and heightening personal drama—it captures the core reality: that the American Revolution wasn’t just fought on battlefields, but through a sophisticated intelligence network built on secrecy, trust, and constant risk.
For many viewers, TURN offers a compelling entry point into the hidden world of espionage that defined Revolutionary New York.
Who Were the Culper Spies?
The ring wasn’t one person—it was a chain.
Each link mattered.
Core Members:
Abraham Woodhull (“Samuel Culper Sr.”)The organizer. Based in Setauket, Long Island. Gathered and filtered intelligence.
Robert Townsend (“Samuel Culper Jr.”)The insider. A merchant and journalist in New York City who overheard British plans.
Caleb BrewsterThe transporter. Used whaleboats to move messages across Long Island Sound.
Austin RoeThe courier. Rode over 100 miles round trip to carry intelligence.
Anna StrongThe signal operator. Used coded laundry signals to coordinate drop-offs.
And then there were others—some unnamed, some still debated—including the mysterious Agent 355, believed to be a woman embedded in British social circles.
Together, they created something unprecedented:
A functioning intelligence network inside enemy territory.
How the Culper Ring Actually Worked
This wasn’t improvisation. It was structure.
It worked like this:
Information gathered in New York City. Townsend listened, observed, and recorded.
Transferred to Long Island. Roe transported messages to Woodhull.
Encoded and prepared. Woodhull organized the intelligence.
Crossed the water. Brewster ferried messages to Connecticut.
Delivered to Washington. Tallmadge handed it off.
Every step was compartmentalized. No one knew everything.
Even Washington didn’t know all the identities of his own spies. (George Washington's Mount Vernon)
That’s how they survived.
The Technology of Espionage (Before Technology Existed)
The Culper Ring wasn’t just brave—it was innovative.
They used:
Invisible ink (“sympathetic stain”)
Numerical codes (711 = Washington)
Dead drops
Coded newspaper messages
Tallmadge even created a 763-number codebook to disguise names and locations. (George Washington's Mount Vernon)
This is not primitive espionage.
This is the blueprint for modern intelligence tradecraft.
The New York Advantage: Hiding in Plain Sight
What made the Culper Ring so effective wasn’t just their methods.
It was New York. A dense, chaotic, crowded city under occupation.
British officers relaxed here. Socialized here. Talked freely.
And people like Townsend—and Hercules Mulligan—were right in the middle of it. Mulligan’s tailor shop attracted officers who needed uniforms. Townsend’s position as a merchant and journalist gave him access to elite circles.
They weren’t sneaking in. They were already inside.
The Intelligence That Changed the War
The Culper Ring didn’t just gather information. They changed outcomes.
1. Preventing a French Ambush
In 1780, the ring uncovered British plans to attack French forces in Rhode Island.
Washington was warned in time to prevent disaster. (HISTORY TV Nederland)
If that attack had succeeded, the American-French alliance could have collapsed.
2. Exposing Benedict Arnold
The ring also helped uncover the plot between Benedict Arnold and John André.
The plan: surrender West Point to the British.
The result: André captured. Arnold exposed. The fort saved.
3. Fighting Economic Warfare
The British attempted to flood the colonies with counterfeit currency.
The Culper Ring uncovered the plan. Congress responded by pulling bills from circulation.
This wasn’t just military intelligence. This was financial intelligence.
Where Mulligan and Cato Fit Into the Ring
Hercules Mulligan wasn’t officially “Culper Ring” in structure—but he fed into it.
According to historical accounts, Mulligan passed intelligence into the same network pipeline used by Townsend and others. (Wikipedia)
And crucially:
His enslaved courier Cato delivered messages that ultimately entered this intelligence system.
So when you tell the story of Cato, you’re not telling a side story.
You’re telling a node in the most advanced intelligence network of the Revolution.
Why No One Was Ever Caught
This might be the most shocking part:
For years, operating inside enemy territory…No core member of the Culper Ring was exposed. (George Washington's Mount Vernon)
That’s almost unheard of in espionage history. Why?
Compartmentalization
Civilian cover identities
Layered communication
Urban anonymity
They didn’t look like spies.
That was the point.
The End of the Ring
The Culper Ring operated from 1778 until the end of the war in 1783.
When the British evacuated New York, the need for the network disappeared. And just like that—it dissolved.
No public recognition. No victory parade. No acknowledgment at the time.
Their success depended on secrecy. And secrecy meant silence.
New York Was the Real Battlefield
When people think about the Revolution, they think about battlefields.
But the war was won just as much in cities like New York.
In shops. In taverns. In back rooms.
Through conversations overheard and messages carried.
Personal Note: When I walk through Lower Manhattan, I don’t just think about what happened here—I think about what was said quietly. The Revolution in New York wasn’t loud. It was coded, hidden, and constant.
Why This Story Changes Everything
The Culper Ring reframes the Revolution:
Not just a military conflict
But an intelligence war
Not just fought with weapons
But with information
And New York wasn’t a sideshow, it was the center.
Go Deeper Into the Spy Network
If the story of Cato showed you the risk…
The Culper Ring shows you the system.
👉 Walk the Revolutionary Spy Network in NYC
