Benjamin Tallmadge (February 25, 1754 – March 7, 1835) was an American military officer, spymaster, and politician. He is best known for his service as an officer in the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. He acted as leader of the

Culper Ring The Culper Ring was a network of Espionage, spies active during the American Revolutionary War, organized by Major Benjamin Tallmadge and General George Washington in 1778 during the British New York and New Jersey campaign, occupation of New Yo ...

during the war, a celebrated network of spies in New York where major British forces were based. He also led a successful raid across

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

that culminated in the Battle of Fort St. George. After the war, Tallmadge was elected to the

US House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

as a member of the

Federalist Party The Federalist Party was a conservativeMultiple sources: * * * * * * * * and nationalist American political party and the first political party in the United States. It dominated the national government under Alexander Hamilton from 17 ...

Early life

Tallmadge was born February 25, 1754, the son of Susannah Smith and Rev. Benjamin Tallmadge Sr., a clergyman in Setauket, New York, a hamlet of the Town of

Brookhaven, New York Brookhaven is a large Suburb, suburban town in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, Long Island, New York (state), New York. With a population of 488,497 as of 2022, it is the second most populous town in New York (after Hempstead, New Yo ...

, on

.Tallmadue, Benjamin: Soldier
Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, Vol. VI, pg.25, D. Appleton and Company, New York, 1889. Retrieved online at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

May 14, 2009. Note: the scanned text at the Internet Archive includes a typo error, listing his name as 'Tallmadue, Benjamin, soldier'TALLMADGE, Benjamin
/ref> He graduated from

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

in 1773, where he was a member of Brothers in Unity and was a classmate and close friend of the American Revolutionary War spy

Nathan Hale Nathan Hale (June 6, 1755 – September 22, 1776) was an American Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot, soldier and spy for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He volunteered for an Military intelligence, intelligence ...

. He also served as superintendent of Wethersfield High School from 1773 to 1776.

American Revolutionary War

Tallmadge was a major in the 2nd Continental Light Dragoons and was initially commissioned on June 20, 1776. He was given the position of director of military intelligence by George Washington after Nathaniel Sackett was relieved of his duties because he did not gain any ground from the enemy. Tallmadge was in charge of bringing intelligence from British-controlled New York to the Continental army, and he did so by assembling a network of spies known as the

, with the help of Abraham Woodhull and Robert Townsend. The Culper Ring was involved in revealing the betrayal of Major General

Benedict Arnold Benedict Arnold (#Brandt, Brandt (1994), p. 4June 14, 1801) was an American-born British military officer who served during the American Revolutionary War. He fought with distinction for the American Continental Army and rose to the rank of ...

. Arnold's British contact, Major

John André Major John André (May 2, 1750 – October 2, 1780) was a British Army officer who served as the head of Britain's intelligence operations during the American War for Independence. In September 1780, he negotiated with Continental Army offic ...

, was caught and taken to North Castle, where the commander, Colonel John Jameson, ordered Lieutenant Solomon Allen to take the incriminating documents found with André to Arnold, who was still in command at

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

. Tallmadge suspected André of being a spy and Arnold of being his accomplice, and tried to have Jameson reverse his orders. He was unsuccessful, but did convince Jameson to send a rider and take André to Salem, eight miles east of the Hudson River and to send the documents to Washington. Allen still reported to Arnold with Jameson's note outlining the events. Later, Jameson was chastised by Washington for warning Arnold and allowing his escape. André was placed in Tallmadge's custody awaiting execution. On November 21, 1780, Tallmadge and his dragoons rowed across Long Island Sound from

Fairfield, Connecticut Fairfield is a New England town, town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It borders the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Bridgeport and towns of Trumbull, Connecticut, Trumbull, Easton, Connecticut, Easton, Weston, Connecticut, W ...

, to Cedar Beach in Mount Sinai, New York. The next day, they proceeded to the south shore where they captured and burned down Manor St. George. On their march back to Mt. Sinai, Tallmadge stopped in Coram, New York, and ordered the burning of 300 tons of hay which the British had been stockpiling for the winter. Washington, on hearing the news, sent the following letter to Tallmadge:

I have received with much pleasure the report of your successful enterprise upon fort St. George, and was pleased with the destruction of the hay at Coram, which must be severely felt by the enemy at this time. I beg you to accept my thanks for your spirited execution of this business.

Tallmadge served at Washington's headquarters from March 1781 until the Continental Army was disbanded in November 1783. He was admitted as an original member of The

Society of the Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a lineage society, fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of milita ...

in the state of

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

when it was established in July 1783 and brevetted to the rank of lieutenant colonel on September 30, 1783. He subsequently served as Assistant Treasurer (1785–1789), Treasurer (1789–1793), Vice President (1793–1796) and President (1796–1801) of the Society of the Cincinnati in the state of Connecticut and continues to be represented by a living descendant in the society today.

Later life

Career

In 1792, Tallmadge was appointed postmaster of

Litchfield, Connecticut Litchfield is a town in and former county seat of Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,192 at the 2020 census. The town is part of the Northwest Hills Planning Region. The boroughs of Bantam and Litchfield are ...

. He served until he resigned to assume his seat in Congress. He established a successful mercantile and importing business and was the first president of the Phoenix Branch Bank, a position he held from 1814 to 1826.

House of Representatives

On March 4, 1801, Tallmadge succeeded William Edmond as a

member of the

to represent Connecticut's at-large congressional district, his second bid for this seat after an initial run in 1798 where he finished 10th (with the top 7 candidates winning). He served until March 3, 1817, when he was succeeded by Thomas Scott Williams. Benjamin_Tallmadge_by_Ralph_Earl

In 1829, Tallmadge was among a group of Federalists who defended Uriah Tracy against accusations by

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was the sixth president of the United States, serving from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States secretary of state from 1817 to 1825. During his long diploma ...

and William Plumer. Adams and Plumer had claimed Tracy was a leader of an 1804 effort to lead New England to secede from the United States.

Personal life

Tallmadge married Mary Floyd (1764–1805) on March 18, 1784, daughter of William Floyd, a signer of the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

and a U.S Representative from New York. Their children included: * William Smith Tallmadge (1785–1822), a lieutenant colonel in the 46th United States Infantry in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

; he died unmarried in Moscow, New York * Henry Floyd Tallmadge (1787–1854), who married Maria Andrews Canfield (b. 1800), daughter of Andrew Adams * Maria Jones Tallmadge (1790–1878), who married John Paine Cushman (1784–1848), a member of the House of Representatives from New York's 10th congressional district * Benjamin Tallmadge (1792–1831), who died unmarried near

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

while a lieutenant in the United States Navy * Frederick Augustus Tallmadge (1794–1869), who married Elizabeth H. Canfield (1793–1878) * Harriet Wadsworth Tallmadge (1797–1856), who married John Delafield (1786–1853), brother of Edward Delafield and Richard Delafield * George Washington Tallmadge (1803–1838), who married Laura Pease (1807–1893), daughter of Calvin Pease

Death

Mary died in 1805, and Tallmadge married Maria Hallett (d. 1838) in 1808, daughter of his friend Joseph Hallett. Tallmadge died March 7, 1835, in Litchfield, Connecticut. He is buried in East Cemetery in Litchfield, Connecticut.

Legacy

Fort Huachuca, Arizona, is the home of Army intelligence, and Tallmadge Hall there is named in Tallmadge's honor. The town of

Tallmadge, Ohio Tallmadge ( ) is a city in eastern Summit County, Ohio, Summit County, Ohio, United States, with a small district in neighboring Portage County, Ohio, Portage County. It is a suburb of Akron, Ohio, Akron and part of the Akron metropolitan area. T ...

, is also named in Tallmadge's honor. The Boy Scouts of America's Benjamin Tallmadge District serves the north shore of Eastern Long Island.

Talmadge, Maine Talmadge is a town in Washington County, Maine, Washington County, Maine, United States. The town was named after landowner Benjamin Tallmadge. The population was 70 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Geography According to the Unite ...

, is named for Tallmadge, who owned the township in the early 1800s. Tallmadge is a main character in the

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

series '' Turn: Washington's Spies'', played by Seth Numrich. Tallmadge is portrayed by Dave Morrissey, Jr., in the 2017 feature film ''One Life to Give'' and its sequel ''Traitor'' created by TBR News Media.info needed
/ref>

Footnotes

External links

Benjamin Tallmadge Collection
*
The Society of the Cincinnati

The American Revolution Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tallmadge, Benjamin 1754 births 1835 deaths Continental Army officers from Connecticut American bankers Yale College alumni Spymasters Federalist Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut People from Setauket, New York Military personnel from Connecticut People from colonial New York American spies during the American Revolution 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives Candidates in the 1798 United States elections