by John Adam Wasowicz
On Feb. 15, Alexandria pays tribute to George Washington. The theme for this year’s parade
Nepenthe Gallery
George Washington Ahtenaeum Portrait by Thomas Sully
is “George Washington: Commander-in-Chief” in honor of the 250th anniversary of the War for American Independence.
George Washington was more than a gifted motivator who rallied troops at Valley Forge; a brilliant tactician who swept his forces from White Plains to Yorktown to defeat the British; and a talented communicator who managed to keep his bickering egoistical generals focused on the prize of American independence.
He was also a stealthy and crafty spymaster. His masterful use of spycraft played a role in America’s victory in the fight for independence.
In fact, it’s appropriate to refer to Washington as our nation’s first Spymaster-in-Chief.
Washington would have had to resort to shrewd, cunning and crafty means to unite politicians with such divergent viewpoints as Democrat-Republican Thomas Jefferson and Federalist Alexander Hamilton during the formative years of the new republic.
“Washington’s aptitude for politics made him a master spy,” explained Kathy Shenkle, a retired civilian U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army Historian.
Washington’s spy craft is acknowledged by historians and biographers. Perhaps the most popular account is in “George Washington’s Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution” by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger.
As Kilmeade and Yaeger explain in their bestseller, Washington recruited a group of operatives known as the Culper Spy Ring to gather intelligence in New York about British troop movements that proved consequential in planning his military initiatives.
A wealth of information about Washington’s spy craft can also be gleamed from the Mount Vernon Estate’s website under the listing of “George Washington, Spymaster,” which discusses Washington’s role as “Agent 711” in his clandestine communications with the Culper Spy Ring.
There is no suggestion that Ian Fleming come up with the idea of James Bond “007” based upon Washington’s exploits as “Agent 711,” but it’s a provocative thought!
The website also describes how Washington enlisted the services of Hercules Mulligan — a figure immortalized in Lin-Manuel Maranda’s “Hamilton” — to gather and deliver secret communications through his tailor shop.
And the website references some aspects of spy craft that we wrongly associate as only applying in modern times, such as the use of ‘disinformation’ to fool the enemy into believing something that isn’t true.
Our nation’s intelligence service is often described as having originated during the Civil War with Allan Pinkerton’s work for Abraham Lincoln or as having advanced under “Wild Bill” Donovan in the services of Franklin Roosevelt during World War II, when the predecessor to the Central Intelligence Agency was born.
The truth is that it started much earlier in time through the machinations of George Washington, America’s first master spy.
John Adam Wasowicz, an attorney and retired U.S. Navy Reserve intelligence officer, is the author of "Spite House," book 7 in to the Old Town Loves Mystery series. He will be discussing Washington’s role as Spymaster-in-Chief and signing copies of "Spite House" at the Heron Hotel following the George Washington Birthday Parade. Joining him will be Town Crier Ben Fiore-Walker, Brendan O’Leary (owner of the Prince Street Spite House), and Kathy Shenkle, retired civilian U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army Historian. 20% of book sales will be donated to a local non-profit educational organization. The free event will commence at 4:15. Hot chocolate will be served.
