Claudia Friddell - George Washingtons Spies

The $25,000 Flight

Apollo 13

Babe Ruth and the Baseball Curse

Balto and the Great Race

Climbing Everest

The Curse of King Tuts Mummy

Finding the First T. Rex

George Washingtons Spies

Kerri Strug and the Magnificent Seven

The Race Around the World

The Search for El Dorado

The Titanic Sinks!

For my heroes, Rich and Coleen Davis

C.F.

The author and editor would like to thank Joseph Stoltz, PhD, Digital Scholarship Librarian, the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington, for his assistance in the preparation of this book. In addition, the author would like to thank Margo Arceri, Setauket historian and Strongs Neck resident, for her Tri-Spy Tour through the hidden trails of the Culper spies.

Text copyright 2016 by Claudia Friddell

Interior illustrations copyright 2016 by Wesley Lowe

Photograph credits: , this page Benedict Arnold boot, some rights reserved by RDECOM

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Childrens Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

Random House and the colophon are registered trademarks and A Stepping Stone Book and the colophon are trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

Visit us on the Web!

SteppingStonesBooks.com

randomhousekids.com

Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at RHTeachersLibrarians.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Friddell, Claudia, author. | Lowe, Wesley, illustrator. Title: George Washingtons spies / by Claudia Friddell ; illustrated by Wesley Lowe. Description: First edition. | New York : Random House, 2016. | Series: Totally true adventures | Audience: Age 710. Identifiers: LCCN 2016009900 (print) | LCCN 2016010628 (ebook) | ISBN 978-0-399-55077-5 (trade pbk.) | ISBN 978-0-399-55078-2 (library binding) | ISBN 978-0-399-55079-9 (ebook) | Subjects: LCSH: United StatesHistoryRevolution, 17751783Secret serviceJuvenile literature. | EspionageHistory18th centuryJuvenile literature. | SpiesHistory18th centuryJuvenile literature. Classification: LCC E279 .F75 2016 (print) | LCC E279 (ebook) | DDC 973.3/85dc23

Ebook ISBN9780399550799

This book has been officially leveled by using the F&P Text Level Gradient Leveling System.

Random House Childrens Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

v4.1

ep

Benjamin Tallmadge, alias John Bolton (agent 721), General Washingtons chief intelligence officer and organizer of the Culper Spy Ring. A native of Setauket, he was Nathan Hales best friend at Yale College.

Abraham Woodhull, alias Culper Sr. (agent 722), a Setauket farmer who lived with his aging parents and sister. Tallmadge chose him to lead the Culper spies.

Caleb Brewster (agent 725), an army officer under Tallmadge and the naval courier for the Culper Spy Ring.

Anna Smith Strong (most likely lady agent 355), wife of imprisoned Patriot judge Selah Strong. She assisted Setauket spies.

Austin Roe (agent 724), known as the Paul Revere of Long Island, who carried spy messages from Robert Townsend (Culper Jr.) in New York City to Abraham Woodhull (Culper Sr.) in Setauket. His cover was getting supplies for his tavern.

Robert Townsend, alias Culper Jr. (agent 723), New York City seaport merchant from Oyster Bay and the key Culper spy, who collected enemy secrets from British officers at James Rivingtons coffeehouse.

On a chilly fall morning in 1753, twenty-one-year-old George Washington heads into the wilderness on his first mission as a soldier.

French troops are building forts in the Ohio River Valley. Major Washington has volunteered to deliver British orders for them to leave immediately.

But Washington isnt just a messenger. Hes a spy.

The Ohio River Valley was uncharted wilderness, but Washington was used to that. Before he became a soldier, Washington had been a surveyor, measuring land and making maps. He had slept under the stars, among wild animals, in all kinds of weather. He used the sun and a compass to find his way.

Washingtons experiences living in the wilderness had prepared him for his difficult winter journey. But would he also make a good spy?