Abraham Woodhull (7 October 1750 – 23 January 1826) was the leader of the Culper Ring network under the alias Samuel Culper, Sr. during the American Revolutionary War. Woodhull, the son of the loyalist magistrate Richard Woodhull, decided to volunteer his services to the Continental Army as the leader of a spy ring in New York City after 1777, assisting George Washington in collecting information on the British Army's activities.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Abraham Woodhull was born on 7 October 1750 in Setauket, New York, the son of Judge Richard Woodhull and Mary Smith. Woodhull was secretly engaged to Anna Strong in 1773 before his brother Thomas, a soldier in the British Army, was killed while quelling a protest at King's College and his father decided to marry him to his brother's fiancee Mary, leading to Abraham and Anna parting. Abraham enlisted in a Suffolk County militia in the fall of 1775, but he resigned after a few months; his cousin Brigadier-General Nathaniel Woodhull was killed by the British while in their prison on 20 September 1776, when he was killed with bayonets. He attempted to stay out of the war, and he smuggled cabbage for his family after their harvest in the autumn of 1776 proved to be insufficient due to maggots eating up his crops.
Involvement with Brewster[]
Woodhull encountered his childhood friend Caleb Brewster when he arrived in Connecticut, selling him his cabbage in exchange for some money and some silk. However, his rowboat was pulled in by a ship at night while he was headed for New York, and he was told that he was being arrested by the Continental Congress for smuggling. Woodhull refused to give any names to the Congress, and he found out that his interrogator was Benjamin Tallmadge, another childhood friend who had joined a regiment of Connecticut dragoons in the Continental Army. Tallmadge told Woodhull that George Washington wanted him to work with the patriots as a spy during the American Revolutionary War, and he refused. However, because his friend Selah Strong was imprisoned after getting into a fight with British officer Charles Joyce with Woodhull in attendance, Woodhull was one of the suspects in Joyce's murder when he turned up dead with his throat slit in Lewis Field, as was Anna Strong, Selah's wife and Woodhull's former fiancee. Woodhull's father helped him in getting his way out of the case, and Woodhull and ranger captain Robert Rogers both investigated the murder. Eventually, Rogers lured out the killer by playing the retreat signal on the drums, which is what the killer used to signal Joyce to have a tryst with them, as revealed in a letter that Anna Strong had found in Joyce's belongings in his room in her house. The killer was discovered to be loyalist John Robeson, and Rogers decided to use a dead redcoat as a scapegoat while employing Robeson as his eyes and ears in Setauket.
Woodhull became involved in the revolution around the same time, with Anna convincing him that he should side with the patriots against the British. Woodhull told Anna to raise a black petticoat on her clothing line to signal Tallmadge's courier, and it turned out to be Caleb Brewster. Brewster told Woodhull that his encounter with him in Connecticut was the first part of the test to see if Woodhull was fit to join the patriots, and Tallmadge's interrogation was the second part of the test. Woodhull passed on information that he had learned from his father's meeting with Major Edmund Hewlett to discuss the exoneration of Abraham from his role as a murder suspect; he had found a letter with a coded message that stated that the British under John Graves Simcoe would raid a patriot safehouse in Meigs Harbor, Connecticut. Woodhull told Brewster about the plans, and Brewster passed the information on to Tallmadge, leading to Tallmadge, Brewster, and other Continental troops ambushing and killing 19 of the 20 British troops, capturing a wounded Simcoe. His role in the ambush led to him being involved in the revolutioanry cause, although he only did it because Simcoe had been harassing Anna Strong while was quartered at her house.
Heading to New York[]
Later in 1776, Richard Woodhull asked his son to come with him to test his bartering skills for a deal with Colonel Jonathan Cook, the head of the commissary in New York City. Abraham negotiated that his father could sell his hogs for 7 pounds each, saying that Cook could make an extra profit by giving the quartermaster the required 20 hogs and some more hogs to other merchants, which would benefit Cook. These negotiations made Woodhull proud of his son, but Abraham was disappointed when his father and Colonel Cook began to discuss dividing Selah Strong's lands while he was in prison, with Colonel Cook being promised some cauliflower by Woodhull. This led to Abraham being disappointed with his father, whose loyalist sympathies set the two of them apart.
The Hessians conversing with Abraham
Later that day, Abraham decided to head to King's College to visit the spot where his brother had been killed in a 1773 riot after Woodhull put a Phrygian cap on top of the Liberty Pole there. While there, he had a conversation with two Hessians making sauerkraut at their campfire, and they let him try their food. Woodhull offered to send some cabbage to them, but they said that their brigade was being shipped out for Trenton, New Jersey soon. Now, he knew that 1,500 Hessian troops were going to be sent to Trenton, and he decided to pass this on to Caleb. Abraham decided to help Caleb in escaping New York after their meeting, and Caleb was able to escape on a rowboat as Abraham and Anna distracted British guards by offering them some beer from the Strong tavern. Caleb escaped, and Abraham decided to continue passing information to the patriots.
Return to New York[]
One day, Woodhull was kidnapped by a desperate patriot named Cyrus who wanted to return to Washington's army in Morristown, as Cyrus believed that Woodhull was a Tory like his father and knew where Washington was; he did not listen to Woodhull's revelation that he was a spy. Woodhull was beaten, and Cyrus offered to let Woodhull leave if he fought him. Woodhull and Cyrus fought, but Cyrus later heard British troops approaching him after they found out that Woodhull had been ambushed. In the ensuing encounter, Woodhull was rescued by the redcoats, who killed Cyrus. The redcoats informed Woodhull that single persons could no longer travel to New York, stepping up security against patriot infiltrators.
In order to spy against the British, Woodhull needed to enter New York City with Anna, whom he would claim was his wife. Anna left with him, ostensibly to petition for Selah Strong's release from the HMS Jersey; Abraham would supposedly sell some cauliflower to the British. One day, Ensign Baker told Abraham's wife Mary about the time when he caught Abraham and Anna having sex on the table of Abraham's house after Anna informed him of her former slave's willingness to spy on Major John Andre for them while sent to him after the Dunmore Proclamation (which effectively made American slaves into British soldiers for the men, or British servants for the women and children). When Baker left, an angry Simcoe had him tell him about the affair, and Simcoe beat up Woodhull in the woods at night after coming onto him with a few regulars, saying that he retracted an apology that he was going to give him for accusing him of Captain Joyce's murder. Later in their encounter, Simcoe challenged him to a duel, and Woodhull decided to accept before Ensign Baker arrived and rescued him from Simcoe and his men. Woodhull decided to have Baker as his second for the duel, and he met Simcoe on a small patch of land at a creek. Anna found out about the duel from Simcoe and warned Richard Woodhull, and the two headed to stop the duel. In the encounter, Woodhull won a coin toss and was allowed to draw first blood, but his shot missed Simcoe. Before Simcoe could fire back, Woodhull and Anna Strong arrived and ended the fight, with Anna telling Simcoe that the men were fighting for their honor, not hers, and telling them that they could both leave. Abraham had Baker reload his gun, but he was convinced to leave the duel with honor.
When Woodhull and Anna were finally able to go to New York, Woodhull and Anna shared a room together, and Woodhull and Anna had an argument about the cancellation of their engagement, with Abraham refusing to tell her about his brother's death. Woodhull headed to meet with Colonel Cook afterwards and made a good deal to sell Selah Strong's cauliflower to him, and Cook invited him to Major John Andre's dinner party in order to sell some more of his goods. Woodhull returned to Anna and told him of this, and Anna told him that Selah had died of dysentery on the Jersey two months earlier; however, Robert Rogers had bribed the captain of the ship to say that Selah had died and that Samuel Tallmadge, Benjamin Tallmadge's deceased brother, was the one who survived. Rogers wanted to lure Benjamin to a prisoner exchange that he would ambush, but the ambush went awry when Caleb Brewster (whom Benjamin sent to retrieve Samuel as he worked at Washington's Morristown office) had Selah (stated to be "Samuel Tallmadge") duck as Rogers shot at him.
Woodhull decided to attend Andre's ball for his officers, and Anna told him that she would go there as well to help him, although Abraham told Anna that she should not go in her sad condition, as she would reveal her purpose. Abraham went as a guest of Cook, and Anna later infiltrated the party while disguised as a prostitute. Abraham socialized with Andre and the British officers before he snuck into an officer's room where Anna was about to lay with the officer and steal his book (which contained coded messages). Abraham pretended to have had sex with Anna, telling the officer that her "roll is already buttered." The officer was angered by this, and he told Abraham that he should leave. Abraham copied down the writing in his book before Cook had him leave, but not before the officers gave him a drinking challenge: they asked him who he would kill if he would not be retaliated against. He said the man who placed the Phrygian cap on the Liberty Pole at King's College back in 1773 (referring to himself), as his actions lead to his brother's death; this was his way of telling Anna about what happened that led to their engagement being broken. When they returned to their room, they had passionate sex.
Battle of Setauket[]
Abraham and Anna spending time together in Anna's barn
In the spring of 1777, Woodhull trysted with Anna at her barn, and he told her that he could not stay there long. The two of them spent a moment together before Abraham found out that Major Hewlett's horse Bucephalus had been poisoned through his apples, and Captain Simcoe blamed the poisoning on rebel sympathizers. He found out of a petition to the provincial congress, and he intended to hunt down the people responsible. Local orchard owner Lucas Brewster was blamed for the poisoning, and he was arrested. Shortly after, Richard Woodhull was shot in the chest as he boarded his wagon with Simcoe and Woodhull, with the man using a verse from the Book of Judges as wadding for his musketball. The British responded to this by disarming all of the citizens, and when Benjamin Tallmadge's father Benjamin Tallmadge, Sr. greeted the British as a hostile person when turning in his gun, he was suspected. Simcoe arrested him after he gave a pro-patriot sermon to people at a tavern, and he was accused of being the shooter. Later, petition signer Moses Paine decided to turn in the petition, saying that he was drunk when he signed it, giving Hewlett a list of patriots; he proceeded to have those men rounded up and arrested along with Paine himself. A recovering Judge Woodhull accepted Abraham's offer to prosecute the accused in his stead, as Abraham wanted to lose on purpose; this would show the townspeople that Simcoe was the man responible. In the court case, Simcoe had trouble loading the musketball that hit Richard Woodhull into Tallmadge's gun, as it was a Pennsylvania rifle; only a Brown Bess British musket could use that type of ball. The court case fell apart, leading to uproar. Hewlett decided to send the accused to HMS Jersey in lieu of hanging, although this was effectively a death sentence due to the poor conditions there.
Woodhull later returned to his home, only to find his wife confronting him after she found out about his spy involvement. She found out when their son Thomas had moved a floorboard, revealing a book of words and code-numbers used to represent them, a book which Caleb had given to Abraham in order to communicate without the British knowing; Caleb also told Woodhull that his alias would be "Samuel Culpeper", with Woodhull shortening it to "Culper". Abraham told Anna that he was fighting for freedom and confronted her about their true beliefs, and she told him that she wanted her husband. The two proceeded to strip down and have sex in Baker's bed, with Abraham telling Anna that he could do so because it was his house, and Anna responded by telling him to prove it. Later that day, 22 August 1777, Benjamin Tallmadge raided Setauket to free his father and the other accused townspeople, taking over the town. When the Continentals were busy pushing people into the tavern, Selah Strong made his presence known when he shot at the sign saying "DeJong Tavern", formerly "Strong Tavern", and Abraham was shocked to see him. He was herded into the tavern with the other people, and Tallamdge and Brewster took him aside from the crowd to tell him that he was going to negotiate the release of the prisoners. Woodhull decided to do so, as his father was in the church as well. Woodhull told Hewlett that Tallmadge would withdraw if the 8 prisoners were exchanged for the captured redcoats, and he eventually negotiated the release of all of the prisoners unconditionally after a rebellious Simcoe killed one of the hostages in an attempt to provoke an attack on the church. The patriots withdrew from Setauket, but Anna decided to leave Selah's side and stay in Setauket to help Abraham.
That night, Abraham saw Anna at the fireplace burning his code book, and he got into a loud argument with her over his spying activities. Unfortunately, Ensign Baker entered the room with his musket, and he heard the whole conversation. Abraham pulled his gun and asked Baker not to arrest him, but Baker said that he would not be a traitor like Abraham. Abraham was forced to fire, shooting him in the stomach. He rushed to the dying Baker and cried, having killed his first man. Anna decided to cover up the whole event by burning down the house, saying that Baker had been killed by retreating patriots while defending the house as they looted it, and that the family would move into Whitehall with Judge Woodhull like they should have long before. The house was burned to the ground, and the family moved into Whitehall.
Spying in New York[]
In October of 1777, Woodhull announced to his father, Major Hewlett, his wife, Anna Strong, and other guests at a party commemorating Hewlett that he would be resuming his old studies at King's College to get a law degree, having regained an interest in law after the loss of his farm and his prosecution of the alleged patriots. His wife knew that he was only saying this so that he could continue spying in New York, so she decided to intervene, and Major Hewlett settled the argument by granting Woodhull an armed escort into the city at all times. This ruined Woodhull's plan to spy in New York, so he decided to inform his guard that he could wait outside of the city when he entered Manhattan for his studies. Woodhull privately conferred with Major Hewlett and told him that he wanted to enter King's College and spy on the Sons of Liberty for him, as his prior connection to them might allow him to bust suspected patriot sympathizers in the college. Hewlett allowed him to do so, so the British guard would have to keep a distance from him in order for him to carry out his act.
Woodhull gave reports to the Continentals from inside the city, noting that Howe's flagship HMS Eagle and other Royal Navy ships remained in the harbor as British troop numbers decreased, and when he entered Robert Townsend's boarding inn for some breakfast, Woodhull took note of the people feeling on edge, saying that an assault by 5,000 men could probably take the city. At the inn, he helped a Spanish man win at a game of checkers, and the man told him that some sailors were building ships at the west wharf, making life hard for merchants; Woodhull decided to investigate. Woodhull's tip from the fellow boarder led him to the west wharf on 17 October 1777, where he spotted 32-gun frigate Alarm and 28-gun frigate Sybil moored at Peck's Slip along with the 18-gun sloop Tobago. He also noted that Howe left New York with most of his army, but he left 200 Hessians in the city, while the city was defended by a dozen 24-pounders and 6 16-pounders at Canal Street. Woodhull continued to report on the location of British ships and troops, but Townsend eventually took note of the fact that Woodhull was writing secret messages on the brown eggs and not white ones. Townsend stole and cooked the two brown eggs, serving them to Woodhull when he returned to the inn after nearly leaving the city. Townsend told him never to show up at his inn again, warning him that he knew about his messages and told him that he could have given them to a British officer instead. Woodhull returned to New York, defeated.
Woodhull was forced to work by himself, and he attempted to plant evidence for Major Hewlett so that it would appear as if he had made a discovery of some of the Sons of Liberty's activities. However, he was arrested by British troops and thrown in prison by Inspector-General Joseph Innes, who believed that he was spying for the rebels. Woodhull told him to ask Major Hewlett, who would vouch for him, but he was unaware that Hewlett had been kidnapped by the patriots from his home after Simcoe framed him for the murder ot their captain. Woodhull was tortured, being thrown in a cage with patriots; he did not disclose his true loyalties, and he was beaten and hated by the imprisoned patriots. Woodhull refused his father's offer of releasing him from prison if he would stop spying, and he also refused to escape with Caleb Brewster, who had infiltrated New York in David Bushnell's Turtle and disguised himself as a British officer. However, Woodhull sent him to persuade Townsend to join the rebel cause, as Woodhull had previously met with his father Samuel Townsend in attempts to persuade Robert to join the patriots. Caleb succeeded in doing this while Abraham was away, as Robert witnessed Simcoe's rangers beat up his father and burn down his stables when he asked for money in exchange for giving his cavalry to the rangers. Eventually, Major Hewlett escaped captivity and secured Woodhull's release, and Townsend agreed to work with Woodhull as "Samuel Culper, Jr."; he gave him information on a plot by Thomas Hickey and William Bradford to assassinate George Washington at his camp in Valley Forge. Woodhull had a problem to face, however, as he had to give Major Hewlett a final report on New York. While Hewlett acknowledged Woodhull's excuse that he was in prison, he told Woodhull that he would send the report to Major John Andre in Philadelphia. Abraham's wife Mary convinced him that he had to shoot the courier, Corporal Eastin (the man who had been sent to escort Woodhull to New York previously), and not kill Hewlett as he had planned to do. While Anna objected to either plot, Abraham stole his father's pistol and ambushed Eastin as he rode down a road, shooting him off of his horse. Woodhull planted a false letter from John Andre on him, saying that Andre had no interest in a farmer's services, but he was garroted by Robert Rogers, who told him that he was going to work for him.
Rogers followed Woodhull to his secret hideout in the basement of his burnt-down farm, and Woodhull was told that he had to work with Rogers to get revenge on Andre before Rogers would kill him. The formed an unlikely alliance, and Rogers helped Abraham in covering up Eastin's murder. However, Judge Woodhull decided to inform Major Hewlett that Woodhull had been spying for the patriots, as Woodhull's suspicions had increasingly grown over time.