General Washington’s Long Island Spy Ring: Lecture by Liz Kaplan (FREE)

George Washington was in need of good intelligence after he evacuated the Continental Army from New York City in September 1776. His disastrous loss at the Battle of Long Island in Brooklyn on August 27-28, 1776 and subsequent defeats north of the city forced him to retreat with his soldiers to New Jersey and eventually to Pennsylvania. The British controlled New York, particularly the downstate area and Long Island, where Loyalists were in the majority. The Culper Spy Ring was created on Long Island in 1778 by then-Dragoon Major Benjamin Tallmadge of Setauket, under Washington's leadership.

This colorful PowerPoint presentation reveals how the five "Culpers" gathered information about British military activity on Long Island and in Manhattan and sent it to General Washington despite constant danger.

The compelling story of the accomplishments of Robert Townsend, Abraham Woodhull, Austin Roe, Caleb Brewster, and Anna Smith Strong will fascinate audiences.

This Speaker in our Lecture Series, which is free and open to the public, is made possible through the support of the New York Council for the Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Long Island North Shore Heritage Area.

The Speakers in the Humanities program has linked distinguished scholars with diverse audiences since its launch in 1983, bringing the best in humanities scholarship to thousands of people at hundreds of cultural organizations in virtually every corner of New York State. This program is just one of the ways the New York Council for the Humanities helps all New Yorkers to lead vibrant intellectual lives by strengthening traditions of cultural literacy, critical inquiry, and civic participation.

The Long Island North Shore Heritage Area is an independent not-for-profit membership organization working to preserve, protect and celebrate the cultural, historic and natural resources on Long Island's North Shore.

For more information, please call Jennifer Sappell, Executive Director, 516-456-6863.