Washington Wasn’t Always A Great General, But He Was An Excellent Spymaster

With an army that was consistently understaffed, under trained, and undersupplied, Washington battled valiantly to win the Revolutionary War. He therefore increased his reliance on his covert weapon: a clandestine intelligence network, in order to defeat one of the most formidable military forces in the world. Washington's spies assisted him in making brave, astute judgments that would change the course of the war and, in some cases, even save his life.

There is much mystery about Washington's covert espionage network and how it contributed to the success of the American Revolution: There were letters invisibly written, an African-American double agent, a patriot tailor who gathered information while creating garments for British officers, letters written in invisible ink, and the grisly execution of the spy Nathan Hale. General Washington “was more extensively involved in intelligence operations than any American general-in-chief until Dwight Eisenhower during World War II”, according to the Central Intelligence Agency.