This article is rated Start-class on Wikipedia's
content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The contents of the Intelligence operations in the American Revolutionary War page were merged into Intelligence in the American Revolutionary War on 1 August 2021. For the contribution history and old versions of the redirected page, please see its history; for the discussion at that location, see its talk page. |
I noticed the fact that the article ws taken verbatim from the cia.gov webpage on spies during the revolutionary war. I was concerned, as that would usually be considered plagerism, but realized I shouldn't be because of the comment below. THanks to whoever made that comment. ~~
The initial version is a verbatim copy of "Intelligence in the War of Independence" a work of the Unites States Government, CIA. As such, it is in the public domain worldwide.
Original source: https://www.cia.gov/csi/books/warindep/frames.html
Probably needs some NPOV'ing particularly at the end: "Famous Agents" used to be "Martyrs & Heroes". Also needs wikifying. Wolfman 04:39, 17 Oct 2004 (UTC)
There are some nice drawings linked in the CIA book, which could be uploaded, if someone is interested in doing so. I already grabbed the nathan hale and joseph warren ones. Wolfman 05:00, 17 Oct 2004 (UTC)
I'm going though this article and making some changes, which I'll talk about here. I was going to just submit it all but then oDC crashed my machine up and I have to start over, so now I'll be submitting it piecemeal so if I screw something up it will be less major. Thanx 68.39.174.150 05:26, 9 May 2005 (UTC)
I feel I should note that the term "Patriot" in reference to American colonial rebels is a widely accepted and non-biased term, like the term "Loyalist" to refer to American supporters of the Crown.-- 75.105.64.38 ( talk) 06:53, 6 October 2008 (UTC)
Having read incidental comments on some of the things mentioned here (From reasonable reputable sources), the difference and emphasis shifts are so strong I feel someone should check this over (I tried and evidently didn't do so well). Also, the source is not the most uninvolved either. 68.39.174.238 03:52, 7 February 2007 (UTC)
This article needs to be massively overhauled and divided up into sections by country. It seems to imply that Intelligence in the American Revolutionary War was only used on one side. I know this is clearly wrong - there were British agents active in pre-war Massachuetas, and the British continued to be active throughout the war both in America and across the globe. It is commonmly stated that the British had agents in the rebel American high command. Major John Andre was a leading British spymaster and persuaded Benedict Arnold to defect back to the British. Benjamin Franklin has been widely reported as selling information to British spies in Paris. The British made extensive use of African American servents and slaves to overhear their masters conversations. The article is missing all these things but I suspect it is an oversight rather than bias. I will try and write more on the British perespective (and possibly French, Spanish and Dutch if I can find the sources) and perhaps cut the American entrys a little bit. Lord Cornwallis ( talk) 04:19, 30 May 2008 (UTC)
In this text: It was resolved further that the act "be printed at the end of the rules and articles of war." On February 27, 1778, the law was broadened to include any "inhabitants of these states" whose intelligence activities aided the enemy in capturing or killing British forces.
Shouldn't "killing British forces" be "killing American forces?" This would make more sense since we wouldn't have been as concerned of British deaths during the Revolutionary War. I didn't want to edit it since I don't have a source. Do the editors agree? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.80.89.241 ( talk) 16:24, 27 April 2014 (UTC)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just added archive links to one external link on
Intelligence in the American Revolutionary War. Please take a moment to review
my edit. If necessary, add {{
cbignore}}
after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add {{
nobots|deny=InternetArchiveBot}}
to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.
This message was posted before February 2018.
After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than
regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors
have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the
RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{
source check}}
(last update: 5 June 2024).
Cheers.— cyberbot II Talk to my owner:Online 15:06, 11 February 2016 (UTC)
So, were the Americans the only ones who engaged in spying and intelligence operations during the American Revolutionary War? I think not. Magic ♪piano 02:11, 29 March 2016 (UTC)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified one external link on Intelligence in the American Revolutionary War. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.
This message was posted before February 2018.
After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than
regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors
have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the
RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{
source check}}
(last update: 5 June 2024).
Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot ( Report bug) 23:47, 20 December 2017 (UTC)
I propose to merge Intelligence in the American Revolutionary War and Intelligence operations in the American Revolutionary War. There seems to be a lot of overlap between the two articles' subject matter and readers would be better served by a single article that is much better written, sourced, and structured. Thoughts? Ledalion ( talk) 14:14, 11 May 2020 (UTC)
@ Ledalion, Rjensen, Donner60, Civil Engineer 3, Puzzledvegetable, Lord Cornwallis, and Keith D: I've moved the following narrative of some topic detail here to preserve the multiple-editor contributions in copyediting, research, footnotes and HarvRef citations.
Prior to moving this passage, I copied four paragraphs into the more general narrative at the American Revolutionary War, using six of the eight references noted here.
Please consider an assist to Ledalion in getting this article up-and-running. Thanks in advance. TheVirginiaHistorian ( talk) 05:36, 21 September 2020 (UTC)
At the onset of the war, the Second Continental Congress realized that they would need foreign alliances and intelligence-gathering capability to defeat a world power like Britain. To this end, they formed the Committee of Secret Correspondence which operated from 1775 to 1776 for "the sole purpose of corresponding with our friends in Great Britain and other parts of the world". Through secret correspondence the Committee shared information and forged alliances with persons in France, England and throughout America. It employed secret agents in Europe to gather foreign intelligence, conduct undercover operations, analyze foreign publications, and initiate American propaganda campaigns to gain Patriot support. [1] Members included Thomas Paine, the committee's secretary, and Silas Deane who was instrumental in securing French aid in Paris. [2] [a]
Facing off against the British at New York City, Washington realized that he needed advance information to deal with disciplined British regular troops. On August 12, 1776, Thomas Knowlton was given orders to form an elite group for reconnaissance and secret missions. Knowlton's Rangers became the Army's first intelligence unit. [4]
Among the Rangers was Nathan Hale. [1] [5] When the British landed on Long Island with overwhelming force, Washington's army narrowly escaped and retreated across the East River in dozens of small riverboats to New York City on Manhattan Island. [b] Washington directed volunteer Hale to spy on enemy activity behind their lines in Brooklyn. After the British attack on September 15, Hale was captured and with sketches of British fortifications and troop positions. Howe ordered Hale summarily hung without trial the next day (September 22). [6]
Once Washington was driven out of New York, he realized that he would need more than military might and amateur spies to defeat the British and earnestly made efforts to professionalize military intelligence with the aid of Benjamin Tallmadge. They created the Culper spy ring of six men. [c] Washington promised members of the ring that their identities and activities would never be revealed. [d] All name references had a number code, and the spies used vanishing ink for their messages. [9]
Among the more notable achievements of the ring was exposing Benedict Arnold's treasonous plans to capture West Point, along with his collaborator John André, Britain's head spymaster, [10] [11] [e] and later they intercepted and deciphered coded messages between Cornwallis and Clinton during the Siege of Yorktown, leading to Cornwallis's surrender. [13] [14]
By 1781, the amateur shortcomings of British intelligence had been corrected, enabling Clinton and Cornwallis to predict patriot movements and capabilities. However, the improvements came too late to reverse British misfortunes. [15] The American commander spent more than 10 percent of his total military funds on intelligence operations. [1] Some historians maintain that, without the efforts of Washington and the Culper Spy Ring, the British would never have been defeated. [8] [7]
Respectfully - TheVirginiaHistorian ( talk) 05:36, 21 September 2020 (UTC)
@ Ledalion, Rjensen, Civil Engineer 3, Puzzledvegetable, Lord Cornwallis, TheVirginiaHistorian, and Keith D:
This article is rated Start-class on Wikipedia's
content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The contents of the Intelligence operations in the American Revolutionary War page were merged into Intelligence in the American Revolutionary War on 1 August 2021. For the contribution history and old versions of the redirected page, please see its history; for the discussion at that location, see its talk page. |
I noticed the fact that the article ws taken verbatim from the cia.gov webpage on spies during the revolutionary war. I was concerned, as that would usually be considered plagerism, but realized I shouldn't be because of the comment below. THanks to whoever made that comment. ~~
The initial version is a verbatim copy of "Intelligence in the War of Independence" a work of the Unites States Government, CIA. As such, it is in the public domain worldwide.
Original source: https://www.cia.gov/csi/books/warindep/frames.html
Probably needs some NPOV'ing particularly at the end: "Famous Agents" used to be "Martyrs & Heroes". Also needs wikifying. Wolfman 04:39, 17 Oct 2004 (UTC)
There are some nice drawings linked in the CIA book, which could be uploaded, if someone is interested in doing so. I already grabbed the nathan hale and joseph warren ones. Wolfman 05:00, 17 Oct 2004 (UTC)
I'm going though this article and making some changes, which I'll talk about here. I was going to just submit it all but then oDC crashed my machine up and I have to start over, so now I'll be submitting it piecemeal so if I screw something up it will be less major. Thanx 68.39.174.150 05:26, 9 May 2005 (UTC)
I feel I should note that the term "Patriot" in reference to American colonial rebels is a widely accepted and non-biased term, like the term "Loyalist" to refer to American supporters of the Crown.-- 75.105.64.38 ( talk) 06:53, 6 October 2008 (UTC)
Having read incidental comments on some of the things mentioned here (From reasonable reputable sources), the difference and emphasis shifts are so strong I feel someone should check this over (I tried and evidently didn't do so well). Also, the source is not the most uninvolved either. 68.39.174.238 03:52, 7 February 2007 (UTC)
This article needs to be massively overhauled and divided up into sections by country. It seems to imply that Intelligence in the American Revolutionary War was only used on one side. I know this is clearly wrong - there were British agents active in pre-war Massachuetas, and the British continued to be active throughout the war both in America and across the globe. It is commonmly stated that the British had agents in the rebel American high command. Major John Andre was a leading British spymaster and persuaded Benedict Arnold to defect back to the British. Benjamin Franklin has been widely reported as selling information to British spies in Paris. The British made extensive use of African American servents and slaves to overhear their masters conversations. The article is missing all these things but I suspect it is an oversight rather than bias. I will try and write more on the British perespective (and possibly French, Spanish and Dutch if I can find the sources) and perhaps cut the American entrys a little bit. Lord Cornwallis ( talk) 04:19, 30 May 2008 (UTC)
In this text: It was resolved further that the act "be printed at the end of the rules and articles of war." On February 27, 1778, the law was broadened to include any "inhabitants of these states" whose intelligence activities aided the enemy in capturing or killing British forces.
Shouldn't "killing British forces" be "killing American forces?" This would make more sense since we wouldn't have been as concerned of British deaths during the Revolutionary War. I didn't want to edit it since I don't have a source. Do the editors agree? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.80.89.241 ( talk) 16:24, 27 April 2014 (UTC)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just added archive links to one external link on
Intelligence in the American Revolutionary War. Please take a moment to review
my edit. If necessary, add {{
cbignore}}
after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add {{
nobots|deny=InternetArchiveBot}}
to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.
This message was posted before February 2018.
After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than
regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors
have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the
RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{
source check}}
(last update: 5 June 2024).
Cheers.— cyberbot II Talk to my owner:Online 15:06, 11 February 2016 (UTC)
So, were the Americans the only ones who engaged in spying and intelligence operations during the American Revolutionary War? I think not. Magic ♪piano 02:11, 29 March 2016 (UTC)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified one external link on Intelligence in the American Revolutionary War. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.
This message was posted before February 2018.
After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than
regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors
have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the
RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{
source check}}
(last update: 5 June 2024).
Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot ( Report bug) 23:47, 20 December 2017 (UTC)
I propose to merge Intelligence in the American Revolutionary War and Intelligence operations in the American Revolutionary War. There seems to be a lot of overlap between the two articles' subject matter and readers would be better served by a single article that is much better written, sourced, and structured. Thoughts? Ledalion ( talk) 14:14, 11 May 2020 (UTC)
@ Ledalion, Rjensen, Donner60, Civil Engineer 3, Puzzledvegetable, Lord Cornwallis, and Keith D: I've moved the following narrative of some topic detail here to preserve the multiple-editor contributions in copyediting, research, footnotes and HarvRef citations.
Prior to moving this passage, I copied four paragraphs into the more general narrative at the American Revolutionary War, using six of the eight references noted here.
Please consider an assist to Ledalion in getting this article up-and-running. Thanks in advance. TheVirginiaHistorian ( talk) 05:36, 21 September 2020 (UTC)
At the onset of the war, the Second Continental Congress realized that they would need foreign alliances and intelligence-gathering capability to defeat a world power like Britain. To this end, they formed the Committee of Secret Correspondence which operated from 1775 to 1776 for "the sole purpose of corresponding with our friends in Great Britain and other parts of the world". Through secret correspondence the Committee shared information and forged alliances with persons in France, England and throughout America. It employed secret agents in Europe to gather foreign intelligence, conduct undercover operations, analyze foreign publications, and initiate American propaganda campaigns to gain Patriot support. [1] Members included Thomas Paine, the committee's secretary, and Silas Deane who was instrumental in securing French aid in Paris. [2] [a]
Facing off against the British at New York City, Washington realized that he needed advance information to deal with disciplined British regular troops. On August 12, 1776, Thomas Knowlton was given orders to form an elite group for reconnaissance and secret missions. Knowlton's Rangers became the Army's first intelligence unit. [4]
Among the Rangers was Nathan Hale. [1] [5] When the British landed on Long Island with overwhelming force, Washington's army narrowly escaped and retreated across the East River in dozens of small riverboats to New York City on Manhattan Island. [b] Washington directed volunteer Hale to spy on enemy activity behind their lines in Brooklyn. After the British attack on September 15, Hale was captured and with sketches of British fortifications and troop positions. Howe ordered Hale summarily hung without trial the next day (September 22). [6]
Once Washington was driven out of New York, he realized that he would need more than military might and amateur spies to defeat the British and earnestly made efforts to professionalize military intelligence with the aid of Benjamin Tallmadge. They created the Culper spy ring of six men. [c] Washington promised members of the ring that their identities and activities would never be revealed. [d] All name references had a number code, and the spies used vanishing ink for their messages. [9]
Among the more notable achievements of the ring was exposing Benedict Arnold's treasonous plans to capture West Point, along with his collaborator John André, Britain's head spymaster, [10] [11] [e] and later they intercepted and deciphered coded messages between Cornwallis and Clinton during the Siege of Yorktown, leading to Cornwallis's surrender. [13] [14]
By 1781, the amateur shortcomings of British intelligence had been corrected, enabling Clinton and Cornwallis to predict patriot movements and capabilities. However, the improvements came too late to reverse British misfortunes. [15] The American commander spent more than 10 percent of his total military funds on intelligence operations. [1] Some historians maintain that, without the efforts of Washington and the Culper Spy Ring, the British would never have been defeated. [8] [7]
Respectfully - TheVirginiaHistorian ( talk) 05:36, 21 September 2020 (UTC)
@ Ledalion, Rjensen, Civil Engineer 3, Puzzledvegetable, Lord Cornwallis, TheVirginiaHistorian, and Keith D: