By the fall of 1780, the American cause was in crisis. The southern theater had collapsed: in May, Charleston—one of the most strategically vital cities in the colonies—fell to the British in the worst American defeat of the war, with over 5,000 troops captured. Just three months later, General Horatio Gates’s army was annihilated at Camden, leaving the Carolinas wide open to British occupation. Morale among Continental forces was dangerously low, and confidence in military leadership was shaken. At the same time, Washington himself faced a near catastrophe in the north: the shocking treason of Benedict Arnold, coupled with the capture and execution of British spymaster Major John André, revealed just how fragile the American position truly was—and how much the war now depended not just on open battle, but on secrecy, loyalty, and the flow of reliable intelligence.

In that volatile aftermath, Washington turned to one of his most trusted officers: Major Benjamin Tallmadge, head of the Continental Army’s intelligence operations and founder of the Culper Spy Ring, the most successful espionage network of the war. In this letter—rare not just for its content but for being fully penned and signed by Washington himself—he demands immediate, actionable intelligence:

“You would oblige me by ascertaining as soon as possible the following things.—

The number of Troops and different Corps that composed the last detachment which is supposed to have gone to the Southwd.—

The truth of the present report of another Imbarkation taking place—when it will happen—& to what amount in Men & Corps—and who is to commd. the detachment.—

The present disposition of the remaining Troops on Long Island and York Island and the number at each place—

You cannot be too expeditious in your communications on these heads—distinguishing between things certain and matters of mere report.—”

The urgency is unmistakable. Washington had no clear picture of British intentions in New York and feared the city might be reinforced by troops returning from the South. He needed confirmation—fast—and he turned to the only man he trusted to get it.

Tallmadge’s response would be swift and daring. Working with Culper agents Abraham Woodhull (alias Samuel Culper) and Caleb Brewster, he uncovered the intelligence Washington sought. Then, on 22 November, he personally led a covert raid on Fort St. George on Long Island, capturing the garrison, destroying British stores, and burning 300 tons of winter hay at Coram—crippling British supply lines. Washington wrote back with rare, unqualified praise: “I received with much pleasure the report of your successful enterprise... and was particularly well pleased with the destruction of the Hay; which must, I should conceive, be severely felt by the Enemy at this time.”

Most surviving Washington letters from the war were penned by secretaries, with only his signature added. This example, written entirely in Washington’s hand, is a rarity of the highest order—and one that touches every major theme of the Revolution’s final chapters: betrayal and espionage, improvisation under pressure, and the fragile thread on which American independence hung.

Provenance:

Benjamin Tallmadge, by descent to his son Frederick A. Tallmadge, who gifted the letter in 1845 to William Frederick Havemeyer, then Mayor of New York, noting it as “the last & only letter that I possess written entirely by Genl Washington to my venerable parent.” By descent through the Havemeyer family, accompanied by correspondence between Sarah C. A. Potter (great-granddaughter of Havemeyer) and John Fitzgerald regarding its publication.

• Swann Galleries, November 7, 2017, lot 7

• Sotheby’s, April 14, 2021, lot 503

A letter of exceptional content—Washington writing in full, under pressure, in the shadow of treason, calling on his most trusted spy chief to help turn the tide.