Tallmadge (Family : Tallmadge, Benjamin, 1754-1835)

Benjamin Tallmadge (1754-1835) acted as principal director of George Washington's secret service from 1778-1783, after the death of Nathan Hale. He won distinction as a field officer, notably at the capture of Fort St. George, Long Island, in 1780. With his leadership, Washington was able to create a strong and successful chain of spies throughout the New York area, beginning the secret service in America. These agents, primarily the Culper Spy Ring, gathered information for Washington, which greatly aided in winning the war.

Tallmadge was born in Setauket, Long Island. He was extremely bright and attended Yale University at the age of fifteen. He embarked on a career in education and soon became a headmaster of a school in Wethersfield, CT. When war broke out, Tallmadge became interested and decided to join. He began his army career as 1st lieutenant in Colonel John Chester's Regiment of Wadsworth's Connecticut Brigade, and eventually rose up the ladder to become Brigade Major and then captain of a troop in the 2nd Continental Light Dragoon Regiment. In the summer of 1778, his dragoons were assigned under Brigadier General Charles Scott, who was Washington's intelligence chief. Tallmadge's new job was to recruit intelligence sources throughout the Connecticut and New York area. He contacted old friends from Long Island and New York City, gradually forming the Culper ring. When Charles Scott had to go home because of family problems in the fall of 1778, Tallmadge was promoted once again and began to report directly to Washington.

Tallmadge is now remembered as one of the founders of the first organized espionage operations in America. He developed a numerical substitution code that effectively withstood British attempts to decipher it. After his successful career during the war, he was elected to Congress, where he served eight terms. (Biographical source: Spy Letters of the American Revolution from the Collections of the Clements Library)

Tallmadge was born February 25, 1754, the son of Susannah Smith (1729–1768) and Rev. Benjamin Tallmadge Sr. (1725–1786), a clergyman in Setauket, New York, a hamlet of the Town of Brookhaven, New York, on Long Island.[1][2] He graduated from Yale in 1773, where he was a member of Brothers in Unity[3] and was a classmate and close friend of the American Revolutionary War spy Nathan Hale.[4] He also served as superintendent of Wethersfield High School from 1773 to 1776.[2]

In 1792, Tallmadge was appointed postmaster of Litchfield, Connecticut. He served until he resigned to assume his seat in Congress.[14] He established a successful mercantile and importing business[15] and was the first president of the Phoenix Branch Bank, a position he held from 1814 to 1826.[16]

House of Representatives
On March 4, 1801, Tallmadge succeeded William Edmond as a Federalist Party member of the US House of Representatives to represent Connecticut's at-large congressional district. He served until March 3, 1817, when he was succeeded by Thomas Scott Williams.[17]


Benjamin Tallmadge with son William 1790
In 1829, Tallmadge was among a group of Federalists who defended Uriah Tracy against accusations by John Quincy Adams and William Plumer. Adams and Plumer had claimed Tracy was a leader of an 1804 effort to lead New England to secede from the United States.[18]

Tallmadge married Mary Floyd (1764–1805) on March 18, 1784, daughter of William Floyd, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a U.S Representative from New York. Their children included:[9]

William Smith Tallmadge (1785–1822), a lieutenant colonel in the 46th United States Infantry in the War of 1812; he died unmarried in Moscow, New York[9]
Henry Floyd Tallmadge (1787–1854), who married Maria Andrews Canfield (b. 1800), daughter of Andrew Adams[9]
Maria Jones Tallmadge (1790–1878), who married John Paine Cushman (1784–1848), a member of the House of Representatives from New York's 10th congressional district[9]
Benjamin Tallmadge (1792–1831), who died unmarried near Gibraltar while a lieutenant in the United States Navy[9]
Frederick Augustus Tallmadge (1794–1869), who married Elizabeth H. Canfield (1793–1878)[9]
Harriet Wadsworth Tallmadge (1797–1856),[9] who married John Delafield (1786–1853), brother of Edward Delafield and Richard Delafield
George Washington Tallmadge (1803–1838), who married Laura Pease (1807–1893), daughter of Calvin Pease[9]

Mary died in 1805, and Tallmadge married Maria Hallett (d. 1838) in 1808, daughter of his friend Joseph Hallett.[9] Tallmadge died March 7, 1835, in Litchfield, Connecticut. He is buried in East Cemetery in Litchfield, Connecticut.