Benjamin Tallmadge

Memoir of Col. Benjamin Tallmadge

Benjamin Tallmadge narrates his time spent as a military officer during the American Revolutionary War, detailing his roles as both commander and intelligence gatherer.

Renowned for his successes during the American Revolution, Benjamin Tallmadge commences these memoirs with a brief family history. After this short introduction, he immediately describes his military training and deployment, and the witnessing of his first battle close to New York City. Stricken and steeled by the carnage of war, the young Tallmadge expresses his wish to see the Revolution to its very end.

Upon demonstrating a keen sense of tactics, and mounting a successful raid wherein the supplies and premises of an enemy force were burned by Tallmadge and his fellow operatives, George Washington praised the officer's abilities. Throughout the conflict, Tallmadge proved an able spymaster; heading up the Culper Ring, a network of agents whose information in and around the New York area would prove extremely valuable to the war effort.

As the conflict wore on, so did Tallmadge's skills and daring; he participated in captures of useful war supplies, and the surrender of a large British army. Eventually, the spent British resolved to declare peace. Tallmadge poignantly concludes his story by telling of his happy return to his hometown of Brookhaven on Long Island, and his subsequent joyous marriage.