Benjamin Tallmadge
Benjamin Tallmadge | |
---|---|
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut's at-large district | |
In office March 4, 1801 – March 3, 1817 | |
Preceded by | William Edmond |
Succeeded by | Thomas Scott Williams |
Personal details | |
Born | Setauket or Brookhaven, Province of New York | February 25, 1754
Died | March 7, 1835 Litchfield, Connecticut | (aged 81)
Spouses | Mary Floyd
(m. 1784; died 1805)Maria Hallett (m. 1808) |
Children | 7, including Frederick A. Tallmadge |
Alma mater | Yale College |
Occupation | Statesman |
Known for | Organized the Culper Spy Ring |
Signature | |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States |
Branch/service | 2nd Continental Light Dragoons |
Years of service | 1776–1783 |
Rank | Major |
Battles/wars | American Revolutionary War: |
Benjamin Tallmadge (February 25, 1754 – March 7, 1835) was an American military officer,
Early life
Tallmadge was born February 25, 1754, the son of Susannah Smith (1729–1768) and Rev. Benjamin Tallmadge Sr. (1725–1786), a clergyman in
American Revolutionary War
Tallmadge was a major in the 2nd Continental Light Dragoons and was initially commissioned on June 20, 1776.[2] He was given the position of director of military intelligence by George Washington after Nathaniel Sackett was relieved of his duties because he did not gain any ground from the enemy.[5] Tallmadge was in charge of bringing intelligence from British-controlled New York to the Continental army, and he did so by assembling a network of spies known as the Culper Ring, with the help of Abraham Woodhull and Robert Townsend.[6]
The Culper Ring was involved in revealing the betrayal of Major General
On November 21, 1780, Tallmadge and his dragoons rowed across Long Island Sound from Fairfield, Connecticut, to Cedar Beach in Mount Sinai, New York. The next day, they proceeded to the south shore where they captured and burned down Manor St. George. On their march back to Mt. Sinai, Tallmadge stopped in Coram, New York, and ordered the burning of 300 tons of hay which the British had been stockpiling for the winter. Washington, on hearing the news, sent the following letter to Tallmadge:
I have received with much pleasure the report of your successful enterprise upon fort St. George, and was pleased with the destruction of the hay at Coram, which must be severely felt by the enemy at this time. I beg you to accept my thanks for your spirited execution of this business.[7]
Tallmadge served at Washington's headquarters from March 1781 until the Continental Army was disbanded in November 1783. He was admitted as an original member of The Society of the Cincinnati in the state of Connecticut when it was established in July 1783[8] and brevetted to the rank of lieutenant colonel on September 30, 1783.[9] He subsequently served as Assistant Treasurer (1785–1789), Treasurer (1789–1793), Vice President (1793–1796) and President (1796–1801) of the Society of the Cincinnati in the state of Connecticut[10][11][12] and continues to be represented by a living descendant in the society today.[13]
Later life
Career
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
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]
Personal life
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 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]
Death
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.
Legacy
Fort Huachuca, Arizona, is the home of Army intelligence, and Tallmadge Hall there is named in Tallmadge's honor. The town of Tallmadge, Ohio, is also named in Tallmadge's honor.[19] The Boy Scouts of America's Benjamin Tallmadge District serves the north shore of Eastern Long Island.[20]
Talmadge, Maine is named for Tallmadge, who owned the township in the early 1800s.[21]
Tallmadge is a main character in the AMC series Turn: Washington's Spies, played by Seth Numrich.[22]
Tallmadge is portrayed by Dave Morrissey, Jr. in the 2017 feature film One Life to Give and its sequel Traitor created by TBR News Media.[23]
See also
- Intelligence in the American Revolutionary War
- Intelligence operations in the American Revolutionary War
Footnotes
- Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, Vol. VI, pg.25, D. Appleton and Company, New York, 1889. Retrieved online at the Internet ArchiveMay 14, 2009. Note: the scanned text at the Internet Archive includes a typo error, listing his name as 'Tallmadue, Benjamin, soldier'
- ^ a b c TALLMADGE, Benjamin
- ^ "A Catalogue on the Society of Brothers in Unity 1841". Google Preview Books. Yale University. 1841.
- ^ Nathan Hale
- ^ "The Letter That Won the American Revolution". July 3, 2017. Archived from the original on July 3, 2017. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
- ^ Pennypacker, Morton (1939). General Washington's Spies on Long Island and in New York. New York: The Long Island Historical Society.
- ^ Bayles, Thomas R. The Early Years in Middle Island, Coram, Yaphank, and Ridge. Ed. Suzanne Johnson. Middle Island, NY: Longwood Public Library, 1989.
- ^ Metcalf, Bryce (1938) Original Members and Other Officers Eligible to the Society of the Cincinnati, 1783–1938: With the Institution, Rules of Admission, and Lists of the Officers of the General and State Societies, Strasburg, VA: Shenandoah Publishing House, Inc. p. 304.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Talmadge, Arthur White (1909). The Talmadge, Tallmadge and Talmage genealogy; being the descendants of Thomas Talmadge of Lynn, Massachusetts, with an appendix including other families. New York: The Grafton press. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
- ^ Metcalf, pp. 15-16.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. Vol. 35. New York, NY: New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. 1904. p. 290 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Officers Represented in the Society of the Cincinnati". The American Revolution Institute of the Society of the Cincinnati. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
- ^ Hall, Charles Swain (1943). Benjamin Tallmadge, Revolutionary Soldier and American Businessman. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. pp. 163, 171, 371 – via Google Books.
- ^ My Country. Vol. 25–27. Litchfield, CT: Litchfield Historical Society. 1991. p. 11 – via Google Books.
- ^ Kilbourne, Payne Kenyon (1859). Sketches and Chronicles of the Town of Litchfield, Connecticut. Hartford, CT: Case, Lockwood and Company. p. 234 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "TALLMADGE, Benjamin - Biographical Information". bioguide.congress.gov. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
- ^ Henry Adams, ed. Documents Relating to New England Federalism, 1800–1815. New York: Burt Franklin, 1877, p. 102.
- ^ "Tallmadge, Ohio". Ohio History Central. n.d. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
- ^ "Benjamin Tallmadge BSA". Benjamin Tallmadge District. n.d. Archived from the original on September 8, 2015. Retrieved August 9, 2015.
- ^ "Benjamin Tallmadge's Will, 1831-1834". Retrieved April 15, 2021.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (July 26, 2013). "TCA: AMC Picks Up 'Halt & Catch Fire' & 'Turn' To Series". Deadline. Retrieved March 22, 2014.
- ^ info needed
Further reading
- Benjamin Tallmadge, Memoir of Col. Benjamin Tallmadge (Reprint Services Corporation, 1858) ISBN 0-7812-8377-9
- Charles Swain Hall, Benjamin Tallmadge: Revolutionary Soldier and American Businessman (Columbia University Press, 1943)
- Mark Allen Baker, Spies of Revolutionary Connecticut, From Benedict Arnold to Nathan Hale (The History Press, 2014) ISBN 978-1-62619-407-6