September 15, 2024
10 AM – 4 PM
Princeton Battlefield
500 Mercer Street
Princeton, NJ 08540

Going into the Revolution, Americans were at a huge disadvantage to the European powers when it came to spy-craft and cryptography.  The British and French employed master spies who had the benefit of centuries of experience in coding and deciphering secret communication between public officials.  America’s first foray into the business of espionage was a huge disaster resulting in the dramatic execution of Nathan Hale – “My only regret is that I have but one life to give for my country.”  Wanting to avoid future loses of American agents, Benjamin Talmadge created complex communication networks as well as elaborate codes and cyphers to protect those who volunteered to go behind enemy lines and collect critical information for the patriot cause.  

At this year’s Princeton Battlefield Young Patriots Day, our spymaster, will recruit and train spies and provide them with hands on exercises to spy craft before being sent into the British encampments to collect intelligence. We will present several codes and cyphers for the participants to encode and decode messages, “dead drop” will be established in the environs of the Clarke House for our spies to exchange messages with other spies, and we will have discussions of famous spies in the George Washington’s and General Howe’s employ.   Come join us as we General Washington’s secret for being so lucky on the battlefield.

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