Benjamin Tallmadge
BIRTH
Feb 25, 1754
Setauket, New York
DEATH
March 7, 1835
Litchfield, Connecticut
FAMILY
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Tallmadge, Benjamin
(1754-1835)
Benjamin Tallmadge was an American military officer, spymaster, and politician. He is best known for his service as an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He acted as leader of the Culper Ring during the war, a celebrated network of spies in New York where major British forces were based. He also led a successful raid across Long Island that culminated in the Battle of Fort St. George. After the war, Tallmadge was elected to the US House of Representatives as a member of the Federalist Party.
GRAVE:
GRAVE
East Cemetery
148 East Street, Litchfield, Connecticut, 06759, USA
7
BROTHER
William Smith Tallmadge
(1785-1822)
SISTER
Maria Tallmadge Cushman
(1790-1878)
SISTER
Harriet Tallmadge Delafield
(1797-1856)
WIFE
Mary Floyd Tallmadge
(1764-1805)
WIFE
Maria Hallett Tallmadge
(1776-1838)
William Smith Tallmadge
(1785-1822)
Frederick A. Tallmadge
(1792-1869)
Henry Tallmadge
(1787-1854)
Harriet Tallmadge Delafield
(1797-1856)
Maria Tallmadge Cushman
(1790-1878)
Places | Image | Address | GPS | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
DeWint House | 20 Livingston St, Tappan, NY 10983 | MUSEUM | ||
Fort St George Marker | Montauk Highway, Shirley, New York, 11967, USA | MARKER | ||
Bull's Head Tavern Marker | 20 Elizabeth St, New York, NY 10013 | MARKER | ||
Setauket Village Green | Caroline Avenue, Town of Brookhaven, New York, 11733, USA | MARKER | ||
Evacuation Day Marker | Evacuation Day Plaza, New York, New York, 10275, USA | MARKER | ||
Black Horse Inn Marker | 5111 Canal St, New York, NY 10002 | MARKER | ||
Major John Andre Hanging Site Marker | 161 Old Tappan Rd, Tappan, NY 10983 | MARKER |
DIED:
Litchfield, Connecticut
Mar 7, 1835
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. He graduated from Yale in 1773, where he was a member of Brothers in Unity and was a classmate and close friend of the American Revolutionary War spy Nathan Hale. He also served as superintendent of Wethersfield High School from 1773 to 1776.
Tallmadge was a major in the 2nd Continental Light Dragoonsand was initially commissioned on June 20, 1776. 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. 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.
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.