Spies in the American Revolution

Join us for the return of Damien Cregeau for a lecture on espionage operations during the American Revolution in and around Connecticut, including Long Island Sound and New York.  We will explore the stories of Captain Nathan Hale, as well as his friend, Major Benjamin Tallmadge as they worked to provide intelligence to General George Washington.  Mr. Cregeau will provide an overview of Tallmadge's famous Culper spy ring that operated between New York and Connecticut via Long Island Sound. He will also describe a special invisible ink created by Sir James Jay and used by Washington and the Culper ring.

Damien Cregeau earned his B.A. in history from Hillsdale College and his M.A. in history from Colorado State. He is a nationally- recognized scholar of the American Revolution who has spoken throughout the northeast from Washington, D.C. to Boston and Vermont.  His talk on the military leadership of Major General Alexander Hamilton is featured on C-SPAN.

Damien published a feature in last fall’s issue of Military History Quarterly on the creation of a special invisible ink by Sir James Jay, brother of John Jay, and used by General Washington and his Culper spy ring during the Revolutionary War.  Damien has spoken since 2006 on spies in the American Revolution, including at the Fraunces Tavern Museum in New York City as well as the New York Office of the FBI.  In 2019, he hosted a conference on spies in the American Revolution in Litchfield, where Major Benjamin Tallmadge of the Culper Spy Ring is buried.

He is currently writing his first book, Portraits of Patriots, which looks at the lives of six patriot officers from Connecticut during the American Revolution, including soldier then painter John Trumbull. He and his wife, Pam, own two houses built in 1765 - Private Samuel Hanmer’s House in Wethersfield and the General Jedediah Huntington House in Norwich.

Like all Southbury Public Library programs, this event is free to attend and open to anyone regardless of town of residency. Registration is required. This program is sponsored by the Bozzuto Fund. For more information about this program, please email Rebecca at rrandall@biblio.org or call the reference desk at 203-262-0626 ext 2.