Born: Unknown, United States (Assumed)
Died: Unknown
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA
The Culper spy ring, which operated from 1778 to 1780, was an intricate network from British-occupied New York City to Setauket, Long Island, north to Connecticut, and west to George Washington’s headquarters at Newburgh, New York. Agent 355 was the code name of a female spy in the Culper Ring, whose real identity is unknown. The network was particularly effective in gathering valuable information from careless conversations among the British and their sympathizers.
Agent 355 may have been a family member or maid in a well-regarded Loyalist family in New York City, which would have given her access to high-ranking British officers. It’s likely that she was someone close to Major John Andre, who led the British intelligence efforts – the information she provided to the Culper ring was detailed when Andre was in New York, and sparse when he was not.
Whoever she was, she helped to uncover American General Benedict Arnold’s traitorous plans. As a result, Andre, his contact, was arrested and eventually hanged – by the colonists and the fort at West Point, which Arnold had schemed to turn over to the British, was saved. Arnold escaped capture and defected to join the British as planned.
According to one legend, Arnold revealed the names of several Patriot spies, including Agent 355. She was captured and held on a British prison ship, where she died—though not before giving birth to a son, Robert Townsend Jr. However, because no one knows who she is, her fate can’t be confirmed, though a number of women were held on the prison ships and the Culper ring had several female members.