The precise chronology and account of the manner in which it came known to George Washington that Dr. Benjamin Church, Jr had been trying to smuggle a letter to his brother-in-law John Fleeming, residing in the town of Boston totally cut off by land from the rest of Massachusetts, is a little muddled.
Sometime in the last week of September 1775, most likely Friday, September 29th, Brigadier General Nathanael Greene, the 33 year old Commander of a brigade of eight regiments and a native of Rhode Island, received a visitor at his Headquarters on Prospect Hill inside a fortification called the Citadel in Cambridge. It was the strongest point in the Continental Army lines encircling Boston. Indeed, because of its prominence, it was sarcastically called "Mt Pisqah" by the British referring to the biblical account of Moses climbing Mt Pisqah to see the Promised Land. The British maintained that the colonists would never enter Boston. The visitor, an elderly gentleman named Adam Maxwell, was well known to General Greene since he had once served as his teacher. Maxwell brought a letter to Greene from Henry Ward, the provincial Secretary of Rhode Island, dated September 26, 1775:
Rarely noted, if at all, in accounts of this affair is an identification of just who Capt. Wallace or Mr. Dudley was, and why their names would have immediately added to the suspicion of the circumstances surrounding this affair. Captain James Wallace, of the sixth rate frigate HMS Rose, was well known to colonials. In 1774, HMS Rose, commanded by Wallace, was sent to Newport, R.I., to put an end to the smuggling that had made Newport one of the richest cites in the colonies. Since the Rose out-gunned any American ship, smuggling was soon reduced to a trickle, affecting the economy. Newport merchants petitioned the legislature to form a navy to confront Wallace and the Rose. They backed up their petition with funds and in June 1775 a merchant ship was purchased and outfitted as a sloop of war. Its first commander was John Paul Jones.
Capt. Wallace and the Rose saw service in the Revolutionary War. In fact, Capt. Wallace was knighted for his actions in helping to drive George Washington and the Continental Army from New York City.
Mr. Charles Dudley was the Royal Collector of Customs in Newport, R.I. and an ardent Loyalist.
It is about 75 miles from Cambridge to Newport so, it is not a journey to be taken lightly, even if much of it would have been on the Boston Post Road.
General Greene, after reading the letter and accompanied by Maxwell, proceeded to the Vassall House, Washington's Headquarters, and informed Washington of the letter. There are conflicting accounts of precisely just what happened next. George Washington Greene, the son of Nathaniel Greene and a prominent professional historian, maintains in a biography of his father, that after consulting various individuals around the Headquarters, the woman's identity was ascertained. Major General Israel Putnam, or "Old Put" as he was known, was the person who tracked the woman mentioned in the letter down, compelled her to mount behind him on his horse, and brought her in triumph to Washington's Headquarters. Allegedly, not even Washington could stop laughing when, from his chamber window, he saw "Old Put" dash up to the Vassal House gate, leap from his horse, and drag his terrified prisoner up the broad pathway to the door. Composing himself, Washington reached the stairway landing as the front door was thrown open, and putting on his sternest look, assured the terrified woman that nothing but a full confession could save her from a halter. The woman then identified the person who wrote the letter as Dr. Church.
Washington himself, in his letter to Congress reporting the Church affair, only indicates that the woman " for a long Term, she was Proof against every threat & Persuasion, to discover the author. However, at Length, she was brought to Confession and named Dr. Church." Washington would hardly have mentioned any such conduct as reported in the Greene biography. However, George Washington Greene was born in 1776 and was 10 years old when his father died. He could have gotten the story directly from his father who, after all, was a witness to the woman's arrest. Or, he could have been telling wild tales to his son.
I would love for the Greene story about General Putnam to be true, but I cannot endorse it.
Another account indicates that it was Wainwood and not Maxwell who brought Henry Ward's letter to Greene. I have a hard time believing this tale since that would just not have been done in 18th century America. Besides, it is unlikely that Nathaniel Greene would have even seen Mr. Wainwood. He knew and presumably trusted Maxwell.
It is not clear if Washington ever even interviewed Wainwood. But, as with much of the story surrounding Dr Church, things are not always as they seem. Washington, as did many others, knew the identity of Church's mistress and, to our knowledge, never revealed it to anyone. Research by historians, within the past several years, however, has solved the mystery of just who Dr Church's mistress was and, as we shall see in future posts, Mr Wainwood and perhaps some other players in this drama have not been entirely truthful.
Sometime in the last week of September 1775, most likely Friday, September 29th, Brigadier General Nathanael Greene, the 33 year old Commander of a brigade of eight regiments and a native of Rhode Island, received a visitor at his Headquarters on Prospect Hill inside a fortification called the Citadel in Cambridge. It was the strongest point in the Continental Army lines encircling Boston. Indeed, because of its prominence, it was sarcastically called "Mt Pisqah" by the British referring to the biblical account of Moses climbing Mt Pisqah to see the Promised Land. The British maintained that the colonists would never enter Boston. The visitor, an elderly gentleman named Adam Maxwell, was well known to General Greene since he had once served as his teacher. Maxwell brought a letter to Greene from Henry Ward, the provincial Secretary of Rhode Island, dated September 26, 1775:Sir: This letter waits upon you by Mr Maxwell, who goes down to Cambridge upon a matter into which the strictest inquiry ought to be made. Is in short, this: In July last, a woman with whom Mr Wainwood had an acquaintance in Boston, came to his house and wanted him to assist her in procuring an opportunity of seeing Mr Dudley or Captain Wallace: and by all, her behaviour showed that she had some secret of consequence. He artfully drew from her that she had been sent from Cambridge with a letter to be delivered to either of the persons named, to be forwarded to Boston. It immediately occurred to him that the letter was probably sent from some traitor in our army. Upon which, he started every difficulty in the way of her seeing Dudley or Wallace, that he could think of, and finally prevailed on her to entrust him with delivery of the letter. He kept the affair to himself some time, being at a loss as to what step he should take in it; and at length imparted the secret to Mr Maxwell who, upon opening the letter, found it written in characters he did not understand. Here it rested until very lately, when Mr Wainwood received a letter from the woman, discovering great uneasiness about the letter she had entrusted him with, which naturally induced a suspicion that the writer of it still continued his correspondence in Boston, and had received information that the letter had never been transmitted. Mr Wainwood and Mr Maxwell, whop are both of them friends to the cause of America, rightly judging that the continuance might be attended with the most pernicious consequences to the interest of America, thought proper to come to Providence and consult me upon it, having prudently kept the matter entirely to themselves. By my advice, they proceeded to Cambridge, to lay it, with all the circumstances before you.
I think it best to introduce Mr Maxwell to General Washington, and for you and the General, with not more than one trusty person besides, who is now at Cambridge, in so private a way as to create no suspicion; and it is probable that rewards and punishments, properly placed before her, will induce her to give up the author; in which case, he, with all his papers, should be instantly secured. If the woman should be obstinate, some clew may be found from her connections, that will probably lead to a discovery. But I beg pardon for undertaking to give advice in this case, when you, upon the spot, possessed of all the circumstances, will be so much better able to judge of the measures proper to pursue. As Mr Wainwood is well known to many of the inhabitants of Boston, I have advised him to go no further than Dedham, where he may be sent for as soon as it shall be though proper for him to appear. I will only add that, if they are happily the means of discovering a treacherous correspondence, carried on by any person of note or trust in our publick affairs, they will do a most essential service to teir Country, and deserve an adequate reward.
I am, with great truth and Esteem, Sir, your most obedient and most humble servant, Henry Ward.
Rarely noted, if at all, in accounts of this affair is an identification of just who Capt. Wallace or Mr. Dudley was, and why their names would have immediately added to the suspicion of the circumstances surrounding this affair. Captain James Wallace, of the sixth rate frigate HMS Rose, was well known to colonials. In 1774, HMS Rose, commanded by Wallace, was sent to Newport, R.I., to put an end to the smuggling that had made Newport one of the richest cites in the colonies. Since the Rose out-gunned any American ship, smuggling was soon reduced to a trickle, affecting the economy. Newport merchants petitioned the legislature to form a navy to confront Wallace and the Rose. They backed up their petition with funds and in June 1775 a merchant ship was purchased and outfitted as a sloop of war. Its first commander was John Paul Jones.
Capt. Wallace and the Rose saw service in the Revolutionary War. In fact, Capt. Wallace was knighted for his actions in helping to drive George Washington and the Continental Army from New York City.
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| A replica of the HMS Rose was built in Canada in 1770. She was later sold to Fox studios who then altered her to resemble the HMS Surprise for the movie Master and Commander. |
Mr. Charles Dudley was the Royal Collector of Customs in Newport, R.I. and an ardent Loyalist.
It is about 75 miles from Cambridge to Newport so, it is not a journey to be taken lightly, even if much of it would have been on the Boston Post Road.
General Greene, after reading the letter and accompanied by Maxwell, proceeded to the Vassall House, Washington's Headquarters, and informed Washington of the letter. There are conflicting accounts of precisely just what happened next. George Washington Greene, the son of Nathaniel Greene and a prominent professional historian, maintains in a biography of his father, that after consulting various individuals around the Headquarters, the woman's identity was ascertained. Major General Israel Putnam, or "Old Put" as he was known, was the person who tracked the woman mentioned in the letter down, compelled her to mount behind him on his horse, and brought her in triumph to Washington's Headquarters. Allegedly, not even Washington could stop laughing when, from his chamber window, he saw "Old Put" dash up to the Vassal House gate, leap from his horse, and drag his terrified prisoner up the broad pathway to the door. Composing himself, Washington reached the stairway landing as the front door was thrown open, and putting on his sternest look, assured the terrified woman that nothing but a full confession could save her from a halter. The woman then identified the person who wrote the letter as Dr. Church.
Washington himself, in his letter to Congress reporting the Church affair, only indicates that the woman " for a long Term, she was Proof against every threat & Persuasion, to discover the author. However, at Length, she was brought to Confession and named Dr. Church." Washington would hardly have mentioned any such conduct as reported in the Greene biography. However, George Washington Greene was born in 1776 and was 10 years old when his father died. He could have gotten the story directly from his father who, after all, was a witness to the woman's arrest. Or, he could have been telling wild tales to his son.
I would love for the Greene story about General Putnam to be true, but I cannot endorse it.
Another account indicates that it was Wainwood and not Maxwell who brought Henry Ward's letter to Greene. I have a hard time believing this tale since that would just not have been done in 18th century America. Besides, it is unlikely that Nathaniel Greene would have even seen Mr. Wainwood. He knew and presumably trusted Maxwell.
It is not clear if Washington ever even interviewed Wainwood. But, as with much of the story surrounding Dr Church, things are not always as they seem. Washington, as did many others, knew the identity of Church's mistress and, to our knowledge, never revealed it to anyone. Research by historians, within the past several years, however, has solved the mystery of just who Dr Church's mistress was and, as we shall see in future posts, Mr Wainwood and perhaps some other players in this drama have not been entirely truthful.
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