News – Sheridan Media
On Sunday, Nov. 9, a Veteran’s Day program was held at Kearney Hall, and hosted by the Fort Phil Kearny/Bozeman Trail Association. Featured speakers were HP Puckett, who talked about Spies during the Revolutionary War, and Sonny Reisch whose presentation was about Espionage in the Civil War.
There were also several uniforms and weapons on display from both the Revolutionary War and the Civil War, courtesy of the Fort Phil Kearny Regulars.
Dave McKee, President of the FPK/BTA, introduced the speakers. He said that Puckett is a historian and a retired captain in the Navy and the Navy Reserve. He has given several talks at FPK/BTA programs.
Puckett talked about General Washington’s intelligence network, the Culper Spy Ring. One of his spies was Nathan Hale, who was hung for being a spy. It was reported at the time that he uttered the famous words, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”
To help set the stage, Puckett talked about how important the state of New York was to both the patriots and the British.
He said Washington had been a spy himself before the Revolutionary War,
Four of the spies in Washington’s Culper Ring whose names have come down to us were Benjamin Tallmadge, Abraham Woodhull, Robert Townsend and Austin Roe. Because by nature spies were secretive, they had to be to keep alive, many of the names have been lost to history.
Intelligence was passed from spy to spy. This is a photo showing the route that was often used for the spies to pass the information on to Washington and the Army.
Puckett said it might take a couple weeks, so sometimes the information was pretty stale by the time Washington received it.
He said there were a couple of people who may or may not have been spies. One was James Rivington.
Another one was known as 355, also referred to as ‘Lady.’ Some believe it referred to Anne Strong, and it was said that she sent messages to the other spies by the way she hung out her wash on the clothesline.
After Puckett’s talk, McKee introduced Historian Sonny Reisch who served as superintendent at Fort Phil Kearny for many years.
Reisch talked about Espionage during the Civil War.
Washington was a dangerous place at that time, due to many Southern sympathizers in Baltimore that wanted to assassinate Lincoln, and Pinkerton and his men got Lincoln safely through. Pinkerton later became the chief of intelligence for the Army of the Potomac.
There was also spy activity going on overseas.
As well as Allen Pinkerton, there were other famous spies. In the south there were also several escaped slaves that acted as spies. Harriet Tubman was one who was active in the Underground Railroad and acted as a guide for the Union Troops.
General Grant believed in spying and had several who worked with him. Grenville Dodge, who later was active in Wyoming when the railroad came west, was also a Union spymaster. Wild Bill Hickok also worked as a spy during the Civil War, and Buffalo Bill Cody was a Union Army scout for a time.
Reisch said that in the south, the espionage was not used as much as it was in the north.
One well-known Southern spy was a woman.
Without the work of dedicated spies, who risked their lives in our nation’s conflicts, our country would look a great deal different that it does today. Without their help in the Revolution, we might be speaking with a British accent and giving our allegiance to the English King. We can only speculate what might have happened had the Southern states won the Civil War.
Around 25 people attended the event.
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Last modified: November 11, 2025