Spies, Allies, and Intrigue in the Revolutionary War

Beyond the battlefields, a shadow war of secret diplomacy and foreign aid from France and Spain became the American colonies’ ultimate lifeline.

Carpenters' Hall, the meeting place of the First Continental Congress and the Committee of Secret Correspondence, in Philadelphia. Pbjamesphoto/CC BY-SA 4.0

On the night of Dec. 18, 1775, freezing winds off the Delaware River swept through Philadelphia as French agent Julien-Alexandre Achard de Bonvouloir moved through the shadows toward a covert meeting at Carpenters’ Hall.

He and his guide, Francis Daymon, a local merchant, librarian, and, as of that night, a collaborator in espionage, doubled back through narrow alleys and scanned darkened windows for Loyalist informants. Daymon likely welcomed the brutal weather; the howling gusts kept the city’s residents sheltered in their homes, shielding the pair from detection.