Intelligence Gathering in War

The American Revolution

Intelligence gathering played an important role in the American Revolution. Gen. George Washington listed gaining more information about British forces as one of his most important duties when he assumed command of the Continental Army in July 1775. Washington established a network of spies to monitor British movements and intentions. Using a variety of cover stories, Washington's agents moved freely in and out of British-controlled Philadelphia and New York, carrying intelligence on British troops, fortifications, supplies, and plans.

The primary source of intelligence from abroad during the Revolution was the Committee of Secret Correspondence, established by the Continental Congress on November 29, 1775. The committee's members acquired foreign publications, hired spies, and funded propaganda activities to both discover and influence the attitudes of foreign powers about the American cause. Many of the committee's activities were cloaked in secrecy. It used codes, ciphers, and invisible inks to communicate with its agents and kept secret their names and those of its correspondents.

After the American Revolution ended, the systems created for gathering intelligence were disbanded. Intelligence collection became the responsibility of the president, who dispatched military observers or special agents to gather specific information when necessary. At the request of President Washington, Congress established the Contingent Fund for Foreign Intercourse, often called the secret service fund, in [Page 373]1790. The president had to certify the sums spent from the fund but could conceal the purposes and recipients. The creation of the fund reinforced the belief that the government could legitimately withhold information related to intelligence gathering from both Congress and the American public. Within three years, the size of the fund increased to $1 million, 12 percent of federal budget. Initially, the money was used largely to ransom American hostages held in Algiers and pay off foreign officials. The size of the contingent fund varied over the next several decades, but the belief that intelligence gathering should be kept secret remained constant. When the House of Representatives asked Pres. James K. Polk to surrender the accounts of all payments from the fund during the previous administration, Polk refused. He explained that in wartime or when war was imminent, employing individuals to collect information was often necessary. Such individuals, generally, could obtain information successfully only if secrecy was guaranteed.

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