Benjamin Tallmadge

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Benjamin Tallmadge (1754-1835) was born in Setauket, New York. Tallmadge graduated from Yale college in 1773, and was a classmate of Nathan Hale.

Tallmadge was a major in 2nd Continental Light Dragoons. Eventually, he was promoted to the rank of colonel and became the chief intelligence officer for George Washington. He organized the Culper Spy Ring based out of New York City and Long Island during the American Revolutionary War, which is rumored to have revealed the betrayal of Benedict Arnold, though this is disputed. Arnold's captured British contact, Major John André, was placed in Tallmadge's custody until Andre's execution.

On November 21, 1780, Tallmadge and his dragoons rowed across the Long Island Sound from Fairfield, Connecticut to Mt. Sinai, New York. The next day they proceeded to the south shore where they captured and burned down Manor St. George, which the British turned into a fort, and captured the soldiers within. On their march back to Mt. Sinai, Tallmadge stopped in Coram and ordered the burning of 300 tons of hay which the British had been stockpiling for the winter. George Washington, on hearing the news, sent the following letter to Tallmadge:

I have received with much pleasure the report of your successful enterprise upon fort St. George, and was pleased with the destruction of the hay at Coram, which must be severely felt by the enemy at this time. I beg you to accept my thanks for your spirited execution of this business. ^[1]

The Tallmadge Trail is marked along the route Tallmadge and his dragoons took from Mt. Sinai to Mastic.

After the war, Tallmadge married one of the daughters of William Floyd, settled in Connecticut, and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from 1801-1817.

Tradition has it that Tallmadge was considered one of the most handsome men of the American Revolution.

[edit] References

^ Bayles, Thomas R. "The Early Years in Middle Island, Coram, Yaphank, and Ridge." Ed. Suzanne Johnson. Middle Island, NY: Longwood Public Library, 1989.