{"id":11094,"date":"2019-07-02T12:28:38","date_gmt":"2019-07-02T16:28:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/?p=11094"},"modified":"2023-04-07T17:13:40","modified_gmt":"2023-04-07T21:13:40","slug":"encryption-helped-win-americas-revolutionary-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/encryption-helped-win-americas-revolutionary-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Encryption helped win America’s Revolutionary War"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An Independence Day look at encryption during the American Revolution<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Every now and then at Hashed Out we like to take a look at historical examples of encryption. So far we\u2019ve covered the Babington Plot<\/a> and Antoine Rossignol\u2019s Great Cipher<\/a>. Today, on the United States of America\u2019s Independence Day, we\u2019re looking back at another historical example of encryption: the Culper Spy Ring and the Culper Code Book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you\u2019re no doubt aware, encryption<\/a> isn\u2019t new at all. It\u2019s been vaulted into the public\u2019s consciousness recently because of its applications with technology and the internet, but encryption dates back thousands of years. The first known example was discovered in the form of Egyptian hieroglyphics on the wall of a tomb. Since then it\u2019s progressed substantially.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whereas historically encryption has been performed by an\nactual human being, nowadays our computers handle the function \u2013 it would take\nhumans an entire lifetime to perform the prohibitively difficult mathematical\nfunctions that computers perform in just seconds. Provided a human could perform\nthem at all. And that gap widens by the day. But rather than looking forward to\nour eventual demise at the hands of sentient machines, today let\u2019s look back at\nencryption in a simpler time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back when people were still the ones doing the enciphering and a compromised private key could very literally cost you your head<\/a>. Today we discuss the Culper Spy Ring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s hash it out.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<\/span><\/span>\n\n\n

Let\u2019s dust off our powdered wigs and head back to 1778<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before we really get going on the historical encryption stuff we kind of need to give some background and context. I\u2019m going to go out on a limb and say that if the American school system barely teaches this stuff \u2013 it\u2019s probably not any better represented in international curriculums. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

If you ask most Americans, they\u2019ll rattle off the revolutionary war, something about founding fathers, they may toss the declaration of independence in there, but if you mention the British occupation of New York their face is going to glaze over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And frankly, this is neither the time, nor the place to\nreally go into a full explanation of the events that unfolded during the\nAmerican revolution. So, we\u2019re going to be fairly cursory, and try to stick to\nthe main points. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The American Revolution officially began in 1775. We get hung up on the July 4, 1776 date because it\u2019s the day that the Declaration of Independence was ratified, but revolution had already been underway well over a year by that point. And you can look back as far as 1773 when the tea partiers Lipton-ed the Boston harbor if you want to point to where America\u2019s defiance of the British royal crown officially kicked off. Or even the massacre that occurred on Boston\u2019s King Street three years earlier as the official genesis of the hostilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the revolution lasted until 1783.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Culper Ring operated during the last five years of the Revolutionary War and was instrumental in ending it. Yet, it was unknown by historians for over 140 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Molding the Culper Ring<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Americans had been using spies since before the revolution even began, but traditionally it had been officers. That was problematic because these men were too easy to recognize. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

George Washington, who was leading the American forces and directing the spies found this out the hard way when Nathan Hale was caught spying in New York and executed. Before he was hung Hale is alleged to have given some of the most badass last words in history: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.<\/p>-Nathan Hale<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After Hale\u2019s death, Washington realized he was going to need\nto start using civilians to spy on the British. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, remember earlier I mentioned the British occupation of\nNew York? That was for a reason. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after the Declaration of Independence \u2013 about a month and a half later on August 22, 1776 \u2013 the British sailed into New York with 32,000 troops and took it over for the next seven years. One does not simply<\/a> declare independence from the British. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Anyway, Washington knew he was going to need to use civilians to surveil the British in New York if he wanted to have any prayer of staying a step ahead of them. And thus, the Culper spy ring was formed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the top of the spy network were the two men that facilitated it. Neither of them actually did any of the spying, they just organized the information and made sure it got to Washington. Their names were Caleb Brewster, who was the first to approach Washington about offering his assistance, and Major Benjamin Tallmadge, who was Washington\u2019s spymaster. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man they chose to do the actual spying was named Abraham Woodhull from Long Island, whom Washington dubbed \u201cSamuel Culper\u201d after Culpeper County, Virginia. Woodhull had a sister that lived in the city, which offered a pretext for him to be there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initially, Woodhull would do some spying and then head back to Long Island to pass a message to Brewster, who would cross the Long Island Sound and deliver the intelligence to Tallmadge in Connecticut. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then things started to scale, couriers became involved to speed up the passing of intelligence. Woodhull, operating as Culper, provided information about British troop movements, naval construction, British plans and activities in New York and Connecticut. Even a plot to counterfeit Continental Currency to drive down its value.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Eventually he got spooked though, fearing British reprisal should he ever be discovered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And they were getting close. The British had already intercepted a message that referred to a C_____ operating out of New York, and they already knew Tallmadge was Washington\u2019s spymaster. So, they raided his camp and found even more incriminating information. Around this same time, on the advice of a criminal, a British Colonel paid a visit to Woodhull in Setauket, Long Island \u2013 the spy ring\u2019s hub \u2013 and, finding Woodhull was in New York City at the time, beat the tar out of his father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Woodhull was done going to the city after that. So, he offered up a replacement: Robert Townsend. Townsend would become Samuel Culper Jr. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given that Townsend was already involved in business there, his presence was less suspicious. Woodhull stayed in Setauket and reorganized the network. This is where it really took off. Hundreds of civilians were enlisted as spies and the network started using a complex system of ciphertext and dead drops to handle communication. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Culper Ring ended up being incredibly successful. When Benedict Arnold \u2013 who up to that point was more famous for his eggs \u2013 was planning to give West Point to the British, Washington knew ahead of time because of the Culper spy ring. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the French arrived in Rhode Island in 1780, the Culper Ring’s intelligence prevented a British ambush and potentially saved the Franco-American alliance. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The ring can even be credited with saving Washington’s life when it uncovered British plans to assassinate America’s eventual first president as he met with the French.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Culper Spy Ring continued to operate until the end of the Revolutionary War and achieved far more than any other intelligence network – American, British or French – during that time. It was an early example of a clandestine cell system. Members were only known by an assigned number and didn\u2019t know who else was involved. Townsend’s identity as Culper Jr. was unknown to almost all but Tallmadge, Brewster and the couriers. Even Washington (#711) didn\u2019t know everyone that served in the Culper ring. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, nobody knew about them until the 1930s when historians\nwere examining old letters from the Townsend estate and discovered his secret\nidentity as Culper Jr. From there historians began to unravel the Culper Ring\u2019s\nelaborate web by matching handwriting with other historical documents from the\nWashington collection. To this day not all the members have been identified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Culper Code Book<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ok, now let\u2019s talk about historical encryption. We\u2019ve discussed symmetric or private key encryption before<\/a>. In order for the text to be encrypted (or perhaps more appropriately, enciphered) and decrypted (deciphered) the sender and recipient both needed to have the same private key. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The key could either be duplicated or passed back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After losing Hale, Washington realized he needed to start using civilians. After nearly losing Woodhull and Tallmadge, he realized he needed to start using encryption. Well, maybe not Washington himself, but someone figured it would be smart to start using it. The British had indeed figured out the identity of the first Samuel Culper, care would need to be taken to ensure no more slip-ups occurred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And thus, the Culper Code Book was created. A collection of 763 numbers. 710 represented specific words. The other 53 numbers were for names and places. The code book was developed by Tallmadge, who went by the alias John Bolton. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notable Names<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Number <\/strong><\/td>Name <\/strong><\/td>Number <\/strong><\/td>Name<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
\n 711\n <\/td>\n George Washington\n <\/td>\n 719\n <\/td>\n Frederick North\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 712\n <\/td> Henry Clinton <\/td>\n 720\n <\/td>\n George Germain\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 713\n <\/td>\n William Tryon\n <\/td>\n 721\n <\/td>\n John Bolton\/Benjamin Tallmadge\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 714\n <\/td>\n Robert Erskine\n <\/td>\n 722\n <\/td>\n Samuel Culper\/Abraham Woodhull\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 715\n <\/td>\n John Vaughan\n <\/td>\n 723\n <\/td> Samuel Culper Jr.\/Robert Townsend <\/td><\/tr>
\n 716\n <\/td>\n Beverley Robinson\n <\/td>\n 724\n <\/td>\n Austin Roe\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 717\n <\/td>\n John Brown\n <\/td>\n 725\n <\/td>\n Caleb Brewster\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 718\n <\/td>\n Thomas Garth\n <\/td>\n 726\n <\/td>\n James Rivington\n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Notable Places<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n Number<\/strong>\n <\/td>\n Location<\/strong>\n <\/td>\n Number<\/strong>\n <\/td>\n Location<\/strong>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 727\n <\/td>\n New York\n <\/td>\n 745\n <\/td>\n England\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 728\n <\/td>\n Long Island\n <\/td>\n 746\n <\/td>\n London\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 729\n <\/td>\n Setauket\n <\/td>\n 747\n <\/td>\n Portsmouth\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 730\n <\/td>\n Kingsbridge\n <\/td>\n 748\n <\/td>\n Plymouth\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 731\n <\/td>\n Bergen\n <\/td>\n 749\n <\/td>\n Ireland\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 732\n <\/td>\n Staten Island\n <\/td>\n 750\n <\/td>\n Corke\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 733\n <\/td>\n Boston\n <\/td>\n 751\n <\/td>\n Scotland\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 734\n <\/td>\n Rhode Island\n <\/td>\n 752\n <\/td>\n West Indies\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 735\n <\/td>\n Connecticut\n <\/td>\n 753\n <\/td>\n East Indies\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 736\n <\/td>\n New Jersey\n <\/td>\n 754\n <\/td>\n Gibraltar\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 737\n <\/td>\n Pennsylvania \n <\/td>\n 755\n <\/td>\n France\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 738\n <\/td>\n Maryland\n <\/td>\n 756\n <\/td>\n Spain\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 739\n <\/td>\n Virginia\n <\/td>\n 757\n <\/td>\n Scotland\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 740\n <\/td>\n North Carolina\n <\/td>\n 758\n <\/td>\n Portugal\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 741\n <\/td>\n South Carolina\n <\/td>\n 759\n <\/td>\n Denmark\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 742\n <\/td>\n Georgia\n <\/td>\n 760\n <\/td>\n Russia\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 743\n <\/td>\n Quebec\n <\/td>\n 761\n <\/td>\n Germany\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 744\n <\/td>\n Halifax\n <\/td>\n 762\n <\/td>\n Hanover\n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The number 763 stood for “Headquarters.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the 763 numbered words, names and places, there was also a table for the alphabet and for numbers<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alphabet<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n Letter<\/strong>\n <\/td>\n Replacement<\/strong>\n <\/td>\n Letter<\/strong>\n <\/td>\n Replacement<\/strong>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n A\n <\/td>\n e\n <\/td>\n N\n <\/td>\n p\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n B\n <\/td>\n f\n <\/td>\n O\n <\/td>\n q\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n C\n <\/td>\n g\n <\/td>\n P\n <\/td>\n r\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n D\n <\/td>\n h\n <\/td>\n Q\n <\/td>\n k\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n E\n <\/td>\n i\n <\/td>\n R\n <\/td>\n l\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n F\n <\/td>\n j\n <\/td>\n S\n <\/td>\n u\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n G\n <\/td>\n a\n <\/td>\n T\n <\/td>\n v\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n H\n <\/td>\n b\n <\/td>\n U\n <\/td>\n w\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n I\n <\/td>\n c\n <\/td>\n V\n <\/td>\n x\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n J\n <\/td>\n d\n <\/td>\n W\n <\/td>\n y\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n K\n <\/td>\n o\n <\/td>\n X\n <\/td>\n z\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n L\n <\/td>\n m\n <\/td>\n Y\n <\/td>\n s\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n M\n <\/td>\n n\n <\/td>\n Z\n <\/td>\n t\n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Numbers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n Number<\/strong>\n <\/td>\n Replacement<\/strong>\n <\/td>\n Number<\/strong>\n <\/td>\n Replacement<\/strong>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 1\n <\/td>\n e\n <\/td>\n 6\n <\/td>\n m\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 2\n <\/td>\n f\n <\/td>\n 7\n <\/td>\n n\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 3\n <\/td>\n g\n <\/td>\n 8\n <\/td>\n o\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 4\n <\/td>\n i\n <\/td>\n 9\n <\/td>\n q\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 5\n <\/td>\n k\n <\/td>\n 0\n <\/td>\n u\n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Before we get into how this all worked, I like that as you start to look at the alphabet here it starts out looking like it\u2019s just a simple shift cipher, where each letter is pushed forward by a set number of places in the alphabet. That\u2019s actually what Caesar\u2019s cipher was, a simple shift cipher \u2013 though if you ever want to sound impressive at a party it\u2019s also accurate to call it a mono-alphabetic shift cipher with a modulus of 26\u2026 I wouldn\u2019t lead with that though.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Anyway, I could almost picture Washington reviewing\nTallmadge\u2019s work and looking up when he get to the alphabet at the end, \u201cBen,\ndid you just shift all the letters five places?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026yes.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t you think they\u2019re going to figure that out?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then Tallmadge grudgingly took it back to the drawing\nboard and mixed it up a little more. It looks like he also did the same thing\nwith the letters, he just got rid of the H, J and P. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, let\u2019s look at how this worked.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/span><\/span>\n\n\n

How did the Culper Code Book work?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Obviously, the English language consists of far more than\njust 763 words, which is why they included an alphabet and some letters at the\nend of the code book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this encryption scheme, the code book functions as the private\nkey. Ideally the word you want to use is represented by a number, if it\u2019s not \u2013\nmaybe a synonym is? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Failing that, the alphabet would be used to encipher the\nword. Now, you\u2019re probably asking how both letters and numbers can share the\nsame symbol \u2013 because you are very intuitive and you noticed that right away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Letters were meant to be underlined once, numbers underlined\ntwice, with a period after them. There are also little symbols that could be\nleft beside the numbered words to indicate tense, moods or numbers. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

All said, it was actually a fairly sophisticated cipher for the time, though it likely would have been crackable if subjected to frequency analysis and other cryptoanalytic techniques. Maybe not contemporaneously, but definitely today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, this code book helped win America its independence from the Royal crown, which was a major blow to the British empire. The two countries would renew hostilities again for the War of 1812 when the US invaded Canada and the British invaded the US again. That was resolved in 1814. And then things cooled off between the countries over the next 40 years with the Monroe Doctrine condemning any future European efforts to colonize the Western world while agreeing to stay out of their affairs in Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it\u2019s all because of encryption\u2026 Ok, that\u2019s not true. But encryption did play a vital role in the American Revolution and its war for independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, as the world debates banning end-to-end encryption, it’s worth keeping in mind that America’s founding fathers once used it themselves. In fact, were it not for encryption the French would have been ambushed before they could gain a foothold in Rhode Island, Benedict Arnold would’ve turned over control of West Point and the Hudson River to the British, and George Washington could’ve been assassinated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If any of those had happened, who knows whether or not America wins the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As always, feel free to leave any comments or questions below\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Hashed<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Encryption is nothing new, in fact it’s been helping secure communication for ages. Here’s how the Culper Spy Ring employed encryption to help when the United States’ independence from Britain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":11108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","tve_updated_post":"","tve_custom_css":"","tve_user_custom_css":"","tve_globals":{},"tcb2_ready":0,"tcb_editor_enabled":0,"tve_landing_page":"","_tve_header":"","_tve_footer":""},"categories":[130,10200],"tags":[10692],"class_list":["post-11094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-everything-encryption","category-monthly-digest","tag-historical-encryption","post-with-tags"],"views":14714,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Culper-Ring-Feature.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11094\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}