Among the Culper Ring’s espionage successes was its foiling of a British counterfeiting operation to weaken the young republic by devaluing Continental notes. The British had even stolen reams of the paper used in the printing process, adding to the perceived authenticity of the counterfeit dollars.
Ring members also alerted Washington about British plans in the summer of 1780 to ambush 6,000 French soldiers arriving in Rhode Island to aid the Americans. The British had been tipped off about the French landing by their own spy, Benedict Arnold. After informing French allies of the impending attack, Washington ordered his operatives to spread disinformation that he was preparing to raid New York. The British took the bait, choosing to defend the city rather than attack the arriving French forces. This would not be the last time Washington used deception to hobble his adversaries; he later convinced the British of an impending attack on New York City, thus preventing British forces there from reinforcing the garrison in Yorktown, Virginia.
In perhaps its crowning achievement, the Ring obtained a copy of the British naval codes in 1781, providing the French Navy with a profound advantage against the British fleet during the Battle of the Chesapeake that year. The French sea victory was instrumental to Washington’s siege of the British Army at Yorktown, hastening an end to the war.