General George Washington created a domestic network of spies and appointed Major Benjamin Tallmadge of Setauket to head the Long Island based Culper Spy Ring. Tallmadge appealed to Robert Townsend, a Manhattan merchant, to join as a spy by collecting vital information about British movements in New York City. The Townsends’ large Oyster Bay home, now known as Raynham Hall Museum, was being used as a British headquarters. Using the code name Samuel Culper, Jr., Townsend wrote coded messages to Washington, Tallmadge, and the other members of the Culper Spy Ring to convey the information he gathered. Washington said of Culper Jr., “His accounts are intelligent, clear and satisfactory . . . I rely upon his intelligence.” Through brave, risky, and well executed efforts, the ring quickly gathered and relayed secret information that enabled Washington to make informed decisions. Its network linked New York City, where Townsend gathered information about British troop movements; Oyster Bay, where the Townsends’ home was headquarters for the Queen’s Rangers; Setauket, where Austin Roe visited Townsend to gather intelligence and forwarded it to Abraham Woodhull; Connecticut, where Caleb Brewer picked up coded messages from Woodhull and ferried them across Long Island Sound to Tallmadge; and Westchester County, where Tallmadge delivered the messages to Washington.