Agent 355: The Mysterious Female Spy of The American Revolution

Agent 355 sounds like a comic book character or the protagonist of a television series, but in reality it is the nickname of a real figure: a spy who acted during the American Revolution in favor of the rebels and who, therefore, could be considered one of the first people dedicated to that profession in the United States. The fact that her identity is not known for certain only adds to the historical interest of the matter, due to the theories that exist in this regard. The curious thing is that hardly any testimony of her existence is preserved, which has caused rivers of ink to flow on the subject; not so much for its veracity, which is proven, as for the details that surround it all: if she was an agent properly speaking or just an occasional collaborator, if she belonged to a family of illustrious lineage, if she really had the sad end that the legend tells... These doubts derive from the scarcity of sources, since the only express mention that is made of Agent 355 is in a letter sent to George Washington. Agent 355, as depicted in an 1863 issue of Harper's Weekly The future president of the United States was at the time general-in-chief of the Continental Army (named after the First Continental Congress, held by the revolutionaries in 1774) and from the first moment he had understood the need to create an intelligence service to counteract the theoretical British military superiority. Hence, he recruited dozens of agents for espionage and counterintelligence missions. He himself gave them instructions in letters in his own handwriting, indicating that he preferred to receive the information in the same way to save time and ensure that they were not discovered. Washington sought and obtained funds from the Continental Congress for this secret service, opting to receive them in cash, preferably in gold ("I have always found it difficult to get intelligence through paper money," he said).