This day
in history, 234 years ago today, December 2 1776, a Nurse named Lydia Darragh
saved General George Washington and his continental army in a most unexpected
way. And in doing so, she played a pivotal role in the ultimate success
of the army in the revolutionary war that birthed United States.
On the night of December 2nd, 1777, Lydia Darragh
overheard the British General, William Howe, planning an attack on Washington’s
army at Whitemarsh, Pennsylvannia. She makes note of this conversation. Anxious
to get the information to the revolutionary army, she develops a plan. She
requests and is granted permission to cross British military lines and travel
to a nearby village to replenish her family’s supply of flour. It is during
this brief journey that she has the opportunity to pass her secret discovery to
a member of George Washington’s staff, American Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Craig.
The British marched towards Whitemarsh on the evening of December 4, 1777, and were surprised to find General Washington and the Continental Army waiting for them. After three inconclusive days of skirmishing, General Howe chose to return his troops to Philadelphia.
It is said that members of the Central Intelligence Agency still tell the story of Lydia Darragh, one of the first spies in American history.
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