JOHN HONEYMAN: THE SILENT PATRIOT

• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Collection: Declassified Articles from Studies in Intelligence: The IC’s Journal for the Intelligence Professional
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0000621352
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Release Date: July 30, 2014
• Case Number: F-2013-02322
• Publication Date: April 1, 1988

Approved for Release: 2014/07/29 000621352TITLE:John Honeyman:TheSilent PatriotAUTHOR:(b)(3)(c)VOLUME:32 ISSUE:SpringYEAR:1988Approved for Release: 2014/07/29 000621352approved for Release: 2014/07/29 000621352'STUDIES IINTELLIGENCEA collection of articles on the historical, operational, doctrinal, and theoretical aspects of intelligence.aAll statements of fact, opinion or analysis expressed in Studies in Intelligence are those ofthe authors. They do not necessarily reflect official positions or views of the CentralIntelligence Agency or any other US Government entity, past or present. Nothing in thecontents should be construed as asserting or implying US Government endorsement of anarticle's factual statements and interpretations.Approved for Release: 2014/07/29 000621352Approved for Release: 2014/07/29 000621352coNro CNTIAL-Are spies nice people, clad?"JOHN HONEYMAN: THE SILENT PATRIOT(b)(3)(c)My youngest son is normally excited and talkative during the long drive tohis little league basketball game. This time, however, he was unusually quietand pensive. It was an important championship match and I assumed he wasnervous. All kids are nervous before the big game, right? As we drove alongRoute 123, I searched my mind for a calming and inspirational phrase. Iwondered what John Thompson would say to his Hoyas at a time like this."Dad?"Here it is, I thought. This is what dads are for. He needs my vote ofconfidence. I worked the answer over in my mind. -Its only important that yougive it your best shot. I'll always be proud of you even if you don't score anypoints.- It sounded good.-Are spies nice people, dad?"It took a moment to sink in. Had I somehow blown my cover to an11-year-old kid? Had he remembered the time years ago when my car wasdown and my wife had to pick me up at the front entrance? I wasn't ready togive him a full briefing on what I really did. I had pictured another time andplace, a long walk in the autumn woods with him as a teenager while I,  throwing pine cones at chipmunks, explained that I was (b)(1)a CIA officer. (b)(3)(n)-Well, it depends. American spies are good guys and Russian spies are badguys,- was my less than creative response. -Why do you ask?"-I don't know. I kind of feel sorry for John Honeyman.-John Honeyman? John Honeyman? I racked my brain trying to remem-ber the name. Was he associated with Pollard?Accepting my ignorance, I asked him who John Honeyman was.-He was a spy for George Washington. I read about him in Social Studies.You don't know about John Honeyman?"One more disillusionment. Last month my son discovered I had a lousyoutside jump shot. Now he was faced with the realization that I was not allknowing. I promised myself that I would secretly practice my jump shot andread more American history. His details on Honeyman were sketchy at best. Herecalled that Honeyman was a farmer who posed as a British sympathizer butactually passed secrets to General George Washington. Though scorned by hisneighbors and threatened with prison, he never told anyone about his true role.My son wasn't nervous about the game. He's never nervous. We (I like tothink I'm part of the team) won the game by 15 points. I'm the one who isCONFIDENTIALpproved for Release: 2014/07/29 00062135219Approved for Release: 2014/07/29 000621352CONFIDENTIALPatriotalways nervous. My son fouled out in the last quarter so I had time to thinkabout spies. I would look up Honeyman the following Monday in the Agencylibrary.In addition to the Agency library, I checked the Fairfax public library. Ifound very little on the man, perhaps because no one had ever bothered towrite a novel or make a mini series on him. What I did learn, however, I foundinteresting, and I thought it should be shared with other intel officers.Honeyman was obviously very courageous. I was even more impressed with thefact that he operated effectively for seven years under deep cover, usedexcellent tradecraft, provided timely and important intelligence, and neveradmitted he was an intelligence operative even after the Revolutionary Warwas over. Nathan Hale failed in his first mission, yet his name is nearly ahousehold word and we even have a statue of him near the CIA front entrance.Honeyman is merely a footnote in the history books, yet his reporting may havebeen responsible for America's first major victory of the war.The ImmigrantRemember the painting of George Washington crossing the DelawareRiver in the dead of winter? There he stands resolutely in the prow of his boat,surrounded by chunks of floating ice. Pretty inspiring, isn't it? The crossing ofthe Delaware and the Continental Army's brilliant surprise attack on Trentonchanged the course of the war. It was an extremely courageous maneuverwhich, had it failed, could have doomed Washington's fledging army. It was acalculated risk and a successful one. A good commander, however, usuallybases calculated risks on good intelligence, and this is where John Honeymanenters the picture.Honeyman, a brawny Scotch-Irish immigrant, had come to this country asa British conscript during the French and Indian War. Discharged in 1763, hedecided to stay, became an apprentice weaver, and married an Irish-bornPhiladelphia girl. Life was good to Honeyman. He prospered and by 1775 wasliving comfortably in Philadelphia with his wife Mary and his four children,including a crippled daughter named Jane. As the winds of war began to blow,the Irish side of Honeyman rose to the surface. Hatred of the British, andaffection for his adopted country, drove him toward a fateful decision. At 46years of age, perhaps too old to bear a musket for his country, he thought hecould make an even more valuable contribution, in another way.In 1775, the Continental Congress named George Washington to lead thecolonial forces. Honeyman gained an audience with the General. Turning on aremembered Scottish burr, he explained to Washington that he could easilypass as a fervent and loyal Scottish Tory. He could gain the confidence of theBritish and act as a spy for them, but in reality spy for Washington as a doubleagent. Washington thought Honeyman's proposal had merit but as a weaverHoneyman would have limited mobility and very little access. He would needa more effective cover. It was decided Honeyman should become a cattledealer and butcher, of which he had a great deal of experience back in Ireland.In supplying provisions to the enemy, Honeyman would have constant accessto the British and Hessian lines. A scenario was worked out for a cover for20 CONFIDENTIALApproved for Release: 2014/07/29 000621352Approved for Release: 2014/07/29 000621352Patriot CONFIDENTIALaction. Washington said he could easily get word to Honeyman when heneeded to meet with him. Whenever Honeyman had any important informa-tion, he should allow himself to be captured by Continental sentries. To insurethat the capture appeared realistic, Honeyman said he would put up a struggle.When Honeyman was subsequently brought in for interrogation, he wasusually the worse for wear.Shortly before the Revolution began, Honeyman moved his family to thevillage of Griggstown, New Jersey, a few miles north of Princeton and a centerfor Loyalist activity. He began his new occupation and soon was providingsome of Lord Cornwallis' British and Hessian troops with beef. His 1763honorable discharge papers from the British army lent some bona fides to hisTory cover.By November 1776, four months after the signing of the Declaration ofIndependence, the Continental army was in disarray. It had been chased acrossthe states of New York and New Jersey and had lost nearly 3,000 men at FortWashington. The army was in full retreat and down to a few thousand starving,demoralized, and ragged soldiers. Washington, attempting to save what was leftof his army, sought safety across the Delaware River in Pennsylvania.Washington sent word to Honeyman and a hurried clandestine meeting was setup outside of Hackensack, New Jersey. Washington told Honeyman to minglewith the British army, gather information, and contact him when he hadsomething of significance.The afternoon of 22 December, a dejected General George Washington satin Keith's Pennsylvania farmhouse, a few miles south of the Delaware. Hisarmy was slowly dissolving from the daily desertions. Washington was certainthat across the river, Lord Cornwallis' warm and well fed soldiers wereprobably building boats and would soon come across in force to finish off hisremaining troops. One of Washington's letters to his brother, John Augustine,reveals some of the depression he was experiencing as he viewed the end of theshort-lived Revolution: -I think the game is pretty near up. No man, I believe,ever had a greater choice of difficulties and less means to extricate himself fromthem.-The IntelligenceSuddenly, there was a knock on the door. Two of his sentries dragged ina beaten and disheveled -spy- who had been caught near the army's perimeter.Washington gave a curt order for them to wait outside the door until hecompleted a personal interrogation of the spy. As the door closed, the spystraightened up, dusted off his jacket and offered his hand to the General ingreeting. General Washington grasped the hand of his best of all possibleChristmas presents, his spy John Honeyman.Honeyman offered a detailed description of the British troops in NewJersey. Posing as a friendly Tory, Honeyman had gained full access to theirlines and, during conversations around campfires, learned a great deal aboutthe disposition of the British army. Certain that Washington's army had beeneffectively destroyed, the British had not yet bothered to build boats to ferrytheir troops across the Delaware. They would enjoy the Christmas holidays inbivouac and then mop up the remnants of the ragtag army in due course.CONFIDENTIAL 21Approved for Release: 2014/07/29 000621352Approved for Release: 2014/07/29 000621352PatriotColonel Johann Gottlieb Rall, the commander of the mercenary Hessian troops,had secured Trenton for the British. Rall had such contempt for Washington'srebel troops that he had not even bothered to erect breastworks around thevillage. In addition, Honeyman had learned that the homesick Germans wereplanning a gala Christmas feast and few, if any, sentries would be posted. Thenormally grave General Washington allowed himself a smile and pattedHoneyman on the shoulder. The single moment all great commanders dreamabout had arrived. He would crush the Hessians at Trenton and, along withcaptured supplies, give his army a needed boost to their morale.At the end of Honeyman's report, the General again assumed the pose ofthe stern interrogator. He called for a sentry and instructed him to lockHoneyman in the guardhouse for a court martial the next morning. Later thatevening, a haystack outside the farmhouse caught fire. As the guardhousesentry ran to help put out the fire, Honeyman's locked door was mysteriouslyunlocked and Honeyman ran unseen for the woods. He was able to cross partof the Delaware River on the ice but had to wade and swim through most ofthe frigid water. He then ran on to the Hessian lines where he fell shivering andexhausted. Taken to Colonel Hall's quarters, he described his captured byContinental- troops and his subsequent escape. He told Rall that Washington'sarmy was disorganized and totally incapacitated. He added they were on theverge of mutiny and would not last the winter. Though Rall needed littleencouragement, he decided to proceed with his Christmas party and pulled hissentries in for the celebration.Across the river, Washington made his preparations. He sent a message tohis commanders: -Christmas day at night, one hour before day, is the time fixedfor our attempt on Trenton.- All troops were instructed to prepare and keep onhand three days' rations of whatever cooked food they could find. Scribbling ona scrap of paper, Washington devised his famous watchword for the march onTrenton, -Victory or Death."As Rall and his Hessians ate and drank far into the night, Washington andhis troops, many barefoot and dressed in rags, silently ferried themselves acrossthe ice-choked Delaware River. (Remember the painting?) Shortly before dawnon Christmas day, as the Hessians slept off their Trohliche Weinachten'hangovers, two columns of Continental troops marched through the sleet andstormed into the pages of history. The village of Trenton was taken in less thanan hour. One hundred and six Hessian mercenaries were killed or wounded,including Rall who was shot while attempting to rally his groggy troops. Of thepatriots, only four men were wounded. More than 900 Hessians were capturedand ferried across the river. They later were paraded through the streets ofPhiladelphia, proof that the Revolution was still very much alive.The Cost of CoverIt was America's first major victory of the war. A startled Cornwallisattempted to rush troops to block Washington, but the wily General slippedaround his flank and, in the dark, destroyed Cornwallis' rear guard in the Battleof Princeton. The attack on Trenton would change the complexion of the war.As Washington's now spirited troops hurried back to safety in the New Jersey22Approved for Release: 2014/07/29 000621352PatriotApproved for Release: 2014/07/29 000621352hills, Honeyman slipped back home. There was no hero's welcome. His housewas surrounded by a crowd of patriots who threatened to burn the Tory's placedown. As the crowd shouted abuse and threats, Mary Hoheyman, with herchildren fearfully huddled behind her, denied he was there or that she knewwhere he was. Cooler heads prevailed that evening and the crowd left,muttering dire warnings about what would happen to Tory sympathizers. MaryHoneyman was the only person, outside of Washington and a few of theGeneral's trusted advisers, who knew of her husband's double, agent role. Shewatched the crowd disperse before unlatching the cellar door to allow John todisapppear into the winter night.Honeyman, unable to return home after Trenton, lived a lonely existencefor the rest of the war. In 1778, he was captured and indicted by the colonialgovernment of New Jersey for high treason, punishable with death, and lockedin the Trenton jail. Fifteen days after his arrest, a leading .patriot, Jacob Hyer,a colonel in the New Jersey militia, quietly paid his bail. When Honeymancame up for trial he was just as quietly released. Later that year, he was againindicted for aiding and comforting the enemy and again, charges were quietlybut quickly dropped. The commander of the Continental Army had made surethat his favorite secret agent would be protected.A letter written by Washington that year to the Governor of New Jersey,William Livingston, described the esteem the General held for the dangerousand thankless job of a secret agent.-You must be well convinced that it is indispensibly necessary tomake use of these means to procure intelligence. The personsemployed must bear the suspicion of being thought inimical: and it isnot in their power to assert their innocence, because that would getabroad and destroy the confidence which the enemy puts in them.-Peace came to the colonies in 1783 and Honeyman returned home to stay.The family continued to be scorned by friends and neighbors alike. Life in thenew United States had become extremely difficult for Tory sympathizers andmost had emigrated to England or Canada. One day as his daughter Jane, aquiet and sensitive teenager, sat on the front porch she saw a crowd ofneighbors and soldiers come down the road. She was certain the time hadfinally come when her father would be imprisoned and the family driven offinto exile. The mounted party of Continental officers appreared especiallydashing in their blue uniforms with their clanking swords. They were led by atall, white-haired man riding a spirited white stallion. The crowd of neighbors,rather than displaying the raucous behavior of an angry mob, seemed subdued,almost respectful. As they turned into the yard, the man in the lead dismountedand Jane gasped in surprise. General George Washington gravely walked up theporch stairs and, upon seeing John Honeyman, reached out and grasped bothof Honeyman's hands. As Honeyman's neighbors looked on, Washingtonthanked him for the service he had provided his country. As Washington rodeoff into the distance, the neighbors crowded around Honeyman. The distrustand hate disappeared and for the first time in years, Jane and her family couldhold their heads high.Approved for Release: 2014/07/29 000621352Approved for Release: 2014/07/29 000621352CONFIDENTIAL PatriotJohn Honeyman lived to the age of 93 and became a prosperous farmer inthe neighboring village of Lamington. He had a total of five sons and twodaughters. Honeyman continued to keep silent about his War service and neverdiscussed it with either his children or neighbors. Perhaps Honeyman's exploitswould have been lost to posterity except for his grandson, Justice John VanDyke of the New Jersey Supreme Court, and a noted New Jersey historian,William S. Stryker. Van Dyke had spent a great deal of his youth with hisgrandfather, working the farm and sharing winter nights around the fireplace.He never dreamed the gentle, dignified old man had at one time been a secretagent during the Revolutionary War. He learned the full story from his AuntJane who came to live with the Van Dyke family aftei Honeyman died.In 1873, after compiling as many facts as he could about Honeyman, hewrote a short historical piece for a New Jersey periodical. Stryker, who waspresident of the New Jersey Historical Society, became interested and con-ducted his own investigation. Both of these men, digging through the records ofa colonial village family and interviewing area survivors, were able todocument a more complete and fascinating exploit of early American espio-nage. A young patriot who was privy to Honeyman's services told Van Dykeduring an early interview that Honeyman had -done more for the cause thanmany who are shining heroes today.-Outside of New Jersey, little is known of Honeyman. He is buried in theold village cemetery at Lamington and next to his eroded headstone aRevolutionary War veteran marker has been placed. On the New Jersey side ofthe Delaware river at Washington Crossing State Park, where Washingtonlanded for his march on Trenton, a stone memorial fountain with a bronzeplaque on it has been erected by the Patriotic Order of the Sons of America.It reads:Dedicated in Memory ofJohn HoneymanWho Served Washington andthe Continental Armyas a SpyDrink of the Fount of LibertyLet Posterity Inherit FreedomThis article is classified   24 CONrIDENT-146--Approved for Release: 2014/07/29 000621352