Maj. John Clark, Jr. (ca. 1751-1819) was an American spy for George Washington. He was primarily responsible for operating the intelligence network in and around Philadelphia during the British occupation of that city during the American Revolutionary War.
Early career Clark was commissioned as a first lieutenant in the 1st Continental Infantry (Pennsylvania Rifles) on January 1, 1776, and was made a major of the 2nd Pennsylvania Battalion of the Flying Camp on September 14, 1776. He originally came to the attention of George Washington during the evacuation of Long Island and Manhattan. Directed to travel across Long Island Sound, he then scouted troop movements on Long Island.Clark, J., Washington, G., Monroe, J., Smith, S., Gerry, E., Roberdeau, D., Zantzinger, P., & Donaldson, J. (1896). Memoir of Major John Clark, of York County, Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 20(1), 77–86. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20085677
Revolutionary War
Clark was responsible for operating one of the most notable spy rings organized and run by the Continental Army during the war, one which prevented the destruction of Washington's army at least three different times.
His most important assignment occurred during the period of September to December 1777, when despite a serious injury to his shoulder suffered at Brandywine, he was tasked by Washington with obtaining information about General Howe's activities in Philadelphia.Clark set up a group of informants and couriers, and sent 30 detailed reports to Washington which allowed the Continental Army to react to British movements. When Clark set up a hoax in which he employed a false name while pretending to be a Quaker Loyalist who would inform on the Americans to General Howe, Howe was fooled, and offered Clark inducements to support the British cause.“Major John Clark, Jr., to George Washington, 3 November 1777,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-12-02-0089. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 12, 26 October 1777 – 25 December 1777, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. and David R. Hoth. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2002, pp. 100–103.] When Washington learned of this hoax, he prepared a false report of the Continental Army's strengths and planned movements, and ordered it to be delivered to Howe.“George Washington to Major John Clark, Jr., 4 November 1777,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-12-02-0101. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 12, 26 October 1777 – 25 December 1777, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. and David R. Hoth. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2002, pp. 113–114.]
In December, with his wound still not healed, and after having not seen his wife in more than a year, Clark asked Washington for permission to travel home. Washington agreed, and introduced Clark to Henry Laurens, who gave Clark a desk job as auditor of Army expenses.“Major John Clark, Jr., to George Washington, 13 January 1778,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-13-02-0181. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 13, 26 December 1777 – 28 February 1778, ed. Edward G. Lengel. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2003, pp. 216–217.] Clark resigned in November 1779 to preserve his health. Clark lived quietly as a lawyer in York, Pennsylvania, where he was described as "of large frame, fine personal appearance, and brave to a fault, a man of fine mind, was a good lawyer, wrote a beautiful hand, and was very sarcastic in speech, when he thought it necessary so to be."
Clark died on December 27, 1819, aged 68."Deaths" (5 January 1820). Columbian Centinel, 2.
See also Intelligence in the American Revolutionary War Intelligence operations in the American Revolutionary War
Notes
References Hastedt, Glenn P. Espionage: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, Inc., 2003., . Rose, Alexander Washington Spies, Heitman, Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army. .
Further reading Clark, John J., Jr. "Letters from Major John Clark, Jr., to General Washington during the Occupation of Philadelphia by the British Army." 'Bulletin of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1 (1845–1847).