The nature of the American Revolution lent itself to many bold acts of spying by ardent patriots. Lydia Darragh risked her life spying on British officers and saved Washington's army from a surprise attack at Whitemarsh. Darragh lived across the street from General Howe's headquarters in Philadelphia and, as was the customary during the war, the general's staff used her home to plan strategy. In December 1777 the staff ordered the family to retire early but Darragh eavesdropped and got the information out the next day of an impending attack. A British officer interrogated her. "We were betrayed, he told her, sure it was a member of her family, "for, on arrival near the encampment of General Washington, we found his cannon mounted, his troops under arms and so prepared at every point to receive us that we were compelled to march back without injuring our enemy, like a parcel of fools." Darragh must have been convincing about the innocence of her family for her life and her family was spared. More American Revolution Women Warriors Introduction Lydia Darragh Sybil Ludington Deborah Gannet Sampson Women in the Continental Army Civilian Women's Roles Back to Cry Havoc #31 Table of Contents Back to Cry Havoc List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by David W. Tschanz. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com