Agent 355

This article is about the female spy for the Continentals during the American War of Independence. For the comic book character, see Agent 355 (Y: The Last Man).

355 (died after 1780) was the supposed code name of a female spy during the American Revolution who was part of the Culper Ring spy network. She was one of the first spies for the United States, but her real identity is unknown.[1] The number 355 could be decrypted from the system the Culper Ring used to mean "lady."[2] Her story is considered part of national myth, as there is very little evidence that 355 even existed,[3] although many continue to assert that she was a real historical figure.[4][5]

  1. ^ McCarthy, Linda (2002). "355". National Women's History Museum. Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  2. ^ Casey 2015, p. 76.
  3. ^ Bleyer, Bill (March 21, 2022). "The Myth of Agent 355, the Woman Spy Who Supposedly Helped Win the Revolutionary War". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2023-09-14. No proof of 355's adventures in espionage actually exists. The sole mention of her in the historical record simply states that she was a lady—not necessarily a spy—who could help the Patriots "outwit them all." Unfortunately, this lack of evidence hasn't stopped authors and television and movie producers from inventing tales of her exploits.
  4. ^ "Agent 355: The American Revolution's Most Mysterious Female Spy". Mental Floss. 2022-02-02. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  5. ^ Bleyer, Bill. "The Myth of Agent 355, the Woman Spy Who Supposedly Helped Win the Revolutionary War". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2023-09-14. Other writers picked up the story and further embellished it. Chief among them is Fox News co-host Brian Kilmeade, who lives on Long Island. In George Washington's Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved The American Revolution, the 2013 bestseller he wrote with Don Yaeger, he names 355 as one of six members of the spy ring. (Kilmeade offers no explanation for his exclusion of widely accepted members like Brewster.)

    Without documentation—Secret Six is not footnoted but does include a list of selected sources—Kilmeade places 355 in the social circle of British spymaster and legendary party-thrower John André. "One agent remains unidentified," the book states. "Though her name cannot be verified, and many details about her life are unclear, her presence and her courage undoubtedly made a difference."