Masked Dispatches: Cryptograms and Cryptology in American History, 1775-1900

Appendix C. Appendix C

July 22/23, 1775

TO MAJOR CANE IN BOSTON, ON HIS MAGISTY'S SARVICE

I HOPE THIS WILL REACH YOU; THREE ATTEMPTS HAVE I MADE WITHOUT SUCCESS. IN EFFECTING THE LAST, THE MAN WAS DISCOVERED IN ATTEMPTING HIS ESCAPE, BUT FORTUNATELY MY LETTER WAS SEWED IN THE WAIS[T]BAND OF HIS BREECHES. HE WAS CONFINED A FEW DAYS, DURING WHICH TIME YOU MAY GUESS MY FEELINGS. BUT A LITTLE ART AND A LITTLE CASH SETTLED THE MATTER.

'TIS A MONTH SINCE MY RETURN FROM PHILADELPHIA. I WENT BY THE WAY OF PROVIDENCE TO VISIT MOTHER. THE COMMITTEE FOR WARLIKE STORES MADE ME A FORMAL TENDER OF 12 PIECES OF CANNON, 18 AND 24 POUNDERS, THEY HAVING TO A PREVIOUS RESOLUTION TO MAKE THE OFFER TO GENERAL WARD. TO MAKE A MERIT OF MY SERVICES, I SENT THEM DOWN AND ...