间谍 (1821)

The Spy: a Tale of the Neutral Ground is a novel by the American writer James Fenimore Cooper. His second novel, it was published in 1821 by Wiley & Halsted. The plot is set during the American Revolution and was inspired in part by the family friend John Jay. The Spy was successful and began Cooper's reputation as a popular and important American writer.

Synopsis

The action takes place during the American Revolutionary War at "The Locusts", which was the name given to a Colonial-style home in Scarsdale, New York. During the war, Scarsdale was in the no man's land between the British and the American armies, called the Neutral Ground. The house was built in 1787 by American Major William Popham, an officer who served on the staff of generals George Clinton and George Washington and who served as the 7th President-General of the Society of the Cincinnati, the oldest patriotic organization in the United States. The plot ranges back and forth over the neutral ground between the British and the Continental armies as the home stands between those lines.

An unknown man, known as Mr. Harper, asks for shelter at The Locusts amidst a storm. Mr. Wharton (a Loyalist), his daughters Sarah and Frances, and sister-in-law Miss Peyton, agree to admit him into their home. They are suspicious of him and are cautious in discussing the revolution in his presence. Soon, a peddler named Harvey Birch comes along, with an unknown man, also seeking shelter. Harper eyes him carefully. The stranger is really Henry Wharton, a British army captain. Harper leaves the family, but not before revealing he was already aware of the true identity of Captain Wharton. Birch, who has met privately with Mr. Harper for unknown reasons, strongly urges Captain Wharton to return to his post.

A group of American troops investigates the home of Birch, before making their way to The Locusts. There, Major Peyton Dunwoodie is confronted by Frances Wharton, who loves him and sympathizes with the Patriot cause. She pleads with him not to arrest or harm her brother, Captain Wharton, but Dunwoodie feels his duty too strongly. He learns that Captain Wharton has disguised himself and used a letter forged with George Washington's signature to avoid being found. Dunwoodie realizes that Washington's signature is authentic, however, but the Captain cannot explain how he procured it. Dunwoodie arrests Captain Wharton but learns that British troops are in the area. Dunwoodie rushes to assist his fellow colonists, allowing Captain Wharton to escape in the confusion. Captain Wharton tells his commanding officer, Colonel Wellmere, to be on the lookout of Dunwoodie and his troops. Wellmere does not take his advice and skirmish ensues; he is injured and Captain Wharton is recaptured by Captain Lawton. As Wellmere's troops make their retreat, Dunwoodie brings his friend Captain Singleton to The Locusts to be cared for by Dr. Sitgreaves. Frances suggests summoning Singleton's sister to assist.

Harvey Birch comes under suspicion for being a British spy although he is really a Patriot. Harper is revealed to be Washington in disguise with whom Birch has other meetings in the course of the book. Birch's role is revealed only after he falls in battle.

Characters

Wharton family

Captain Henry Wharton – British officer, Wharton’s son

Sarah Wharton – Daughter of Wharton, lover and wife of Colonel Wellmere

Frances Wharton – Daughter of Wharton, sister of Sarah and Henry Wharton, lover of Major Peyton Dunwoodie

Mr. Wharton – Father of Henry, Sarah, and Frances

Miss Jeanette Peyton – Virginia-born aunt and governess to the girls, since the death of their mother

Ceasar Thomson –a slave from Wharton household

Other characters

George Washington – Clad in mufti and using the name Mr. Harper

Harvey Birch – A Yankee pack peddler, he is really a spy and counter spy in the service of George Washington

Katy Haynes – Faithful but greedy housekeeper to Harvey Birch, and would-be wife

Johnny Birch – Father of Harvey Birch

Major Peyton Dunwoodie – Commanding officer of the Virginia dragoons and secretly engaged to Frances Wharton

Colonel Wellmere – He, too, leads British royalists and tries to marry Sarah Wharton, although he is already secretly married to another woman in England

Captain John Lawton – Officer of Virginia dragoons and a friend of Dunwoodie and Sitgreaves

Isabella Singleton – Sister of George Singleton, who comes to nurse her brother at "The Locust" but is also in love with Dunwoodie

Captain George Singleton – Officer of Virginia dragoons who is wounded in battle with Wellmere and the brother of Isabella Singleton

Dr. Archibald Sitgreaves – The comic and grotesque military surgeon

Anna Sitgreaves – Sister of Dr. Archibald Sitgreaves

Captain Wharton Dunwoodie – Son of Peyton and Frances Wharton

Tom Manson Jr – Lieutenant, Captain Wharton Dunwoodie’s friend

Historical accuracy

Harvey Birch, peddler and patriot, is a character remotely founded upon Enoch Crosby, a real spy who helped John Jay. The publisher H. L. Barnum stated that a gentleman of "good standing and respectability" and a personal friend of Cooper had claimed that the author himself told him of the inspiration. Barnum wrote of the connection in 1828 in his book The Spy Unmasked; or, Memoirs of Enoch Crosby, Alias Harvey Birch, The Hero of Mr. Cooper's Tale of the Neutral Ground: Being an Authentic Account of the Secret Services Which He Rendered to his Country During the Revolutionary War (Taken from His Own Lips, in Short-Hand). Cooper would again take up the subject of the American Revolution in his novel The Pilot: A Tale of the Sea (1823–4), also inspired by historical figures.