Lieutenant George Smith. During the American Revolution, Benedict Arnold's flight to the British side in the autumn of 1780 would prove devastating for nearly all of George Washington's spies, notably his Culper Spy Ring. Arnold would spend the next few weeks exposing every American spy he could find. This created a tremendous problem for the Culper Ring, which funneled intelligence from the British Headquarters in Manhattan, across Long Island to Brookhaven, and then over the Sound to the southern shores of Connecticut. 

With some of their allies exposed, their key man in the city, Robert Townsend or "Samuel Culper, Jr." refused to write any more letters. The ring needed a substitute and found one in George Smith, a native of Smithtown on Long Island, but by 1780, a resident of Stratford, Connecticut. George Smith would join the Culper Spy Ring, writing under the pseudonym "S.G." The true identity of "S.G." would remain a secret until 1959, when Virginia Eckles Malone, a Smithtown historian, discovered Smith's role. He was born in 1749 and was a Princeton graduate and a prominent local attorney. 

As the war began, Smith was well known to all of the members of the Culper Spy Ring, serving with several of them in the local military and on local government committees controlled by the Patriots. He was good friends with Caleb Brewster, the daring whaleboat captain who carried intelligence across the Sound. He assisted Brewster in receiving smuggled goods from Long Island and selling them to the locals in Stratford. The two served together until George Smith became a Deputy Advocate General under General Horatio Gates. 

Smith's new position would also come with a secret role - he was Gates' spy chief. Every general had their own spies, and in some cases, generals knew who each other's spies were. What likely spared Smith's exposure as a spy was that Gates and Arnold hated one another after the Battle of Saratoga, so Gates does not appear to have shared intelligence or the name of his spies with Arnold. When Arnold exposed all other spies, George Smith would still be unknown to him. In 1781, George Smith served with the Culper Spy Ring in one of its most crucial moments. At this stage of the war, Washington was struggling to make a decision between two choices. 

One of Washington's options, which French General Rochambeau advocated for, was for Washington and his men to join Lafayette in his battle with Lord Cornwallis in Virginia. However, Washington considered using this opportunity when British troops were going south to retake an under-defended Manhattan. Washington always wanted to retake Manhattan after losing it in the period following the Battle of Long Island. Now, he tasked the Culper spies with providing him intelligence on how many British troops were left in the city. Washington would get detailed intelligence back from "S.G." and Samuel Culper Sr.. Based on the Culper spy's shared information, Washington decided to forgo an attempt on Manhattan. He chose to join Lafayette in his battle with Cornwallis. This fateful decision would eventually lead to the Siege of Yorktown. This crucial American victory effectively ended the American Revolution, particularly all significant hostilities. 

Smith would continue to serve with the ring at least until 1782. After the war, he would continue to practice law and live out the rest of his life with his family in Stratford, where he was laid to rest there in the Old Congregational Burying Ground. A peaceful end for an American hero.