How Peggy Shippen Became The Highest-Paid Spy Of The American Revolution
How Peggy Shippen Became The Highest-Paid Spy Of The American Revolution In mid-1770s Philadelphia, the wealthy Shippen family was considered close to royalty. When the British occupied the city, the Shippens hosted high-ranking military figures for dinners and balls. Many of these officers were attracted to young Peggy Shippen, with some confessing to being "in love" with her. Chief among Shippen's British suitors was Major John André, who wrote poems to Shippen and drew portraits of her. André even gave Shippen a lock of his hair as a memento when the British withdrew from Philadelphia in 1778. Shippen kept in touch with the major even after she married a Continental military officer named Benedict Arnold. And her letters to André would later form the basis for the most infamous treason plot in American history. Learn more about Benedict Arnold's wife At 15 years old, Peggy Shippen dined with the likes of George Washington, as well as British General Thomas...