The Spy by James Fenimore Cooper

First published: 1821

Type of work: Novel

Type of plot: Historical

Time of plot: Late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries

Locale: New York

Principal characters

• Harvey Birch, a peddler
• Mr. Harper, General George Washington
• Mr. Wharton, a Loyalist sympathizer
• Frances and Sarah, his daughters
• Henry, his son
• Major Peyton Dunwoodie, an American officer
• Captain Lawton, another American officer
• Colonel Wellmere, a British officer

The Story:

At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, Harvey Birch, a peddler, becomes a spy for the American side. Because of the extremely secret nature of Birch’s work, few Americans are aware of his true mission. As a matter of fact, they suspect that he is a British spy. At the time, Westchester County in New York is considered common ground for both the rebels and the Loyalists, and the inhabitants of the county pretend to possess a neutrality they do not feel. This is the case of Mr. Wharton, a British sympathizer, who at the outbreak of hostilities retires to his country estate with his two daughters, Sarah and Frances, and their aunt, Miss Jeanette Peyton.

One evening, as a storm approaches, a horseman rides up to the Wharton house, The Locusts. He is a tall man of powerful frame, military in his bearing but plain in his dress. After being let into the house by the Whartons’ servant, Caesar Thompson, the traveler introduces himself as Mr. Harper and asks for shelter from the storm. Mr. Wharton courteously grants the traveler’s request, and the two men are soon engaged in conversation concerning the progress of the war. Mr. Wharton expresses his views cautiously in order to determine Mr. Harper’s sentiments, but the stranger remains uncommunicative in his replies.

The conversation between the two men is interrupted by the arrival of Henry Wharton, Mr. Wharton’s son and a captain in the British army. The young man wears a disguise in order to cross the American lines safely, but Mr. Harper recognizes him. Later, Birch, the peddler believed by all to be a Loyalist spy, comes to the Wharton home, bringing supplies and news of the war. During Birch’s visit, Caesar remarks to his master that he heard voices in Mr. Harper’s room.

With the return of fair weather, Mr. Harper says good-bye to his host. Before he departs, he promises to help Henry, if he ever needs help, in return for Mr. Wharton’s hospitality. Shortly after Mr. Harper leaves, the Wharton home is surrounded by a troop of Virginia cavalry looking for a man answering Mr. Harper’s description. When the American soldiers enter Mr. Wharton’s house, they discover Henry. Captain Lawton, in command of the troop, sees through Henry’s disguise. The captain is certain that Henry is a spy because he knows that Birch recently visited the Whartons. Not certain what to do, Captain Lawton consults his superior, Major Peyton Dunwoodie, who is interested not only in Henry but also in Henry’s sister, Frances. She pleads with her lover for Henry’s release, but, when Henry is found to have a pass signed by General Washington, Major Dunwoodie thinks that the case warrants Henry’s arrest.

Further investigation into the matter by Major Dunwoodie is halted by a report that British troops are in the neighborhood. The major rushes to his command. In the confusion, Henry escapes. He reports to his superior, Colonel Wellmere, leader of the advancing British troops, who professes to be in love with Sarah Wharton. When Henry advises the colonel to be wary of Major Dunwoodie and his Americans, Wellmere scorns the advice and determines to force a fight with the rebels. In the brief engagement that follows, the British are routed, and Captain Lawton succeeds in recapturing Henry, who is returned under guard to his father’s home. Colonel Wellmere, also taken prisoner, is slightly wounded in the action.

Birch is watching Major Dunwoodie’s success from a distant hill when he is sighted by Captain Lawton. In the pursuit, Captain Lawton overtakes Birch, but he falls from his horse and finds himself at the peddler’s mercy. Birch, however, spares Captain Lawton’s life, and for that act of magnanimity, the captain will not allow his men to overtake the peddler.

A price is put on Birch’s head. One night, his house is ransacked and burned by a band of lawless men called Skinners. They then deliver Birch to Captain Lawton and claim their reward. Major Dunwoodie, who is also present when the peddler is brought in, accuses him of treason. Although Birch possesses a paper that would clear him of the charge, he swallows it rather than betray the confidence of his secret employer. Birch is put in jail, but that night he escapes in the guise of a washerwoman who visits his cell. The next morning, on the outskirts of the American camp, he confronts Major Dunwoodie again. With a gun pointed at the officer, to prevent recapture, the peddler warns him to be on guard against danger to the Whartons. Major Dunwoodie is alarmed by the thought of danger threatening Frances. He is also disturbed because he feels that he can never win Frances if her brother is executed as a spy. Major Dunwoodie’s troubles are magnified when, after assuring Frances that he will try to get General Washington’s help for her brother, she turns from him coldly because she believes that he is in love with Isabella Singleton, the sister of an American officer recuperating at The Locusts from injuries sustained in the battle.

Meanwhile, Sarah accepts Colonel Wellmere’s proposal of marriage, and the date for the wedding is set. Major Dunwoodie and Captain Lawton are among the guests during the truce arranged for the exchange and the wedding. The ceremony is suddenly interrupted, however, by the appearance of Birch. Sarah faints when Birch tells the colonel that his wife, Mrs. Wellmere, crossed the ocean to find him. Captain Lawton challenges Colonel Wellmere to a duel. The Englishman misses his mark, but Captain Lawton is prevented from killing his adversary when the Skinners overpower him. Colonel Wellmere flees the scene, and Captain Lawton is able to escape his enemies only after a fierce struggle.

The Skinners then burn Mr. Wharton’s house. Captain Lawton returns to the scene with troops he met on the road, and, after routing the Skinners, he rescues Frances from the blazing house. Birch rescues Sarah, and, again, Captain Lawton permits the peddler to escape. A bullet fired at Captain Lawton from the darkness strikes Isabella. On her deathbed, she confesses that Major Dunwoodie thinks of her only as a friend.

At his trial, Henry admits that he used a disguise in order to pass through the American lines, but he insists that he did so only in order to visit his family, especially his aged father. Major Dunwoodie himself vouches for Henry’s character. Frances, however, ruins her brother’s chances for acquittal when she admits that Henry had dealings with Birch. Henry is found guilty and sentenced to be hanged on the following day. Major Dunwoodie makes an appeal to General Washington for the life of his friend but is unsuccessful, for the commander-in-chief is not at his headquarters.

Soon afterward a tall, gaunt man in clerical dress appears and announces himself as a minister from a nearby village who comes to offer spiritual comfort to the condemned man. Admitted to Henry’s cell, he reveals himself as Harvey Birch. He helps Henry to disguise himself as Caesar Thompson, the faithful servant of the Whartons, and leads the young officer past the unsuspecting sentinel. Frances, hearing of the escape, thinks that her brother and the peddler will probably hide in a nearby cabin. Stealing away, she sets out to join them, but she finds the cabin occupied by Mr. Harper. Recalling his promise to help her brother, she tells him the whole story. He reassures her that all will be well and tells her to return to headquarters to await Major Dunwoodie.

Orders from General Washington arrive in time to relieve Major Dunwoodie of the necessity of finding Henry. Several days later, Birch sees him safely aboard a British man-of-war in New York harbor. Frances and Major Dunwoodie decide to be married immediately. Within a short time, however, their bliss is tempered by the news that Captain Lawton fell in battle with the British.

Some time later, Birch appears at the headquarters of the army in a New Jersey town. There he has a long interview with a grave and noble man whom the Whartons would have recognized as Mr. Harper; he is also known as General Washington. During their talk, the general attempts to reward his faithful spy by giving him money. The peddler refuses to accept payment for his services to his country, but he does welcome a letter of approbation from his commander-in-chief. It is agreed that the peddler’s real mission as an American spy should remain a secret that only they will share.

Thirty-two years later, in the War of 1812, a gaunt old peddler appears on the Canadian border and carries word of British troop movements to the American lines. There he meets Captain Wharton Dunwoodie, the son of Major Peyton Dunwoodie and his wife Frances. To him, the peddler acknowledges his earlier acquaintanceship with the young officer’s parents. A few days later, during a battle, the old peddler throws away his pack and rushes into the fight with a musket seized from a fallen soldier. After the battle, Captain Dunwoodie finds the old man’s body and on his person a letter, signed by George Washington, that reveals Harvey Birch to be not a despicable spy but a loyal, heroic, and long-suffering patriot.

Bibliography

Darnell, Donald. James Fenimore Cooper: Novelist of Manners. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1993. A close analysis presenting manners as Cooper’s method of introducing his views on society, humor, and social mores. Chapter 3 is especially insightful concerning The Spy.

Fields, Wayne, ed. James Fenimore Cooper: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1979. This useful volume offers lengthy biographical, historical, and critical studies of Cooper as the representative American author. The volume is particularly well edited.

Long, Robert Emmet. James Fenimore Cooper. New York: Continuum Books, 1990. This lively text offers a colorful introduction to Cooper the man and insightful comparisons to his contemporaries. Chapter 2 provides a concise summary of The Spy.

Person, Leland S., ed. A Historical Guide to James Fenimore Cooper. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. Collection of essays, including a brief biography by Cooper biographer Wayne Franklin and a survey of Cooper scholarship and criticism. The Spy is discussed in “’More than a Woman’s Enterprise’: Cooper’s Revolutionary Heroines and the Compromise of Domesticity” by John P. McWilliams. Features an illustrated chronology of Cooper’s life and important nineteenth century historical events.

Reid, Margaret. “Imagining Cultural Origins in James Fenimore Cooper’s The Spy.” In Cultural Secrets as Narrative Form: Storytelling in Nineteenth-Century America. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2004. An analysis of nineteenth century literature, in which Reid explores how the Puritan legacy, the Revolutionary War, and the Western frontier acquired the status of American myth. The sixty-eight-page section on The Spy discusses how Cooper’s representation of the American Revolution contributed to this mythmaking process.

Ringe, Donald. James Fenimore Cooper. New York: Twayne, 1962. Contains an excellent chronology, bibliography, and cogent biographical sketch. The Spy is referenced in Cooper’s canon.

Rosenberg, Bruce A. The Neutral Ground: The André Affair and the Background of Cooper’s “The Spy.” Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1994. In 1790, John André, an American, was captured outside British lines and hanged as a spy. Rosenberg argues that Cooper’s novel is based upon the André affair and that it examines the morality of deceit and concealed intentions in both normal life and wartime. He further maintains that Cooper is the first spy novelist.

Spiller, Robert E., and Philip C. Blackburn. A Descriptive Bibliography of the Writings of James Fenimore Cooper. New York: B. Franklin, 1968. An outstanding and essential tool for a study of Cooper.