Every move Washington made for the next five years was done with New York in mind.
He couldnt fathom winning the war without a major victory in New York to settle the score.
But in 1781, the facts on the ground have changed.
Credit: Antony Platt/AMC
Virginia has emerged as the crucial theater of combat.
As he marches in formation with his unit, he fires over the heads of the overmatched Americans.
He never flinches from the explosions around him and calmly observes the enemy to calculate his next strategic maneuver.
But Arnold is there for Arnold, for plunder and profit.
All in a good time.
Is this campaign meant to stamp out rebels or enrich your coffers?
Simcoe asks, challenging his boss.
Simcoe doesnt put a dagger in Abes neck or cut out his tongue as soon as they shake hands.
Instead, he taunts Abe with oozing insincerity: I was sorry to hear about your father.
(Or because he doesnt trust Arnold, period, due to his own traitorous reputation.)
Whatever the reason, Simcoe gives Abe time to breathe and plot.
Marching into battle against their own countrymen is madness.
Either theyll kill their friends or be shot by them.
(And in Abes case, he might be shot in the back by Simcoe.)
Champe is reluctant to give up his mission of kidnapping Arnold, but he concurs with Abe.
As soon as they have a chance, they should escape.
Unfortunately, theyve been spotted.
Sturridge has been shadowing their meetings, and even he can decipher what they intend to do.
He crashes the spies next meeting and pleads with them to take him with them.
I dont care what side youre on.
I need to get out of here, he says.
Im certainly not a soldier.
I never have been.
Champe wants to kill the coward, but Abe persuades his partner that Sturridge is not a threat.
They agree to leave at sundown all three of them.
But theres only one way out of this for Abe.
Catch me, Sturridge bravely says.
Back in New York, Robert Townsend visits Hercules Mulligans tailor shop.
He doesnt need a new suit; hes been summoned.
Mulligans British father-in-law, Admiral Sanders, has hired Rivington to print the Royal Navys new signal books.
Swipe a copy, why dont you, Mulligan says, and we can get it to our allies.
Eventually, the Brits would discover the ruse and come down hard on Townsend (and Rivington).
After hours, Robert goes to work in the basement, printing signal books with conflicting instructions.
The papers are drying when Rivington walks in.
Hes shocked… and then crushed: His partner is a spy.
And hes smart enough to know what that means for him, even before Robert threatens him.
If you expose me, I will make public everything Ive done here for years, the Quaker says.
Youll be a punchline, if the British dont classify you as a co-conspirator first.
Rivington goes along (because thats what Rivington does best).
As for the phony signal books?
Arent you going to finish?
Weve already made 100 copies.
Ill be damned if I waste more paper.
If her husband is in Virginia, someone needs to go rescue him immediately.
Ben volunteers because he no longer trusts Caleb.
But Mary has a soft spot for Ann.
Theyre not too different, actually.
Their only difference is which side in the revolution their husbands have chosen.
She has a plan: Give Ann crucial, game-changing intel that the British cannot ignore falseintelligence.
Well done, Mary.
Best spy in the Woodhull household.
One option would be for Mary to tell Ann that Washington is planning an imminent attack on New York.
No doubt the enemy would believe it.
No doubt many in Washingtons inner circle would believe it.
Because its what Washington wants more than anything.
But there are cracks in his war counsel.
Unused to being challenged so directly, Washington turns to Ben for some validation of his New York strategy.
Not today not when Bens Setauket buddy is in danger in Virginia.
Ben defies His Excellency using terms the general is not accustomed to hearing.
Abandon this obsession, Ben pleads.
You have been blinded by self-centered ambition, and it will be my friends who pay the price!
Ben also mixed in an insult comparing Washingtons vanity to Benedict Arnolds, so yeah, hes fired.
Perhaps Marys counterintel operation will rescue Bens fortunes.
That peninsula of land is nearly indefensible against siege and naval assaultandprohibits retreat.
I can read a map sir, Arnold says, urging his boss to disobey orders.
I know weakness when I see it.
But Cornwallis is not the punch in who freelances.
Right or wrong, he will obey Clintons command.
Later, Arnold vents to Abe about the stupidity of the British plan.
Hes so incensed that he doesnt even notice Abe pocket the map of Yorktown he sketched for Cornwallis.
Let the out-of-touch British officers lose the war; Arnold has a fortune to build.
And his next move is a march on Blandford, where only token American resistance is expected.
Caleb is part of the American rabble that Arnold and Abe confront the next day.
The skirmish is an easy British victory, just as Arnold had promised.
But this is the day that Simcoe had long desired: its time to dispatch Culper.
The tall Brit taunts Abe and corners him after Abe runs out of places to hide.
It will all be over soon, Simcoe says.
No more hiding, no more lying.
But Caleb has Simcoe in his crosshairs.
He sees his torturer pursuing Abe and tries to line up one true shot.
Abe climbs down to finish the job and retrieve Arnolds map of Yorktown, but Simcoe is gone.
Lafayette interrogates him and is skeptical of Abes claim that hes Culper.
As tempers rise, cannon fire can be heard in the background.
The ship is under attack.
Lafayette exits and French troops drag Abe away as he yells, Im Samuel Culper!
