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Washington to Court Martial Dr. Benjamin Church

Cambridge, Massachusetts: Oct. 2, 1775. Rebel leaders were stunned yesterday afternoon when they learned that Commander George Washington placed his Surgeon General under arrest and bound him over for Court Martial. Dr. Benjamin Church, the highly respected Patriot physician has been accused of passing military information and congressional secrets to British General Thomas Gage.

Church’s alleged espionage was discovered in a ciphered letter he wrote to a British major on Gage’s staff shortly after the battle of Lexington. Apparently, the letter was meant to be delivered by Church’s mistress, a woman residing in Newport, Rhode Island. Unable to deliver the letter personally, the woman asked a gentleman named Wainwood if he might carry it to certain “friends” in Boston.

Wainwood grew suspicious and personally delivered the envelope to General Washington who examined its contents and sent for the woman. After several hours of interrogation, the woman confessed that Church was its author.

Washington’s staff deciphered the letter and found it full of military information. It reportedly ended with the plea, “Make every use of precaution or I will perish.” Church’s arrest is particularly embarrassing to the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, since he was instrumental in creating their own spy network. If found guilty, the former member of the rebel Congress could receive the death penalty.

Several local Patriots have hinted if the allegations prove to be true, the doctor’s downfall was most probably caused by his penchant for women and luxurious living. Church recently built a magnificent country house at Raynham.