1From George Washington to James Jay, 12 May 1780 (Washington Papers)
GW is referring to invisible ink for espionage activities.
2From George Washington to James Jay, 9 April 1780 (Washington Papers)
GW sought a new supply of invisible ink for espionage activities (see
3From George Washington to Major Benjamin Tallmadge, 5 February 1780 (Washington Papers)
On the draft, GW wrote “Stain and counter-part of the stain” instead of the last three words. “Stain” and “counterpart” refer to invisible ink and reagent.By 9 April, GW had run out of this invisible ink, necessitating a letter to James Jay, who had developed the formula, to supply him with more of the liquid (see
4From George Washington to Major Benjamin Tallmadge, 30 October 1779 (Washington Papers)
GW is referring to the chemical reagent for invisible ink (see
5From George Washington to Major Benjamin Tallmadge, 24 September 1779 (Washington Papers)
...Tallmadge, dated 11 Sept., was marked “No. 7,” suggesting that GW’s aide Tench Tilghman, who copied the letter, may have mistakenly transcribed “8” as “3.” The “stain” was a type of invisible ink. Woodhull, as Samuel Culper, probably enclosed this letter with his 19 Sept. letter to Tallmadge.
6From George Washington to Major Benjamin Tallmadge, 25 July 1779 (Washington Papers)
For background on this invisible ink, and its initial use, see
7From George Washington to Major Benjamin Tallmadge, 13 June 1779 (Washington Papers)
GW is referring to invisible ink, which he sent in late July (see