David Henley (February 5/12, 1748/9 – January 1, 1823) was a

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

officer during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, who served as

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

's intelligence officer and

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

commandant. He later served as the Agent for the

United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, a ...

for the

Southwest Territory The Territory South of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Southwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 26, 1790, until June 1, 1796, when it was admitted to the United States a ...

(later

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

) in the 1790s.

Life and career

Henley was born in

Charlestown, Massachusetts Charlestown is the oldest neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. Originally called Mishawum by the Massachusett tribe, it is located on a peninsula north of the Charles River, across from downtown Boston, and also adjoins t ...

, the eldest child of Samuel and Elizabeth Cheever Henley.Mary Rothrock, ''The French Broad-Holston Country: A History of Knox County, Tennessee'' (Knoxville, Tenn.: East Tennessee Historical Society, 1972), pp. 426-8. On January 8, 1776, he set fire to Charlestown which was occupied by the British. In that same year, he served a brigade-major under General

William Heath William Heath (March 2, 1737 – January 24, 1814) was an American farmer, soldier, and political leader from Massachusetts who served as a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Life and career Heath m ...

, and briefly as an adjutant general under General

Joseph Spencer Joseph Spencer (October 3, 1714 – January 13, 1789) was an American lawyer, soldier, and statesman from Connecticut. During the Revolutionary War, he served both as a delegate to the Continental Congress and as a major general in the C ...

. On January 1, 1777, he was made lieutenant colonel of the Fifth Massachusetts Regiment. He was in command at

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

, when the troops that had been captured at Saratoga were brought there. Henley stabbed an insolent but unarmed British prisoner. Court-martial proceedings were held at Cambridge from January 20, 1778, to February 25, 1778, but he was acquitted. British

General Burgoyne General John Burgoyne (24 February 1722 – 4 August 1792) was a British general, dramatist and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1761 to 1792. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War when he participated in several bat ...

challenged him to a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the r ...

, which was to take place in

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

. He accepted the challenge, but the duel never took place. General Washington selected him in November 1778 to be his

spymaster A spymaster is the person that leads a spy ring, or a secret service (such as an intelligence agency). Historical spymasters See also *List of American spies *List of British spies * List of German spies *List of fictional spymasters This is ...

, and charged him with compiling information to give him a snapshot of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

capabilities. He largely succeeded in that task. Henley retired from the Army the following year. In 1793, Colonel Henley was appointed by President Washington as the Agent of the Department of War for the Southwest Territory, in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

. In this capacity, he was Superintendent of Indian Affairs, as well as quartermaster and paymaster for locally stationed troops and militia. He was known to be a hothead, but was also a strong law-and-order man. Tennessee's Constitutional Convention was held in his office at the corner of what is now Gay Street and Church Avenue in Downtown Knoxville in 1796. He died in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, in 1823, while a clerk in the War Department.

Legacy

In 1994, the Knoxville Federal Courthouse was proposed the site of his office. However it was later constructed at the northwest corner of Main Street and Gay Street. Both Henley Street and the

Henley Street Bridge The Henley Bridge, sometimes referred to as Henley Street Bridge, is a vehicle bridge that crosses the Tennessee River in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Completed in 1931, the bridgeMartha Carver, ''Tennessee's Survey Report for Historic H ...

(or Henley Bridge) in Downtown Knoxville are named after him. A tablet was placed by the state of Tennessee at the location of his office in 1947.

Henley-Putnam University The Henley-Putnam School of Strategic Security, previously Henley-Putnam University, is an online school within National American University focusing on intelligence management, counterterrorism studies and protection management. Henley-Putnam off ...

, a highly specialized university devoted to intelligence, security, and counterterrorism founded in 2001, is named for Henley and

Israel Putnam Israel Putnam (January 7, 1718 – May 29, 1790), popularly known as "Old Put", was an American military officer and landowner who fought with distinction at the Battle of Bunker Hill during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). He als ...

.History Behind Our Name
" Henley-Putnam University website. Accessed at Archive.org, 12 July 2014.

References

* Rose, Alexander. ''Washington's Spies. The story of America's first spy ring''. Bantam, 2006. * Henley, David. ''The proceedings of a general court-martial held at Cambridge, on Tuesday the twentieth of January, and continued by several adjournments to Wednesday the 25th of February, 1778, upon the trial of Colonel David Henley''. Published in 1778. Printed by J. Gill (Boston). * Neely, Jack. ''Knoxville’s Secret History''. Scruffy City Publishing (Knoxville), 1995.
Tennessee State Library and Archives: David Henley Papers

External links

Letter from Henley to George Washington, dated November 19, 1778
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henley, David 1740s births 1823 deaths American spies during the American Revolution Continental Army officers from Massachusetts Continental Army personnel who were court-martialed People from Knoxville, Tennessee People from Charlestown, Boston United States Indian agents