From Sixteenth-Century Cryptography to the New Millennium — The Last 500 Years - Codes: The Guide to Secrecy from Ancient to Modern Times - page 65

2.2 The American Colonies

The sun of Great Britain will set whenever she acknowledges the indepen-
dence of America ... the independence of America would end in the ruin of
England
Lord Shelburne (1737-1805), British Whig politician, Prime Minister
— spoken in the House of Lords (October, 1782)

In the eighteenth-century American
colonies, cryptology was not as sophisticated
as that in Europe. Certainly there were no
black chambers, and really no organized ef-
fort to do research into intelligence gather-
ing, develop cryptanalytic skills, or anything
of the sort. Nevertheless, a development did
begin with some early tentative baby steps.
We will review them by starting at the end
of the eighteenth century.
During the American revolution, there
was virtually no cryptanalysis being done
until near the end of the war since there were
virtually no interceptions of cryptograms.
However, most of what was deciphered at the
end of the conflict was accomplished by one
man, James Lovell, a member of the Continental Congress, who may rightly be
considered to be the pioneer of American cryptanalysis.

Figure 2.3: George Washington.

Washington and Jefferson

By 1781, Lovell had already been using a version of the Vigenere cipher
(see pages 55 and 56). In that same year, when colonial forces intercepted a
British cryptogram, Lovell was given the task of breaking it. It proved to be
an easy task for Lovell. However, by the time the information was revealed
it was too late to be of any military value. Yet, Lovell decrypted keys, which
he kept in anticipation of their being of use later on. Indeed, George Wash-
ington (1732-1799), (see figure 2.3) 2.2 the commander-in-chief of the colonial
armies (1775-83), and subsequent first president of the United States (1789-
97), was able to use them. Washington had been able to surround the British
commander in the southern colonies, Lord Cornwallis, (1738-1805) at York-
town. His forces intercepted a British letter, which he gave to his secretary
to decrypt. Washington had received the keys from Lovell's earlier decryption
and the letter was easily deciphered using them. This gave Washington im-
portant information about the British positioning and strengths. Later, when
more British cryptograms were intercepted, Lovell was able to easily break the

2.2 The lithograph above is courtesy of the Library of Congress, reproduction no. LC-USZ62-
117116, Prints and Photographs Division, created/published around 1828.