He decided that civilians would attract less attention than soldiers, and he asked William Duer to recommend a suitable agent. Duer recommended Nathaniel Sackett; his army contact was Hale's former classmate, then Captain Benjamin Tallmadge. Sackett had some success, for example the discovery that the British were building flat-bottomed boats for a campaign against Philadelphia; however, Washington felt he did not produce enough correct intelligence fast enough, and Sackett was soon paid off. Early in 1777, American Colonel Elias Dayton set up a spy network on Staten Island, which worked with an established network known as the Mersereau Ring. The British victory at the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777, led to the capture of Philadelphia on September 26, which became a new focus of intelligence gathering. Washington assigned this task to Major John Clark. Recently returned to service after being wounded before Brandywine, Clark set up a successful network, but poor health forced him to take up a desk job. Establishment Initial formation In August, 1778, Washington accepted an offer from Lieutenant Caleb Brewster, based at Norwalk, Connecticut, to provide intelligence. His first report included details on the condition of British warships prior to the Battle of Rhode Island, and the dispatching of several regiments to Newport, Rhode Island. Washington asked General Charles Scott to handle Brewster and find additional agents, assisted by Tallmadge. Scott delegated most of the work to Tallmadge, and Washington asked him to recruit reliable intelligence agents in New York City. As a contact for Brewster, Tallmadge recommended a mutual childhood friend, Abraham Woodhull of Setauket on Long Island. A few months earlier, Woodhull had been arrested for illegal trading of which he had been guilty and was being held in a Connecticut prison. Tallmadge arranged his release through Governor Jonathan Trumbull and obtained approval by Washington and Scott to recruit him as an intelligence agent. Washington suggested the alias "Samuel Culper" after Culpeper County, Virginia, where he had worked as a surveyor in his youth. Tallmadge and Scott had different approaches. Scott preferred single-mission agents, who returned to base after each completion, Tallmadge favored embedding agents and establishing a secure line of communication. Since Scott lost three out of five agents sent into New York City in early September, Washington decided that Tallmadge's method should be used. He opened discussions on setting up an embedded network with Woodhull and Brewster. Scott resigned on