activities, Townsend sent his first dispatch on June 29, 1779, nine days after Woodhull had informed Washington that he had a contact in New York. This first piece of intelligence was designed to look like a letter between two Loyalists. In it, Townsend stated that he received information from a Rhode Islander who gathered from British troops that two British divisions "are to make excursion into Connecticut... and very soon." Counterfeiting plot discovery One of Townsend's most valuable and memorable discoveries concerned a plot by the British to ruin the American economy by flooding the country with counterfeit dollars. American political and military leaders were well aware of these intentions and understood the potential ramifications of a worthless dollar. In early 1780, Townsend received some intelligence that the British believed that the war would not last much longer as a result of a disastrous depreciation of the dollar. The most crucial part of Townsend's report was that the British had procured "several reams of paper made for the last emission struck by Congress." That was terrible news for American leaders since the British had been forced to counterfeit money on paper that was similar to the official paper but now had the authentic paper. Thus, distinguishing between real and fake money would be virtually impossible. As a result, Congress was forced to recall all its bills in circulation, a major ordeal but that saved the war effort, by not allowing counterfeit money to flood the market. Counterintelligence Townsend warned his superiors of spies in their midst. At one point, he warned Benjamin Tallmadge that Christoper Duychenik was an agent of New York City Mayor David Mathews. Townsend warned that Mathews was under the direction of Governor William Tryon. Townsend also believed that if the men found out about the intelligence report, they would immediately suspect him, which indicated his potential association with high-level officials. Disinformation After the French had joined the war on the side of the colonists, a French fleet was set to land and disembark troops at Newport, Rhode Island. The problem with that plan was that the British controlled Long Island and New York City and had large amounts of influence in Long Island Sound. The British got wind of the French plans and began to prepare the interception of the smaller French fleet before the French soldiers could make landfall. Washington learned of the British plans