A Spy Called James: The True Story of James Lafayette, Revolutionary War Double Agent by Anne Rockwell (review)

Word spread among the slaves that if a man served with the patriots he could earn his freedom. James, enslaved to Virginia planter William Armistead, pinned his hopes on this when he was sent to serve a “French general with names to spare,” the Marquis de Lafayette. Posing as a runaway, James insinuated himself into British general Cornwallis’ camp, where he gathered information to pass along to Lafayette. The act worked so well that the British enlisted James as a spy, too. Thus “he carried information to Lafayette from the British and gave the British misleading information about American plans.” It was risky business, as James could have been executed by either side as a spy or simply have been captured as a runaway. Fortunately, James’ role as double agent was never exposed, and the information he collected led to Cornwallis’ defeat at Yorktown. James’ story should have ended here with cheers, accolades, and freedom, but since he served as a spy rather than a soldier, the Continental Army did not award him his freedom, and it would take two years and a personal letter from General Lafayette to set things right. The picture book account, with Cooper’s hazily stippled artwork effectively conveying James’ shifting circumstances, is ready made for classrooms studying the Revolutionary War, taking its historical background seriously even as it pursues the compelling human interest tale. Rockwell’s excellent endnotes provide plenty of grist for further discussion, noting that Armistead was compensated for James’ freedom and presumably purchased another slave and that James himself became a farmer and a slave owner. A brief list for further reading is also included.