"Agent "Constant Bacon"" Topic

"In early 1814, the British forces, having narrowly seen off invading American armies from the Fort George area and along the St. Lawrence River, anxiously awaited a renewed attack as the Americans came out of winter quarters in the spring. A crucial piece of intelligence fell into their lap when an American sutler, or merchant licensed to sell goods such as liquor to US troops, defected to the British headquarters at York (present day Toronto, Ontario). He outlined the American troop deployments, caches of supplies, and plans to attack the Canadian side of the Niagara River. His motive? He had borrowed money to buy whiskey to sell to the troops, but some soldiers had robbed the whiskey, leaving him still owing the money. "Constant Bacon" is pretty obviously a code name: maybe the British gave him some money to pay his creditors and sent him back over the river to act as a secret agent…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Oh, come now! "Obviously" a code name? A quick google search turned up a couple real men with that name--one of them born in New York in 1801. Names repeat in families. Perhaps he was a nephew or cousin of that disgruntled sutler? "Constant" was a reasonably common given name in New England in the period--a "virtue name," like Mercy or Prudence for girls. I've known about Constant Bacon for 40+ years--he makes a walk-on appearance in my MA thesis--and never seen any evidence that it was anything but his real name.

In the 1890s era of the records in the Register of Deeds Office I run, there is a property owner named Constant Miserie.

Yes, he was a married man…

Ha-Ha-Ha!!!

Amicalement
Armand