WASHINGTON (AP) — An original letter written by George Washington that initiated a spy network during the Revolutionary War is going on display for a limited time at the International Spy Museum in Washington.

The museum says Washington’s letter, written on Feb. 4, 1777, launched the nation’s first spy network. While then-Gen. Washington was commander in chief of the Continental Army, he wrote to confidant Nathaniel Sackett, commissioning him to spy for his country as Washington’s “intelligence director.”