Overview
John André was a British officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War and was involved in Arnold’s Treason — a plot devised by Benedict Arnold to turn over West Point to the British. In 1774, André was sent to serve in Canada, where he was captured by American forces on November 2, 1775, during the Siege of Fort St. John, an early battle fought during the American Invasion of Quebec. He spent a year on parole in Pennsylvania and rejoined the British Army for the Philadelphia Campaign. He participated in the Battle of Brandywine, the Paoli Massacre, and the Battle of Germantown. When the British withdrew from Philadelphia, he fought at the Battle of Monmouth. Afterward, he became the aide to General Henry Clinton and operated in New York and Philadelphia. While in Philadelphia, he courted a young woman, Peggy Shippen, who married Benedict Arnold. Soon after, Arnold approached the British with his scheme to help them take control of West Point. André served as the messenger between Arnold and General Clinton. On September 21, 1780, André met with Arnold, and Arnold gave him confidential documents, including a map of West Point. André intended to return to General Clinton and give him the documents. However, as André, in disguise, tried to return to the British lines, he was stopped by three men from the New York militia. They searched him, found the documents, and arrested him. General George Washington was notified, and André was imprisoned and faced a military court on spying charges. The court, which was made up of 14 officers from the Continental Army, recommended André be hanged. Washington offered him to the British in a prisoner exchange, but the British refused. André was hanged on the morning of October 2, 1780, at Tappan, New York.
Essential Facts
- John André was born on May 2, 1751, in London, England.
- He served under General Charles Grey before transferring to General Henry Clinton.
- André managed the British intelligence network in New York.
- He negotiated with Benedict Arnold for the surrender of West Point.
- André was captured on September 23, 1780.
- He admitted to his spy mission during his court martial on September 29, 1780.
- André was sentenced to hang and was executed on October 2, 1780, in Tappan, New York.
- André was often romanticized after the war as a symbol of loyalty to Great Britain.
Key Details
- During his time in Philadelphia and New York, André was well known and was involved in the arts. He was an artist, singer, and poet. He also spoke several languages fluently. He was also a prolific writer and kept a detailed journal of his experiences during the American Revolutionary War. He lived in Philadelphia for nine months in the house of Benjamin Franklin.
- Arnold first approached André about West Point on May 10, 1779. Arnold intended to become the Commandant of West Point, and he offered it to the British for a fee. However, the two sides could not agree on the fee for quite some time. If the British had been able to take West Point, it would have helped them control the Hudson Valley and New England.
- On the night of September 21, the British sloop Vulture dropped him off to meet with Arnold. André spent the rest of the night at Joshua Hett Smith’s home. However, American ships spotted the Vulture and fired on it, forcing it to leave.
- Four years before André was captured, an American, Nathan Hale, had been captured by the British, treated poorly, and hanged for spying, which outraged the Americans. Just before he was executed, legend has it Hale said, “I regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”
- When André was captured, he was delivered to Major Benjamin Tallmadge, who had been a close friend to Hale. André asked Tallmadge how he thought Washington would treat him. Tallmadge told him to expect the same treatment — and outcome — as Hale.
Significance
John André is important to American History because of his involvement in Arnold’s Treason and his link to Nathan Hale. André also served as the head of British intelligence in New York City for a short time during the war.
History
John André was born in London to Huguenot parents. He was known as a talented, educated, and sophisticated officer with a strong interest in the arts. André spoke French, German, and English fluently.
Early Life
John André was the son of Antoine André, a merchant from Genoa, and Marie Louise Girardot. They were Huguenots who left the Continent and settled in London.
- André was educated at home and then attended St. Paul’s School before attending school in Geneva.
- Afterward, he joined his father’s business.
- Purchased a Lieutenant’s commission in the 23rd Regiment in early 1771 after his fiancée ended their engagement.
- He took a brief leave in 1772 to study mathematics in Göttingen.
Early Service in North America
André arrived in the American colonies in 1774 and was stationed at Quebec, where he saw the divide between Great Britain and the American Colonies grow.
- He was a Lieutenant in the 7th Regiment.
- André was captured at Fort St. Johns on November 2, 1775, by the Continental Army during the Invasion of Quebec (1775).
- He remained a prisoner of war and was on parole in Pennsylvania until late 1776, when he was exchanged.
- In 1776, he was promoted to the rank of Captain in the 26th Regiment.
Philadelphia Campaign
André participated in the Philadelphia Campaign (1777–1778) that captured Philadelphia in 1777. He served on the staff of General Charles Grey as an aide-de-camp.
- André participated in the Battle of Brandywine (September 11, 1777), the Battle of Paoli (September 21, 1777), and the Battle of Germantown (October 4, 1777).
- During the British Occupation of Philadelphia, he organized events and entertainment for officers and Loyalists.
- During this time, André met and courted Peggy Shippen, the daughter of a wealthy merchant, who later married Benedict Arnold.
- While the British occupied the city, American forces endured the harsh Winter at Valley Forge (1777–1778).
- The British abandoned Philadelphia in 1778 and returned to New York.
- He fought in the Battle of Monmouth (June 28, 1778).
New York
When General Grey returned to Britain, André transferred to General Henry Clinton’s staff.
- He participated in raids along the Connecticut coast in September 1779.
- On October 23, 1779, he became Clinton’s Adjutant General.
- André continued organizing entertainment and was known for his theatrical productions in New York City.
- He quickly became General Clinton’s most trusted officer and was responsible for many daily duties in the staff office.
- André accompanied Clinton during the successful Siege of Charleston (April–May, 1780).
- When they returned to New York City, Clinton assigned André to manage the British army’s intelligence network.
- It was in this role that André was tasked with meeting Benedict Arnold.
Treason of Benedict Arnold
André opened negotiations with Arnold to surrender the American installation at West Point, New York. With Clinton’s permission, he traveled across Continental lines to meet Arnold on September 21, 1780.
- Arnold gave André confidential papers and a pass, allowing him safe passage across Continental Army lines.
- During the meeting, André’s transport, the Vulture, was fired on and forced to flee, abandoning him.
- He hid during the day, hoping to return to British lines the next night.
- André changed from his uniform to civilian clothes and wore an overcoat to conceal his uniform.
- He hid the documents Arnold had given him in his boot.
- André did this, knowing that if he were captured, he would be accused of being a spy.
Capture
On September 23, André encountered three militia men near Tarrytown, New York. André did not show them his pass and told them he was a British officer because he thought they were Loyalists.
- They found the documents in his boot, and he tried to bribe them into letting him go.
- The men refused and took him to a command post.
- Unaware of Arnold’s plot, the commanding officer, Colonel John Jameson, intended to turn him over to Arnold at West Point.
- Jameson sent André to West Point, but Benjamin Tallmadge convinced Jameson to bring him back.
- Upon hearing of André’s capture, Arnold fled West Point to join the British.
- André was taken to Washington’s headquarters at Tappan, New York, on September 25.
Trial and Execution
General Washington ordered a Board of Inquiry to examine the evidence and try André. The board convened on September 29, 1780. The board was made up of 14 officers. General Nathanael Greene presided over the trial. Some of the prominent members were:
André argued he had been behind the American line under a flag of truce and should be allowed to return to the British line. However, he had been in disguise and using an assumed name. Although some members of the board felt that he conducted himself with honor during the proceedings, he was convicted as a spy and sentenced to death.
- On October 1, General Clinton sought to exchange André for an officer..
- Washington insisted he would only exchange André for Benedict Arnold, but Clinton declined.
André requested to die by firing squad, which he considered to be more admirable. Washington denied the request. His last words were, “…bear me witness that I meet my fate as a brave man.”
After the incident was over, Alexander Hamilton wrote a letter to John Laurens providing a detailed account of the André Spy Affair and expressing regret at André’s fate.
- Washington denied André’s request, believing that if he were executed by firing squad, it would mean he was a soldier on a mission and not a spy.
- After the war, some Americans romanticized André for his loyalty, comparing him to Arnold, who was despised for his treason.
André was buried on the hill where he was hanged. His remains were removed and taken to Westminster Abbey in 1821, where they were reinterred.
Biography
AHC Note — This biography of John André is from the Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. 1, published between 1885 and 1900.
ANDRÉ, JOHN (1751–1780), major in the British army, was the son of a Genevese merchant settled in London. He received his education at Geneva, and upon his return to England, became intimately connected with Miss Seward and her literary coterie at Lichfield, where he conceived an attachment for Honora Sneyd, subsequently the second wife of Richard Lovell Edgeworth.
His relinquishment of mercantile for military pursuits has been attributed to the disappointment of his passion for this lady, whose marriage, however, did not take place until two years after the date of his commission, 4 March 1771.
He joined the British army in America and in 1775 was taken prisoner at St. John’s. Upon his release, he became successively aide-de-camp to General Grey and to Sir Henry Clinton, who entertained so high an opinion of him as to make him adjutant-general, notwithstanding his youth and the short period of his service.
This position unhappily brought him into connection with Benedict Arnold, who was plotting the betrayal of West Point to the British. As Clinton’s chief confidant, André was entrusted with the management of the correspondence with Arnold, which was disguised under the guise of a mercantile transaction, Arnold signing himself “Gustavus” and André adopting the name of “John Anderson.”
When the negotiations were sufficiently advanced (20 Sept. 1780), André proceeded up the Hudson River in the British sloop Vulture to hold a personal interview with Arnold. To avoid treatment as a spy, he wore his uniform and professed to be aiming at an arrangement with respect to the sequestrated property of Colonel Beverley Robinson, an American loyalist.
His letter to Arnold on the subject having been shown by the latter to Washington, the American generalissimo so strongly protested against any interview that Arnold was compelled to resort to a secret meeting, which took place on the night of 21 Sept.
Arnold then delivered to André full particulars respecting the defenses of West Point and concerted with him the attack which the British were to make within a few days. Meanwhile, the Vulture had been compelled by the fire of the American outposts to drop further down the river, and André’s boatmen refused to row him back.
He spent the day at the farmhouse of Joshua Smith, a tool, but probably not an accomplice, of Arnold’s, and had no alternative but to disguise himself as a civilian, which, as he was within the American lines, brought him within the reach of military law as a spy.
He started the following morning with a pass in the name of “Anderson” signed by Arnold and under the guidance of Smith, who only left him when he seemed past all danger. By nine on the morning of the 23rd, he was actually in sight of the British lines when he was seized by three American militiamen on the lookout for stragglers.
Had he produced Arnold’s pass, he would have been allowed to proceed, but he unfortunately asked his captors whether they were British and, misunderstanding their reply, disclosed his character. He was immediately searched, and the compromising papers were found in his boots.
Refusing the large bribes he offered for his release, the militiamen carried him before Colonel John Jameson, the commander of the outposts, who had actually sent him with the papers to Arnold, when, at the instance of Captain Tallmadge, André was fetched back and the documents forwarded to Washington.
Jameson, however, reported his capture to Arnold, and the news came just in time to enable the latter to escape to the British lines.
André acknowledged his name and the character of his mission in a letter addressed to Washington on 24 Sept., in which he declared: “Against my stipulation, my intention, and without my knowledge beforehand, I was conducted within one of your posts.”
On 29 Sept., he was brought before a military board convoked by Washington, which included Lafayette and other distinguished officers. The board found, as it could not possibly avoid finding, that André had acted in the character of a spy. He was, therefore, sentenced to execution by hanging.
Every possible effort was ineffectually made by the British commander to save him, short of delivering up Arnold, which, of course, could not be contemplated.
Washington has been unreasonably censured for not having granted him a more honourable death. To have done so would have implied a doubt as to the justice of his conviction.
André was executed on 2 Oct., meeting his fate with a serenity which extorted the warmest admiration of the American officers, to whom, even during the short period of his captivity, he had greatly endeared himself.
A sadder tragedy was never enacted, but it was inevitable, and no reproach rests upon any person concerned except Arnold. Washington and André, indeed, deserve equal honour: André for having accepted a terrible risk for his country and borne the consequences of failure with unshrinking courage, and Washington for having performed his duty to his own country at a great sacrifice of his feelings.
André’s countrymen made haste to do him honor. The British army went into mourning for him. A monument was erected to his memory in Westminster Abbey, and in 1821, his remains were transferred to the spot. His early friend Miss Seward published a monody on his fate, not devoid of poetical merit, and containing some valuable biographical particulars in the notes.
To the charm of his character and manners, there is a unanimous testimony, confirmed by every recorded trait and everything we have from his pen. His military promise must have been great to have justified such rapid promotion. He possessed considerable literary ability: the style of his letters is exceedingly good, and he left a satirical poem, “The Cow Chace” (New York, 1780), in which the marauding exploits of the American general Anthony Wayne are ridiculed with much spirit.
A pen-and-ink portrait by himself, sketched on the morning originally appointed for his execution, attests both his talent as an artist and his firmness of mind.
It is engraved in Jared Sparks’s Life of Arnold and in Andreana, in which collection there are three other portraits. The original of the sketch is at Yale College.
Appendix
Eyewitness Account of John Andre’s Execution
James Thacher, a surgeon in the Continental Army, wrote this account of André’s execution:
October 2d. — Major André is no more among the living. I have just witnessed his exit. It was a tragical scene of the deepest interest. During his confinement and trial, he exhibited those proud and elevated sensibilities which designate greatness and dignity of mind.
Not a murmur or a sigh ever escaped him, and the civilities and attentions bestowed on him were politely acknowledged. Having left a mother and two sisters in England, he was heard to mention them in terms of the tenderest affection, and in his letter to Sir Henry Clinton, he recommended them to his particular attention.
The principal guard officer, who was constantly in the room with the prisoner, relates that when the hour of execution was announced to him in the morning, he received it without emotion, and while all present were affected with silent gloom, he retained a firm countenance, with calmness and composure of mind. Observing his servant enter the room in tears, he exclaimed, “Leave me till you can show yourself more manly!”
His breakfast being sent to him from the table of General Washington, which had been done every day of his confinement, he partook of it as usual, and having shaved and dressed himself, he placed his hat upon the table, and cheerfully said to the guard officers, “I am ready at any moment, gentlemen, to wait on you.”
The fatal hour having arrived, a large detachment of troops was paraded, and an immense concourse of people assembled; almost all our general and field officers, excepting his excellency and staff, were present on horseback; melancholy and gloom pervaded all ranks, and the scene was affectingly awful. I was so near during the solemn march to the fatal spot, as to observe every movement, and participate in every emotion which the melancholy scene was calculated to produce.
Major André walked from the stone house, in which he had been confined, between two of our subaltern officers, arm in arm; the eyes of the immense multitude were fixed on him, who, rising superior to the fears of death, appeared as if conscious of the dignified deportment which he displayed. He betrayed no want of fortitude, but retained a complacent smile on his countenance, and politely bowed to several gentlemen whom he knew, which was respectfully returned.
It was his earnest desire to be shot, as being the mode of death most conformable to the feelings of a military man, and he had indulged the hope that his request would be granted. At the moment, therefore, when suddenly he came in view of the gallows, he involuntarily started backward, and made a pause.
“Why this emotion, sir?” said an officer by his side. Instantly recovering his composure, he said, “I am reconciled to my death, but I detest the mode.”
While waiting and standing near the gallows, I observed some degree of trepidation; placing his foot on a stone, and rolling it over and choking in his throat, as if attempting to swallow. So soon, however, as he perceived that things were in readiness, he stepped quickly into the wagon, and at this moment he appeared to shrink, but instantly elevating his head with firmness he said, “It will be but a momentary pang,” and taking from his pocket two white handkerchiefs, the provost-marshal, with one, loosely pinioned his arms, and with the other, the victim, after taking off his hat and stock, bandaged his own eyes with perfect firmness, which melted the hearts and moistened the cheeks, not only of his servant, but of the throng of spectators.
The rope being appended to the gallows, he slipped the noose over his head and adjusted it to his neck, without the assistance of the awkward executioner. Colonel Scammel now informed him that he had an opportunity to speak, if he desired it; he raised the handkerchief from his eyes, and said, “I pray you to bear me witness that I meet my fate like a brave man.”
The wagon being now removed from under him, he was suspended, and instantly expired; it proved indeed “but a momentary pang.” He was dressed in his royal regimentals and boots, and his remains, in the same dress, were placed in an ordinary coffin, and interred at the foot of the gallows; and the spot was consecrated by the tears of thousands…
