Major John Andre Captured Near Tarrytown...

On this day (September 23rd, 1780), British Major John Andre was captured near Tarrytown, New York as he attempted to assist Benedict Arnold's attempted surrender of the fort at West Point, New York to the British...

In 1779 John André became adjutant-general of the British Army in America with the rank of Major. In April of that year he took charge of British secret intelligence. By the next year (1780) he had begun to plot with American General Benedict Arnold. Arnold's Loyalist wife, Peggy Shippen, was a close friend of André's. In fact, the two had courted in Philadelphia prior to Shippen's marriage to Arnold. She was one of the go-betweens in the correspondence. General Benedict Arnold, who commanded West Point, had agreed to surrender the post to the British for £20,000 (approximately $1.1 million in today's dollars). If successful, this traitorous move would have enabled the British to cut New England off from the rest of the rebellious colonies, possibly ensuring Britain's victory in the war; resulting in the squashing of the American Revolution.
André went up the Hudson River on the British sloop-of-war HMS Vulture on Wednesday, September 20th, 1780 to visit Arnold. The following night, Thursday the 21st, a small boat, furnished by Arnold, was steered to the Vulture by Joshua Hett Smith. At the oars were two brothers, tenants of Smith's, who reluctantly rowed the boat six miles on the river to the sloop. Despite Arnold's assurances the two oarsmen sensed something was wrong; and believed they'd be in danger. None of these men knew Arnold's purpose, or suspected his treason; as they had been told that the purpose was to do good for the patriot cause. Only Smith was told anything specific, and that was the lie that it was to secure vital intelligence for the American cause. The brothers finally agreed to row after threats by Arnold to arrest them. They picked up André, and placed him on shore. The others left and Arnold eventually came to André on horseback, leading an extra horse for André's use. The two men conferred in the woods below Stony Point until near dawn, after which Major André accompanied Arnold several miles to the Joshua Hett Smith House in West Haverstraw, New York. This house was owned by Thomas Smith and occupied by his brother Joshua. Soon thereafter, that morning, Friday the 22nd, American troops commanded by Col. James Livingston, guarding Verplanck's Point across the river, began firing on the Vulture, which received many hits and was forced to retire down river without André.
Next for Andre, he had to make it past the American lines, and back to his British supperiors with the correspondance from Arnold. To aid André's escape through the American lines, Arnold provided him with common clothes and a passport. He now traveled under the name John Anderson. Hidden in his stocking, he bore six papers written in Arnold's hand that showed the British how to take the fort. This was a foolish move since General Clinton already knew the fort's layout. Joshua Hett Smith, who was accompanying him as a travel companion and guide, left him just before he encountered the American patrol.
André rode on in safety until 9 a.m. on September 23rd, when he came near Tarrytown, New York,*where armed militiamen John Paulding, Isaac Van Wart and David Williams stopped him.
"Gentlemen," said André, who thought they were Tories because one was wearing a Hessian soldier's overcoat, "I hope you belong to our party." "What party?" asked one of the men. "The lower party," replied André, meaning the British. "We do," was the answer. André then informed them that he was indeed a British officer who must not be detained, when, to his surprise, the militiamen informed him that they were actually Americans, and that he was their prisoner. He then told them that he was an American officer, and showed them his passport. But the suspicions of his captors were now aroused. They searched him and found Arnold's papers in his stocking. Only Paulding could read them, and for some time, Arnold was not suspected. André offered them his horse and watch, if they would let him go, but they did not accept the bribe. André testified at his trial that the men searched his boots for the purpose of robbing him. Paulding however realized he was a spy and took him to Continental Army headquarters in Sands Hill.
Major Andre was at first detained at Sands Mill in Armonk, New York, before being taken to the headquarters of the American Army at Tappan, and was held at the tavern The Old '76 House. There he admitted who he really was. At first all went well for André since the post commandant Lt. Col. John Jameson decided to send him to General Arnold, never suspecting that a high-ranking hero of the Revolution such as Arnold could be a turncoat, but then Major Benjamin Tallmadge, head of Continental Army Intelligence, arrived and persuaded Jameson to bring the prisoner back. He had intelligence showing that a high-ranking officer was planning to defect to the British but was unaware of who it was. Curiously, though unwilling to believe Arnold could be guilty of treason, Jameson did have the six sheets of paper carried by Andre sent, not to Arnold, but to Gen. Washington. However, Jameson also insisted on sending a note to Arnold informing him of the entire situation. Jameson didn't want his army career to be wrecked later for having wrongly believed his general was a traitor. Arnold received Jameson's note while at breakfast with his officers, made an excuse to leave the room and was not seen again. The note gave Arnold time to escape to the British. An hour or so later, Washington arrived at West Point with his party and was disturbed to see the stronghold's fortifications in such bad apparent "neglect" (which of course was part of the plan to weaken West Point defenses); and was further irritated to find that Arnold had breached protocol by not being about to greet him. Some hours later, Washington received the explanatory information from Maj. Tallmadge and immediately sent men to arrest Arnold, but it was too late.
During his trial, André's defense was that he was suborning an enemy officer, "an advantage taken in war" (his words). However he never to his credit tried to pass the blame onto Arnold. André told the court that he had not desired to be behind enemy lines and had not planned it. He also noted that because he was a prisoner of war he had the right to escape in civilian clothes. On September 29th 1780 however, the board found André guilty of being behind American lines "under a feigned name and in a disguised habit" and ordered that "Major André, Adjutant-General to the British army, ought to be considered as a Spy from the enemy, and that agreeable to the law and usage of nations, it is their opinion, he ought to suffer death."
Sir Henry Clinton, the British commander in New York, did all he could to save André, his favourite aide, but refused to surrender Arnold in exchange for André even though he despised Arnold. André appealed to George Washington to be executed by firing squad, but by the rules of war he was hanged as a spy at Tappan on 2 October 1780.
Although Major John Andre (who was well liked by American Officers and soldiers alike) was tragically hanged for participating in Benedict Arnold's Traitorous scheme, his capture resulted in the foiling of Arnold's plans to give up West Point; most definatley saving the American cause from certain destruction...


British Major John Andre