John André

English military officer

• Born: May 2, 1750
• Birthplace: London, England
• Died: October 2, 1780
• Place of death: Tappan, New York

As an intelligence officer for the British during the American Revolution, André convinced American general Benedict Arnold to turn over the fortress of West Point to secure British victory in the war. However, André was captured while returning to British lines, and the conspiracy was discovered.

Early Life

Unlike most British officers of his era, John André came from humble origins. Although he was born in London, both of his parents had emigrated to England from the Continent. His Swiss father and French mother were Protestant Huguenots who left Europe in search of religious freedom. As a child, André was tutored near London. Later, he attended the University of Geneva, where he achieved a reputation as an excellent student specializing in mathematics and military drawing. As a young man, his aspirations were to be an artist and a poet. In 1769, his father, a successful merchant, died and left him a substantial sum of money. André took over his father’s business for a few months but soon tired of it. In 1771, he bought a commission as a second lieutenant in the British army and embarked on a military career.

André was tall, slender, and handsome; he looked younger than his years. Military life suited him, and he quickly rose through the ranks. As an officer, he continued to write and to sketch. These talents, in addition to being a creative outlet for André, endeared him to senior military officers who needed a reliable aide to monitor intelligence operations and provide effective reports. Bored with military drilling in England, André traveled to Germany. Within a few months, however, his regiment was ordered to Canada. André delayed making the trip, and when he did go, he took the long way, visiting Philadelphia and New York, eventually traveling up the Hudson River to his new station in Quebec. His arrival in the American colonies coincided with the onset of the Revolutionary War in April, 1775.

André was stationed at St. Johns on the Richelieu River north of Lake Champlain. Soon the Continental army, commanded jointly by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, began an invasion of Canada. On November 3, after a series of skirmishes, the British garrison at St. Johns surrendered to Continental army general Richard Montgomery. André was now a prisoner of war. The British prisoners were taken from Quebec to Pennsylvania. André was interned first in Lancaster and then in Carlisle. Eventually, he was returned to the British as part of a prisoner exchange and was reassigned to British headquarters in New York, under the command of General William Howe.

Life’s Work

In June, 1777, John André was promoted to major and named aide-de-camp for General Charles Grey. The military campaign took the army around New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. André participated in battles at Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, and Tappan, serving as Grey’s aide until November, 1778. During this time, he recorded the movements and operations of the British army. In 1777 and 1778, British troops occupied Philadelphia and spent the winter there. André lived in Benjamin Franklin’s house and soon became a figure in (Loyalist) Philadelphia society. He attended grand balls where his own plays and poetry were presented.

While in Philadelphia, André developed friendly relationships with several women, including a close one with the young and beautiful Margaret “Peggy” Shippen. André continued to correspond with Shippen after the British abandoned Philadelphia and returned to safety in New York. Following the Continental army’s reoccupation of the city, Shippen met and fell in love with the city’s new military commandant, Major General Benedict Arnold. She married Arnold in Philadelphia, and after George Washington gave Arnold the command of the defensive garrison at West Point on the Hudson River, the couple moved to upstate New York.

Back in the city of New York, Major André was promoted to the post of adjutant general of the British army now commanded by General Henry Clinton. Among André’s responsibilities was military intelligence. André would gather information on the American forces and seek out any American informers willing to sell information to the British. One of the Americans with whom André maintained contact was Arnold.

Early in the war, Arnold was a leader in important American campaigns, including the invasion of Canada and the decisive victory over the British at Saratoga. Arnold, however, was disappointed by promotion of junior officers and lived well above his means. With his salary as a Continental army officer, Arnold could not afford to keep himself and his wife in the luxurious lifestyle to which they had become accustomed. He had been accused of several crimes earlier in his career but was acquitted of all serious charges. André believed that Arnold would be willing to give the British important information even though this action would constitute treason. The two men maintained a lengthy correspondence from shortly after Arnold’s marriage to Shippen in 1779 to 1780. The two officers exchanged coded messages across enemy lines. Eventually, Arnold agreed to provide tactical information to the British.

For British protection and a military commission, Arnold needed to offer André and the British something valuable. The American fortress at West Point defended the Hudson River in New York and prevented the British from isolating New England from the rest of the American colonies. If the British could capture and hold West Point, the American rebellion could be suppressed quickly. Arnold would defect and surrender the garrison to André in exchange for British money and protection. Arnold gave André safe passage through the American lines using a false identity; André would pretend to be a New York merchant named John Anderson.

André sailed up the Hudson River on the British warship Vulture and planned for Arnold to meet him just south of the defenses at West Point. Arnold, however, sent a message that they should meet in a farmhouse a few miles from the river. This violated their earlier agreement; André did not wish to cross enemy lines or to be out of uniform. However, having come so far already, André agreed to the request. André and Arnold met alone late on the evening of September 21, 1780, talking through the night and over breakfast the next morning. André obtained maps of the fortress at West Point and the surrounding defenses, and Arnold explained how he had intentionally weakened its defenses to permit quick capture by a British assault. Their morning discussions, however, were interrupted by artillery barrage. The Vulture had come under attack and retreated down the river.

André and Arnold, who were both known for their resolve, panicked. Arnold returned immediately to West Point. André wore a civilian greatcoat to cover his British uniform, hid the plans for West Point in one of his boots, and traveled overland back to New York rather than returning to the Vulture as originally planned. Traveling alone as he neared the British lines, André encountered three Continental army irregulars at Tarrytown. Although he showed them a letter of safe passage signed by General Arnold, the three men became suspicious and subdued André. Searching his possessions, they found the plans to West Point and turned him over to army forces at nearby North Castle. The commanding officer sent messages both to West Point and to General Washington that a man called John Anderson had been captured holding secret plans for the fortress. Initially, André was sent back toward West Point, but he was recalled as Major Benjamin Tallmadge and other officers in the Washington camp realized that André was a British spy and Arnold was a traitor.

By coincidence, General Washington returned to West Point for an inspection the day after André was captured. Arnold received the message from North Castle during discussions with members of Washington’s personal staff. Realizing the plot would soon be uncovered, he made excuses and left. He immediately fled to the Vulture to escape capture. André, however, was not so lucky; he was again a prisoner of war. Washington reinforced West Point and issued orders to hold André as a spy.

An investigation followed André’s arrest, and he was taken to Mabie’s Tavern in Tappan, New York, for trial. André admitted his role in the conspiracy but refused to concede that he was anything other than a soldier performing his duty. The facts of the case—he wore civilian clothes, used a false identity, and held secret meetings with an American traitor—did not mesh with his statement that he was not a spy. André, adjutant general of the British army, was convicted of espionage. He had a number of supporters among the Continental army, including Tallmadge and Washington’s aide-de-camp, Alexander Hamilton. However, Washington rejected their pleas for clemency. The British had imposed capital punishment on Continental army soldiers accused as spies, including Nathan Hale. Justice in the new American republic would be dispensed in the same manner.

André received the death penalty for his crime. He wrote to Washington requesting that he be shot by a firing squad as an enemy soldier rather than taken to the gallows as a spy, but he received no reply from Washington. At noon on October 2, 1780, André was hanged. Continental army officers later admired the courage and composure that André maintained throughout his trial, his imprisonment, and his execution.

Significance

Major John André, adjutant general of the British army, failed in his plot to take control of West Point when he was captured and the plans he had received from General Benedict Arnold were discovered. After this incident, the British never seriously challenged the Continental army in the northern colonies. A year after André’s execution for espionage, the British would surrender. Americans would soon characterize Arnold as the terrible traitor and André as the honorable but unwitting victim in this tragedy. As George Washington later said of André, “He was more unfortunate than criminal: an accomplished man and a gallant officer.” A memorial to André was erected in Westminster Abbey in London, to which his remains were removed in 1821.

Bibliography

André, John. Major André’s Journal. 1904. Reprint. New York: Arno Press, 1968. André’s journal presents an eyewitness account of British military operations from June, 1777, to November, 1778. The manuscript was unknown for many years and discovered in a sealed box in England in 1902.

Brandt, Claire. The Man in the Mirror: A Life of Benedict Arnold. New York: Random House, 1994. A fine biography of the American conspirator that contains several chapters on his relationship with André. Includes a chronology, maps, and a comprehensive bibliography.

Decker, Malcolm. Ten Days of Infamy: An Illustrated Memoir of the Arnold-André Conspiracy. New York: Arno Press, 1969. A brief but informative history of André’s last days. Includes photographs, illustrations, foldout maps, a chronology, and a bibliography.

Flexner, James Thomas. The Traitor and the Spy: Benedict Arnold and John André. 1953. Reprint. Boston: Little, Brown, 1975. A readable and well-researched history that effectively contrasts the two major characters in the conspiracy. Includes illustrations, a comprehensive bibliography, and an index.

Hatch, Robert McConnell. Major John André: A Gallant in Spy’s Clothing. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1986. A fine biography of André that emphasizes the perspective of Benjamin Tallmadge. Includes a map, illustrations, an extensive bibliography, and an index.

Morpugo, J. E. Treason at West Point: The Arnold-André Conspiracy. New York: Mason/Charter, 1975. This sympathetic portrayal of the key players in the plot to surrender West Point speculates about their psychological motivations. Includes illustrations.

Randall, Willard Sterne. Benedict Arnold: Patriot and Traitor. New York: William Morrow, 1990. A lengthy biography of Arnold that contains several chapters on his relationship with André. Includes numerous illustrations and an extensive bibliography.

Smith, Joshua Hett. Narrative of the Causes Which Led to the Death of Major John André. 1808. Reprint. New York: Arno Press, 1969. The saga as told by the man who escorted André to the rendezvous with Arnold and part of the way back to British lines. Smith was later court-martialed as a spy but acquitted.

Walsh, John Evangelist. The Execution of Major André. New York: Palgrave, 2001. Recounts in narrative style the events leading to André’s capture and execution. In Walsh’s opinion, André was badly cast as a spy but agreed to help Arnold because of greed and a desire for prestige.