back to England, and he praised his young
aide, declaring, “I do not think a better princi-
pled young man exists.” At that juncture, Gen-
eral Clinton, who had dropped Francis Raw-
don-Hastingsas his aide-de-camp, adopted
the young man into his own military family. In
short order, Clinton elevated him to assistant
adjutant general with the rank of major.
Andre accompanied Clinton on his successful
expedition against Charleston, South Car-
olina, in May 1780 and returned in the fall.
Clinton was so impressed by his intelligence
and dedication to detail that Andre next
gained appointment as the chief military intel-
ligence officer. He was 28 years old at the
time.
In his role as intelligence officer, Andre
was responsible for maintaining contact with
the network of English spies and Loyalist
sympathizers. However, since May 1779, he
had also conducted a clandestine correspon-
dence with American Gen. Benedict Arnold,
who was testing the waters for a possible de-
fection. Their connection was probably made
at the instigation of his former acquaintance
Peggy Shippen, still at Philadelphia and whom
Arnold had wed. Arnold had been growing
dissatisfied with his lack of recognition from
Congress, his financial problems, and charges
of financial impropriety leveled against him.
By September 1780 General Clinton was con-
vinced of Arnold’s sincerity to change sides,
and so he authorized Andre to schedule a
clandestine rendezvous. As a precaution, he
explicitly ordered his young charge to cross
into American lines under a flag of truce
wearing only a British uniform. If caught, this
would preclude any charges of espionage and
its concomitant death sentence. On Septem-
ber 20, 1780, Andre sailed up the Hudson
River aboard the sloop HMS Vulture, was
rowed ashore, and met with Arnold at Haver-
straw, New York. There the disgruntled Amer-
ican handed Andre detailed plans about the
defenses of West Point, a vitally important in-
stallation, with suggestions on how to capture
it. The young British officer then tried return-
ing to the Vultureon September 22, only to
discover the ship had moved downstream to
avoid cannonading by a nearby American bat-
tery. When his barge crew refused to row him
farther, Andre found himself marooned be-
hind enemy lines with incriminating corre-
spondence. He did, however, secure a safe-
conduct pass from Arnold under the name of
“John Anderson.”
Rather than be captured, Andre spent the
night with Joshua Smith, a Loyalist attorney,
and donned civilian attire—against orders. He
then saddled up and rode south, accompanied
by Smith, for British lines in the vicinity of
Tarrytown, New York. Andre had nearly
reached his destination when Smith departed,
and he rode on alone. His goal was in sight
when he suddenly stumbled upon three Amer-
ican militiamen, one of whom was wearing a
British uniform. Rather than display his pass,
Andre submitted to some intense questioning
and, being convinced that his captors were
actually Loyalists, announced his real identity.
The three men then arrested Andre, searched
him, and found Arnold’s secret documents in
his boots. Andre was then brought before the
local colonel who, being rather perplexed by
the whole affair, notified both Gen. George
Washington and General Arnold of his find.
Once informed, Arnold quickly bolted for
British lines and defected, just as Washington
arrived at his headquarters to question him
about it. Arnold subsequently found employ-
ment as a British brigadier general and con-
ducted several destructive raids. Andre’s
three captors, meanwhile, each received a sil-
ver medal and a pension from Congress for
their vigilance.
Meanwhile, the romantic tragedy sur-
rounding John Andre was approaching its
final act. On September 29, 1780, a military
tribunal of high-ranking Americans con-
vened at Tappan, New York, for the purpose
of trying young Andre on charges of espi-
onage. Anticipating his fate, the young offi-
cer calmly and coolly admitted his complic-
ity in the scheme and was found guilty. The
Americans were visibly taken by his candor,
yet Andre, in accordance with the statutes ofANDRE, JOHN