John André

Major John André was the British Army officer who ran Britain's intelligence operations in North America during the American War of Independence, and whose capture and execution became one of the most discussed episodes of the war. Born in London to Huguenot parents, he was cultivated, fluent in several languages, and a capable draughtsman and writer, which made him welcome in Philadelphia society during the British occupation. As adjutant general under Sir Henry Clinton he opened a secret correspondence with the American general Benedict Arnold, who commanded the fortifications at West Point on the Hudson and offered to surrender them. In September 1780 André travelled up the river aboard the sloop Vulture to meet Arnold in person and settle terms. A series of mishaps stranded him behind American lines: the Vulture was driven off by cannon fire, and André was obliged to return overland in civilian clothes carrying the plans of West Point concealed in his boot. Three militiamen stopped him near Tarrytown and found the papers. Arnold escaped to the British on hearing of the arrest; André did not. Because he had been taken out of uniform inside enemy lines, a board of officers convicted him as a spy rather than treating him as a prisoner of war, and he was hanged at Tappan on 2 October 1780. He asked to face a firing squad instead and was refused, which was widely thought harsh; Alexander Hamilton, who guarded him, argued for the soldier's death. His conduct at the end impressed his captors so deeply that his remains were reinterred in Westminster Abbey in 1821.

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