British military officer; born in
London in 1751; was the son of a Genevan, who was a merchant in
London.
After receiving an education at
Geneva, young
Andre returned, and entered a mercantile house in
London when he was eighteen years of age. He was a youth of great genius-painted well and wrote poetry with fluency.
His literary tastes brought to him the acquaintance of literary people.
Among these was the poetess,
Anna Seward.
of
Lichfield, to whose cousin,
Honora Sneyd,
Andre became warmly attached.
They were betrothed, but their youth caused a postponement of their nuptials, and
Andre entered the army and came to
America, in 1774, as lieutenant of the
Royal Fusileers.
With them, in
Canada, he was taken prisoner by
Montgomery, at
St. Johns (Nov. 2, 1775), and was sent to
Lancaster, Pa. In December, 1776, he was exchanged, and promoted to captain in the
British army.
He was appointed aide to
General Grey in the summer of 1777, and on the departure of that officer he was placed on the staff of
Sir Henry Clinton, by whom he was promoted (1780) to the rank of major, and appointed adjutant-general of the
British forces in
America.
His talents were appreciated, and wherever taste was to be displayed in any arrangements, the matter was left to
Andre.
He was the chief actor in promoting and arranging the Mischianza, and took a principal part in all private theatrical performances.
Sir Henry employed Him to carry on the correspondence with
Arnold respecting the
betrayal of his country.
Having held a personal interview with the traitor, he was returning to New York on horseback, when he was arrested, near
Tarrytown, conveyed to
Tappan, in Rockland county, nearly opposite, tried as a spy, and was condemned and executed, Oct. 2, 1780.
In March, 1901. Lord Grey, in examining a lot of family papers that had not been disturbed since the close of the
Revolutionary War, discovered what was believed to be the original diary of
Major Andre, in which is given a narrative of the campaign of 1777-78 day by day.
The story of
Major Andre‘s career, in connection with the complot of
Sir Henry Clinton and
Gen. Benedict Arnold
[
160]
(
qq.
v.), occupies a conspicuous place in our history, and sympathy for the offender, not unmixed with denunciations of the court of inquiry that condemned him, have been abundant, and not always wise or
just.
The court that condemned him saw clearly, by his own confession, that he deserved the fate of a spy; and if they had been swayed by other motives than those of justice and the promotion of the public good, they had full justification in the course of the
British officers in pursuit of the
British policy towards the
Americans.
Scores of good men, not guilty of any offence but love of country and defence of their rights, had been handed by the positive orders of Cornwallis in the
South; and
Sir Henry Clinton himself, who ungenerously attributed the act of the board of inquiry in condemning
Andre,, and of
Washington in approving the sentence, to “personal rancor.”
for which no cause existed, had approved of ten-fold more “inhumanity” in the acts of his suborninates.
One of them wrote to
Clinton, “I have ordered, in the most positive manner, that every militiaman who has borne arms with us, and afterwards joined the enemy, shall be immediately hanged” This included all officers and men, even those, as in South Crolina, where this subaltern was serving, who had been
forced into the royal service.
This order
Clinton approved, and sent it to
Secretary Germain.
That secretary answered
Clinton's letter, saying, “The most disaffected will now be convinced that we are note afraid to punish.”
The order was rigorously executed.
Men of great worth and purity were hanged, without the forms of a trial, for bearing arms in defence of their liberty;
Andre was hanged, after an impartial trial, for the crime of plotting and abetting a scheme for the enslavement of 3,000,000 people.
He deserved his fate according to the laws of war. It was just towards him and merciful to a nation.
Cicero justly said, in regard to Catiline, “Mercy towards a traitor is an injury to the state.”
Andre was treated with great consideration by
Washington, whose headquarters at
Tappan were near the place of his trial.
The commander-in-chief supplied the former
 |
The captors' medal. |
with all needed refreshments for his table.
Washington did not have a personal interview with
Andre, but treated him as leniently as the rules of war would allow.
The captors of
Major Andre were John
[
161]
Paulding,
David Williams, and
Isaac Van Wart.
Washington recommended Congress to reward them for their fidelity.
They were each presented with a silver medal, and they were voted a pension of $200 a year each in silver or its equivalent.
Monuments have been erected to the memory of the captors — to
Paulding, in St. Peter's church-yard, near
Peekskill; to
Van Wart, by the citizens of
Westchester county, in 1829, in the Presbyterian church-yard at
Greenburg, of which church the captor was an active officer and chorister for many years; and to
Williams,
in Schoharie county, N. Y.
The
King caused a monument to be placed in
Westminster Abbey to the memory of
Andre.
It seems to be quite out of place among the “worthies” of
England, for he was hanged as a spy, and was a plotter for the ruin of a people struggling for justice.
But his monarch honored him for an attempted state service, knighted his brother, and pensioned his family.
His
remains were at first interred at the place of his execution and in 1821 were exhumed and conveyed to
England.
A monument was erected at the place of his execution to commemorate the event by the late
Cyrus W. Field, but it was soon afterwards blown up by unknown persons.