History: The Revolutionary tale of Maj. John André

By MAUREEN L. KOEHL

Our town saw no battle action during the War for Independence, nor were all residents supportive of the American cause in Lower Salem (as Lewisboro was called until 1806), but the town was a participant in one of the most important chapters of the war. This week marks the 245th anniversary of this event — the capture and imprisonment of the English spy Major John André, co-conspirator with Gen. Benedict Arnold, commandant of West Point, for the handover of the fort’s plans to the British. Had this operation been successful, it very likely would have led to control of the Hudson River and an American defeat.

From Sept. 24 to 25, 1780, André, alias John Anderson, was held prisoner in the Main Street home of Squire Jacob Gilbert. The house no longer stands, but a plaque in the stone wall on the site just east of Bouton Road recalls this event. Squire Gilbert’s house was the headquarters of Col. Elisha Sheldon, commander of the Second Continental Light Dragoons stationed in our town. 

The saga was apparently months in coming to its climax. Arnold, successful in the earlier battles of Lake Champlain and Saratoga, but not given the credit he thought he deserved, deeply in debt from unwise business decisions and discouraged at the slowness and little success of the war so far, had approached British Gen. Henry Clinton, stationed in New York, about a business deal for the plans of West Point. In September a scheme was put in place for adjutant general, André, using the name John Anderson, to meet with Arnold near his headquarters not far from the fort. On Sept. 20, 1780, André set sail from New York aboard the HMS Vulture north toward Long Cove on the west bank of the Hudson River where he was to meet the turncoat, Arnold. The meeting did not go particularly smoothly, but before dawn of the 21st, the deal was completed and André, aka Anderson, set off with an escort, Joshua Smith, back across the Hudson to Verplanck and south toward the British lines which at that time were on the Bronx-Westchester line.

Dressed in civilian clothes, which he had been warned by Clinton not to do, but encouraged by Arnold to change into, with the plans folded up in his boot, and a pass signed by Arnold, he proceeded toward Tarrytown and safety, or so he thought. 

At that time, the area between the British lines to the south and Peekskill on the north, was known as the “neutral ground,” a kind of open territory under neither side’s control and was often harassed and plundered by the Cowboys [Loyalists] and the Skinners [Patriots], groups of young ruffians who stole cattle from the farmers and looted merchants to profit from supplying their preferred combatants. This was the area John André/Anderson was traveling through on Sept. 23 when several miles from Tarrytown, he was stopped by three friends and former militiamen, David Williams, Issac Van Wart and John Paulding. The three were sitting by the roadside playing cards when they heard a horseman approaching. They stopped him and demanded identification. André, noticing a Hessian coat worn by Paulding, asked if they were from the “lower side” and said he was a traveler headed that way. The men then revealed that they were patriots and Williams began to search the stranger from head to toe … and it was in the toe of André’s boot that he found what looked to be rather important papers. At some point, André showed the pass from Arnold; the three decided this was an important individual and he should be brought to the nearest American post, which was in North Castle. André tried to bargain with offers of money and goods, but to no avail and he was brought to Col. John Jameson’s headquarters along with the incriminating papers. Plans were made to return André to Arnold’s headquarters and the plans and a letter were sent to Gen. George Washington who was on his way to meet with Arnold. 

When Maj. Benjamin Tallmadge of the Dragoons arrived at Jameson’s camp, he suspected something was fishy. A party was sent out to return André to them. It was decided to send André to Sheldon’s headquarters at Lower Salem to thwart any attempts at a British rescue. And that began our town’s important part in the war. Once at the Gilbert house, André was given clean clothes and allowed to wash up. It was then discovered by a barber untying his ponytail that his hair had been powdered, meaning that he was more than an ordinary traveler and most likely an officer. 

André was, as the saying goes, “an officer and a gentleman” with his captors and was liked by all who knew him during his short life. During his stay at the Gilbert House he wrote to Washington revealing who he was and asked, if he were to be condemned as a spy, that he be allowed to meet his death by firing squad as befits an officer, and not as a commoner by hanging. The fact that he was captured out of uniform made this request very difficult for Washington to grant. Although there were many letters and declarations of his noble and talented character, André was sentenced to the gibbet and was executed on Oct. 2, 1780, at Tappan, with a huge crowd of people watching as he walked toward his fate, learning as he approached, he was to be hanged, and it startled him. But he stepped to the platform, covered his eyes with a white handkerchief, and said, “… Bear witness that I met my fate as a brave man … and this will be but a momentary pang.”

André is buried in Westminster Abbey. He was 30 years old. [To be continued.]