We have seen that Arnold, at his own earnest solicitation, had been appointed to the command of West Point in August, 1780. It was then known to Sir Henry Clinton that "Gustavus" was no other than General Arnold. Everything was ripe for the consummation of the plot; both parties were anxious for the end.

It was a gloomy hour in the history of the great struggle, aside from the contemplated act of foul treason. Charleston had fallen in May, and an American army there had been made prisoners. Gates had been defeated near Camden in August, and another American army dispersed. The South was in possession of the enemy; New Jersey was in nearly the same condition, and on Manhattan Island lay a strong army of veteran British soldiers. This was the moment sagaciously chosen by Arnold to strike a fatal blow at the liberties of his country.

At the close of August Arnold wrote to AndrÉ, in the usual disguise of commercial phrases, demanding a personal interview at an American outpost in Westchester County, the latter to come in the disguise of "John Anderson," a bearer of intelligence from New York. But AndrÉ was not disposed to enter the American lines in disguise. A meeting of AndrÉ and Beverly Robinson with General Arnold, at Dobb's Ferry, on the neutral ground, on September 11th, was arranged; but the interview was prevented by providential interposition—an interposition in favor of the American cause so conspicuously manifested in every stage of this conspiracy.

Washington had made arrangements for a conference, at Hartford, on the 20th of September, with the Count de Rochambeau, the commander of the French forces, then at Newport, Rhode Island, who had come to assist the Americans in their struggle. It was arranged between Arnold and AndrÉ that the surrender of West Point should take place during Washington's absence. A personal interview for the purpose of settling everything concerning the great transaction was absolutely necessary, and a meeting of the complotters was appointed to take place on the night of the 21st of September, on the west side of the Hudson, in a lonely spot not far from the hamlet of Haverstraw.

Beverly Robinson and a few others were sharers in the great secret; and there were vague rumors in the air that Major AndrÉ was engaged in an enterprise which, if successful, would end the war, and redound to his honor and secure him great renown—a baronetcy and a brigadiership, perhaps. It is said that Sir Henry Clinton promised these rewards to his adjutant-general. In confirmation of the truth of this assertion, an incident that occurred on the day when AndrÉ left New York to meet Arnold may here be cited.

On the 20th of September (1780) Colonel Williams, whose headquarters were in the Kip mansion, at Kip's Bay, foot of (present) Thirty-fourth Street, East River, gave a dinner-party to General Sir Henry Clinton and his staff. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and there were exuberant Tories around the banquet-table on that occasion. The spirits of Sir Henry were specially buoyant, for he was anticipating a great victory in the near future. His accomplished adjutant-general, Major AndrÉ, was with him.

When the band had ceased playing the favorite dinner air, "The Roast Beef of Old England," many toasts were drunk. At length Colonel Williams arose and said: "Sir Henry, our adjutant-general appears very dull this afternoon. We all know what a brave soldier, what a genial companion, what a charming song-bird he is; and yet music is, perhaps, the least among his accomplishments. I call upon the adjutant-general for a song." Colonel Williams then said, "Gentlemen, I offer the toast, 'Major John AndrÉ, our worthy adjutant-general, the brave soldier and accomplished gentleman.'"

The toast was greeted with great applause. Then AndrÉ arose and said: "Yes, Colonel Williams, I do feel rather serious this afternoon, and I can give no particular reason for it. I will sing, however, as you request me to." Then he sang, with great sweetness and much pathos, the old familiar camp-song, beginning—

"Why, soldiers, why,
Should we be melancholy, boys?
Why, soldiers, why,
Whose business 'tis to die!
For should next campaign
Send us to Him who made us, boys,
We're free from pain;
But should we remain,
A bottle and kind landlady
Makes all well again."

With a trembling and husky voice the usually gay young soldier thanked the company for the honor they had done him, when Sir Henry said: "A word in addition, gentlemen, if you please. The major leaves the city on duty to-night, which will most likely terminate in making plain John AndrÉ Sir John AndrÉ—for success must crown his efforts."

Major AndrÉ left the hilarious company with a countenance saddened by an indefinable presentiment of impending disaster, and departed on that fatal mission involved in his complot with General Arnold.

AndrÉ went up the Hudson that evening in the sloop-of-war Vulture, twenty-four, to have the arranged personal interview with Arnold. He was accompanied by Beverly Robinson. The vessel was anchored between Teller's (now Croton) Point and Verplanck's Point, and lay there all the next day. Arnold had agreed to send a boat to the Vulture to convey AndrÉ to the shore at the appointed time. For that service he had employed Joshua H. Smith, an intimate acquaintance and a gentleman farmer, at whose house Mrs. Arnold had been entertained a few days before, while on her way to join her husband at his headquarters. Smith's house is yet standing, upon an eminence known as Treason Hill, between Stony Point and Haverstraw. It overlooks a picturesque region, with Haverstraw Bay in the foreground.

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The Smith House.

The place appointed for the meeting of the conspirators was at a lonely spot in a thicket at the foot of Torn Mountain, near the west shore of the Hudson, about two miles below Haverstraw. It was outside the American lines. Smith appeared in a small boat, with two stout oarsmen, at the side of the Vulture at midnight. AndrÉ was ready to accompany him. He covered his scarlet uniform with a long blue surtout. Clinton had instructed him to have nothing to do with papers of any kind, and he went ashore empty-handed.

It was a little past midnight when AndrÉ was landed on the beach at the mouth of a little creek. He was conducted by Smith to Arnold's place of concealment, and there in the dimmed starlight these notable conspirators, who had long communed through mysterious epistles, met face to face for the first time. At Arnold's request, Smith went back to his boat to await the return of AndrÉ, who was to be conveyed again to the Vulture before daybreak.

The interview was long protracted. It was not ended when the eastern horizon began to kindle with the dawn. Both men were anxious to complete the business at that time. Arnold had two horses with him, one of them ridden by his servant. He now proposed that AndrÉ should mount his servant's horse and ride with him to Smith's house and there complete the arrangement. The major reluctantly consented to do so, with the understanding that he was to be conveyed to the Vulture as soon as possible.

As the two horsemen approached the little hamlet of Haverstraw they were challenged by a sentinel. AndrÉ was alarmed. He was, unwittingly, within the American lines; but he had gone too far, however, to recede, and they rode on together to Smith's house. By ten o'clock they had finished their business, when Arnold, after handing AndrÉ some papers containing all needed information concerning the post to be surrendered, departed in his barge for West Point.

It had been arranged that Sir Henry Clinton should ascend the Hudson with a strong force on the 25th, and attack the important post; and Arnold, after making a show of resistance, should surrender it, with all the men and munitions of war, on the plea of the weakness of the garrison. A part of the plan was the seizure of Washington, who was to return on the 27th. For this service the traitor was to receive from the king the commission of brigadier-general in the royal army, and fifty thousand dollars in gold. The surrender was not effected, but Arnold received the commission, and nearly forty thousand dollars in gold.

When the conspirators arrived at Smith's house at sunrise, AndrÉ was alarmed at the disappearance of the Vulture. She had been cannonaded from Verplanck's Point, and compelled to drop down the river.

Just after the departure of Arnold, the Vulture reappeared at her anchorage of the night before. AndrÉ urged Smith to take him to the sloop immediately, but he declined, giving various reasons for his conduct. He was really afraid to perform the service, and the British adjutant-general was kept in a state of great anxiety on Treason Hill until evening. Arnold had intimated that the major might be compelled to cross the river and return to New York by land. To provide for any contingency, he furnished passports, one to secure to AndrÉ a safeguard through the American posts to the neutral ground, and another to secure such safety in passing down the river in a boat to Dobb's Ferry.

Smith decided that AndrÉ must return by land. He tried to procure an American uniform for the major's disguise, but could not, and his guest was compelled to accept an old purple or crimson coat, trimmed with threadbare gold lace, and a tarnished beaver hat belonging to Smith. The rest of his suit was his military undress, nankeen small-clothes, and white-topped boots. His long surtout with a cape covered all.

In violation of Clinton's positive orders, AndrÉ took away the papers which Arnold had given him. These he concealed in his stockings beneath his feet. So equipped, and bearing Arnold's passports, AndrÉ mounted a black horse which the American general had provided for his use, and at twilight, accompanied by Smith and his negro servant, he crossed the river at the King's Ferry, went safely through the American works at Verplanck's Point, and reluctantly spent the night at a farm-house below the Croton River, within the American lines. The travelers slept together. It was a weary and restless night for AndrÉ. They arose early and rode on some distance together. After breakfast they parted company at Pine's bridge, AndrÉ pushing on within the neutral ground. He was induced to leave the road leading to the White Plains, which he had been directed to take, and, turning westward at Chappaqua, he followed another road nearer the river, which led him to Tarrytown. This was a fatal mistake.

The neutral ground, extending from King's Bridge nearly to the Croton River, was swarming with Tories. It was the region of great manors, whose owners were loyalists, and their retainers were their political followers. It was a most uncomfortable dwelling-place for the comparatively few Whig inhabitants. It was infested with gangs of marauders, who were called "cow-boys." They were constantly stealing the cattle of the Whigs and driving them off to the British army in New York. The patriotic inhabitants, especially the young men, armed themselves in defense of their property.

On the morning of Friday, the 23d of September (1780), seven young men, farmers and neighbors—John Paulding, Isaac Van Wart, David Williams, John Yerks and three others—were out on a scout together. They seem to have been a sort of guerrillas, acting independently in intercepting marauders and arresting suspicious-looking travelers. Paulding had been a prisoner in New York a short time before, and had escaped in the disguise of a Hessian coat which a friend had procured for him. This coat he now wore.

Three of the four young men above named were playing cards in a thicket near the highway, half a mile from Tarrytown, at about nine o'clock in the morning, when a well-dressed horseman approached on a black steed. He was a stranger, and the young men concluded to stop him and inquire about his errand. Paulding, who was the leader of the little band, stepped out of the bushes with his musket, and ordered the traveler to halt and give an account of himself. Seeing Paulding with a British military coat on, and knowing that he was far below the American lines and nearer those of the British, the horseman said to the three young scouts:

"My lads, I hope you belong to our party."

"What party?" asked Paulding.

"The lower party—the British."

"We do," said Paulding.

Completely thrown off his guard, the traveler exclaimed with much animation: "Thank God, I am once more among friends! I am a British officer, out in the country on particular business, and hope you will not detain me a minute."

"We are Americans," said Paulding, seizing the bridle of the horse, "and you are our prisoner."

The traveler was shocked, but, assuming composure, he said, "I must do anything to get along," and with apparent unconcern he pulled from his pocket Arnold's passport, which read:

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Arnold's Passport

The suspicions of the young men were now thoroughly aroused. Making the traveler dismount, they searched every part of his clothing, but found nothing of importance.

"Try his boots," said Van Wart.

They compelled him to sit upon a log by the road-side, and, pulling off his boots, they discovered, by the bagging of his stocking-feet, several papers. These Paulding, the only one of the young men who could read, glanced over and exclaimed:

"My God! he is a spy!"

Major John AndrÉ, adjutant-general of the British army, was their prisoner, but they did not know it. They believed that he was a British officer, as he himself at first announced. They questioned him closely about the papers in his boots, but he became very reticent. He offered them large bribes to induce them to let him pass. He offered them his gold watch. They refused. "I will give you a hundred guineas and any amount of dry goods," he said. They refused. "I will give you a thousand guineas," he said, "and you can hold me as a hostage till one of your number return with the money."

"We would not let you go for ten thousand guineas!" said Paulding, in a loud voice. That decision settled the fate of AndrÉ.

The prisoner then requested his captors to take him to the nearest American post, and ask him no more questions. They complied. He was seated on his horse, which one of them alternately led, while the others marched alongside as guards.

Such was the story of AndrÉ's capture, as related by the three young men. Major AndrÉ declared that the sole object of the captors in arresting him was evidently plunder; that they searched every part of him, even his saddle and his boots, for gold; and that, if he had possessed sufficient in specie (he had only some Continental bills), he might have easily persuaded them to let him go. But the preponderance of contemporary testimony is in favor of the captors' story. Washington wrote to Congress:

"Their conduct merits our warmest esteem, and I beg leave to add that I think the public would do well to grant them a handsome gratuity. They have prevented, in all probability, our suffering one of the severest strokes that could have been meditated against us."

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John Paulding
(From a Miniature in possession of the late James K. Paulding.)

Congress complimented the captors on their fidelity and patriotism by a resolution of thanks, ordered that an annuity of two hundred dollars in specie should be paid to each out of the public treasury, and directed the Board of War to have a silver medal of appropriate design struck and given to each. These medals Washington presented to the captors in person. Tradition tells us that AndrÉ would undoubtedly have been released but for the strong will and patriotic impulses of John Paulding, then only twenty-two years of age.

AndrÉ was delivered to Lieutenant-Colonel Jameson, then in command of Sheldon's dragoons and a few Connecticut militia at North Salem. That honest officer believed the captive to be what Arnold's passport proclaimed him, simply "John Anderson," on public business by direction of his general, and treated him very kindly as such. The prisoner requested Jameson to inform Arnold that John Anderson was a captive, in his custody. The honest, unsuspicious Jameson complied. He wrote to Arnold to this effect, explaining how Anderson came to be a prisoner, and concluded that the simplest way in the matter would be to send the captive to Arnold with the letter! He detailed Lieutenant Allen and four of the militia to take both to headquarters, and at the same time sent the papers found in AndrÉ's boot by express to Washington, who was then on his way from Hartford.

AndrÉ was delighted by the turn affairs had taken, for now there appeared a way of escape for both Arnold and himself. The escort with the prisoner were some distance on their way, when Major Benjamin Tallmadge, a vigilant and active officer of the dragoons, returned to Jameson's quarters after a brief absence. Learning all about the capture and the nature of the papers found on the prisoner, he at once pronounced him a spy and Arnold a traitor. He persuaded Jameson to order the return of the prisoner, agreeing to bear all blame himself for the act. The captive was brought back, but, unfortunately, Allen proceeded alone with Jameson's letter to Arnold.

AndrÉ was committed to the care of Lieutenant King, of the dragoons, who was convinced, by the prisoner's manner and other tokens, that he was no ordinary man. Finally, the captive requested King to walk with him in a large yard attached to the house in which they were, when the prisoner said, "I must make a confidant of somebody, and I know not a more proper person than yourself, you have treated me so kindly." He then made a full confession of his rank, and gave a brief narrative of his career in America since his capture at St. Johns. Procuring writing materials, he wrote the following letter to Washington: