Washington lodged at Fishkill, eighteen miles from West Point, on the night of September 24th, and early the next morning (the day appointed for Clinton to ascend the river and receive the surrender of the post in the Highlands) he and his companions reached the vicinity of Arnold's quarters, where they intended to breakfast. He and two or three officers turned aside to inspect a redoubt, while Lafayette, Hamilton, and other young officers, rode forward with a message from their chief to Mrs. Arnold, bidding her not to delay breakfast on his account.

While these officers were at table with Arnold and his wife, a courier arrived with a letter to the general. It was Jameson's letter, brought by Allen, telling Arnold of the arrest of "John Anderson," and the sending of the papers found in his boots to Washington. Arnold glanced at the letter, sat a few minutes in general conversation, and then asked to be excused. His wife perceived anxiety in his countenance, and, leaving the table, followed him out of the room. He commanded Allen not to mention that he had brought a letter from Jameson; ordered a horse to be saddled and brought to the door immediately, and ascending to his wife's chamber, to which she had retired, he told her in a few hurried words of his perilous situation, and that his life depended upon his instant flight and reaching the British lines in safety.

This awful message smote the young wife and mother fearfully. She screamed and fell at his feet in a swoon. He had not a moment to lose. Leaving her in the care of her maid, he kissed their sleeping babe and hurried to the breakfast-room. Telling the guests that his wife had been taken ill suddenly, and that he was called in haste over to West Point and would return presently, he mounted the horse at the door, dashed down the bridle-path to the river half a mile distant, snatched his pistols from the holsters as he dismounted, and, summoning the crew of his barge, he entered it and ordered them to pull into the middle of the stream and row swiftly down the river, for he bore a flag to the Vulture, and must return soon to meet General Washington.

Arnold sat in the prow of his barge. When they came in sight of the Vulture he raised a white handkerchief upon a walking-stick. They soon reached the vessel. Arnold ascended to her deck, where he met Colonel Robinson, and briefly related to him the unhappy state of affairs. He tried, in vain, to lure the crew of his barge into the king's service. "If General Arnold likes the King of England, let him serve him; we love our country, and mean to live or die in support of her cause," indignantly exclaimed James Larvey, the coxswain. "So will we," said his companions. They were sent on shore at Teller's Point by the same flag. Arnold sent a letter to Washington, covering one to his wife. He assured the commander-in-chief that his wife was innocent of all knowledge of his act, and entreated him to extend his protection to her and her child. He also exonerated his military family from all participation in his designs.

By the same flag Colonel Robinson wrote to Washington, asserting that, under the circumstances which led to AndrÉ's arrest, he could not detain him without "the greatest violation of flags and contrary to the usage of all nations"; and, assuming that the American commander would see the matter in the same light, he desired that he would order Major AndrÉ to be "set at liberty, and allowed to return immediately."

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The Robinson House.—(From a Sketch by the Author in 1849.)

The Vulture returned to New York the same evening, and early the next morning Arnold conveyed to General Clinton the first intelligence of the capture of Major AndrÉ. Let us go back to Arnold's quarters at Robinson's house, in the Highlands.

Washington arrived at Arnold's quarters an hour after the traitor's flight. Informed of the illness of Mrs. Arnold, and that her husband had gone over to West Point, the chief took a hurried breakfast and proceeded thither with all his staff, excepting Colonel Hamilton. As they touched the west shore of the river they were surprised at not receiving the usual cannon-salute.

"Is not General Arnold here?" Washington asked Colonel Lamb.

"No, sir," Lamb replied; "he has not been here for two days, nor have I heard from him in that time."

Meanwhile Hamilton, as Washington's private secretary, had received and examined the papers taken from AndrÉ's stocking; also the letters of Jameson, and that of the prisoner to Washington revealing the conspiracy. Hamilton immediately sought his chief. He met him on his way up from the river, and told him of his discovery of Arnold's treason and of his flight to the Vulture. Men were dispatched to Verplanck's Point to intercept him, but they arrived too late. An order was sent to Colonel Jameson to forward AndrÉ to West Point immediately. He said to Lafayette and Knox, sadly:

"Arnold is a traitor! Whom can we trust now?" The whole plot was revealed, and the danger impending over the post was made manifest.

Yet Washington gave no outward sign of excitement. He sent couriers in all directions with orders for the strengthening of every redoubt, and ordered Greene to put the army at Tappaan in readiness to move toward West Point at a moment's warning. But it was soon evident that the danger was overpast. Informed of Mrs. Arnold's sad condition, he said to one of his aides, "Go to her and inform her that, though my duty required that no means should be neglected to arrest General Arnold, I have great pleasure in acquainting her that he is now safe on board a British vessel of war."

AndrÉ was brought to the Robinson house early on the 26th (September, 1780). He had been aroused from slumber at midnight to begin a dreary journey in a falling rain, under a strong escort led by Lieutenant King. On the way they were joined by Major Tallmadge and one or two other officers. Tallmadge was made the special custodian of the prisoner from that time until his execution; and on the evening of the 26th AndrÉ was conveyed to West Point.

General Greene was in chief command of the American army during Washington's absence. Its headquarters were at Tappaan (usually called Orangetown), a short distance from the west shore of the Hudson. Washington sent secret orders to Greene to receive the prisoner.

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"The '76 Stone House."

On the morning of the 28th AndrÉ, with a strong escort, went down the river in a barge, landed at the King's Ferry, and journeyed to Tappaan on horseback. There he was lodged in a substantial stone dwelling belonging to Mr. Maybie, known, in our day, as a tavern, by the name of "The '76 Stone House."

On this journey of a day, Tallmadge and AndrÉ, who were about equal in age, had much free conversation. The prisoner's custodian, like every one else, was fascinated by the young soldier, and was deeply impressed with sympathy for him. In reply to a question by Tallmadge, AndrÉ said that, in the enterprise in which he was engaged, all he sought was military glory, the applause of his king and his country, and perhaps a brigadiership. He asked Tallmadge in what light he would be regarded by General Washington and a military tribunal. Tallmadge tried to evade an answer, but, being pressed, he said:

"I had a much-loved classmate in Yale College by the name of Nathan Hale, who entered the army in 1775. Immediately after the battle of Long Island, General Washington wanted information respecting the strength, position, and probable movements of the enemy. Captain Hale tendered his services, went over to Brooklyn, and was taken just as he was passing the outposts of the enemy on his return. Do you remember the sequel of the story?" "Yes," said AndrÉ, "he was hanged as a spy. But you surely do not consider his case and mine alike." "Yes, precisely similar; and similar will be your fate," said Tallmadge.

In general orders on the 26th Greene proclaimed, "Treason of the blackest dye was discovered yesterday." He then gave a general account of the affair to the army and the people. It created wide-spread indignation and alarm, but the latter feeling was tempered by the concluding words of the order: "Arnold has made his escape to the enemy; but Major AndrÉ, the adjutant-general of the British army, who came out as a spy to negotiate the business, is our prisoner."

The news of the capture of AndrÉ, and this ominous general order, produced intense excitement in both armies, and especially within the British lines. The evident sympathy of Washington and some of his officers for the prisoner when he was brought to Tappaan, created much feeling in the American army. Some of the officers declared that if they were not to be protected against such treacherous conduct, and this spy be pardoned, it was time to leave the army. In a manuscript account of the affair now before me, written by Elias Boudinot, LL. D., the eminent American commissary of prisoners, he observed:

"Though these were their sentiments, they were only murmured from tent to tent. A few days convinced them that they had a commander-in-chief who knew how to make his compassion for the unfortunate and his duty to those who depended upon him for protection to harmonize and influence his conduct. He treated Major AndrÉ with the greatest tenderness, while he carried the sentence of the council into execution according to the laws of war. At New York, when the first account of AndrÉ's capture and condemnation arrived, the officers and citizens laughed at the idea that the 'rebels' would dare to execute the adjutant-general of the British army; but, if it should take place, vengeance in every form should be taken sevenfold. But, when it was known that AndrÉ was no more, General Clinton shut himself up for three days, and every one at the Coffee-House and other public places hung their heads, and scarcely an observation relative to it escaped their lips."

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Washington's Headquarters at Tappaan.

Washington had returned to his headquarters at Tappaan,[52] and ordered a meeting of a board of officers on the 29th, to make careful inquiries and report their opinion "of the light in which he [the prisoner] ought to be considered, and what punishment ought to be inflicted." The board consisted of six major-generals and eight brigadier-generals. The court of inquiry was held in the Dutch church at Tappaan. General Greene presided. When AndrÉ was brought before his judges, he gave a detailed statement of the facts, and did not deny any of the specifications presented by the judge-advocate, John Laurance. After careful deliberation the board reported that the prisoner "ought to be considered as a spy from the enemy, and that, agreeably to the law and usages of nations, it is their opinion he ought to suffer death." "AndrÉ met the result," wrote Colonel Hamilton, "with manly firmness. 'I foresee my fate,' he said, 'and though I pretend not to play the hero, or be indifferent to life, yet I am reconciled to whatever may happen, conscious that misfortune, not guilt, has brought it upon me.'"

Washington approved the finding of the court of inquiry, and sentenced AndrÉ to be hung as a spy on the first day of October, at five o'clock in the afternoon. He sent an account of the proceedings of the court and a letter from AndrÉ to Sir Henry Clinton.[53]

Meanwhile great exertions had been made to save AndrÉ from his sad fate. General Clinton wrote to Washington (September 26th) that AndrÉ was not a legal spy, for a flag of truce had been sent to receive him, and passports were granted for his return. On receiving the papers from Washington, Sir Henry wrote a second letter to the American chief commander, expressing the opinion that the board "had not been rightly informed of all the circumstances," and asked a postponement of the execution until a conference might be held. The request was granted. The execution was postponed one day. General Greene met General Robertson and others at Dobb's Ferry, not as an officer, but as a private gentleman, but nothing occurred to warrant a change in the opinion of the board of inquiry and the decision of Washington.[54]

The Americans would gladly have saved the life of AndrÉ could Arnold have been given up to them. Efforts to that end were made. Unofficial overtures were made to Clinton to exchange Arnold for AndrÉ, but honor forbade the act. All efforts in this direction failed.

On the morning of October 1st, the day on which AndrÉ expected to die, he wrote the following touching note to Washington:

Colonel Hamilton urged Washington to comply with AndrÉ's request, but the commander could not grant it. Unwilling to wound the feelings of the prisoner by a refusal, he did not reply to the note.

On the preceding evening AndrÉ wrote letters to his mother, sisters, Miss Seward, and other friends, and made a pen-and-ink sketch of himself sitting at a table with a pen in his hand. On the following morning he made a rude sketch, with pen and ink, depicting the scene of his passage from the Vulture to the shore, when he went to meet Arnold.[55]

At noon on the 2d day of October, 1780, Major AndrÉ was executed upon an eminence near Tappaan village, in the presence of a vast concourse of people. He was dressed in full military costume and white top-boots. He was taken to the gallows—a cross-piece between two moderate-sized trees—by a procession of nearly all the field-officers, excepting Washington and his staff, who remained at headquarters. General Greene led the cavalcade, which passed between two files of soldiers, extending from the prison up to the fatal spot. The prisoner's step was firm, and he did not falter until he saw the gallows, and knew he was to be hanged as a felon and not shot as a soldier. His hesitation was only for a moment.

A baggage-wagon, bearing a plain pine coffin, had been driven under the gallows. A grave had been dug near by. Into the wagon the prisoner stepped and, taking the rope from the hangman, adjusted it to his neck, and tied a white handkerchief over his eyes. Then Adjutant-General Scammell read the order for the execution in a clear voice, and at its conclusion told AndrÉ that he might speak if he desired it. The prisoner lifted the handkerchief from his eyes and, bowing courteously to General Greene and his officers, said in firm voice, "All I request of you, gentlemen, is that, while I acknowledge the propriety of my sentence, you will bear me witness that I die like a brave man." In an undertone he murmured, "It will be but a momentary pang." The wagon was driven swiftly from under him, and in a few minutes he ceased to exist.

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Passage from the Vulture.—(Fac-simile of a Pen-and-ink Sketch by AndrÉ.)

"Thus died in the bloom of life," wrote Dr. Thacher, a surgeon of the Continental army, who was present, "the accomplished Major AndrÉ, the pride of the royal army and the valued friend of Sir Henry Clinton." The same authority wrote that AndrÉ's regimentals, which had been brought up to Tappaan by his servant, were handed to that servant, and he was buried near one of the trees which formed the gibbet.