Almost universal sympathy was felt and expressed for Major AndrÉ. He was undoubtedly an involuntary spy. The court of inquiry which decided his fate came to their conclusions with regret; but duty, the law of nations, and the exigencies of war, compelled them to give such a verdict as they did. Washington signed his death-warrant with reluctance and with much emotion. All the American officers were moved by deep sympathy for him. Some of the younger officers—Lafayette, Hamilton, Tallmadge, and others—were enamored with him, and became attached to him. "From the few days of intimate intercourse I had with him," wrote Tallmadge, "I became so deeply attached to Major AndrÉ that I could remember no instance when my affections were so fully absorbed by any man." The multitude who saw the execution were deeply moved with compassion. Dr. Thacher says the tears of thousands fell on that occasion. The event made a deep impression upon both armies. The king specially honored the memory of AndrÉ by ordering a notable mural monument to be erected in Westminster Abbey, near the "Poets' Corner." A picture of this monument is seen in the engraving.[56] The memorial was executed in statuary marble, and is about seven and a half feet in height. It represents a sarcophagus with a device in low relief, and elevated upon a paneled pedestal, upon which are appropriate inscriptions.[57] On the sarcophagus is a representation of Washington and his officers in his tent at the moment when he received the report of the court of inquiry; at the same time a messenger has arrived with the letter of AndrÉ to Washington asking for a soldier's death. On the right is a guard of Continental soldiers, and a tree on which AndrÉ was executed. Two men are preparing the prisoner for execution, while at the foot of the tree sit Mercy and Innocence. On the top of the sarcophagus is the British lion, and the figure of Britannia, who is lamenting the fate of AndrÉ. The king settled a pension upon the family of AndrÉ, and, to wipe out the imputed stain produced by his death as a spy, the honor of knighthood was conferred upon his brother.

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AndrÉ's Monument in Westminster Abbey.

As related in the inscription on the pedestal of AndrÉ's monument, given in a foot-note, Mr. Buchanan caused his remains to be disinterred and sent to England. Two small cedar-trees were growing near the grave wherein lay his remains. A portion of one of these was sent with the remains, and, at the suggestion of the consul, the duke caused a snuff-box to be made of it for the Rev. Mr. Demorest, of Tappaan, who gave Mr. Buchanan much assistance in his undertaking. It was elegant in design, was lined with gold, and was inscribed with the words:

"From his Royal Highness the Duke of York, to mark his sense of the Rev. John Demorest's liberal attention upon the occasion of the removal of the remains of the late Major AndrÉ, at Tappaan, on the 10th of August, 1821."

The surviving sisters of AndrÉ sent a silver cup to Mr. Demorest, with a suitable inscription; also an inkstand to the British consul.

Two monuments have been erected at different times on the spot where AndrÉ was executed, each with the sole purpose of commemorating this very important event in our national history, and to mark the exact locality of its occurrence. One of these monuments was set up by James Lee,[58] a public-spirited New York merchant, nearly forty years ago. It consisted of a small bowlder, upon the upper surface of which were cut the words, "AndrÉ was executed October 2, 1780." It was on the right side of a lane which ran from the highway from Tappaan village to old Tappaan, on the westerly side of a large peach-orchard, and about a mile from Washington's headquarters. I visited the spot in 1849, and made a drawing of this simple memorial-stone for my "Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution." In a foot-note of that work (vol. i, p. 772) I said, "A more elegant and durable monument should be erected on the spot."

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Bowlder-Monument.

A "more elegant and durable monument" was placed on the same spot a few years ago by another public-spirited New York merchant, Mr. Cyrus W. Field, and bears an inscription written by the late Rev. Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, the Dean of Westminster. When that eminent divine and earnest friend of our country and admirer of our free institutions was about to visit the United States in 1878, he made a list of the objects and localities which he desired to see while here. Among these was the place of AndrÉ's execution.

While Dean Stanley was visiting Mr. Field at his country residence on the eastern bank of the Hudson, nearly opposite Tappaan, he with his two traveling companions and their host crossed the river, and, with one or two citizens of Tappaan, visited places of historic interest in the vicinity. They found that nothing marked the place of AndrÉ's execution, and that it had even been a subject of controversy. The bowlder-monument had been removed several years before. The dean expressed his surprise and regret that no object indicated the locality of such an important historical event, when Mr. Field said he would erect a memorial-stone there at his own expense upon certain conditions. A few days afterward (October, 1878) he wrote to a citizen of Tappaan:

"I am perfectly willing to erect a monument on 'AndrÉ Hill' [so named by the people in commemoration of the event which occurred there], and the dean will write an inscription, if the people who own the land will make a grant of about twenty square feet for the purpose."

So soon as it became known that Mr. Field proposed to erect a memorial-stone at Tappaan, a correspondent of a New York morning journal denounced the intention, upon the wholly erroneous assumption that it was to be a "monument in honor of Major AndrÉ, the British spy." Other correspondents, equally uninformed, followed with denunciations. A storm of apparently indignant protests, or worse, ensued; and one writer, lacking courage to give his name, made a threat that, if Mr. Field should set up a memorial-stone upon the place where AndrÉ was executed, "ten thousand men" were ready to pull it down and cast it into the river! These writers, many of whom concealed their real names, created considerable feeling in the public mind unfavorable to the project, and elicited a multitude of appeals to the patriotism and the prejudices of the American people, to oppose what?—a phantom!

This intemperate and unwise correspondence continued several weeks. There were calm defenders of Mr. Field's motives in proposing to erect a monument, by persons who were well informed and had a clear perception of the intent and importance of such an act. The discussion was fruitful of some good. It had the salutary effect of calling public attention to the claims of Nathan Hale, the notable martyr spy of the Revolution, to a memorial tribute—a public recognition of his virtues and his deeds—which had been so long deferred by our people. These claims were now earnestly advocated, not only by Mr. Field's critics, but by patriotic citizens. Considerable sums of money were offered for the laudable purpose of erecting a suitable monument in the city of New York to the memory of Hale. Several persons offered one hundred dollars each.

Before the visit of Mr. Field and the dean, Mr. Henry Whittemore, a public-spirited citizen of Tappan, and Secretary of the Rockland County Historical Society, had found four living men who were present at the disinterment of AndrÉ's remains in 1821. With these men he went to "AndrÉ Hill," where they identified the place of the spy's grave.[59] The requisite plot of ground was secured by Mr. Field, who was compelled to buy many surrounding acres at an exorbitant price. Then, relying upon the good sense, the intelligence, and the patriotism of the American people for a just appreciation of his motives, he proceeded to have a memorial-stone prepared.

Soon after Dean Stanley returned home he wrote the promised inscription, and, in a letter to Mr. Whittemore (January, 1879), he said:

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Dean Stanley's Autograph.

On the 2d of October, 1879, the ninety-ninth anniversary of the execution of AndrÉ, the monument prepared by Mr. Field's order, and placed over the spot where the spy was buried, was uncovered in the presence of representatives of the Historical Societies of New York, and Rockland County, of officers of the army of the United States, of the newspaper press and other gentlemen, and a few ladies. At noon, the hour of the day when AndrÉ was executed, Mr. Field directed the workmen to uncover the memorial. There was no pomp or ceremony on the occasion. Not a speech was uttered, nor a token of applause given.

From "AndrÉ Hill" the company went with Mr. Whittemore to his home in Washington's headquarters and the room in which AndrÉ's death-warrant was signed. While there the neglect of the memory of Nathan Hale, shown by the American people, was spoken of, when Mr. Field said:

Several years ago Mr. Field made a similar offer to the New York Historical Society.[61] More than thirty years before, he was a contributor to the fund raised to erect the modest monument in memory of Hale at South Coventry, delineated on page 26; and he was next to the largest contributor to the fund for procuring the bronze statue of a captor of AndrÉ that surmounts the monument at Tarrytown, which commemorates that important event.

The memorial-stone erected at Tappaan is composed of a shaft of Quincy gray granite, standing upon a pedestal of the same material. The whole structure is about nine feet in height from the ground to the apex. It is perfectly chaste in design. There is no ornamentation. The granite is highly polished. It stands upon an elevation, about two miles from the Hudson River, and thirty yards from the boundary-line between New York and New Jersey, and overlooks a beautiful country.[62] On its west side it bears the following inscription, written by Dean Stanley:

"HERE DIED, OCTOBER 2, 1780,
MAJOR JOHN ANDRÉ, OF THE BRITISH ARMY,
WHO, ENTERING THE AMERICAN LINES
ON A SECRET MISSION TO BENEDICT ARNOLD,
FOR THE SURRENDER OF WEST POINT,
WAS TAKEN PRISONER, TRIED AND CONDEMNED AS A SPY.
HIS DEATH,
THOUGH ACCORDING TO THE STERN RULE OF WAR,
MOVED EVEN HIS ENEMIES TO PITY;
AND BOTH ARMIES MOURNED THE FATE
OF ONE SO YOUNG AND SO BRAVE.
IN 1821 HIS REMAINS WERE REMOVED TO WESTMINSTER ABBEY.
A HUNDRED YEARS AFTER THE EXECUTION
THIS STONE WAS PLACED ABOVE THE SPOT WHERE HE LAY,
BY A CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES, AGAINST WHICH HE FOUGHT,
NOT TO PERPETUATE THE RECORD OF STRIFE,
BUT IN TOKEN OF THOSE BETTER FEELINGS
WHICH HAVE SINCE UNITED TWO NATIONS,
ONE IN RACE, IN LANGUAGE, AND IN RELIGION,
WITH THE HOPE THAT THIS FRIENDLY UNION
WILL NEVER BE BROKEN."

On the north face:

"HE WAS MORE UNFORTUNATE THAN CRIMINAL."
"AN ACCOMPLISHED MAN AND GALLANT OFFICER."
GEORGE WASHINGTON.

The first of these two lines was quoted from a letter of Washington to Count de Rochambeau, October 10, 1780. (See Sparks's "Life and Writings of Washington," vol. vii, p. 241.) The second line is from the sentence of a letter written by Washington to Colonel John Laurens on the 13th of October. (See Sparks, vol. vii, p. 256.)

On the north face of the stone are the words:

"SUNT LACRYMÆ RERUM ET MENTEM MORTALIA TANGUNT."

The east front was left blank for another inscription.

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Memorial at Tappaan.

Such, in a few sentences, is the story of the erection of the memorial-stone at Tappaan by Mr. Field. The idea was the product of spontaneous thought, elicited by a special occasion. The sole object to be attained is the laudable and patriotic one of perpetuating, by a visible record, the memory of one of the most important events in our history, at the place of its occurrence. That event has two prominent aspects, namely: the courage, patriotism, faith in the American people, and the unswerving fidelity in the discharge of a momentous trust, of our beloved Washington and his officers, in the face of most extraordinary temptations to do otherwise; and the execution as a spy of the adjutant-general of the British army, while that army, twenty thousand strong, was lying only a few miles distant, and supported by powerful ships of war.

These were the events to be commemorated by this memorial-stone, and not the name or character of any individual. It was no more a monument "in honor of Major AndrÉ, the British spy," than was the monument of white marble, twenty-five feet in height, which was erected by patriotic men, in 1853, to mark the spot at Tarrytown where the spy was captured, or the naming of the rivulet near which it stands "AndrÉ Brook." Surely every intelligent and right-minded American, clearly comprehending the truth of the whole matter, will award to Mr. Field the meed of praise for his generous and patriotic deed.

An attempt was made on the night of November 3, 1885, to destroy the beautiful memorial-stone at Tappaan by an explosion of dynamite. The pedestal was shattered into pieces, but the shaft was only shaken from its perpendicular position. This crime was the logical result of persistent misrepresentation of the character and intent of the memorial in some of the newspapers. Twice before, attempts had been made to destroy it; the first time by a defacement of the inscription by a misguided person who, on a dark night, battered the letters, many of them almost beyond recognition. The destroyer[63] left a small American flag hanging over the monument from a stick, supported by a pile of stones, upon the apex; also the following lines, the product, evidently, of one moved by a spirit of conscious untruthfulness, or of profound ignorance of the character of the object assailed:

"Too long hath stood the traitor's shaft,
A monument to shame,
Built up to praise the traitor's craft,
To sanctify ill fame.
Are freemen bound to still forbear,
And meekly still implore,
When conquered foes their altars rear
Within our very door.
"This vulgar and insulting stone
Would honor for all time,
Not sneaking AndrÉ's death alone,
But black Ben Arnold's crime.
And they, who thus can glorify
The traitor and his deeds,
Themselves high treason would employ
If 'twould fulfill their needs.
"Americans! resolve, proclaim
That on our own dear land,
Never, while the people reign,
Shall treason's statue stand!
And he who dares erect it next,
On fair Columbia's breast,
With furtive or with false pretext,
Shall dangle from its crest!"

The second attempt to destroy the memorial-stone was made on a dark night. Nitro-glycerine or dynamite was used for the purpose. The explosion was heard for miles around. The perpetrator of the deed was not discovered. The stones of the pedestal were shattered, but the shaft remained in an upright position.

Mr. Field had the damages to the memorial repaired. He designed to have the acres around it fashioned into a handsome little park. He also proposed to erect within the grounds a fire-proof building for the use of the Rockland County Historical and Forestry Society as a depository of historical and other relics of that county, the building to be presented to the society, and the park to the citizens of Tappaan, as a free gift. The outrage of November 3, 1885, may frustrate this generous plan.

Two days after that outrage, a New York morning journal of large circulation and wide influence declared that "the malignity with which the people about Tappaan regard Mr. Field's monument to AndrÉ appears to be settled and permanent." To this grave indictment of the inhabitants of a portion of Rockland County as participants in the crime, that people responded by resolutions unanimously adopted at an indignation meeting held at the Reformed Church at Tappaan on the evening of the 9th. They denounced the charge as utterly untrue, expressed their belief that no person in the vicinity had "the remotest connection" with the crime; that it was desirable to have the place of AndrÉ's execution indicated by a memorial-stone with a suitable inscription, and commended Mr. Field for his zeal in perpetuating events of the Revolution in such a manner.[64]

In the foregoing narrative I have endeavored to present a brief, plain, and truthful story of the memorial at Tappaan, about which so much has been said and written. I have fashioned it from trustworthy materials. I have simply recorded the facts, and leave the readers to form their own conclusions.

The monument at Tarrytown has been alluded to. It was erected in 1853, on the spot where tradition says Major AndrÉ was captured, to commemorate that event. It bore upon a tablet the following inscription:

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Monument and Statue at Tarrytown.

"On this spot, the 23d of September, 1780, the spy, Major John AndrÉ, Adjutant-General of the British Army, was captured by John Paulding, David Williams, and Isaac Van Wart, all natives of this county. History has told the rest.

"The people of Westchester County have erected this monument as well to commemorate a great event as to testify their high estimation of that integrity and patriotism which, rejecting every temptation, rescued the United States from most imminent peril by baffling the acts of a spy and the plots of a traitor. Dedicated October 7, 1853."

The citizens of Westchester County, desirous of giving more significance to this monument, caused its conical shaft to be removed, and in its place erected a bronze statue of a captor—a young volunteer soldier. This statue is the work of the accomplished sculptor, Mr. O'Donovan, of New York.

The monument and statue were unveiled in the presence of thousands of spectators on the centennial of the event commemorated—the 23d of September, 1880. On that occasion Samuel J. Tilden presided. A prayer was offered by the venerable son of one of the captors, Isaac Van Wart, and an oration was pronounced by Chauncey M. Depew. General James Husted was the marshal of the day.

On one face of the monument is the old inscription, and upon another, next to the highway, is a fine bronze bas-relief representing the scene of the capture. This also is from the atelier of Mr. O'Donovan. An excellent picture of this work of art and of the statue may be found in the "Memorial Souvenir of the Monument Association," prepared by Dr. Nathaniel C. Husted, secretary of the association.