MAJOR, GENERAL, WIFE, SPY and other stuff

The 23^rd September presents another mixed bag of events. In keeping with the current release of Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy, it was on the 23^rd September 1780, during the American Revolution or War of Independence (depending on your point of view) British Major John André was arrested as a spy, thereby exposing American General Benedict Arnold’s transfer of allegiance, i.e. treason to the American cause.

The stories of both men are well worth exploring, but I note that whilst Arnold became a hate figure in America and was regarded with disdain and suspicion by most British; in contrast, the spy André was applauded as a hero by both sides. The tale has all the attributes of the spy story including the femme fatal.  

André

André was born on May 2, 1750 in London to wealthy Hugenot parents, Antoine André, a merchant from Geneva, Switzerland, and Marie Louise Girardot, from Paris, France. At age 20, he entered the British Army and joined his regiment, the 23^rd Foot, in Canada in 1774 as a lieutenant. He was captured at Fort Saint-Jean by General Richard Montgomery in November 1775, and held a prisoner at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, until December 1776, when he was exchanged. He was promoted to captain in the 26^th Foot on January 18, 1777, and to major in 1778.

He was a great favorite in colonial society, both in Philadelphia and New York, during their occupation by the British Army. He had a lively and pleasant manner and could draw and paint and cut silhouette pictures, as well as sing and write verses. He was a fluent writer who carried on much of General Clinton’s's correspondence. He was fluent in English, French, German, and Italian. He also wrote many comic verses. During his nearly nine months in Philadelphia, André occupied Benjamin Franklin’s's house, where it has been claimed that, on the orders of Major-Gen. Lord Charles Grey he took several valuable items from Franklin's home, including an oil portrait of Franklin, when the British left Philadelphia. General Grey's descendents returned Franklin's portrait to the US in the early half of the 20th Century.

Arnold

Peggy Shippen

In 1779 Major André became adjutant-general of the British Army in America. In April of that year he took charge of British secret intelligence. By the next year (1780) he had begun to plot with American General Benedict Arnold. Arnold's Loyalist wife, Peggy Shippen, was a close friend of André's, and possibly a paramour; the two had courted in Philadelphia prior to Shippen's marriage to Arnold. She was one of the go-betweens in the correspondence. Arnold, who commanded West Point, had agreed to surrender it to the British for £20,000 ($1.1M in 2008 dollars) — a move that would have enabled the British to cut New England off from the rest of the rebellious colonies.
André went up the Hudson River on September 20, 1780, to visit Arnold. At night, André rowed ashore in a boat from the sloop-of-war Vulture and met Arnold in the woods below Stony Point. Major André accompanied Arnold to Thomas Smith House (Treason House) in West Haverstraw, New York, which was occupied by Thomas Smith's brother, Joshua Hett Smith. Morning came before they had finished talking, and American troops (under James Livingston) guarding Verplanck's Point across the river had begun to fire on the Vulture, forcing it to go down the river without André. André met with Arnold on September 21. In order to escape through American lines, André was provided with common clothes and a passport by Arnold. André took the name John Anderson which led to his being captured as a spy and not a prisoner of war had he been in uniform. Arnold also gave six papers (written in Arnold's hand) showing the British how the fort could be taken - a foolish move since Clinton already knew the fort's layout. André hid them in his stocking. Another unwise move occurred when Joshua Hett Smith, who was accompanying him, left him just before he was captured. André rode on in safety until 9 am on September 23, when he came near Tarrytown, New York, where armed militiamen John Paulding, Isaac Van Warf and David Williams stopped him.

At his subsequent trial André's defence was that he was suborning an enemy officer, "an advantage taken in war" (his words). However he never to his credit tried to pass the blame onto Arnold. André told the court that he had not desired to be behind enemy lines and had not planned it. He also noted that because he was a prisoner of war he had the right to escape in civilian clothes. On September 29, 1780, the board found André guilty of being behind American lines "under a feigned name and in a disguised habit", and that "Major André, Adjutant-General to the British army, ought to be considered as a Spy from the enemy, and that agreeable to the law and usage of nations, it is their opinion, he ought to suffer death." Sir Henry Clinton, the British commander in New York, did all he could to save André, his favourite aide, but refused to surrender Arnold in exchange for André even though he despised Arnold. André appealed to George Washington to be executed by firing squad, but by the rules of war he was to be hanged as a spy at Tappan on October 2, 1780.

Self-portrait on the eve of André's execution

A religious poem, written two days before his execution, was found in his pocket after his execution.

While a prisoner he endeared himself to American officers, who lamented his death as much as the British. Alexander Hamilton wrote of him: "Never perhaps did any man suffer death with more justice, or deserve it less." The day before André's hanging he drew, with pen and ink, a likeness of himself, which is now owned by Yale College. The hanging was described by a witness: “…as he perceived that things were in readiness, he stepped quickly into the wagon, and at this moment he appeared to shrink, but instantly elevating his head with firmness he said, "It will be but a momentary pang," and taking from his pocket two white handkerchiefs, the provost-marshal, with one, loosely pinioned his arms, and with the other, the victim, after taking off his hat and stock, bandaged his own eyes with perfect firmness, which melted the hearts and moistened the cheeks, not only of his servant, but of the throng of spectators. The rope being appended to the gallows, he slipped the noose over his head and adjusted it to his neck, without the assistance of the awkward executioner. Colonel Scammel now informed him that he had an opportunity to speak, if he desired it; he raised the handkerchief from his eyes, and said, "I pray you to bear me witness that I meet my fate like a brave man." The wagon being now removed from under him, he was suspended, and instantly expired; it proved indeed "but a momentary pang." He was dressed in his royal regimentals and boots, and his remains, in the same dress, were placed in an ordinary coffin, and interred at the foot of the gallows; and the spot was consecrated by the tears of thousands ..."

In 1821, at the behest of the Duke of York, his remains, which had been buried under the gallows, were removed to England and placed among kings and poets in Hero’s Corner at Westminster Abbey under a marble monument depicting Britannia mourning alongside a British lion over André's death.

Also on the 23^rd September in 1969 the trial of the Chicago Eight opened in Chicago.

Victoria Woodhull

As to birthdays of the 23^rd September, one of my favourite ladies Victoria Woodhull was born in 1838 – See previous Blogs Thursday 7^th April 2011 The Women of 1838 and Emancipation and Equality  Saturday 2nd April 2011.

The 23^rd September is also the birthday of a remarkable collection of musicians. The following were all born in this day:

1926 -  John Coltrane, American saxophonist (d. 1967)

1926 – Jimmy Woode, jazz bassist (d. 2005)

1927 - Mighty Joe Young, American Chicago blues guitarist (d. 1992)

1928 - Frank Foster, American tenor and soprano saxophonist, flautist, arranger, and composer (d. 2011)

1929 - Wally Whyton, English musician (d. 1997

1930 - Ray Charles, American musician (d. 2004)

1935 - Les McCann, American soul jazz piano player and vocalist

1939 – Roy Buchanan, American guitarist (d. 1988)

1949 - Bruce Springsteen, American singer and songwriter

What is it about the 23^rd September?