John André

Major John André (b. 1750 - d. 1780) was a British officer during the American War for Independence who helped Benedict Arnold change sides to the British Army and tried to take West Point for the British. André was executed for being a spy.

André was born in 1750 in London.^[1][2]

His parents were Huguenots,who were Protestants who had lived in France. When the French government made Protestantism illegal, many Huguenots went to other countries. André's mother went to England when she was young. His mother had been born in France, and his father had been born in Geneva, Switzerland. André's father was a merchant and earned money by buying and selling things.^[1] André's parents had one other son and three daughters.^[3]

André went to school in Geneva and then came back to England in 1767. He had a good education. He could draw, paint, play the flute; write poems; and speak English, French, German, and Italian.^[1]

André wanted to join the army, but people then did not become officers unless they could buy the job. When André's father died in 1769, André had to make money to take care of his family and became a merchant in his father's business.

André fell in love with an English woman named Honora Sneyd, but her guardians would not let them marry unless André became rich. André worked hard to be a good merchant. However, Sneyd had changed her mind. Sneyd's foster sister, Anna Seward, said that André then joined the army because he had a broken heart.^[1]

André joined the army on March 4, 1771. He had special training in Germany for two years. In 1774, he went to Canada with the Royal Welch Fusiliers. He was a lieutenant at the time. André helped defend Fort Saint-Jean from the Patriot Army. The siege lasted two months, and the British lost.^[1]

André was captured at at the battle. Because he was an officer, not an enlisted man, he was held prisoner in inns, instead of barracks, and ate dinner with rich people. André was kept prisoner in the house of the Cope family in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Many people in Lancaster County spoke German like him, which helped him make friends. He also taught art to the Copes' son.^[1]

In 1776, André was sent back to the British Army and was traded for American prisoners. He wrote a book about everything he had learned about the British Colonies and drew maps of places he had been.^[3] He gave the book to British General William Howe in New York City. Howe thought the book was very good and that André was very intelligent. He promoted André to captain and made him aide to Major General Charles Grey.^[1]

André was part of the invasion of Philadelphia in 1777, which was was the largest city in the Thirteen Colonies. The British captured the city. André fought in the Battle of Brandywine, the Paoli Massacre, the Battle of Germantown, the Battle of Monmouth, and Grey's raids into Massachusetts and New Jersey in 1778. André then kept a diary, which is now a valuable historical source about the war.^[1]

During the winter of 1777-1778, there was less fighting because it was too cold and snowy. André lived in Philadelphia in Benjamin Franklin's house. He wrote poetry for women such as Peggy Shippen. He also threw a large party called the Mischianza to honor General Howe and his brother, Admiral Richard Howe. When the British left Philadelphia, André packed up and stole many of Franklin's inventions, books, and other things. Historians think that Grey may have ordered him to do so.^[1]

In 1778, André was promoted to major and deputy adjutant general.^[1]

In May of 1779, Benedict Arnold, a high-ranking American officer who was the commander of West Point, told André that he wanted to change sides if the British would give him £10,000 and high rank in the British military. If the British had West Point, they could control the Hudson Valley and would be much stronger in New England. André and Arnold sent letters to each other for months.^[1]

In 1779, André went with Henry Clinton to attack Charleston, South Carolina, and the British won. André returned north with Clinton and began talking to Arnold again. Arnold said he had to meet André in person to plan the surrender of West Point.^[1]

In September 1779, André got on a ship and sailed up the Hudson River. He met Arnold, who gave him papers and the plans to West Point, but André could not get back to his ship because American forces had attacked it, and it had sailed away. André decided to go back to British territory in disguise. He took off his British Army uniform and put on ordinary clothes. On the way, he was captured by American freelance soldiers, who found the papers that Arnold had given to André. They arrested André as a spy.^[1]

Because André had been in disguise and not wearing his uniform, he was legally a spy and not only an enemy soldier, which meant a much worse punishment.

André was put on trial in Tappan, New York. Many of his friends wrote letters to General George Washington to ask that for him to be allowed to live or to be allowed to die by firing squad, which was the usual way that soldiers were killed.

On September 29, 1780, André was found guilty of being "under a feigned name and in a disguised habit." He was sentenced to die by hanging. He was hanged at noon on October 2, 1780.^[1][3]

At first, André was buried next to the Hudson River. A peach tree grew on top of his grave. In 1782, King George III had a monument built for André in Westminster Abbey.^[3]

In 1821, people dug up André's bones and took them to England. He is buried in Westminster Abbey. The people took the peach tree too and replanted it in the king's garden.^[3]

There is another monument in Tappan, New York.

A fictional John André is in the television series Turn.