The British Spy And The American Traitor––

A Conspiracy That Almost Succeeded

By Dottie Evans

History buffs and scholars who enjoy researching all the facts surrounding a dramatic event from the past are often loath to let go of the story. Armed with a million details, they ask “What If” and consider alternative scenarios.

What if events had not played out as they did? How would history have been changed?

American Revolutionary War historian and retired high school history teacher Dennis Corcoran spoke to the Newtown Historical Society on Monday night at the Booth Library about the well-known John André/Benedict Arnold conspiracy, in which the plans for West Point were nearly handed over to the British.

Dressed in a Hessian military coat such as German mercenary soldiers might have worn as they fought alongside British officers, Mr Corcoran said he could not resist second-guessing the events that led up to Mr André’s capture.

 “There were probably at least ten instances in this story where things could have gone another way,” Mr Corcoran said.

To lay the groundwork, he reviewed the tale of treachery that ended with British Major John André being captured on September 23, 1780 by three American patriots after they found the plans for West Point hidden in his boot.

General George Washington had placed General Arnold in charge of West Point, not realizing that Arnold was turning against the revolutionary cause and had decided he would surrender West Point to British General Henry Clinton.

To bring about the surrender, Arnold needed to provide Clinton with a description of the fortifications for that strategic Hudson River post. The person he selected to deliver those plans was British Major John André.

 “General Benedict Arnold did not start out as a traitor,” Mr Corcoran said, adding that the general was a pivotal figure in the American victory over the British at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777.

But General Arnold’s circumstances were changing. His first wife had died, and he had begun to gamble. He married a much younger woman named Peggy Shippen, who was wealthy and who expected he would provide an elegant lifestyle. He needed money.

Miss Shippen’s family had been loyalists, and she had known Major John André. It is assumed she was the person who first suggested that he correspond with the British officer. At the same time, he was bitter because General Washington failed to promote him after Saratoga.

 “Benedict Arnold was brave and fearless in battle, but he was also mean-spirited and arrogant.  His decision to conspire with John André led to one of the most important sequences of events in American history,” Mr Corcoran said.

The Best-Laid Plans

After a clandestine yearlong correspondence, the American general and the British major planned to meet for the first time on board the British schooner Vulture at Dobbs Ferry.

“But Providence was on America’s side because that rendezvous didn’t take place. Due to a lack of communication on the part of the British, Major André had to make the journey north to Teller’s Point alone on the Vulture. Then he was rowed five miles by night across the Hudson River to Haverstraw on the western shore by two skilled oarsmen, and General Arnold was waiting for him on shore.

It was September 21, 1780, when the co-conspirators finally met and the secret West Point plans were handed over. They stayed that night in the nearby home of Joshua Hett Smith and watched helplessly from an upstairs window while militia fired cannons at the Vulture that was anchored off Teller’s Point.

The Vulture was forced to retreat downriver, leaving Major André stranded on the enemy shore. Adding to his predicament, the skilled rowers were nowhere to be seen, having refused to make the difficult journey against the tide and under increasingly suspicious circumstances.

Ready with a backup plan, General Arnold asked his friend Joshua Hett Smith to accompany André on an overland journey back to the safety of British lines –– all the while, letting Smith believe he was performing a patriotic duty and André was on a mission for peace.

The American general issued signed passes for both men to cross the Hudson River and travel through territory that was defended by patriots. Then he advised André to remove his British military coat and dress as a civilian, so as not to draw attention. André decided to hide the West Point plans in one of his boots.

“He had already broken the three commands handed down by his own commander,” said Mr Corcoran, “Don’t wear civilian clothes, don’t put any papers on your body, and don’t go behind enemy lines.”

Now André was in serious trouble. If captured, he would be seen as a spy.

A Fatal Change                Of Direction

After André and his guide had crossed the Hudson at King’s Ferry, Joshua Hett Smith decided it was safe to leave André to proceed on his own.  Major André had intended to go east through Chappaqua in Westchester County and then head south to the safety of White Plains where General Clinton waited.

 But stopping for water, he talked to a young girl and boy who mentioned there were militia in that direction. So André changed his mind and headed west toward Tarrytown instead.

“This area [between the Croton River and Tarrytown] was a neutral no-man’s land where travelers were more likely to meet robbers and highwaymen than loyalists or patriots,” Mr Corcoran explained.

“At first, John André didn’t meet anyone.  But at 9 am on September 23, he had the bad luck to run into three militiamen named David Williams, John Paulding, and Isaac Van Wart. It happened that Williams was wearing a green Hessian military coat he’d stolen from the British army, and this caught John André off guard.”

Because the British had hired nearly 30,000 Hessian soldiers to help fight the Americans, Major André naturally assumed the men were loyalists.

“I am a British officer here on business,” André supposedly said.

The three immediately searched him and found the map in his boot. Only Paulding was able to read but he could tell these were diagrams of West Point, and he may have said to the others, “My God, we have a spy!”

What if Williams had not been wearing the stolen Hessian coat? What if André had shown the pass from General Arnold first, and not said anything about being a British officer? Or what if none of the three militiamen had been able to read?

What if André hadn’t stopped for water and changed his mind about going east? Would he have succeeded in delivering the plans to British General Clinton?

Dennis Corcoran described what he imagined was John André’s agitated state of mind.

“You’ve got to know he hasn’t had much sleep these last couple of nights. Things have gone wrong and he’s upset. He’s an educated man, very intelligent, and he probably could have outwitted those three simple militiamen if he hadn’t been so tired,” Mr Corcoran noted.

Eight days after the capture, British Major John André was hung by the neck without being granted his last request for an officer’s death by firing squad. General Washington had decided he would be hanged as a spy with no mercy shown.

American General Benedict Arnold escaped to the Vulture, barely missing General Washington by one hour after hearing news from his own staff that Major André had been detained. He knew the game was up.

“If circumstances had been different, the British might have gotten control of West Point. The war would have been prolonged, and this might have led to a British victory,” Mr Corcoran added.

“And then where would we be?”