Benedict Arnold's plot

In 1779, Major John André became head of British intelligence in North America. By 1780, he was secretly coordinating with Benedict Arnold, a disillusioned American general, to surrender West Point to the British for £20,000. André met Arnold on the Hudson River but was stranded after the British ship Vulture was fired upon. Forced to travel overland in civilian clothes, André carried documents from Arnold detailing the plan.

He was captured near Tarrytown on September 23, 1780, by three American militiamen who found the papers hidden in his boot. Taken to Continental Army headquarters, André was identified as a spy. 

Colonel Jameson sent General Washington the papers found on André but, unsure of Arnold's role, also warned Arnold of André’s capture. Arnold, realizing he’d been exposed, fled during breakfast and escaped to the British ship Vulture.

Washington arrived at West Point hours later, unaware of the plot or Arnold’s escape. He was alarmed by the neglected fort and Arnold’s absence. When shown the incriminating documents, Washington quickly sent men to capture Arnold, but he was already gone. André was held and questioned. 

Washington convened a board of senior officers, including Nathanael Greene, Lafayette, and von Steuben, to try Major John André. André admitted to working with Arnold but claimed he hadn’t intended to be behind enemy lines and should be treated as a prisoner of war.

On September 29, 1780, the board found André guilty of espionage and sentenced him to death. British commander Sir Henry Clinton tried to save him, but Washington insisted on exchanging André for Benedict Arnold—an offer Clinton refused.

André appealed to be executed by firing squad as a soldier, but Washington denied the request. On October 2, André was hanged in Tappan, New York. His courage won admiration from both sides; Lafayette wept, and Hamilton wrote he “deserved [death] less.”